What kind of maneuvers should I learn?

[guitarxe]

I've been playing for a few weeks now, just performing more or less the same routine. I'd do a cold start from parking, taxi to runway, hover check, take off, fly around and then land. During the flying part I'd practice coordinated turns and combat turns (I'm not sure if I'm calling it right, this is the one where you do a 180 degree turn and climb at the same time), as well as the sharp 90 degree turn where you want to make sure you don't lose too much speed in the process (again, don't really know what this maneuver is called).

 

So that above I've been practicing for a while and feel like I'm pretty good at it, or at least much better than I was when I started, since I can't really compare myself to anyone.

 

Now I'm also starting to train weapon deployment on the target practice range, but I feel like there's probably more maneuvers that I should learn before I go into real combat. Unfortunately, I'm having a hard time finding a source for these maneuvers, or tactics I should learn. I guess being military related I shouldn't be surprised it's not as easy as just searching google for it.

 

Maybe somebody here could advise where to go from here?

[-MadCat-]

In combat, you hardly plan your maneuvers ahead like you do for an aerobatic display.

Far more important is to feel comfortable with the helicopter and know/have a feeling for its performance and maneuvering envelope.

You have to adapt to an ever changing battlefield.

 

My suggestion is to just keep flying around and do all kinds of crazy stuff to push the helicopter to its limits.

If you still want to learn specific maneuvers, autorotation is a skill that can save your life.

Also precise maneuvering in restricted space (e.g. urban areas) is beneficial.

Most important, have fun flying.

 

Greetings

MadCat

[Lizzard]

right..just keep flying..the Goal should be achieving absolute control over the Helicopter so that it alwasy does exactly what you want it to do. So flying the KA-50 should become something like second Nature..but u know..it`s a long way to go:)

[RagnarDa]

I would suggest a panic-maneuver. You can turn quicker to your left (i think it is) because of how the coaxial-rotors are set-up. Therefore, if your LWS lights up you should as fast as possible (<2 sec) create a LOS-issue by moving your helicopter sideways (as the one firing at you are most probably in front of you), dropping to ground (or almost) and then turning around and speeding up to V-MAX about 135 degrees to the left of your original heading and meanwhile shooting flares. If you practice it til its in your muscle memory you will survive much longer in combat.

[Flagrum]

I would suggest a panic-maneuver. You can turn quicker to your left (i think it is) because of how the coaxial-rotors are set-up. Therefore, if your LWS lights up you should as fast as possible (<2 sec) create a LOS-issue by moving your helicopter sideways (as the one firing at you are most probably in front of you), dropping to ground (or almost) and then turning around and speeding up to V-MAX about 135 degrees to the left of your original heading and meanwhile shooting flares. If you practice it til its in your muscle memory you will survive much longer in combat.

why 135 degrees?

 

(ok, after 5 seconds of thinking, i think i got it already: 90 deg were what i would have expected - to put the threat abeam and thus giving a hard target. but then, you want to put distance between you and the enemy - but 180 deg would give a static picture to the enemy. so the middle road is between 90 and 180 deg ... which is 135 deg. :o)

[Fishbreath]

Be comfortable with sideslipping. Learning to shoot off-axis on the move might be handy—I did that in one of my more recent missions. A BTR-80 was shooting at an allied Hind, so I trimmed for offset flight, cued the Shkval with the HMS, and Vikhred him from six kilometers while pointing twenty degrees off-track.

[Bushmanni]

The maneuvers you need in combat are basic turns, quick stop maneuver, establishing hover (also using only instruments like at night or 1km altitude), NOE flying (< 10m AGL), aiming weapons by flying (rockets and gunpods especially) and vertical and lateral pop-ups. When you pop-up and someone shoots at you its very easy to get into VRS while lowering the collective in panic. What you need to do is push nose down while lowering the collective and dive down and then not crashing into the cover while stopping yourself.

 

Quick stop is basically a 180 degree hard turn that kills your speed. Quick stop is easy if you don't have to worry about altitude but if you need to do it while staying under 15m then it gets more interesting.

 

Example of the quick stop:

 

If you have speed more than 250km/h you'll either have to climb while turning or start the turn slowly to avoid climbing. In the video I keep my collective at the bottom for a few seconds and nose slightly raised to get my speed low enough for a low altitude quick stop maneuver. When your speed is about 100km/h you need to stop the tight turn and reduce your roll under 30 degrees and increase pitch to about 30 degrees up and reduce rest of the speed using traditional flare maneuver or you get into VRS. In the video my aim is to land next to the tower so I don't stop completely as quick as possible but until to the 100km/h limit it's a proper example of the maneuver.

[guitarxe]

Oh, that's you in the video! I watched it before and was thoroughly impressed, had to find my jaw on the floor! Didn't know helicopters were capable of that.

 

I wanted to ask, what area of the map are you flying in? Those city roads look perfect for training for this, and also did you enter all the waypoints on the ABRIS manually or is it from a mission?

 

I tried doing some NOE flying after I watched that and slapped the shark against the ground, who immediately lost her tail like a frightened lizard :megalol:

Was surprised I could actually continue flying and managed to land on the belly of the front piece of it that was still intact :huh:

[AlphaOneSix]

Make sure you know how to list lazily to the left... (Family Guy joke)

[Donglr]

just get out there and fly! All the maneuvers may feel like you are proficient now but once the LWS sounds and the bullets start flying by the chopper control starts to become less smooth and more hectic because suddenly you are paying attention to other things than flying. But it's all just practice. Get out there and have fun and try to include the maneuvers you practised in your engagements. Especially when you are under attack try to maintain speed to get away quick, don't be a sitting duck.

