Autorotation training: you've got to be kidding

[nightsta1ker 10]

None of it is modeled correctly. I just installed my spankin new Nvidia GTX 550 card. The performance and graphics are WAY up from what they were, I am very happy with the new card, and I must say, the game looks pretty durn good now. But the flight dynamics are still atrocious.

I will be posting some details in my other thread about flight dynamics. I must say, I am still not impressed at all with that aspect of the game. It certainly is CHALLENGING, but it is not the least bit REALISTIC.

[Panther353 10]

Have to say Scott this is not the experience I am having and I have talked to at least one other sim/real pilot that says the same. I still have quite a bit of testing to do on my own this week but so far I've found the flight dynamics, and issues, roughly equal to FSX.

[nightsta1ker 10]

Could we talk about it on Teamspeak? I am curious of what your opinion is so far.

[4 IN 1 0]

Man, you are way ahead of me. I haven't even finished the training yet, let alone start the campaign. Done a lot of the time trials and challenges, tho. I want to get my skill set all together before starting the campaign. From what you wrote, that sounds like a very good idea. What I'm wondering is how feasible doing autorotations with kb/mouse is.......:eek:

Totally doable with KB and Mouse, and since the FM have the descent rate all wrong you can just lower the collective all the way down to 0 and apply a huge amount of collective to help slowing down both airspeed and descent rate

Edited October 31, 2011 by 4 IN 1

[OMAC 254]

Thank you LeftSkidLow and 4 IN 1 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MD500Enthusiast 10]

ok guys i'm no expert but i can perform an auto just fine in real life, here's a video of me doing it

and here's a video of a hovering autorotation meaning you're hovering a few feet above ground,

. first of all the reason why you initially want to push the collective all the way down is to prevent your rotor rpm from decaying to the point of rotor stall, a rotor stall is when the rpm gets past a certain % that it's unrecoverable. once you have the collective full down make sure you're watching the rotor rpm as to not exceed the green arc by pulling up on the collective slightly, otherwise you'd blow out a ball bearing in your rotor hub by over speeding the rotors if you're unlucky. then you need to keep speed around 75-60 depending on the helicopter, i don't have the manual for these helicopters so i can't give you an exact speed. keep your helicopter in trim is very important to reduce the drag and keep in control of your descent. at around 40ft from ground start your flare to reduce airspeed and arrest your descent, at around 8ft level out the helicopter and increase collective to cushion the landing. you don't have to be at 0 airspeed for the landing, but you do need to be nice and level. in real life it's actually better to have a slightly nose low attitude because the front end of the skid is softer than the rear end which will reduce the impact of landing a bit. also keep in mind that in real life when you need to roll the throttle to idle position to initial an autorotation but in this game if you do that i dont think you can perform it correctly. out of like 10 attempts rolling the throttle to idle i've only been able to make 1 successful autorotation but that was in beta and not full release, i shall try a few and report back. i haven't done any of the training yet but in that career mission where there was an engine failure after sling loading that container it was very difficult to gain control of the helo if i rolled throttle to idle, so i just didn't bother and let the engine run normally and performed a normal landing LOL.

[memphisbelle 99]

Interesting to take a look inside a helo while ARL.

Although this was funny!

Pilot: "was this good?"...Instructor: "No, no...not really"!! :D :D

have you been the Pilot or the Instructor?

Edited October 31, 2011 by MemphisBelle

[-DirTyDeeDs--Ziggy- 0]

no, the instructor asked if it was scary :rolleyes:

bullshit it wasn't scary ! :eek:

[MD500Enthusiast 10]

lol no it wasn't really scary, i was just a bit nervous that i'd some how fuck up the throttle control and over revved the engine during flare. i wasn't wearing gloves that day and my palms were sweaty and my grip on the throttle kept slipping while holding it to detent LOL.

---------- Post added at 08:05 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:41 AM ----------

btw if anyone wants i can show you guys how to perform an auto in game step by step. currently only the medium helicopter can actually perform a some what proper autorotation when you roll the throttle to off position. in the heavy helicopter if you roll the throttle off you just roll over to the right and drop like a brick. also in the light version if you roll throttle to off you're basically rolling to the right whenever you pull collective up to cushion landing and the rotor system won't provide enough lift to cushion your landing.

