Hover Tips

[Cowboy10uk]

Ok guys, I know this is a really noob question, especially since I've been flying this aircraft since it first came out in Russia, however I am still struggling to get a stable hover. I can get her to sit at one altitude, I can get here to almost stop, But for the life of me I cannot get the hover to stop drifting, granted is only at very low speed, but if I'm not concentrating on the hover E.G. When engaging with weapons etc, I find my self drifting out of position, and yesterday I was so taken up with firing my missiles, I drifting away from cover slap bang in line of the enemy air defences, I think they must have thought Christmas had come early :)

 

So any tips guys, what is the best way to get a perfect stable hover, I have tried using both hover hold and doing it manually, but I still get the same issue.

 

My CO is waiting for you to help me, it seems I'm bankrupting my air orce with the amount of ka 50s that I'm planting in the ground :)

 

Cowboy10uk

[bengo]

Mmmm, hit the trim-button a few times after engaging hover hold ?

[Mohamengina]

I could also use some help with this. My understanding is that you engage all four auto-pilots (bank, pitch, direction and altitude) but even with these enabled the heli seems to drift randomly.

 

 

Any other tips?

[ARM505]

IRL, hovering is probably the least stable thing a helicopter can do, so it's hardly surprising that it's a pain to operate weapons etc while doing this. Not that that is much help :) I just get it basically trimmed so it's as stable as it's going to get, then use the autopilot if I'll be there for a little while and/or plan to use other systems, and practice ( <--- the big one). It's not too bad, but still takes up all your attention, there isn't much left over to be clever with :) Edit to add: Not to reopen the old discussions on this, but I find myself normally only using the pitch and roll stability channels. The rest I'll do myself, unless I'm going to be really busy.

Edited November 8, 2011 by ARM505

[kylania]

Another thread mentioned that "auto hover" isn't really "auto hover" but instead "hover hold". Also that it should only be activated when you're close to stopped. It also said that if you have the Flight Director thing on that'll prevent hover hold from working at all.

[159th_Viper]

So any tips guys, what is the best way to get a perfect stable hover, I have tried using both hover hold and doing it manually, but I still get the same issue.

 

Aye Cowboy

 

Any chance of posting a quick track? Will be easier to evaluate and then assist :)

[Xxx]

Another thread mentioned that "auto hover" isn't really "auto hover" but instead "hover hold". Also that it should only be activated when you're close to stopped. It also said that if you have the Flight Director thing on that'll prevent hover hold from working at all.

 

Agree with the above.

 

I find that I have to be stationary, ie, no lateral movement, before the "auto hover" is engaged and trimmed perfectly. If I understood its function correctly, it should "hold" the current lateral position. I always find there is a lateral drift however:(

[Cowboy10uk]

Aye Cowboy

 

Any chance of posting a quick track? Will be easier to evaluate and then assist :)

 

No probs viper, won't be flying till Thurs due to working late's, but ill get a track up then. I think I'm almost there, I just can't seem to get that slow drift trimmed out.

 

Not sure if theres any HUD symbology I'm missing or any visual cues that would help me.

 

:)

 

Cowboy10uk

[159th_Viper]

Just keep in mind that whilst in Auto-Hover, every time you hit the trim button you're effectively resetting the hover-point. Accordingly if you have already moved/deviated from the original hover-point, trimming and manoeuvring in order to get 'back' to the original point if you have already deviated will not help.

 

Not sure if theres any HUD symbology I'm missing or any visual cues that would help me.

 

There is a hover point deviation marker in the HUD and also on the HSI as illustrated by the intersection of a horizontal and vertical bar.

[mjolner]

Press R ALT + ENTER to bring up the axis indicator, you can use it to see exactly where your trim is set. Crosswind can also be a factor. Practice acheiving a stable hover without pressing the hover button.

[nomdeplume]

I could also use some help with this. My understanding is that you engage all four auto-pilots (bank, pitch, direction and altitude) but even with these enabled the heli seems to drift randomly.

There's a separate hover-hold button, which does activate the four AP channels but also utilises a doppler radar to try to detect movement away from the current position and correct for it. You'll get some different HUD symbology and there's an indicator on the left side of the overhead panel that lights up when hover-hold is engaged.

[Dejjvid]

Slow down to 3 km/h. Engage hover, your heli will start to pitch up if you were going forward.

Wait 2 sec, tap trim button. Wait 2 secs, if it's not ok, retap trim button. If this doesn't work, you are doing something very fishy... :)

[Mohamengina]

There's a separate hover-hold button, which does activate the four AP channels but also utilises a doppler radar to try to detect movement away from the current position and correct for it. You'll get some different HUD symbology and there's an indicator on the left side of the overhead panel that lights up when hover-hold is engaged.

 

Hot-key?

[WildBillKelsoe]

Ok guys, I know this is a really noob question, especially since I've been flying this aircraft since it first came out in Russia, however I am still struggling to get a stable hover. I can get her to sit at one altitude, I can get here to almost stop, But for the life of me I cannot get the hover to stop drifting, granted is only at very low speed, but if I'm not concentrating on the hover E.G. When engaging with weapons etc, I find my self drifting out of position, and yesterday I was so taken up with firing my missiles, I drifting away from cover slap bang in line of the enemy air defences, I think they must have thought Christmas had come early :)

 

So any tips guys, what is the best way to get a perfect stable hover, I have tried using both hover hold and doing it manually, but I still get the same issue.

 

My CO is waiting for you to help me, it seems I'm bankrupting my air orce with the amount of ka 50s that I'm planting in the ground :)

 

Cowboy10uk

 

OK. This is what to do when you're in need to hover immediately after cruise:

 

1- Slow airspeed till +040 KIAs and note that a horizontal line will start to appear on the hud.

