Rookie pilot need help piloting this beast :-)

[Gloom Demon]

Can someone please watch my track file and tell me what am I doing wrong? I am having problems turning the chopper - it tends to turn away from the point where I trim it. Occasionally, when I engage autohover, the other axes autopilot buttons start blinking and, I think, do not work. I couldn't fire the Vikhrs at the tanks for some reason. What am I doing wrong?

 

Thanks :-)

 

P.S. And another thing - I have been reading about this issue of the Ka-50 laser having only a limited amount of firings - is this still applicable? The guide I'm trying to use - the How To Blow Stuff Up - doesn't even mention turning on the laser...

Ka-50 failure.trk

Edited January 28, 2014 by Gloom Demon

[ShuRugal]

Not able to watch track, but some basic things to apply:

 

When turning, press and hold trimmer through maneuver, and release on new heading.

 

If auto hover makes the AP go nuts, reset the channels and try again. It happens sometimes.

 

Firing checks: laser rangefinder on (left knee panel, switch at bottom right), range displayed on shkval less than 7-8km, weapon switch armed (under shkval, on left), weapon power on (right wall panel, behind eject switches), vikhrs aiming circle around shkval LOS piper on HUD. Press and hold weapon release until missile fires.

[Fishbreath]

P.S. And another thing - I have been reading about this issue of the Ka-50 laser having only a limited amount of firings - is this still applicable? The guide I'm trying to use - the How To Blow Stuff Up - doesn't even mention turning on the laser...

 

Yes, it still applies, but I've only burned out the laser twice. Once, I fired a full load of Vikhrs, then returned to a nearby FARP and fired about half of another load ten minutes later. The other time, I accidentally bound the laser to my push-to-talk key. It's not something you have to worry about generally.

[TurboHog]

From the manual:

 

Laser rangefinder operation mode for one flight, series: 5

 

Each serie consists of 16 cycles of 10 seconds with 5 sec interval between the cycles.

 

I recommend reading chapter 13 'Service limits and systems'.

[Gloom Demon]

Thanks for the help guys! I'll keep trying.

 

As for the rangefinder - I find it's limitations strange, given that it's the same Klyon that is fitted on the Su-25 which does not appear to have any limitations other than overheating...

[ShuRugal]

On the 25, the laser can be fired longer and at higher power because it gets considerably more airflow, so takes more to overheat it.

[Yurgon]

Occasionally, when I engage autohover, the other axes autopilot buttons start blinking and, I think, do not work.

 

Haven't watched the track yet, but there are two common causes. When activating Auto-Hover, the SAS channels will disengage when...

 

- Height is at or below 4 meters AGL

- Doppler Nav is not ready

 

IIRC, Doppler Nav takes circa 90 seconds to align/come online. The most visible indication of correct Doppler Nav function is the airspeed indication in the HUD. Without that speed indication, Doppler Nav is not ready and Auto-Hover will disengage all SAS channels (which, IMO, is a terribly stupid and dangerous way to inform the pilot of a problem, but we'll have to live with that...).

 

Be aware that Doppler Nav also goes out when the generators can't supply sufficient power to the systems, which tends to happen when blade RPM drops too much (e.g. in high G turns with lots of collective). The most visible indication of this problem is the Shkval screen going black, and you'll also lose the HUD speed indicator.

 

Edit:

 

One more thing, in which version did you record the track? Playback works bad enough as it is and quite often it's entirely non-compatible between versions.

Edited January 29, 2014 by Yurgon

[Yurgon]

Okay, I watched the track now (in the current 1.2.7 stable). :)

 

I am having problems turning the chopper - it tends to turn away from the point where I trim it.

 

Looked okay for the most part. As you entered the target area, you switched on "Auto Turn to Target". That feature makes use of the AP's yaw authority ("AP" as in "Auto Pilot"). I guess that's what you were fighting. Either switch this off or reset targeting when you fly away from the target and you should have full yaw control once again. :)

 

Occasionally, when I engage autohover, the other axes autopilot buttons start blinking and, I think, do not work.

 

Doppler Nav was not ready yet.

 

I couldn't fire the Vikhrs at the tanks for some reason. What am I doing wrong?

 

All systems looked fine. How long did you hold the fire button? It must be pressed for up to one second or the missiles won't fire.

 

Another hint, when engaging tanks with the cannon (which is not recommended, but I know it happens :D), switch to AP rounds ("AP" as in "Armor Piercing" in this context), they won't shrug them off as easily as HEI rounds. :)

[Gloom Demon]

Thank's - I'll give it a try again :-)

[Maverick-X]

Just watched the track, although trk files are inaccurate... (first time i watched "you" crashed into a hill ^^)

 

You abuse the autohover: correct procedure is coming to a hover, retrim and then activate autohover. Consider it more of a hover-hold!

 

I don't exactly know why you weren't able to fire the Vikhr as all systems are set accordingly. I recommend to review your controls. Firing goes as following: lock the target and select the Vikhrs, position the reticule over the target and hold the missile-release button for more than .5s?

 

Some tips for the autopilot: autohover engages altitude hold channel, deactivate that when you stop hovering. also deactivate autohover while moving! For dynamic flight (meaning everything thats not flying in a straight line) try to turn off the flight director (5th button at the autopilot channels). This disables the control authority of the autopilot, it is otherwise able to control the Shark with 20% of the maximum input. Basically the autopilot tries to maintain the attitude of the moment trim is applied, so it will always try to steer back to that attitude.

 

With FD disabled, you still have the input smoothing of the autopilot channel, which makes flying easier, but you get rid of the steering-interference of the autopilot.

