Trim / Auto Hover Problem! Plz Help

[Unicorn0578]

Hi everyone,

I am slowly getting to grips with this Sim and really enjoying all the learning :smartass: but I have a problem with trim and auto hover.:joystick:

 

I fly okay and understand how to trim when flying :pilotfly:but when I press 't' I hear it engage but it has no effect on the controls! :helpsmilie:

 

I also try to engage auto hover 'Alt and t' but hear no click and no light shows on the over head panel. :cry:

 

When I go into training on the hover the auto hover light shows when I engage it but still no repsonse from trim or auto hover.

 

I wonder if I may have changes settings some place? :doh:

 

If I have changed settings is there anyway to reset to default?

 

Any help appreciated. :D

 

Thanks

[FOXFIRE TWOONE]

Are you centering and releasing trim button quickly enough, disengaging the

AP/FD before engaging the Auto-hover.

[Topcat357]

Perhaps check the control settings to see if T and Alt-T are still being used for Trim and Auto Hover. You probably already know that you must recenter the joystick before your Trim setting takes effect. For Auto Hover to work, you must be at a fairly slow speed.

Sorry I am not much help, but those are the only 3 things I can think of that would be causing a problem

 

NB

[EtherealN]

As a further note on the Auto Hover, remember that it is NOT a replacement for entering a stable hover. It's a mechanism that relieves you of the need to maintain it once you have achieved it.

 

However, it sounds like you either have lost the key commands or is playing with easy aerodynamics or game mode?

[Frederf]

Yeah "Hover Hold" would have been a better name as it is wholly unsuited for getting into a hover from anything but being very, very close to a hover to start with.

 

There is a big "Reset" button in the UI for setting up keyboard commands. One could use that to get all the commands back to default.

 

The trim button does two things, it establishes a new physical spring center for the cyclic and pedals and it updates the autopilot's heading/pitch/bank/speed data values for the hold channels. If you press RCtrl+Enter you should get a virtual display of where the controls are located. You should notice that after trimming the cyclic diamond on the display will stay "hands off" in the position that the cyclic was at when the trim button was released previously. If you're hearing the sound it's definitely working... odd that you are seeing no obvious effect.

[Distiler]

Perhaps you're playing in easy game mode. Check options -> gameplay and check both game flight and avioncs mode. I think those could affect that. Also check "use these options for all missions" is on.

[Prophet4no1]

I had this exact smae issue. For me it was becase I had a force feedback wheel plugged in and BS thought it was the FFB for my stick. As soon as I unplugged my wheel the trimmer and hover worked. For the most part. Every once in a while evrything goes all bonkers still, untill I crash into the ground.

[astrospud]

Are you centering and releasing trim button quickly enough, disengaging the

AP/FD before engaging the Auto-hover.

Actually, I've found that engaging autohover before disengaging FD sets up my hover more stable. If I disengage FD first, then engage AH, she tends to buck like a cranky mule..

[Unicorn0578]

Thanks for all the replies ! :thumbup:

 

Well I spent some time tweaking this and that and to no avail

 

I have these settings at the moment:

BUT

I did try ALL variations checking and unchecking:

GAME FLIGHT MODE

GAME AVIONICS MODE

CENTRAL POSITION TRIMMER MODE

 

One thing I did notice was trimmer worked perfectly for the rudder :noexpression:

 

And one set up made a 'H' display on the right of the virtual position display 'Ctrl and Enter' but the auto hover did not work and the panel light did not display for auto hover.

 

Any more ideas would be great.

 

Will check out the joystick idea tomorrow. I do not have a wheel input but I do have a belkin game pad, so who knows.....

 

Thanks again....

[EtherealN]

While having Game mode, you will not be trimming since the flight model used doesn't require it.

 

Use the simulation preset and you should be able to trim.

[FOXFIRE TWOONE]

Since no one has suggested it post a short clip of you setting up and going into auto hover.

[Bucic]

By CAT101st - our forum member, if I remember correctly

 

 

 

and another one, by xdragon5, showing probably incorrect technique (deliberately?) as at one point you'll see that it leads to a vortex ring state

 

 

 

Also see extended manual (downloadable form the official site, 534 pages, 27.6 MB) chapter 12-21 and 4-9.

[Unicorn0578]

Thanks for the replies

 

Well here is a short (4 min) clip of me taking off, then trying to trim with no success then.... Ahem.... Landing.

