guitarxe 10 Posted July 26, 2013 In flight sims we have an instrument called the slip indicator to show the direction the plane is flying relative to the direction of the fuselage. If the ball is completely centered, then so is the fuselage centered with the direction of flight (i.e, going perfectly straight). If you apply some yaw (either yourself, or due to torque from a prop), then the plane's fuselage begins to point a little off-center where the plane is actually flying. At this point on the instrument you can see the ball "slip" from the center position. I haven't flown any helicopters before TOH but notice that there is also considerable yaw from torque effects that needs to be compensated with "rudder" pedals (I'm not even exactly sure how the compensation works since there's no actual rudder on a helicopter...). However I can't seem to find any instrument that would help me gauge how much to compensate. Is there any instrument like the slip indicator on airplanes? When I'm flying low it's quite easy to see if I'm going straight or kind of sideways, but when I'm flying high this is much more difficult to guage. Sorry if this a dumb question, I'm a complete newbie to flying helicopters, any help would be appreciated! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rocksy 11 Posted July 26, 2013 (edited) pedals control the pitch of the rear rotor, works virtually the same way as a fixed wing rudder, airflow over the system controls sideslip there is an indicator in the Hughes 500, unsure of the others. Edited July 26, 2013 by Rocksy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
guitarxe 10 Posted July 26, 2013 Ah, so that's on the same instrument as the artificial horizon. I don't recall seeing that in the game on the light helicopter, though, but I'll take a closer look when I come home. Thanks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rocksy 11 Posted July 26, 2013 it might be different on the newer MD500's and the bigger ones, i'm assuming there is some format of slip indicator. I'm without Hotas atm so i don't boot it up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
guitarxe 10 Posted July 27, 2013 Ok so I looked in-game on the light helicopter, there really is what looks to be a slip indicator right under the artificial horizon. Unfortunately, it never actually moves. Hm. Tell me, when you fly, do you even care about the yaw produce by the main rotor? Or do you just ignore that? Maybe it's not important in this game... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
moach_mayhem 10 Posted October 31, 2013 I guess for helicopters sideslip isn't as critical as it is for airplanes. Mostly due to the fact that you're not gonna "stall" anyways, so if you're "crabbing" one way or another it's no biggie, since it's not gonna end up with you doing a surprise snap roll as one wing stalls before the other... choppers are usually pretty happy while flying sideways, or in pretty much any other given direction - except "forward"... but it does bug me a little that the slip ball doesn't really move... I like my turns coordinated, and without my good old inner ear for reference, the lil' ball is pretty much all we got... I might be able to script something that banks the camera in order to address that - there's a new idea :rolleyes: it also bothers me that the "Whiskey compass" turns the other way around... IRL, those turn opposite of the direction you're going, i.e. they're wanna stay fixed to the world outside - the way it is now has it turning twice as fast as the helicopter to keep up. :p makes no sense... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
