Forward visibility on the Ghosthawk

[pharoah 65]

Is there any way to get better forward visibility with the Ghosthawk? I've been concentrating on flying this bad boy for a while and really struggle with forward visibility when coming into land, esp when dropping off infantry. Most helicopters have a clear chin bubble (check out pics of a standard Blackhawk) at the feet of the pilots for that exact purpose however we don't have it in the GH. TrackIR doesn't help either and its a bit unrealistic to be using the external view.

[EvEnLeaSe44 0]

Honestly, if you watch your angles and know the size of your bird it really isn't dificult to take off, fly, or land in first person.

Keep an eye on your instruments showing your forward, side to side, and backwards movements while landing.. that will help. But also only pick spots big enough for a bird that size, and due to its size it shouldn't be landed in cramped tight areas.

[pharoah 65]

flying into/out of an LZ is fine...its when you're 50-100ft up trying to land on a hillside or in amongst rocks, etc that you need visibility. Like I said, there's a reason why RL helicopters have it.

[EvEnLeaSe44 0]

flying into/out of an LZ is fine...its when you're 50-100ft up trying to land on a hillside or in amongst rocks, etc that you need visibility. Like I said, there's a reason why RL helicopters have it.

If you look it up, 90% of military transport helicopters do not actually have a forward glass bottom, or bubble. They do have what the GhostHawk does have, which is a bottomish side window.

It does give you enough to see.

Also shown here, my first attempt at landing, on a hill, by rocks in first person. Quite a success.

But, one thing you must notice in this screen shot Is the size of the nose on the front of the stealth hawk. Due to its size, and also its nature of being a Stealth Hawk.. I do not see a way to remodel this bird without completely redoing it.

edit/ I must also add, I'm flying with a keyboard and mouse, without track IR or anything to help.

[pharoah 65]

great pics. My comment is though...compare landing this thing with the MH9 which has a full bubble canopy (ignoring the size ofcourse). I'm just hoping there could be some sort of compromise.

[EvEnLeaSe44 0]

I figure the only thing they could do, is to add a PiP forward facing camera view on one of the on-dash screens.

Other then that, the nose of the Stealth Hawk is to large to fit a glass front like the MH9. The MH-9 is a reconnaissance helicopter, that also can deploy a small number of soldiers (usually SF) or have mini-guns plus rocket pods for CAS.

One of the negatives of the MH-9/AH-9 is the glass is so large that its not bullet proof.

[pharoah 65]

One of the negatives of the MH-9/AH-9 is the glass is so large that its not bullet proof.

lol yeah...the amount of times I've been shot out of the MH9 at altitude, its not funny.

Still though, re forward visibility, even if there wasn't a clear chin bubble, we should be able to 'lean forward' with Track IR to sort of compensate what RL pilots would do...but this doesn't work, it just zooms in. I guess it would be fine for fixed wing a/c that have a stable runway to focus on...not with a helicopter, esp in closed/confined spaces and not when you're trying to land troops (or evacuate troops) in a hurry either. I crashed a full 'hawk whilst trying to land some guys on the eastern side of Kamino firing range (on the rocks near the lighthouse) because I couldn't see the rocks right in front of my nose. No amount of apologies let me live that one down, I tell ya! :)

[Azzur33 1]

Still though, re forward visibility, even if there wasn't a clear chin bubble, we should be able to 'lean forward' with Track IR to sort of compensate what RL pilots would do

You can configure TrackIR to do "head forward" instead of "zoom in (continuous)" (or something), so you can "head up" and "head forward" in chopper. The movement is not big though. Still I prefer that setting, because of the "oh man, this is exciting" -unintended leaning towards the monitor, and needing to reset the view constantly.

I hated the Ghosthawk at first, I crashed a lot trying to land that thing because of the visibility problem, and of course, the size.

After flying so much with the MH/AH-9, it was difficult to estimate how far the blades or the tail reach, and how much space you need to have around you.

But after some hard training and swearing (trying to fit in smaller and smaller landing areas), you'll just get the feel. It's pretty rewarding to finally be able to land safely on a basketball field with Ghosthawk. Stupid, but fun.

[pharoah 65]

yeah I hear ya. I find it more difficult flying with joystick, throttle and rudder pedals but more satisfying eg. I find it difficult to stay in a hover than say with keyboard controls, however flying and maneouvering is better with the joystick/throttle. I too have been trying to land in small spaces however it is ridiculous when you're descending but can't see anything forward of your screens (eg. trying to land in camp rogain). I just find its weird that they'd use a 'stealth blackhawk' which is black, etc to fly at night as their main troop transport helicopter. I say bring back the original Blackhawk or even a Bell 412 (newer twin engined version of the Huey).

[Zorg_DK 10]

About the Ghosthawk - I miss being able to freelook with alt when I'm in the gunner position just like in the other Arma games. BI, any change you will fix this? The gun could use a little wider field of movement too.

[pharoah 65]

About the Ghosthawk - I miss being able to freelook with alt when I'm in the gunner position just like in the other Arma games. BI, any change you will fix this? The gun could use a little wider field of movement too.

lol yeah forgot about this...annoying as anything! lol.

[EvEnLeaSe44 0]

What about something like this? Do you think this would solve issues?

Pip #1 (Mock drawings idea)

Both screens shows directly in front of Ghosthawk

Pip #2(Mock drawings idea)

Left monitor shows front left of Ghosthawk, right monitor shows front right of Ghosthawk

If they were to do anything, I'd suggest something like that ^ Futuristic and all.

Edit - PS. Sorry, not so good at photo editing ;)

[pharoah 65]

thats a good start but I still prefer an open bubble at my feet..my only issue is missing something that you'd pick up from your peripheral vision should you have a wider view. If we only had that screen (which is awesome BTW), I'd have it with a wide angle lense to pick up more in front of the nose.

The only reason I'm harping on this is that the 'hawk is our main troop transport helicopter similar to what the Blackhawk is IRL, meaning it'll get more use than any other chopper in dropping off troops than others you would think...the last thing you want is to crash it on landing because you couldn't see some sort of obstacle in front of you.

[EvEnLeaSe44 0]

thats a good start but I still prefer an open bubble at my feet..my only issue is missing something that you'd pick up from your peripheral vision should you have a wider view. If we only had that screen (which is awesome BTW), I'd have it with a wide angle lense to pick up more in front of the nose.

The open bubble will never happen, you'll have to wait for mods.

But, PiP monitors could happen as it would probably be an easy fix or addition to the ghosthawk, and I bet they could make it a wide lens PiP.

Now you just have to get the devs attention with this idea before its to late.

Edit// Instead of making it a wide lens, you could just place the PiP camera further back on the ghosthawk facing forward, so you could see the first half of your bird and whats in front of it.

[Rolling 1]

A similar thing I noticed was the CH-49 has two monitors that are just blank. I don't see why those can't be used to put in a down facing PIP camera :P

[Laqueesha 474]

PiP 2 is a better option, because it takes up a screen that isn't used for anything by the game. PiP 1 takes up some semi-functional gauges.