Close Air Support - Day 1

[StrongHarm 13]

Thanks Laggsy! I will.. I'm planning on using day1 as a code base for subsequent days. They'll take much less time now that I have the foundation laid. Day1 is over 300 hours of work I think. Then again this is my first real mission, so a lot of that was research and trial and error.

Have you tried talking to the aircrew near the Message of the Day posting?

[purepassion 22]

Now I am totally immersed, even at the repair pad ;)

Cheers man!

[MissionCreep 12]

Hey Strongarm ... when Arma 3 adds fixed wing aircraft, would there be the option for fixed-wing CAS sorties? This is such a great tool for learning to fly. I've steered away from flying (no pun intended) in Arma in the past but this really adds some incentive to learn. Each time you fly you get a little better and your "reward" is the satisfaction of saving your "mates" bacon on the ground.

[DennisModem 10]

Good mission. I enjoy almost any type of air support mission. I only had one issue when testing it: the weapons on the AH-6 would periodically fail to fire no matter how many times I jammed on my fire key. Don't think that's an error with the mission though as this has happened to me a few times in the editor as well. I believe it's an issue with the Alpha. Keep up the good work!

Mission complete in 00:43:29.

Edited May 31, 2013 by DennisModem

[StrongHarm 13]

MissionCreep: I will most definitely be making fixed wing CAS missions. I worked on the team for the creation of DCS: A-10C Warthog (you'll see this same callsign on the box) and had my bacon saved by CAS aircraft in real life. I totally agree with you; flying a sortie to drop some ordinance on a high value target is pretty cool.. flying a mission on request, full of unknowns, and putting yourself in harms way to save your countrymen.. that's what heroes are made of. Thanks to this wonderful simulation that BIStudios has graced us with, we get to live and do what few men can.. valor and precision on the battlefield. Of course our asses aren't getting shot at for real so that takes something away from it.. but I don't think that feature would be well received by most gamers heheh

DennisModem: I've had the same issue with weapons not leaving the rail. I know it's not my joystick as I have a Warthog HOTAS, which is perfect and infallible. I'm glad Arma has such a top notch dev team. As long as it gets reported, I'm sure this detail will be resolved with all the others. What do you think about the physics changes in the bird? It seems that they dumbed the physics down to appease the average user, but it makes it more difficult for me to do some of the harder maneuvers.

PurePassion: Thanks! I'll try to work in suggestions ASAP, keep em comin!

[160thSixgun 106]

Harm,

Bravo Zulu for this excellent and immersive "showcase" of a mission! I have spent happy hours in it so far, nuking Ifrits and zapping bad guys. And also working on my ground effect approaches to the LZ. Whew, especially with the HOTAS Warthog and CH pedals, it's still tough! Question: What nose heading should the a/c be in for the ground crew animations to perfectly align?

Also wouldn't it be lovely indeed to have a COOP-4 or 8 man version of this? With gunships and slicks, doing hot LZ evacs, CASEVACs, and the like? Big fun indeed.

[telkwa 0]

@StrongHarm

I haven't tried the mission yet but was amazed at the helicopter control in your video.

I flew helicopters back in BIS's OFP with a keyboard and mouse fine but Arma 3 I find it much more difficult. Probably because BIS has done a good job representing how a helicopter flies and is controlled. However, I don't understand how a helicopter works, so cyclic this and cyclic that of the controls doesn't explain to me how each control affects how it flies.

Are you using a keyboard and mouse or joystick and foot pedals? How do you change your angle of attack without increasing forward momentum so much that you fly past everything you're trying to fire on?

[StrongHarm 13]

Tango Uniform. I like practicing in this mission as well. In between requesting a new task I'll sometimes practice getting just the right angle of attack to bring the bird in nose down on the spot. I personally do better with canted approaches to one side of the bird instead of nose in. I also practice my targeting and funnels. I originally had the mission setup so after a task once you refueled/rearmed it would automatically assign you a new task. This was too confining for me as I couldn't free form practice enjoying flying whenever I wanted.

Nose heading should be toward the helo sign on each pad. I did put code in that makes the crewmen orient toward the heading of the bird, but in the last patch they made attachobject relative and it screwed it up. I need to redo that logic in a future patch. I was hoping that people would just orient their noses to the sign.

