Jump to content

Autopilots + Route/AutoHover + Turn to target + HMS


Recommended Posts

Well, at last I have got the trick to fly this single seat helo in combat situations: Autopilots + Route/AutoHover + Turn to target + HMS.

 

Let me explain: As we know, the single seat configuration overloads the pilot with an enormous task load, almost overwhelming, so Kamov had to aliviate him making the helo easy to fly when it has to do its job: search & destroy, let us say... combat.

 

While in combat situation you do either stalk, engage, or evade. Evasion is simple to understand: NOE & fast, but you do not have to lock any target, so trimmer is pressed and maneouver away (flares, flares). On the other side stalking precises a fine control of the helo to mask you while looking for the best position and you can do it manually with the help of autopilots, because concealing is important and movement has to be smooth but controlled.

 

Engaging: the core of the matter. It can be done from afar, nicely suspended in the sky out of the range of enemy weapons and AutoHover is perfect for this. But sometimes you have to get closer because of the orography (let us say a river cannon plenty of bends) or to employ rockets or guns (my favourite). In this type of combat you can get easily overloaded with all the workload you have to do: fly, search, point, lock, fire. and again. It can be... confusing for clumsy people like me, and in the end one crashes with the side of a mountain or get shot down.

 

The solution I have found, and I think the Ka-50 was designed with this idea on mind, is to rely the flying on the "autopilot", and there are some tools that will help us to do it: first there are the autopilots, which we all here have learnt to love, especially the Heading Hold :joystick: that allow stability; second the Route mode, which allows for a more steady flight keeping speed constant; third the Turn to Target, which keeps the heading where the Shkval is pointing; fourth an last, the HMS, the key of the matter, which enables the pilot to place the Shkval where he looks at whith a single button press.

 

All this combined outcomes a flight steady at constant speed in a direction, a direction that can be changed with a "target designation" ("O") wherever you want to. So you detect a threat, look at it and press the "t.d." button and the helo turns towards it in no time... if you have Route mode engaged, if not, it will try to do it with a mere 20% controls authority. So Route mode is key to this way of flying, but the problem is that sometimes there is no indication of its state in the overhead pannel, although the HUD shows differences, but it is a nuissance.

 

Anyway, you look at the threat and d.t., the helo turns while flying and you can fire either an Vikhr, rockets (often not, because of the angle) or gun it. And the best for the gun is that you do not even have to lock the target, just put the designator on it and fire. I think it is possible for Vikhr too, but I have to do more testing. If you do no want to turn on target immediatly, t.t.t. can be deactivated, and when activated, the helo will t.t.t.

 

P.S.: This is my way of fighting in the Black Shark, in the old way of the light cavalry charge, please do not try to do it at home :D

 

P.P.S.: I think Balaclava is nearby. If not, it does not mind, cause I am doing my own Balaclavas all time :doh:

 

[spanish MODE ON]

Perdón por el tocho. Menudo ladrillo.

[spanish MODE OFF]

Vista, Suerte y al Toro!

[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I must admit I rarely (close to never) use any Enroute Auto pilot modes.

Because that would require me to fly high - for an extended period of time.

Flying high (in the MP community / missions) will often get you killed very quickly.

 

Hence low. Hence manually - with damper-channels enable - and scanning for targets all the time (TIR).

 

And therefor not using "Turn to target" in such a situation - because you must react to the threat before it reacts to you - quite often this means a combination of throwing the nose over in that general direction, HMS look at it and Shkval it (O) then Lase it (ENTER) - then manual override and yell "Rifle!" ... and have a zip of coffee.

 

Now when the first threat is dealt with - stay put, not using Auto-hover, but manual hovering (dampers are still on) - and keep scanning.

Turn to target - well, when you feel safe overlooking the targets and scan about - "Turn to target" nice feature. You're already aimed towards the target if you spot it while scanning (through the hud and your Shkval).

