Paradise Lost - is it doable with old engine model?

[guitarxe]

QUick question, was this mission designed to be done with the new engine model, or did it come out before the changes?

I ask because I am having trouble with it. I am still new to huey and helicopters, but I found out about the old engine model and from some research it seems the consensus is that the old one is better than the new one, and that the new one has added a lot of engine power (but made other things worse, like the anti-torque rotor is now underpowered by comparison as example). In any case, for some reason I find the old model to be easier to fly. It's much more stable in the pick up and I don't get into nearly as much VRS with the old engine model.

However on this campaign I bought from recommendation, the first mission which is supposed to just be an "easy" resupply, I find the huey is struggling after being loaded up in HQ. I mean I can barely get above ground, full collective triggers low RPM warning. Just flying above 1,500 feet is tough. But then you get to the firebase Berlin and it's in the hills and the huey just doesn't have enough power to properly land there with that much weight. WHich is why I am wandering if this is due to old engine model if the mission was designed and tested after those changes?

Or is it intended to teach you that there will be times that you cannot expect to hover and you need to be able to do running landings?

[unlikely_spider]

Some of the takeoffs and landings are difficult, but i was able to complete the campaign recently and I'm no pro for sure.

Make sure you note the wind direction. And you can exceed the safe parameters briefly if you need to. Some takeoffs do take a bit of coaxing sometimes and you need to get moving horizontally as much as you can first. For some of the landings, yes, you don't have to come to a hover first. Just get down in one continuous descent and arrest it as much as you can before touching down.

Edited Tuesday at 07:10 PM by unlikely_spider

[MAXsenna]

1 hour ago, guitarxe said:

did it come out before the changes?

It was released before the FM update. Not sure if it was changed later. 

1 hour ago, guitarxe said:

it seems the consensus is that the old one is better than the new one

Completely disagree. Love the new FM, never enter VRS anymore. 

1 hour ago, guitarxe said:

like the anti-torque rotor is now underpowered by comparison as example

This might be true, though I use pedals and never notice. 

1 hour ago, guitarxe said:

I don't get into nearly as much VRS with the old engine model.

That doesn't really make sense. I can now anticipate VRS easier, and basically pull myself out of it by pushing the cyclic forward and left or right.

1 hour ago, guitarxe said:

I find the huey is struggling after being loaded up in HQ. I mean I can barely get above ground, full collective triggers low RPM warning.

It's supposed to be hard. Watch one of the release videos where @Reflected explains this. In that video you're supposed to be in ground effect before you can pickup speed and transition. 

2 hours ago, guitarxe said:

Or is it intended to teach you that there will be times that you cannot expect to hover and you need to be able to do running landings?

I believe it was the intention, while it might have been changed later to accommodate the new FM, as can't remember I ever had those issues at all.

Personal opinion. I bought and started PL when it was first released, on the old FM. I struggled a lot, mostly due to Marianas and my ancient potato computer. Later I got a GPU upgrade and started over. Blasted through the campaign in less than a week. Mind you I have a collective, FFB cyclic and non-centering pedals. What kind of peripherals are you flying with? 

Cheers! 

 

[Reflected]

The campaign was fine tuned and retested after they changed the engine model. Yes it’s hard, but these are exactly the same difficulties Huey pilots faced in real life (they had it even harder). If you read any of the memoirs listed in the campaign documentation, the struggle they describe will be very familiar.

When I read those books I was like "hey this is totally different from my experience when flying the Huey in DCS" - that was one of the main reasons I built the campaign: to be able to test my skills in realistic situations.

Check out my gunship tutorial on Youtube. You need ground effect, wind, and smooth hands. Another trick for slicks if you have to hover out of an lz is to let it spin right. Less power to the tail rotor, more power to the main rotor. 

Edited Wednesday at 12:04 AM by Reflected