;2405712']Harm' date='

Bravo Zulu for this excellent and immersive "showcase" of a mission! I have spent happy hours in it so far, nuking Ifrits and zapping bad guys. And also working on my ground effect approaches to the LZ. Whew, especially with the HOTAS Warthog and CH pedals, it's still tough! Question: What nose heading should the a/c be in for the ground crew animations to perfectly align?

Also wouldn't it be lovely indeed to have a COOP-4 or 8 man version of this? With gunships and slicks, doing hot LZ evacs, CASEVACs, and the like? Big fun indeed.[/quote']

[StrongHarm 13]

Thanks Telkwa, my helo control is a product of thousands of hours of flight. My primary love is fixed wing, but I love flying so much that I do rotary as well. I use a Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS and Saitek Pro Pedals.. as well as a TrackIR which makes a world of difference.

When learning to master rotary aircraft flight, it's important to remember these concepts:

* Fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft are two entirely different animals.

- In the military you're not allowed to pilot both as it causes issues to intertwine the concepts.

* The rotor blades on a helo are shaped like the wings on a fixed wing aircraft

* Unlike a fixed wing aircraft, a helo's nose does not indicate the direction it will be moving. Since there are several "wings" spinning around above the helo, it can move in any direction 360 degrees equally as well, minus air resistance from the airframe (as in side slip movement being somewhat slower).

* Flying a helo is like playing the drums whereas flying a jetfighter is like playing the guitar

- Your cyclic, pedals, and collective should be in constant motion unless in level forward flight moving to a new location... like bass drum, snare, highhat

- In a jet fighter you're moving fast in one direction while focusing on radar, coordination, weapons systems, etc.. like a lead guitar solo

The maneuver you're referring to is called a funnel. The fixed angle of attack while pointing the nose down is a counteraction between the inertia of the aircraft, and the lift created by the rotor (think swinging a bucket full of water around). The way I learned to do a funnel maneuver, and also to handle continuous movement of my flight controls, was by practicing circling a fixed object.. it can be another helo, or the top of a mountain.. doesn't matter.

* Get your helo hovering and level about 50 feet from the object

* Move your collective (stick) to the right or left to create side slip movement

* Continue collective movements in that direction to adjust a consistent slow speed

* Move your pedals to keep your nose pointed at the object.. if you're moving left you'll use right pedal

* Practice circling the object while keeping nose level

* Get closer and closer to the object

Now that you've perfected circular flight you can try the funnel maneuver. In the funnel you're doing the same circular flight, but your nose is pointed toward the ground.

* Get in a circular pattern moving as fast as possible while still maintaining nose toward the object

* Push the collective forward to bring your nose toward the ground..

* Immediately move your collective FULL to the opposite direction of movement.. this will bring your bird around so the bottom of the helo is facing the same direction as your inertia (like the bottom of the spinning bucket)

* Continue circular flight pattern as usual with nose facing down, moving cyclic/collective/pedals continuously to maintain the same angle of attack and circular pattern

The inertia of spinning is making the aircraft "weight" distribute in the same direction as the bottom of the aircraft, but the rotor is counteracting it.

@StrongHarm

I haven't tried the mission yet but was amazed at the helicopter control in your video.

I flew helicopters back in BIS's OFP with a keyboard and mouse fine but Arma 3 I find it much more difficult. Probably because BIS has done a good job representing how a helicopter flies and is controlled. However, I don't understand how a helicopter works, so cyclic this and cyclic that of the controls doesn't explain to me how each control affects how it flies.

Are you using a keyboard and mouse or joystick and foot pedals? How do you change your angle of attack without increasing forward momentum so much that you fly past everything you're trying to fire on?

Edited June 9, 2013 by StrongHarm

[Redjevel 1]

Great mission, thought it will be a bit more intense but its still very nice.

Some convoy protect or actually attack would be nice

[StrongHarm 13]

@Redjevel: Typically attack and protect missions don't fall into the Close Air Support Duty responsibilities. I will be creating those type missions in the future though.

Can you expand on "more intense"? I'd love to incorporate your ideas if you make them clear. Give me detail and I'll give you code.

@2people who voted "Needs a lot of work" : Can you two also expand on what work is needed? I'm honestly trying to identify weak points and holes in the mission so I can make corrections and additions.

Great mission, thought it will be a bit more intense but its still very nice.

Some convoy protect or actually attack would be nice

[VeryWoolly 10]

Brilliant Mission, getting a rearm and the guy on the right gives the skid a kick, awesome.