 

Enroute mode might be employed only when you need to go to the loo - or get a cup of coffee.

Auto-hover - ditto.

 

... just my two cents on the autopilot ... ;)

The mind is like a parachute. It only works when it's open | The important thing is not to stop questioning

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why on earth would you manual override? If you're this close, you're doing it wrong, and if you're panicking from 'out of Vikhr range' and not taking your time, you're also doing it wrong - IMHO anyway. ;)

 

Further, the autopilot works just fine for flying low if you understand its workings; it'll get your where you're going, and if you have a complex route you can always add WP's to it later, though most people probably wouldn't bother (The first training session I held actually involved teaching a couple people to program the PVI - we launched without waypoints, we just had WP's written down on a card, so we put those in and navigated).

[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]

Reminder: SAM = Speed Bump :D

I used to play flight sims like you, but then I took a slammer to the knee - Yoda

Link to comment
Share on other sites

......and if you're panicking from 'out of Vikhr range' and not taking your time, you're also doing it wrong....

 

 

Not panicking, but rather being prudent I would say.....After all, every second counts ;)

 

Tha above can aptly be illustrated by the current DCS environment, who's greatest shortcoming IMHO is the 'Fish in a Barrel' syndrome. No matter how inventive a Mission-Builder is, sadly the inherent limitations of the Editor and AI behaviour leads more often that not to the fact that Target engagement is just that - Shooting Fish in a Barrel.

 

Thankfully - and one of the reasons that I am an exclusive Multiplayer - is the excitement one gets from the Human Opfor aspect of Multiplayer Missions - again well thought out, constructive missions and not your average 'Scoot, Shoot and Roost' Affairs. After all, Hunting your own is just so much more exciting than hunting the Mentally-Challenged A.I. at the moment in any event, which brings me to the point of this diatribe:

 

In the typical mission, you'd be best served to make every advantage count when you know you are being hunted, and if that means manually overriding the launch to ensure that you have more distance between you and your target, so much the better. Personally I am well acquainted with the Map and Briefing and the moment you start clubbing my Units, I am going to hunt you down, and the first place I start looking is to the RMAX launch radius from the tagged unit.....If you are further out then you have just bought yourself a coupla secs/minutes :D

 

And the last thing you want to do is to hang around and club units at your leisure.....Think like a Sniper and live :gun_sniper:

 

It's All Good!

Novice or Veteran looking for an alternative MP career?

Click me to commence your Journey of Pillage and Plunder!

[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]

'....And when I get to Heaven, to St Peter I will tell....

One more Soldier reporting Sir, I've served my time in Hell......'

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Manual override quite often - spot the targets outside launch enevelope > 7km. (And quite often it's PvP vs Ka-50's).

As for panicking - never. It's just a way to fly - spot the targets and kill them before they have a chance to pop a shot at me.

Prudent Viper said - yes.

The mind is like a parachute. It only works when it's open | The important thing is not to stop questioning

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mmmmm... I am more fond of ground attack operations, even with cooperative multiplayer than engagements PvP. Let us see what happens when fix and mixed wings can interoperate in PvP.

 

Do you usually put low level AI CAPs in your missions? It can make things even more interesting.

 

Anyway, my point is that it is possible to engage ground targets with autopilots, route, turn to target and hms, and that it releases a lot of workload from the pilot.


Edited by Martillo1

Vista, Suerte y al Toro!

[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Martillo,

 

THis is actually the way I fly around as well. I am probably not as good a pilot as some of the others and I don't do the on-line thing, but the AP definitely frees up quite a bit to do some fighting. The main difference is that I rarely use auto hover except when landing at a FARP. I usually find myself on the move....not as easy of a target (that and I am not great at trimming to a hover state). Sometimes I will use auto hover if I need to regroup and am hiding behind a ridge. I just recently ready Apache by Ed Macys and from what I can tell in the book, they spent very little time in a hover.


Edited by btaft
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...