 

Same thing happens while holding down the trim button, so in order to change trim, hold the button so AP-Input is disabled. Then steer to the desired attitude and release the button. Otherwise the compensation of the autopilot will cause these bumbs experienced while just quickly pressing the Trim-button.

[Extranajero]

Shouldn't it be turn the FD on to disable autopilot steering ?

i.e button illuminated and FD bars appearing in HUD ?

[-MadCat-]

Shouldn't it be turn the FD on to disable autopilot steering ?

i.e button illuminated and FD bars appearing in HUD ?

This!

 

You fly the helicopter all alone, no interference by the autopilot yet still dampening is active.

 

In combination with the PVI-800 you can consider the FD as some kind of "manual Route mode",

you fly the helicopter and the computer directs you with the HUD indications.

 

Greetings

MadCat

[Maverick-X]

Shouldn't it be turn the FD on to disable autopilot steering ?

i.e button illuminated and FD bars appearing in HUD ?

 

sry, messed that up. you obviously turn the FD on to shut the AP-steeringauthority off... Rest should be accurate though ^^

[Gloom Demon]

Ok, I have managed to kill those tanks - the reason I couldn't shoot was because I was pushing the cannon trigger and not the missile launch button - me bad.

 

Another question - when I have the target locked by the Shkval and press Q the chopper for some reason does not autoturn to the target - why could that be?

Edited January 31, 2014 by Gloom Demon

[Maverick-X]

If Q is the Autoturn to target button (don't know the Keybindings), then it should, if:

-autopilot system is undamaged

-heading channel is engaged

-flight director is NOT engaged (no steering by AP if on)

 

Are you trying to use it while in motion? I only used it while hovering, so don't know about turn2target while moving.

[Gloom Demon]

Thanks - I'll try again and see if it works if I turn the Flight Director off. And no - I was using it from a hover.

[msalama]

...so don't know about turn2target while moving.

 

Works for me at least.

[Yurgon]

Thanks - I'll try again and see if it works if I turn the Flight Director off.

 

One question that usually pops up next is: Why doesn't Auto Turn to Target align the launch circle with the target line-of-sight circle?

 

The AP isn't usually that precise, that's why it's quite common that the pilot has to do some fine adjustments with the rudders. If that happens to you, don't worry about it, it's entirely normal. :thumbup:

[Gloom Demon]

I have managed to finish the mission, thanks everybody!

[Gloom Demon]

I don't get it though - sometimes, when I engage the auto-hold the altitude hold button lights up. And sometimes it doesn't, although the auto hold is engaged by the looks of it.

[ShuRugal]

One question that usually pops up next is: Why doesn't Auto Turn to Target align the launch circle with the target line-of-sight circle?

 

The AP isn't usually that precise, that's why it's quite common that the pilot has to do some fine adjustments with the rudders. If that happens to you, don't worry about it, it's entirely normal. :thumbup:

 

The AP is very precise. If you use route mode in conjunction with auto-turn, the heli will fly itself directly over the point Shkval is locked to. The reason AP doesn't, always align aiming reticle is that it turns to put the helicopter's track onto the target. If there is any crosswind or sideslip, therefore, the nose will end up off target. To compensate this, trim for coordinated flight towards target before engaging AP functions, and you will only need to tap the rudder to one side or the other depending on which rail you are about to fire from.

[Extranajero]

I am starting to think that the KA-50 is like the Airbus joke....

 

New Airbus pilot : - " Why is it doing that ? "

 

Experienced Airbus pilot :- " Oh, it's doing that again "

[Flagrum]

The AP is very precise. If you use route mode in conjunction with auto-turn, the heli will fly itself directly over the point Shkval is locked to. The reason AP doesn't, always align aiming reticle is that it turns to put the helicopter's track onto the target. If there is any crosswind or sideslip, therefore, the nose will end up off target.

That is not plausible (in this context) as the reticle is also a bit off if there is no wind and you are in a perfect hover.

 

(...) need to tap the rudder to one side or the other depending on which rail you are about to fire from.

That is more of an explanation. :o) Although one could wonder (and some did already and posted about it) why the offset is so large. The launcher is, don't know, perhaps 2 m off center but the distance on the ground between the target and the reticle can be (depending on the distance) up to several dozen meters.

[Yurgon]

The AP is very precise. If you use route mode in conjunction with auto-turn, the heli will fly itself directly over the point Shkval is locked to.

 

A common misunderstanding. I was thinking of a situation where the Black Shark hovers, but I didn't write that.

 

The reason AP doesn't, always align aiming reticle is that it turns to put the helicopter's track onto the target. If there is any crosswind or sideslip, therefore, the nose will end up off target. To compensate this, trim for coordinated flight towards target before engaging AP functions, and you will only need to tap the rudder to one side or the other depending on which rail you are about to fire from.

 

Regarding forward flight, that does sound plausible.

 

Concerning a hover, I just flew a small test mission with no wind at all. I had the chopper trimmed so that it stayed below 3 kph even with Auto Hover off, and then re-engaged Auto Hover. I then locked up a target that was offset from my initial heading circa 20 degrees. The Vikhr launch circle hardly ever touched the LOS circle when the chopper was done auto-turning, thus requiring rudder input to finally get the "C" launch permitted indication.

 

I admit I don't know the exact reason for this phenomenon, but it is quite common and I thought it would be a good idea to give this information to new players because the question does come up every now and then.

 

If you have any further information regarding the phenomenon, I'd appreciate it. I just spent some 15 minutes searching the manual to no avail.

[ShuRugal]

Maybe it is called "auto turn on target" and not "auto turn on firing solution" for a reason? :p