 

All comments appreciated

 

avi file was 1.7 GB but I now know I need to make that smaller but this 1.7 GB clip was uploaded anyway :smartass:

[Sabre-TLA]

I noticed you took off with the pitch and bank autopilots turned off. I think this is contributing to your unstable flight.

 

When I take off I always have pitch and bank autopilots turned on. Once I have my altitude and heading set then I turn those on (but you have to remember to turn them off if you change altitude or heading).

 

When coming to a hover you have to be near zero ground speed (in my experience) and then engage autohover.

 

One problem I haven't solved yet is drift. I think it's actually the wind blowing my chopper off my hover point. In game mode the chopper is very stable and autohover will keep the position (no drift).

 

Hope this helps.

[EtherealN]

Unicorn, also note that you can save a "track file" after each flight. Tracks are automatically recorded while flying, and once the flight has ended you have a button available that says "Save Track". That is most of the time small enough to be attached directly to this forum (unless it's a massively long flight) and has the added advantage that we can play the track in the simulator and take control of the view to independently verify your cockpit setups, control deflections and so on (and even take control of the flight if we want to).

 

The TRK files even save mouse pointer position, so it is possible to draw a viewers attention to specific parts of the screen with it. :)

[Eddie]

You forgot (or didn't realise you had to) turn on the pitch, bank and heading autopilot channels. These should be on at all times during flight, they are not autopilot in the normal sense but act to dampen control forces and stabilise the aircraft.

 

Also you are making excessive control inputs at times and causing pilot induced oscillations, be smooth with the controls, you'll find she responds much better ;).

[EtherealN]

Agreed on the control inputs, Eddie.

 

I have a movie being compressed right now where I first fly without the three AP channels active, and then activate them. Hopefully the difference will be possible to see. Might be a while to upload though, but I'll dig up the track file as well. :)

[Unicorn0578]

Well I'm learning alot but still no luck with trim although I can hear the switch sounds when I press 't'.

 

Not much luck with auto hover either but at least I can see the lamp on, H symbol and the Heli reacts!

 

I try everything to get trim to hold the pitch but I must not be doing it right :cry:

 

Please look at the attached track file, I think I saved and uploaded it right.

Thanks in advance.

 

These pics give you a taste of the end of the flight just to entice you :D

 

trim1.trk

[GGTharos]

Do you have any FFB peripherals attached, like a wheel or something?

[EtherealN]

Unicorn, a couple notes:

 

First off, be gentle with the stick. You are throwing that stick around a LOT, which basically makes coordinated flight impossible. Also, don't yank full collective, you are constantly running at or below minimum rotor RPM since your engines can't cope (see the engine max warning lights overhead).

 

Also, as far as trimming goes, you have been trimming with an unstable helicopter, which will do you no good. You first need to have a completely stable helicopter, and then trim to make it keep that balance. You get the helicopter stable through being very gentle with the stick - if it does small maneuvers due to wind or whatever it is usually better to ignore it, since there's a certain delay from you noticing it to you giving control input on the stick to countering it to the control surfaces actually having an effect. You essentially enter what's called "Pilot Induced Oscillation".

 

On auto-hover, it is not a tool for entering hover, it's a tool for maintaining hover. Only use it after first establishing a stable, trimmed, hover.

 

My avi kungfu sucked, but I'll prep a trk with a few maneuvers for you to train - and make sure to keep your eyes on the control indicator to see gentle, careful movements. It is possible to throw this beast around crazily, but only after clocking a good couple of hours. For now you should barely be touching the stick.

 

EDIT

track file attached.

Pay attention to the (mostly) very gentle inputs on the stick (to my shame I did end up in a wee bit of PIO at one point, and had one incident of fighting the trim logic since I currently use the wait-for-center method, which I am not used to), coordination with the collective, and that trimming is performed when at a stable attitude that I want to keep. Also, auto-hover was only engaged when I was already hovering - it's a tool to let you put your mind on other things when you have already established a hover (such as scanning for targets, handling ABRIS, datalink, countermeasure programming and so on), it is not capable of putting you in a hover in the first place. It has some authority so it can stabilize a small bit of drifting, but it is limited.

trimming.trk

Edited January 15, 2010 by EtherealN

[Unicorn0578]

Thanks for comments EtherealN and I'm trying to be more gentle !

 

Maybe I am trying to fly before I can taxi lol

 

I will look at your track tomorrow as it's now 3.40am and I'm ready to crash into bed......:pilotfly:

 

I'm getting hooked to the images :doh:..... Has anyone seen my rotor blades?

Love the shadow and detail....

gentle1.trk