2- Check airspeed under +100 KIAs by looking at the horizontal airspeed gauge located to the left of the front console. Should be having a needle up on 0 (even though it's reading +040 on the HUD, you're practically now in the hover favoured position.

3- Trim the nose up back 1 degree (not 10 as on the main ADI, but the first tick mark immediately below the centerline (between ground and air).

4- you'll note you've started to go backwards a little bit. And you'll also note the X and Y channels on the pitch and bank autopilot indicator are centered into a perfect cross.

5- THIS IS WHEN YOU PRESS LALT+T (HOVER AUTO ENGAGE)

 

6- Leave the aircraft to adjust itself and maintain position in the X,Y,and Z planes. Note that very little input is required before that.

7- Be sure to adjust engine output to throttle break blade tip power need. To do so, you need to have the autopilot turned on, with baro/radar alt selected to up/down not middle position. Press and hold F on the keyboard and note blade angle on the indicator jumping up and down. Adjust power so that blade angle is what gives at pressing and holding F. Also make sure that set R /L Limit lights on the overhead are not lit, and the master caution light is not beeping. Anytime if this happens, lower collective immediately without exceeding 3 m/s sink rate on the VVI (3 tick marks from hover). Vortex ring is recovered at 60 KIAs.

 

***Important*** If the aircraft starts to behave weirdly, check the autopilot Bank, Yaw, and Pitch channels. If they are blinking, turn them off then turn them back on after you've re-stabilised the aircraft using trim.

 

Hope this helps.

Edited November 8, 2011 by WildBillKelsoe

[Cowboy10uk]

Thanks for advice guys, will try it on Thurs when I next have time to fly. Thankyou for everyone taking the time to help me here.

[WildBillKelsoe]

Thanks for advice guys, will try it on Thurs when I next have time to fly. Thankyou for everyone taking the time to help me here.

 

 

WOOT!? Get yer ass up in that drab and get on it.. NOUWW!!!

 

Just kidding. Let us know your progress and anything else you need help with

 

:smilewink:

[FifthColumnist]

You can always use the drift to your advantage, give it a nudge in the desired direction and trim, and drift out from behind a hill or whatever, the movement might even help you evade RPG attacks wouldn't it?

[WildBillKelsoe]

Its Thursday mate! Did u try our advice?

[smithcorp]

What I founf last night - if you are using rudder much in turns, and don't centre everything each time after hitting T, then you can build up some control deflections that will stuff up the hover. I found if I reset trim before I reach my hover point and then carefully trim again just before when entering the hover, i get a better hover-hold outcome.

 

If even a bit of rudder is trimmed on, you can end up spinning around.

[kylania]

Since I always end up hoving for about 40 minutes before I manage to land are there any tips for actually landing, say on a FARP pad?

 

Visibility from the seat is virtually nil looking out the windows and the Shark is a pretty big girl, so landing in a specific spot is difficult for me. Not to mention that even with pulling back, dropping the collective, locking the breaks, throttling down the engines I still end up careening off the pad into something fragile.

[spikenet]

ha yeah, I think the maintenance staff need to check the brake pads as they do bugger all when mashing the brake pedal! :)

[Sarge55]

I usually approach the FARP at a slight angle so I can see out the left side window, -1 descent and about 10 kmh forward speed. Start the approach about 1 km out from 50-60 meters. Just a matter of practice to get judging the approach right.

 

Make sure you check the wind direction and speed on the PVI and approach from the right direction.

 

Gotta admit I'm rusty as I've been flying the Warthog mostly and the last few approaches were ugly.

[WildBillKelsoe]

Since I always end up hoving for about 40 minutes before I manage to land are there any tips for actually landing, say on a FARP pad?

 

Visibility from the seat is virtually nil looking out the windows and the Shark is a pretty big girl, so landing in a specific spot is difficult for me. Not to mention that even with pulling back, dropping the collective, locking the breaks, throttling down the engines I still end up careening off the pad into something fragile.

 

kylania, AHOY!!! its commandosolo2009 from subsim! Now what you need to do is to engage route mode, and at 0002 on the DTA button on the PVI-800 start the hover routine. By the way, landing from hover is very easier than landing from a cruise straight. you can reset trim while hover, engage and disengage over new point which brings you closer to it. If you want a track guys, all you gotta do is ask!

[Dejjvid]

Once you set her down, hit trim reset and lower collective. Then she'll stay put.

Once front wheel has touched down, i do the above..

[Bushmanni]

Since I always end up hoving for about 40 minutes before I manage to land are there any tips for actually landing, say on a FARP pad?

 

Visibility from the seat is virtually nil looking out the windows and the Shark is a pretty big girl, so landing in a specific spot is difficult for me. Not to mention that even with pulling back, dropping the collective, locking the breaks, throttling down the engines I still end up careening off the pad into something fragile.

 

If you come in low enough (2-4m) you can see the pad quite well or at least two of its corners. Just get your chopper right in the middle of them in left/right direction and then use the white H painted on the pad to judge your forward/aft position on the pad. With little practice you can learn to judge your position quite accurately with these cues.

 

If you have a problem with controlling your movement in hover then try this: Don't use FD or hover hold but just the regular attitude hold autopilot. Trim for hover, ie. nose up 5 degrees. It doesn't matter much which direction your nose is pointing, how high you are or where you are exactly as long as you are somewhere near the pad. With this the autopilot keeps you in level flight and you can control your movement easily with cyclic stick and collective. You can focus on watching your position and the velocity vector in the HUD while autopilot keeps you from accelerating in any direction.