Funnelling makes a huge difference.

Many thanks.

[StrongHarm 13]

Thanks VeryWoolly! Did you learn the funnel maneuver from my instructions above? Is there anything I left out?

When getting maintenance, be sure to land facing the Helo Maint Sign. I should have put that in the notes somewhere. If you don't the maint guys work on air.. I need to figure out a way to alter the script for any vehicle orientation.

[avigrace 1]

Been playing Arma for a few years now and a big fan of the heli's even love the TOH game. This mission is the one that pushed me to buying a joystick today it's that good!

[VeryWoolly 10]

I did learn from your tutorial for funnel maneuver.

The main part is stopping to a hover before commencing sideways and then pointing down.

Eg. your trying to move forward but always slipping to the side.

I use your mission for testing Kinect Head Tracking using Depth Sensor.

For funnel maneuver tutorial. It's all good but It's one of those things you have to see to believe. Once you've done it you can't believe other people can't do it. Bit like doing tricks skateboarding. A video with narration would be the ticket.

I got the Helo Maint sign worked out, that's how I saw the guy kick the skid makes me laugh.

This mission is the mutts nutts.

[DennisModem 10]

DennisModem: I've had the same issue with weapons not leaving the rail. I know it's not my joystick as I have a Warthog HOTAS, which is perfect and infallible. I'm glad Arma has such a top notch dev team. As long as it gets reported, I'm sure this detail will be resolved with all the others. What do you think about the physics changes in the bird? It seems that they dumbed the physics down to appease the average user, but it makes it more difficult for me to do some of the harder maneuvers.

I am NOT a fan of the ArmaIII flight model AT ALL. The feel of flying in Arma2:OA was much more realistic.

Edited June 11, 2013 by DennisModem

[VeryWoolly 10]

I just did a test of the funnel maneuver in OA and it was more (how do I say this?) fluid.

I found it easier to stay on target.

[StrongHarm 13]

Take on Helicopters definitely has a good flight model. I can see in each release, the modification of the Arma3 flight model in relation to the full TOH model. It seems as though they're trying to find that balance between realism and playability by your typical player in the Arma community. I would love to see a realism switch or slider for helos in options:

Helo Flight Model Realistic = off

- Airframe physics are toned down so the bird is easily flyable by most people who just jump in and want to transport troops

- Airframe is less survivable since it's less maneuverable

- Offensive impact of combat helos are decreased due to longer time to acquire target, etc.

Helo Flight Model Realistic = on

- Physics are equal to TOH

- Airframe is highly agile but susceptible to vortex ring and other dangers

- Offensive capabilities are increased due to agility and time to acquire

With the switch no one can really complain. They have the option to fly even if they don't know how.. but if they're not happy with the performance they can really learn to fly and turn on the realism switch for their next step. They have options.

Now what would REALLY be cool is if realism allowed a startup sequence and full avionics! The very idea makes me quiver in aviation joy...

[160thSixgun 106]

StrongHarm your mission inspired me to create a little video of my own. I'm using a HOTAS and pedals and reflect on how hard it is to fly helicopters in ARMA. I also waste a lot of rockets! Hope you like it.

[StrongHarm 13]

Good stuff Patterson! Thanks for the nice review and vid, I enjoyed it!

For those of you who have asked me for an instructional vid.. here it is. It's very informal and uncut, and I recorded the voice while flying.. so don't laugh!

[160thSixgun 106]

Harm, that vid is a textbook for me now. Is the mission Beta compatible?

[StrongHarm 13]

;2423972']Harm' date=' that vid is a textbook for me now. Is the mission Beta compatible?[/quote']

Thanks! Working on it now.

[StrongHarm 13]

20130625: v1.5

*Fixed MANY errors in code caused by Beta upgrade

*Started work on Close Air Support Day 2 !

You'll find an updated link in the OP. Tell me about any new bugs you find and I'll try to get them fixed asap, but be aware that Day2 is in development now.

[Antorugby 2]

Hey, I'm starting to fly in Arma and your video and the mission really helped me to train myself, i'm not really good but pratice will do his job, i hope, so thank you and great job.

By the way, Iknow it's a CAS mission but i think it will be a good feature to add some fast extraction of under attack squads, do you think it's a good idea?

[melbo 3]

Excellent mission! Looking forward to the next day!

Was good to hear some 9 Liners as well, it's been a few years since I heard those!