Anyone else pride themselves for completing missions without AP assists?

[ben1101]

I, for one, love the challenge of flying the KA50 without any AP assists, love the flight dynamics and the real "seat of the pants" flying that goes with it - my first priority in any mission is to turn all the AP channels off and then go from there. Takes a lot of practice for head down target acquisition, especially keeping the yaw in check but it really opens up a whole other world during combat, no longer fighting the yaw hold or PIO that seems to be a huge issue for me and my G940 settings on the pitch axis.

 

Being a quite naturally stable bird to begin with you jut have to get used to the rather large amount of right yaw to keep the heli in trim ( i have found this to be the case whether AP assists were turned on or off) but regardless if you are looking for the next challenge in this awesome game, get into doing missions with the AP channels turned off! (unless of course you want to use the flight director to cover a long distance approach to the hot zone, which isnt really cheating per se...:P )

 

Love this game, and cant wait for DCS to bring the Apache into action in the next installment!!

 

Ben :D

[EtherealN]

That's not "AP assists", that's AP stability augmentation channels, and a pilot flying without them would get into serious trouble for endangering state property. ;)

[CarneyUK]

I'm having enough trouble flying with them on let alone turning the things off!!! LOL :joystick:

[PhiXX]

You could just turn on the Autopilot Director in your case. The more you have to concentrate on flying, especially when flying without any AP aid, the more you're in danger of missing a sam launch and you're probably less productive than a pilot who would use the full potential of his machine.

[dok_rp]

Real Ka-50 pilots use them too. Not using them does not make you better than anyone, just a lot more reckless. :thumbup:

 

The Ka-50 is the only single seater attack helicopter in the world and for one they've implemented systems to help the pilot fly the machine with ease and focus on what it's been designed to do: blow stuff up and come back to base.

 

Flying without the stability augmentation systems on would be like driving on icy roads without your chains on. It sure takes cojones to do so, but the chance of you totalling your ride just rises 10-fold.

 

I for one never take off without them off and take great pride in doing so. :pilotfly:

[Yurgon]

Just last night I got my bird shot up by a ZU-23 I had missed. The left engine caught fire and hydraulic pressure was dropping. I managed to limp back home towards the FARP some 20km away - with all stability augmentation channels gone.

 

That was one hell of a bumpy ride. I was already dreading a single engine landing without stability augmentation when the hydraulics finally failed completely and I lost right engine power, but I managed to perform an autorotation landing in visual range of the FARP.

 

So... I can't even achieve controlled forward flight without the stability augmentation channels, and you're flying like that all the time? Dude, that's insane. :-)

[EtherealN]

Well, you should practice for such emergencies, but when on mission flying without them is considered a major offense by the Russian Army Aviation.

 

Think of it like landing a fixed-wing without flaps. You just don't do that under normal conditions since there's no reason to do so, but you still train for it in case battle damage were to prevent you from extending them.

 

But flying with battle damage and failing systems really are what makes these simulators for me. It really tests your skill and often forces you to think even quicker than combat does (since any good engagement will be pre-planned).

[Sharkster64]

Hovering any helicopter in real life is a challenge and dangerous with your head down in the cockpit. In real life, pilots without autopilot stability augmentation channels,keep their eyes focused outside the helicopter when hovering. That is why the shark has autopilot stability augmentation channels. To hover with your head down in the cockpit in real life,(without the stability channels on) to acquire targets, would be insane.

 

What you are doing may be challenging and fun in this simulation, but I am afraid you are just flying unrealistically, and you would definitely not do that in a real bird.

 

Have fun flying unrealistically at any rate.

[Isegrim]

@Sharkster64

 

Just say you are Avoiding Trees ;)

[jazjar]

I use a combination of AP and holding down the trim. whenever I turn or make any big change in my flight regime, such as going from 200kph to a hover, I hold down the trim for the entire process. Works like a dream and minimizes jumpiness from the controls when doing discreet press and releases. Every other time, I just press and release and sit back and relax, go to a hover, kill some stuff with vikhrs, get out of hover, kill more stuff with cannon and rockets, then go back. usual combat mission for me.

Edited December 6, 2010 by jazjar

[ben1101]

well I just love flying the machine, and i understand IRL the channels are there to make the whole fly and fight task a lot more efficient, and IRL it is not acceptable to fly without them on. I can still hold a hover with my head down, just on instruments alone within a 3 meter box - but I have also thousands of hours flying X-plane choppers and also 30 hours in a H300C.

 

I thought there may have been others on here who love swinging this heavy metal machine around by the stick. I for one love it! :)

 

EDIT: My trim is just click on and off with the trim button as I have it linked to rudder key press left and right to avoid stacking up the rudder position with each trim. I use trim to set new attitudes while cruising and to fine tune the hover stick position. Because of the above technicality with linking rudder, I cant hold down the trim button to disengage the friction of the stick and I would reason that IRL flying with no friction on the stick could lead to high amounts of stress on the hydraulically assisted control system - but i dont really know for sure?? (Hi its me from the future, seen a whole lot more youtube vids of 50's and 52's being swung around and considering the Russians ability to over-engineer a bolt these birds would survive you lot with your prolonged trim holding haha Me? Im already flying ag, drunk in a KA-26 held together with duct tape after being kicked out for flying without assists..:D only a tiny Court Marshal unlike some of those big b*stards in their frogfoots and 35's :D)

Edited March 1, 2011 by ben1101

[Isegrim]

Same here .

 

And i just can say it gets you rising your Skills by Handling the Shark in Hot situations. :)

[ben1101]

I guess in my original post it sounded like i was showing off or being a bit up myself, What I love doing is flying with absolute precision, like flying close to powerlines ie: simulating maintenance or inspection and other such things as due to the limited situational awareness which comes from staring at a 2D flat screen it requires a lot more concentration to fly the machine precisely.

 

I will give 3D screens a go though, as depth of perception I can see helping this dilemma in a huge way :)

[PhiXX]

Hey we sure understand, just tried to prevent you from getting court marshalled :D

[EtherealN]

/me adds court marshals to desired feature list. :D

[ben1101]

Hey we sure understand, just tried to prevent you from getting court marshalled :D

 

Haha, you guys are the best, thanks!