Max speed at altitude chart

[StarHopper]

Hey guys, does anyone have a chart that shows maximum air speed (IAS) at different altitudes? I keep crossing my rotors at high altitude.

 

Thanks.

[AlphaOneSix]

I've never seen a chart, but while in flight, the IAS scale on the left side of the HUD has a MAX IAS caret that adjusts based on altitude. You get the beeping and "MAX IAS" light when you exceed it.

 

However, even below the maximum IAS, certain maneuver combinations can make blade intersection more likely, such as a high collective setting combined with large right pedal inputs and/or large right cyclic inputs. The higher your collective setting, the more "sensitive" your rotor disks will be to right pedal and right cyclic inputs.

[Rusty_M]

Isn't there a chart for this on the left of the Shark's pit itself? Or is that a different chart? I don't have time to check as it's first thing in the morning for me just now.

[StarHopper]

The charts kind of blurry on my comp and I can't really read it. And now, I'm without my comp for about 2 weeks. So, I was wondering if someone had made a chart up.

 

@Alpha - Are you sure the caret adjusts for altitude? I've been fly straight and level at speeds slightly below the caret and still have my rotors cross. This is one dangerous aircraft! They ought to call it Widow Maker! I can see why they haven't fielded many! You can usually tell when your in trouble. The engine sounds like its binding, so maybe there is stress on it. That's when I try to carefully get slower and more even in flight. But at other times, there's no warning at all. Flight feels fine, and I'm slightly below the caret, heading straight and level, but my blades suddenly go "boom"! And I fall out of the sky. Its the one problem I haven't been able to figure out yet. Everything else seems correct damage wise. The only thing I can think of is that maybe collective got slightly high. But usually, I try to keep it no more than midway, because I've learned through experience that keeps the blades from breaking, even in steep dives. On a steep dive, I floor the collective, and flatten out the blades. Works like a charm!

 

Still, the ruskies need to work on this chopper some more. Maybe raise the top blades up a little more. And put some Igla's on it. The copter's not very good at shooting even other heli's when they're moving fast. Hard to lock with the shkval, the gun can't seem to calculate a correct shot and always misses, and the Vihkers don't have the maneuvering capability to stay in the laser tunnel. This copter feels VERY experimental.

Edited September 29, 2011 by StarHopper

[Rusty_M]

I know it wasn't addressed to me, but the Caret certainly does move. I've had the alarm go off at different speeds in the same mission due to how high I was flying. I wish I could remember the name of the mission that illustrates this very well. It's the one in the deployment campaign where you fly from Nalchick, for a long way, then take out a couple of lines of APCs & MLRS's. The change in altitude on that route really affects the speed you can fly.

[StarHopper]

Hmm, ok, thanks. I was questioning it, because I've had the rotors blow when I was below the caret and no alarm ever sounded. And I was flying pretty level and straight. I'm beginning to think there is some other factor involved than just cyclic or speed. Sometimes the engine feels like its binding at times for no reason I can put my finger on. Like something has built up causing it stress. And yet I don't see any damage on my instruments or on the outside (F2) view. This seems to happen after I've been doing a lot of maneuvers, but yet now I've slowed them down. Sometimes, even a while afterward. Its like the copter can't let the stresses go. Maybe I stressed out the engine? Inner mechanical failures that aren't showing up on the Ekran? I can't show any tracks right now, because I'm away from my comp for about two weeks. Buts its nice to know that the caret does calculate for TAS. It wouldn't be much good otherwise.

Edited September 29, 2011 by StarHopper

[Sense]

maybe it was freezing and you forgot to turn on the pitot heat/anti ice.

[b00ce]

I was just flying around, admittedly to get screen shots of the max IAS caret at different altitudes because I hadn't read the thread all the way through.

Just after my last screenshot, seen here, (at ~3460 ASL, nose down no more than 5 degrees with little to no roll) my blades collided and my engines shut off without warning.

 

I foolishly tried to see if I could keep control and land it.:joystick:

LOLNO.:doh:

 

Anyway, I attached my track.

Ignore the sloppy start-up.

High_Altitude_MaxIAS_Test.trk

[StarHopper]

maybe it was freezing and you forgot to turn on the pitot heat/anti ice.

 

No, I'm flying the instant action mission at no more than 2000 meters ( I think its meters ) off the ground at times, and usually no more than a few 100 meters. I'd love to look at the tracks, but I'm without my comp for a week or two. I just thought I'd write and see if anyone else had found any problems with the sim or knew what was going on.

 

Thats another thing this sim needs. A better track viewer like falcon had where you can rewind, pause, and fast forward, with a lot more statistical "inside" simulation information, so we can see "exactly" what going on beyond the copters sensors, including the variables of the "world". Would explain a lot.

Edited September 29, 2011 by StarHopper

[b00ce]

It at least needs a rewind feature. I can't count how many times I've passed where I wanted to be.

[EtherealN]

Starhopper, first, sorry if there are errors, I am typing on a new tablet and it is being weird.

 

First, yes it is metes. But off the ground is not relevant, wat is relevant is MSL. Also, yes, you can almost always criss the rotor discs. The carets are for normal operating procedure which includes consideration for he special characteristics of coaxial rotor craft operation. I think you would benefit from studying ho the rotors work through the revolution and ho collective and cyclic input affect them, but also how atospheric conditions affect them.

 

The theory is counterintuitive if you have never flown aircraft like this, but once you get the hang of it it will make sense. The most imporrtant thing to think about is the alpha of the blades.

[b00ce]

Starhopper, first, sorry if there are errors, I am typing on a new tablet and it is being weird.

 

First, yes it is metes. But off the ground is not relevant, wat is relevant is MSL. Also, yes, you can almost always criss the rotor discs. The carets are for normal operating procedure which includes consideration for he special characteristics of coaxial rotor craft operation. I think you would benefit from studying ho the rotors work through the revolution and ho collective and cyclic input affect them, but also how atospheric conditions affect them.

 

The theory is counterintuitive if you have never flown aircraft like this, but once you get the hang of it it will make sense. The most imporrtant thing to think about is the alpha of the blades.

Pretty much all of this.

 

Upon review of my track, I found that I was rolling to the right, which is why my blades crossed. Additionally, I once they broke off, rotor, and subsequently engine, RPM went through the roof causing the EEG to kick in and kill the engines to avoid a catastrophic failure.:megalol: (As evidenced by the rotor RPM being pegged at 100%, likely more, with full collective and no engine power.)

[StarHopper]

Yeah, I was remembering at one point when this happened. I was retreating after an attack run, and my engines were struggling to lift me up the side of the cliff toward the FARP. I probably pushed the overweight bastard a little too hard. :music_whistling: Yet, at other times, when flight has been pretty serene, at low altitude, straight flight, speed somewhat beneath the caret, collective midway, I get blade clash. No warning, just boom. And I was being careful. These are the times I question what happened. If I ever see this happen again, I'll get a track.

[Sense]

jep, the shark doesn't like high altitudes.

go ahead to set up a testmission with the shark starting at 5000ft.

Since you mostly don't get higher than 1000ft, I don't see this as a problem.

it's the same like flying the a-10 to the moon and wonder why you don't get there.