Time Trials: Death Valley

[Derbysieger 11]

As you might have noticed, I've been flying a lot of time trials this week. I usually don't have any problems beating gold after a few runs but there is one particular time trial I struggle to beat for a few days now and I've been trying to beat it for the last hour: Death Valley. So I wonder, has anyone beaten it? And if yes, how did you do it? I need to squeeze out one more second. That doesn't sound difficult but trust me it is. Death Valley takes the light heli literally to and beyond its limits. I'm constantly flying at dangerously high speeds (up to 160knots!!). I have the feeling you need an absolutely perfect run to beat it.

IMO the easiest TTs are Dam Course (really easy, I beat gold time on the first attempt) and Cool Runnings which seems tricky at first but once you know how to fly through the first turns it's quite easy.

Cheers

[hon0 10]

I'll try tomorrow ;)

Didn't fly TT yet. :o

[MeerCaT 1]

An interesting thought I had a while ago:

Have the time trials been re-worked at all, or the times adjusted since the modification to the flight dynamics?

And perhaps should they be?

[Derbysieger 11]

I don't think that the time trials need to be reworked. They're pretty good as they are. Maybe tweak the time on Cool Runnings and Dam Course because both of them can be flown much much faster than required for gold.

Here is what I think about the TTs in detail:

• TT01: Dances with Trees is a very fast time trial with some tricky bends. It's a nice challenge but not too hard to beat. Flying as fast as possible is essential.
  
• TT02: Railroaded, even though it features some very tight turns, needs to be flown at a fast pace (to beat gold) and is one of the more difficult time trials.
  
• TT03: A Bridge To Far is one of the time trials which require very high speeds throughout the entire course, making it one of the most challenging time trials even though the course isn't very difficult.
  
• TT04: Crane Blame is probably the second most difficult time trial to beat. It features two very tricky parts that need to be flown perfectly at high speeds around 125knots. A Joystick is most likely essential to beat this time trial because it requires very precise control on collective and pedals.
  
• TT05: Ursa Major is a nice, challenging time trial. Once you know the course it's not too hard to beat, but it is one of the more difficult time trials to fly.
  
• TT06: Cool Runnings is not the most difficult but by far the most enjoyable time trial. I love drifting through the tight turns in the first half. With a bit of practice it is very easy to stay under 1:10min so I think the time required for gold (1:17min) should be reduced.
  
• TT07: The Elder Run is the longest time trial. Checkpoints are very stretched with two very tricky parts that require precise control on collective and pedals (two very close CPs each). It requires very fast speeds around 140knots throughout the entire course which makes it rather difficult to beat.
  
• TT08: Wild Wild East is a fast course with many long turns making it one of the easier time trials.
  
• TT09: Dam Course is by far the easiest time trial. You don't need to fly very fast nor do you need to fly perfectly. The course isn't very challenging and I would recommend to begin with this time trial to get a feel for it. Like Cool Runnings BIS should consider to tweak the time limit to make it a bit more challenging.
  
• TT10: Death Valley. What can I say? This course together with the time limit of 0:46min is MENTAL! There is no other way to describe it. I don't know how often I crashed because of retreating blade stall. In order to achieve top times you need to push the light heli as far as possible. I guess you need an absolutely perfect run to stay under 46 seconds.

[DnA 5018]

Thanks for the detailed report Derby! We are still considering whether we should tweak the TTs based on the flight model tweaks. On the one hand it makes sense, on the other you guys have already logged times. Another option we may implement is different amounts of starting fuel (weight).

[Derbysieger 11]

NP ;-)

As far as I am concerned only the two mentioned time trials really need to be looked into. All the others are good as they are. They vary in difficulty quite nicely. I've logged many hours in TOH last week and my flying has become better and better. Things that may look easy in my videos don't necessarily are all that easy. For example, maintaining a high speed in turns (

,

) or in tricky transitions between two CPs (Crane Blame, The Elder Run,

) requires a lot of practice and control. I tried to beat the TTs back in december but my flying wasn't good enough for most of them. Now that I'm able to land my helicopter wherever and whenever I want (well, most of the time :p) I decided to try again.

I will keep flying Death Valley over and over again and I'm definately going to upload the video once I manage it.

[Derbysieger 11]

O M G ! ! I did it. 0:44min!

Now I need some epic music I can safely use without youtube messing about. Any suggestions?

Edited February 18, 2012 by Derbysieger

[Mr. Charles 22]

http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/index.html?genre=Soundtrack

:)

[Derbysieger 11]

thanks :)

Video will be up tomorrow (actually today). First I need to get some sleep.

[Derbysieger 11]

Here it is:

And now that I'm trying to record Crane Blame I don't seem to be able to beat gold^^

Edited February 19, 2012 by Derbysieger

[jedra 11]

I am a bit late to this party, but that was some nice flying Derbysieger!

For me, I can just beat silver on all the TTs, nowhere near gold though as my flying is still too erratic (I said erratic). My problem mainly is that I just can't seem to get the speed up - more practice I guess.

I'll say it again though - that was some nice flying!

[Derbysieger 11]

Thanks ;) I flew TT10 many times before I was able to pull that off. What makes this TT extremely difficult is that you have to fly at the absolute limit. If you look at the speed you can see I was flying at more than 140knots for the most part of the TT (sometimes over 160knots). If you raise the collective only a little too much you immediatly loose control.

It's hard to explain how I manage to fly that fast but I will try anyway:

1. NEVER (!) fully raise the collective. If you do that at ~140knots you will loose control (retreating blade stall). You should be able to reach ~140 knots with max ~70-80% collective.

2. Recenter your joystick after every input. In the fast TT's like Dances with Trees, A Bridge Too Far or Death Valley it can be several inputs per second over the whole course. Others like Dam Course are more relaxing.

3. Work with the collective and listen to the sound the helicopter makes (turn music off). For example: As soon as the sound gets deeper be very careful when you raise the collective. If the sound is changing in a way that you can clearly hear this fap fap fap from the rotor blades and it feels like you cannot fly any faster or, worst case, you're already loosing speed, it's too late. Lower the collective immediately to at least retain control of the heli - you won't finish in time anyway

If you want to beat TT's start with TT09: Dam Course. It's by far the easiest TT. Just fly around 130knots and you should be able to make it.

[jedra 11]

I'll take your advice on board then - I think I am probably using too much collective. Collective Up, Nose Down, Pray - that was my style! I will try and be a little easier on the handle next time!

[jedra 11]

Well, thanks to your advice I managed to 'gold' three of the TTs today. What I also found that helped me a lot was adding a lot of trim (I am talking 15-20 clicks) to the forward cyclic. This helped to maintain forward momentum without having to push the stick too hard. I am still using too much collective as I still go into overspeed stall occaisionally, but I'll practice some more!

[Derbysieger 11]

gz ;) I never bother with trim in the light heli but if it helps, why not.

In case you want to try a time trial that is more about control than high speed I recommend Cool Runnings. IMO it's the best of all ten TT's. I wish there were more TT's like that (sharp turns etc). It seems difficult when you first look at it but once you figure it out it's great fun.