[Fishbreath]

Also, remember the helo pilot's mantra: slow is smooth and smooth is fast.

[RagnarDa]

why 135 degrees?

 

(ok, after 5 seconds of thinking, i think i got it already: 90 deg were what i would have expected - to put the threat abeam and thus giving a hard target. but then, you want to put distance between you and the enemy - but 180 deg would give a static picture to the enemy. so the middle road is between 90 and 180 deg ... which is 135 deg. :o)

Correct! Another reason is that they sometimes sneak up on you from your side and if you're unlucky you might find yourself flying TOWARDS the enemy fire.

 

You could also vary your altitude (up-down-up-down...) while escaping because a air-target that is also moving verticaly is very hard to hit. Most of the time though its usually better to try to put terrain and objects between you and them (not trees unfortunately).

 

Just remember that when the LWS-alarm goes off you have to react instantly because a missile is already in flight towards you and they are fast and short-ranged (meaning they are launched near you) but they are quite easy to dodge as you'll notice if you try a jousting match against a bmp or a t-72/t-80.

 

I should probably write this in the other thread but I look out the left and right windows a lot. When I fire off a Vikhr I use the time it takes for it to hit my target to look out the windows and see if something is shooting at me and if it is i imediately disengages and lose my missile. I always fight "tunnel vision"/single focus which is quite easy to happen to you because of that big TV-screen in the middle of the cockpit.

 

Yet another tip is to do a "Crazy Ivan" turn now and then: The left window is bigger than the others and I therefore do a quick right turn when moving or when scouting from a new position. I use rudders only when doing that to maintin momementum in the direction I was traveling in. I also use it to have quick look back when fleeing to see where they are firing from, but this is also exposing the pilot.

 

Also, never return to a place where you have been fired upon and NEVER over-fly the enemy

[HugePanic]

By the way:

Am i the only guy dropping the landing gear when I am hunting around 5m altitude?

I found it saves my shkval at least one time when I miss judge anything.

[seikdel]

HugePanic: No, you're not. I try to, but don't always remember, I fly with folks who do it all the time, though.

 

In answer to the question that started the thread, "Maneuvering the Ka-50" starts at 10-34 (page 370) in the manual. It takes you through a plethora of basic maneuvers. You should get comfortable with doing all of these. In combat, you won't so much think, "Okay, I need to do a break turn, so I need a 30 degree bank with pedal input, pull on the cyclic..." Instead, you'll see a reason to stop and you'll be able to automatically burn speed without gaining much altitude.

[Bushmanni]

I wanted to ask, what area of the map are you flying in? Those city roads look perfect for training for this, and also did you enter all the waypoints on the ABRIS manually or is it from a mission?

 

I built the flight plan in ME. I take-off from Krymsk, fly around and through the city and land back to where I started.

[Cooper 001]

By the way:

Am i the only guy dropping the landing gear when I am hunting around 5m altitude?

I found it saves my shkval at least one time when I miss judge anything.

 

 

Yes, I also fly with my gear down when doing a low and slow SEAD opp and when I am avoiding the CAP in the canyons. When you bump the ground you will limit damage. It also helps to avoid the F15's and other fighters because you can hide, land and shutdown faster.

 

Fly until you can maneuver the Shark without thinking about it, it will become automatic. This is very important because you will have many other things to attend to.

 

Cooper

Edited August 29, 2013 by Cooper 001
I fly better than I spell

[schkorpio]

.

 

I didn't hear the trimmer button go off once during that video - just curious, were you using the the all of the autopilot channels?

 

Oh and very nice flying!:D

[Bushmanni]

I didn't hear the trimmer button go off once during that video - just curious, were you using the the all of the autopilot channels?

 

Oh and very nice flying!:D

 

The delay to regain control after trimming is deadly at that altitude and speed like is unwanted autopilot inputs. I trimmed for the nose down acceleration before take-off and turned FD on, then at 270km/h and next time before quick stop maneuver, then for hover and last time on the ground. My trimmer sound might be bugged or just inaudible because I have turned down cockpit noises, I don't really know.

 

Good that you mentioned trimmer as I forgot one important thing about quick stop maneuver. You should trim your stick about neutral in pitch axis before quick stop or you get trouble controlling the bird when your speed is below 100km/h and you can't turn tight enough in the turn. Trying to trim during the turn could be fatal. With FFB all this is unnecessary as you don't lose control authority with trimming like with regular joysticks.

[BBQ]

learn to competently fly the aircraft until it becomes an extension of your body.

[WildBillKelsoe]

start with basics:

 

1- hover

2- sideslip

3- forward

4- backward

 

these can be combined to give the more advanced funnel maneuver.

[RagnarDa]

About lowering gear to avoid ground collison - have you tried the Altitude Hold AP with Radar Height mode? As long as you dont fly too fast it will keep you from hitting the ground, even if you set it to just 1 meter.

[ajax]

I'm not sure about the 1 m -- I think that if you engage altitude hold at < 4 m then all AP channels are turned off.

[HowlinWolf]

The hardest maneuver I have tried to master is sneaking new computer equipment past the SAM sight that is the wife, chaff and flares don't work, neither does evasive maneuvers............

 

Just remember, you never stop learning new things on this sim, that's why it's called a Study Sim..... once you learn something and get the hang of using it, there is always something else new to learn and try to master.

If there weren't it would get boring very quick, or become another game you turned into a coaster.

 

Cheers

 

Hoss

[justoc]