Some one help me land...

[IonicRipper]

I see much improvement, nicely done. The only potentially fatal error i see is you're letting the VVI drop way to low. You should not let it drop beyond -.5 (first mark on the gauge.)

[shagrat]

Good improvement! Impressive landing on the Frigate.

 

You get to it. When I look at the cyclic you still overcompensate a bit.

 

After you get comfortable with the landings try to catch the Huey in mid air and hover to a stop.

 

Try to keep the VVI needle close around 0, when you "feel" the shaking pull a bit of collective to compensate. With a bit of training, you can stop it to a hover without entering the dreaded VRS.

When you do it at some 150 to 300 ft it is possible to break out of VRS if necessary (drop collective and push cyclic).

Try to hold it at altitude!

 

Once comfortable with transition into a hover, you have the necessary "instinct" to catch the Huey in transition during landing... not all the time (I'm still far from perfect), but it helps a lot.

 

So far the key for me was to get the signals (shaking, sounds of the rotor, angle and VVI movements) combined with an instinctive reaction - "pull collective just a bit, a bit more, more rudder, drop a bit, easy on the rudder" and so on.

When the approach simply "feels" right and you just glance at the VVI a second before the shaking starts, because you know it would, then you are about right!:D

 

And don't forget this is fun! Every time it doesn't work I learn from it... best thing ever happened to me: Ripped both Skids, while passing under a powerline to show off (friend of mine was close to peeing his pants in Multiplayer), yet I didn't break of.

 

I got to the CASEVAC point, got the Huey down veeery careful (sweating like hell) and manged it without flipping.

Then it was back to base and yet another landing on the belly and I managed even to repair!

 

After that I had the "feeling" just how much collective you need to keep it stable. Lost some kilos in sweat and got a cramp in my cyclic hand, but that learning under pressure was the breakthrough! :thumbup:

Edited July 29, 2013 by shagrat

[Gloom Demon]

I appear to have the same problem with landing the UH-1H. Taking of into a hover is fairly easy - the chopper does everything by itself, though maintaining it on the same spot is not trivial. Transition into lift is also easy - i just point the nose down and gather some speed with a bit of collective input. Flying around is no big deal. But when it comes to landing i do not stop failing. :wallbash:

 

I think it is because of my fixed wing mentality - I try to put the chopper into a descent by lowering the collective and at some point the whole thing crashes into the ground no matter what i do. Maybe there is another way of doing it? The problem is that i don't have a clue as to how to lower my airspeed, loose altitude and keep the collective up simultaneously in order to transition into hover before landing. If I keep the collective up I gain altitude, if I lower it - I smash into the ground, if I lower the nose I loose altitude, but gain too much speed - what am I doing wrong?

 

I understand, that while landing I am supposed to loose altitude, lower the airspeed and be prepared to pull up on the collective when the platform begins to shake (transition into hover), it's just that I never seem to get into hover because I either crash or start gaining altitude again.

 

Any insight would be greatly appreciated, because I am really thrilled at the prospect of flying a real rotorcraft and performing missions on it.

 

Thank you in advance :-)

 

P.S. Could it be that that thing that changes the angle of attack of the rotor blades has to be adjusted somehow? Because by default my throttle was mapped to it and i had to remap it to collective.

Edited August 15, 2013 by Gloom Demon

[lorenzoj]

One thing that might help the transition for some is to initially try for landings with really slow forward movement. A steady easy decent with SLOW forward movement keeping focused on your desired landing spot. And don't start with too much altitude as you will be trying to lose too much, too quickly which can get you into trouble. Once you are comfortable in this mode the transition to hover on landing approach might prove easier to accomplish without ballooning or descending too rapidly.

 

A lot of landings in combat situations are going to be made with more then a little forward motion as you come in to the LZ anyway, to limit exposure to nearby small arms fire

Edited August 15, 2013 by lorenzoj

[EagleEye]

P.S. Could it be that that thing that changes the angle of attack of the rotor blades has to be adjusted somehow? Because by default my throttle was mapped to it and i had to remap it to collective.

Yes, youre throttle should be mapped to the collective to adjust the blade pitch angle.

As for youre landings please re-read the entire thread. There are so many hints to make better landings.

Some quotes:

- Once out of ETL, keep an eye on the VVI (the gauge under the altimeter) and keep it above -500 feet per minute (or .5 on the gauge.)

- don't just pull up hard on the collective at the last second that makes it worse

- Keep speed just above 30kts and vvi around 500. you need to manage that speed and be prepared to compensate with increased collective at the 20-25kts range

- I try to maintain at least a bit air speed, all the way down, until I am really close to the ground

- It`s better to land with a little bit of forward flight

[Gloom Demon]

Yes, you're throttle should be mapped to the collective to adjust the blade pitch angle.

 

I'm at a loss then. If the throttle (collective) should control the blade pitch angle, than I have to press Num+ Num- on the keyboard all the time to climb/descend? In helicopters RPM does not translate into lift - only blade pitch angle? Do I land only using the blade pitch angle or I have to fiddle with Num+ Num- controls also?

Edited August 15, 2013 by Gloom Demon

[EagleEye]

I'm at a loss then. If the throttle (collective) should control the blade pitch angle, than I have to press Num+ Num- on the keyboard all the time to climb/descend? In helicopters RPM does not translate into lift - only blade pitch angle? Do I land only using the blade pitch angle or I have to fiddle with Num+ Num- controls also?

No we missunderstand each other here. By throttle I meant the thrust lever on youre joystick. With the thrust lever on a joystick you can control the collective and therefore blade pitch angle. With a separat axies on a joystick or with keyboard keys you set the throttle and adjust the engine RPM with it.

You only have to adjust blade pitch angle via the collective to take off/fly/land. The RPM will be adjusted automatically.

[Mogster]

The ROF UH1 really likes forward motion, fixed wing style landings are very easy, maybe a bit too forgiving. Pinpoint landings are much harder, if your speed drops below 30kts then you can VRS and its a struggle to get out of. ETL transition makes the heli pitch around quite a bit, its difficult to chase the pitching with control inputs.

 

Keep forward motion above 30kts till you're close to the ground and in ground effect. Descend slowly, less than 500fpm. Keep a beady eye on the vertical speed gauge, if it drops suddenly push the stick forward and add collective.