Flight School 101 - Basic Helicopter Guide

[fn_Quiksilver 1636]

Having acquired Track IR a few days ago, here is my brief on it ...

I'll preface by saying im at least an average heli pilot. (stacking up against the hundreds I've flown with and against).

It makes 1st Person playable.

^ That's it.

It will never give you the level of control that you have when flying 3rd Person. Sure, you can "know your aircraft", but that is sub-par to being able to see your entire aircraft, and its interaction with the immediate environment.

For sheer flying performance, Track IR + 3rd Person is the best.

3rd Person by itself is still great though, for performance.

1st Person + Track IR = (IMO) 80% performance compared to 100% third person. There are some maneuvers that are easy in 3rd person which become an unallowable risk in 1st person, with respect to tight spaces and complex maneuvers.

1st Person + No TrackIR = 40% performance, vs 100% 3rd person. just a pain in the ass, especially if you have no easy function for looking around.

I use the lowly Logitech Extreme 3D Pro for flight. I do not find pedals necessary, since the stick has the Z-axis on it.

I am trying to get used to 1st Person + TrackIR and want to start using it all the time, rather than 3rd person. It's a simulator afterall, and I get more enjoyment out of 1st person flying. However, being realistic, its inferior to 3rd person flying.

[KingScuba 1]

i personally fly 1st person simply because I enjoy that extra bit of immersion. you are correct though, trackir makes 3rd person even easier to use (Even though it's already easy as sin to use).

Like i said in the guide, Arma and trackir are pretty much made for eachother.

As to an update from me and why my videos haven't been updated as promised :

I WAS going to update my videos, and I was literally in the middle of completely revamping the 2nd one when I got a call from my grandfather. My grandma was dying, so I flew out damn near the next day. Been up here on the opposite side of the USA taking care of my grandfather and burying my now deceased grandmother.... Sooooo yea. This has been the last thing on my mind. I'll be trying to do it on the 3rd, the day after I fly home lol ~~"

Edited October 24, 2013 by KingScuba

[KingScuba 1]

Alright, ive updated video 2 finally. I feel better about it.

[rye1 21]

I like your commentary. :) It's a voice you can listen to haha. Great videos.

[lukio 18]

Thanks a lot for these very in detail guides. As you say in the video some things made "Click" for me. I love flying around Helis, but especially landings in tight spots and the funneling maneuver have been something I was never really able to pull off nicely and in a controlled manner. Thanks!

[nicolasroger 11]

Thx for this guide it is really helpful. Specialy the landing part!

[KingScuba 1]

Posting here to let you guys know I'm planning on doing a CAS portion.

[saine 19]

I read youre whole guide. But this picture on deviantart ist really uncomfortable. Why did you choose this way? An .pdf shouldnt be a problem.

[KingScuba 1]

I read youre whole guide. But this picture on deviantart ist really uncomfortable. Why did you choose this way? An .pdf shouldnt be a problem.

1) couldn't figure out how to make it a pdf

2) should be quite comfortable. Click it once, right click + View image.

[bullhorn 18]

I have no video editing skills at all, I was taking a look at making a text guide and eliminating the first video though. Any recs on good free software?

Thanks for letting me know. Video editing is a skill but it's also not really a skill. You can cut scenes and glue others together. You don't have to jump-cut that crap like the YouTubers who can't form a sentence but you should at least cut out big pauses or irrelevant scenes like walking/running that serve no purpose in such a video. I recommend you watch Dslycxi's Art of Flight or any PS2 video by Wrel or levelcap.

[Peter2800 11]

Nice!

[orakel78 12]

Thanks.

[BlenderOne 2]

There is a lot of basic information in the free helicopter flying handbook of the FAA.

 

http://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/helicopter_flying_handbook/

 

Especially useful when using the Advanced Helicopter Flying Model (AHFM).

 

Enjoy!

[uscstaylor 0]

Love this work but anyway to get this in a PDF format....Great job