[NeoArmageddon 957]

Hey guys, I practised autorotation ingame alot and Scruffy and I made a little video, showing the basic steps:

http://www.youtube.com/user/ScruffyIMS#p/u/2/U4bs_B9zFfU

Its not perfect (we were to fast) but it shows the basic procedure in moving pictures.

Maybe this could help some of you, to manage autorotation yourself.

P.S. At the end of the video are a lot of examples, how not to land a chopper :)

[sickboy 13]

You may be right that a controller is the way to go, but look at these prices:

http://www.simw.com/hardware/helicopter.html

After having played with the Saitek X52 system at a friend, I must say I really love it, and am considering to buy it, but it is indeed a lot of money if you are not that much of a flight-guy, like myself.

But, I own only a Logitech Force 3d Pro myself, and such stick is much less expensive, and I can fly just fine in Take On :)

So it doesn't have to be expensive to be useful!

[memphisbelle 99]

So it doesn't have to be expensive to be useful!

Well spoken, I paid 70€ for a used Saitek X52 Pro Flight deck. And it´s totally enough. I can use it pretty much for all Games I got at the moment, as there are the current DCS Modules, FSX, Lock on and even now ArmA (ToH) flying.

What I thing about to get one day is the Warthog HOTAS.

[heli_flying 10]

add some "friends" (weight) to the helicopter to increase your decent rate ;) with just 1 pilot is almost impossible :(

[memphisbelle 99]

add some "friends" (weight) to the helicopter to increase your decent rate ;) with just 1 pilot is almost impossible :(

lol...does that really effect the helo behaviour while ARL?

[armored_sheep 56]

does that really effect the helo behaviour while ARL?

Yes weight of the fuel, passengers and cargo (sling load) is calculated in TKOH flight model.

[memphisbelle 99]

Yes weight of the fuel, passengers and cargo (sling load) is calculated in TKOH flight model.

Have I already mentioned that you guys are just awesome?

[sickboy 13]

Have I already mentioned that you guys are just awesome?

Never often enough; so here it is again! +1

[Xptical 10]

In my RC helis, an auto is usually pretty steep; 70°~80° descent. In the auto training, they set it up fairly flat and require you keep a lot of forward speed to make the spot.

[4 IN 1 0]

In my RC helis, an auto is usually pretty steep; 70°~80° descent. In the auto training, they set it up fairly flat and require you keep a lot of forward speed to make the spot.

Then again, it is RC heli, which have their own flight characteristic.

[nightsta1ker 10]

Then again, it is RC heli, which have their own flight characteristic.

Yes they do.

[OMAC 254]

Yes weight of the fuel, passengers and cargo (sling load) is calculated in TKOH flight model.

BIS rules.

[nightsta1ker 10]

For as critical as I have been about the flight model in this game, I am also very happy with some aspects of it. In fact, I probably wouldn't be here rattling my saber if it had not been advertised as having an "extremely authentic" flight model. That was a poor move putting that sentence on the box and that is why all of us RW pilots are being so negative.

I would like BI and everyone else to know that I am truly a fan of their work and that this could still be a ground breaking program. I just feel very strongly that the flight dynamics did not get enough attention during dev, and I am worried that they are not going to be fixed. If this is the case, BI owes alot of us an apology for ther false advertising.

[Xptical 10]

I can understand some intentional tradeoffs. After all, in a sim, you can't "feel" what's happening. Even with RC helis, a lot of things just happen without conscious thought.

But some of the things you guys have mentioned are just plain annoying; The soft tail rotor; the pitching in-flight, rate of climb/descent, etc...

[Bothersome 10]

I might be wrong here but I'm thinking the soft tail rotor effects that people are complaining about may in fact be in their controller setup or their game options.

I'm wondering now if they had their auto-trim turned off in their game difficulty settings.

When I first started in expert mode and auto-trim was off, I had to use quite a bit of rudder input to keep the heli straight.

But after when I put on auto-trim, now hardly any input is needed for lift-off.

I'd say on the heavy heli, it needed at least half way of full travel of rudder input just to keep the heli from turning at almost full collective climb.

I don't really see how that's modeled wrong. Clue me in.

[-DirTyDeeDs--Ziggy- 0]

this 1st over the water challenge does not suit my flying style. ;)

I can do crazy stunts and deliver that landing, but I fail at this mechanical failure landing test ... :icon_wink: