Teach me how to fly, i keep crashing..

[zeep 3]

Been at it for a few months now and i'm not going to fool anyone anymore... My flying skills suck. In a heli i can stay airborne for a few minutes but in any fixed wing i'm a danger to myself and my surroundings!

My controls are keyboard + mouse. Please tell me how i should have my keys bound and which i should use.

At the moment i use mouse movement to steer in a fixed wing but this leads to too many crashes in-game. Though when trying to use mainly keys i miss the flexibilty of movement that the mouse has.

Any tips? :rolleyes:

[Murklor 10]

In a heli i can stay airborne for a few minutes but in any fixed wing i'm a danger to myself and my surroundings!

If you only stay airborne for a few minutes in a helicopter I'd say you're a danger there too :p

Personally I cant fly for crap either. I generally only do helos and in Battlefield [any] I can fly helos very, very good... But in Arma 2 I'm more likely to ram a forest. It just doesnt work good with keyboard and mouse.

Simple solution: I use my Xbox 360 controller instead. Flying is much improved and with true analog control. Maybe not joystick-pro-flying style, but good enough for my purposes.

[Tankbuster 1747]

Celery has knocked up an script to simplify the flight controls for fixed wing. I think this will help you.

http://forums.bistudio.com/showpost.php?p=1499330&postcount=1

I think some general advice will help too. Some planes are easier to fly than others. Obviously, don't start out in a C130. The F35 is pretty easy to fly, start with that.

Try to avoid stalls, so keep the airspeed up.

If you go really low, in undulating terrain, you have to pull up earlier than you think when faced with raising terrain in front of you. Sometimes it's better to go around a hill than over it.

Tight turns lose airspeed, so don't turn tight unless you have a lot of airpseed on already, or have a lot of altitude in which to recover airspeed by descending.

On takeoff, use flaps, lift the gear ASAP (not sure if gear drag is modeled in the game) and wait until you have a lot of speed on before rotating off the runway. A lot of crashes happen cos the pilot has rotated to early and can't manage the climbout, stalling into the trees just outside the fence.

---------- Post added at 11:51 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:48 AM ----------

Oh, forgot to add, turn up the view distance so that you can see the terrain well ahead of you and react in plenty of time to obstructions.

You should try to make the number of takeoffs roughly equal the number of landings, Simples! :)

---------- Post added at 11:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:51 AM ----------

And also forgot to add.. you think keeping her in the air is hard? Wait until it comes to put it down on the runway without making a greasy, fiery smear down the tarmac. Landing is so much more difficult.

[zoog 18]

In a heli i can stay airborne for a few minutes

What happens after those minutes? How do you crash? You loose control, if so, what does the helicopter do? Do you know the fundamentals of how an helicopter works in gaining speed etc or do you just try?

I think landing is the hardest part of heli's, especially if you play without 3rd person view.

[walker 0]

Hi all

First rule of flying. Stay away from the nasty ground monster! Gain height 200m plus is good. Practice flying from high up so the nasty ground monster cannot get you.

When practicing aproaching the nasty ground monster do so on non bumpy bits as they are the bits that let the nasty ground monster reach up and grab you, where upon it will eat you up and crunch your bones to make bread.

Second rule of flying: SPEED KILLS! Fly slow.

For the record I use mouse and keyboard.

Kind regards walker

[Tankbuster 1747]

Walker is half right and half oh so very wrong. :)

The ground is only one of your enemies. The other enemy is the enemy (you see what I did there?). There's another enemy, and that's other aircraft, friendly or otherwise. If you've got a wingman, or just a friendly nearby, it's important to remember they are in the same airspace, reacting to the same threats, both the ground and the enemy forces. So there's a fair chance they are going to want to occupy the very same piece of airspace, sometimes at the same time you are and there's no more ignominious death than a mid air collision.

Ian is wrong when he talks about speed. Airspeed is most definitely your friend, because not only does airspeed make lift, but it gets you the hell out of there when your ordinance is gone. 200 meters is all very well when you learn to fly, but in combat, 200m is sudden death. Every shoulder launched missile, every Shilka, every Tunguska will be seeing you and shooting at you. Learn to fly at 200m by all means, but learn to fight at 20m.

[no use for a name 0]

My controls are keyboard + mouse. Please tell me how i should have my keys bound and which i should use.

Well THERE'S your problem...Get a HOTAS setup or at the very least a basic joystick.

The ground can be your friend too. Use the terrain to mask your from radar/AAA, pop-up and attack, then drop back down, and repeat. Try flying NOP (nap of the earth) which is usually below 100ft AGL (above ground level).

Edited December 6, 2009 by No Use For A Name

[Tankbuster 1747]

I do know some very competent pilots who fly mouse/keyboard, but personally, I'm with NUFAN. Joystick is better to fly with, and more gamelike. If you've played any flight sim, the basic will be familiar if you use joystick.

[celery 8]

Well THERE'S your problem...Get a HOTAS setup or at the very least a basic joystick.

The ground can be your friend too. Use the terrain to mask your from radar/AAA, pop-up and attack, then drop back down, and repeat. Try flying NOP (nap of the earth) which is usually below 100ft AGL (above ground level).

A HOTAS is overkill for a game like this and most likely just in the way. The way A2 handles joysticks is atrocious, the deadzone is way too big and the steering seems almost digital. If anything, a joystick is a handicap and everyone should learn to fly with mouse and keyboard first and foremost. Keys for sharp, constant turns and rudder, and mouse for aiming.

With choppers my basic formula for flying is to keep throttle up at all times so that you can fly faster and going up is a matter of raising your nose. Fast braking is achieved with left/right roll and a sharp pull up. The best way to practise is to place some waypoints in the editor and reach them while flying as fast and low as you can, and try to top your record every time.

Same thing with jets, always keep throttle up unless you need to go slower, and never overcontrol unless it's part of your braking maneuvre.

My keybind that I have deemed perfect:

W/S - nose down/up

A/D - roll left/right

Q/OEM 102 (left of Z) - throttle up/down

Z/X - rudder left/right

Mouse - pwnage

[icebreakr 3159]

Well, A1/A2 flying model is arcadish, but I guess it can present a challenge in a combat situation where bullets are flying and you have to keep low (preferably behind hill or buildings) because you don't have any AA countermeasures!

I would suggest using WASD keys more than mouse. Don't forget to use X/C for rudder steering, but that only works at minimal speeds. Choppers: lift off holding Q and drop you nose with W when you take off. Then stop lifting and try to keep same altitude with gaining speed. Make slower turns at start. Spend hours taking off and landing at various spots. Don't use any enemies, empty Editor is your best training buddy :) when you feel confident, start learning few tricks, like braking with 90 ° turn and holding Y to drop height and speed. Of course try that on large flat area first ;)

Best tip: check out Dslyecxi's manual here under Air Vehicles to get basics in your head.

What does community expect from a pilot?

Foremost safe pickup and delivery of reinforcements to the battlefield, well safer quote would be NEAR battlefield. Always ask your team leader to mark LZ point on map for you. Study terrain and select safest routes, expect enemy fire at all times and where you can escape. Often you'll have to medevac wounded troops, especially with ACE2 when it comes out.

Second thing that is required for a pilot is CAS. Your units are taking heavy fire and loosing men. Maybe your team is even stuck / pinned down to a same neighbourhood for last 10 or more minutes. Again, consult your team leader to mark (smoke, map, etc.) where you can fire off "hydra" missiles or maybe even use miniguns. If you have jet capabilities your team can laser mark a target for your GBUs or drop bombs off at least 500m from your guys. Two APCs holding the neighbourhood and mission maker/your CO forgot to set rules of engagements? Level it, return to base and repeat :) of course remain in contact with ground team leaders so you don't go blue-on-blue.

One more tip: jets can often stall in combat situations or dangerous approaches to target, so keep that Q key always on :) how to do proper jets training? Load up my Panthera 2.31 in Editor. Put yourself in a Su25/Harrier/etc on one of the airports, start mission with "Preview" and take off. Land at all 4 airports, take off again. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. :)

Practice makes perfect.

[Master gamawa 0]

I have this trick see, where I use Home/End for thrust, Insert/PageUp for turn and Delete/PageDown for roll.

Then I set the up/down arrows for Nose Up and Nose Down. Mouse is used for fine tunining really. It's impossible to do a complete turn using mouse only so I used the nose up/down keys for most of the functions. If I want to take a big turn I use my mouse to bring the plane or chopper to the right angle (on it's side) and then 'nose up' all the way. Then mouse again to bring it back straight.

keyboard 'nose up' (instead of pulling on your mouse) is always useful when you are diving towards the ground.

In choppers don't b afraid to use auto hover too.

[cossack8559 10]

Never use the mouse to steer the plane... i can fly very fast and very well with mouse and keyboard... but when i use the mouse to steer i always end up crashing when attacking enemy units... i find always holding the turbo boost key in helps when flying... also better to fly in first person view in my opinion...

[paajtor 10]

also better to fly in first person view in my opinion...

Oh yeah....especially since we got an artificial horizon in the cockpit, helps allot imo.

[Murklor 10]

In choppers don't b afraid to use auto hover too.

From what I've seen ingame, auto hover is a sure way to get yourself and everyone else killed. It limits your manouverability, speed and make the chopper behave like a mountain climbing whale.

I cannot see any real reason for using auto hover, ever.

[rabiddawg 0]

most important is you must anticipate your moves before you make them.

[Master gamawa 0]

From what I've seen ingame, auto hover is a sure way to get yourself and everyone else killed. It limits your manouverability, speed and make the chopper behave like a mountain climbing whale.

I cannot see any real reason for using auto hover, ever.

Well it helps people that aren't confindent enough in flying choppers. I use autohover in many instances. Sometimes I go low, go on autohover, stabilize my chopper, deactivate it and pop up again for a hit. Or when I am landing.

It's not wise to use it in the middle of a firefight because it leaves you exposed for a long time.

But this dude made a topic about crashing all the time, you see?

[jasonnoguchi 11]

The only way to fly properly is flight stick + trackir. Period.

[no use for a name 0]

I do know some very competent pilots who fly mouse/keyboard, but personally, I'm with NUFAN. Joystick is better to fly with, and more gamelike. If you've played any flight sim, the basic will be familiar if you use joystick.

Yeah I know a few too; but most have been using that combo since OFP and has taken a lot of time to get it down pat. But you're right; with practice you can get good using the KB/mouse.

A HOTAS is overkill for a game like this and most likely just in the way. The way A2 handles joysticks is atrocious, the deadzone is way too big and the steering seems almost digital. If anything, a joystick is a handicap and everyone should learn to fly with mouse and keyboard first and foremost. Keys for sharp, constant turns and rudder, and mouse for aiming.

True, HOTAS is overkill if you're just going to use it for this game; but I really don't think using a joystick as as bad as you make it to be. I can fly pretty damn decent with just my CH Combatstick (using the Control Manager to adjust sensitivity/deadzone), and freelook...but each to his own

[walker 0]

Hi all

The Ground-monster post was assuming you were practicing in the editor to begin with. So the first lesson for helicopter is basically gain height and fly slow until you get used to the controls. For fixed wing as Tankbuster said if things start to look like they are going wrong Gain Height and Speed. This gives you time to think. Also if enemy are involved bank and climb, Flying straight makes you easy to hit but always increase speed and climb! The only exception to this is a guided missile on your tail. Then you might want to dump chaff and flares and corkscrew away in a dive.

The editor is the place to practice as you are in control of the environment. Once you have the basics you can try more advanced terrain landings and start adding in enemy units to get used to their threat level and characteristics.

As I say I fly perfectly well with the mouse and keyboard. I have friends who swear by the full joystick and rudder pedals solution; and other who use keyboard and mouse just like me, and then everything in between; including people who fly with a 360 controller. Use the controls you feel happiest with.

The One thing I do think is a boost is TrackIR though you can use the [Alt] button solution but in all honesty TrackIR is way better.

I wrote this about flying the Transport Helicopter Multi-player in ArmA some time ago.

http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Transport_helicopter_Role

As others have said read Dslyecxi's manual!

There are also some videos on YouTube.

Kind Regards walker

Edited December 8, 2009 by walker

[Beagle 684]

The only way to fly properly is flight stick + trackir. Period.

Amen, brother!

[mr burns 132]

including people who fly with a 360 controller

works very well! (360 freestyle)

[Tankbuster 1747]

Yeah I know a few too; but most have been using that combo since OFP and has taken a lot of time to get it down pat. But you're right; with practice you can get good using the KB/mouse.

I used a mouse/stick in OpF, but the flight model was much more forgiving there, especially in helos.

I do maintain that even if it's possible to be a marginally better flier using KB/M, we should encourage newbies to use joysticks, it's less for them to learn as the chances are, they'll be familiar with them as a controller.

[Avoidable 10]

Anyone else get the annoying "auto nose up" this happening if you stop all your control inputs?

Try getting a plane flying level then take your hand off the mouse and the nose will start to come up slowly. Its annoying having to make small constant corrections.

Happens in choppers too but only at speed. I was ferrying some people from base yesterday in the black hawk and had to keep tapping nose down to keep the chopper from bring the nose up.

[celery 8]

Anyone else get the annoying "auto nose up" this happening if you stop all your control inputs?

Try getting a plane flying level then take your hand off the mouse and the nose will start to come up slowly. Its annoying having to make small constant corrections.

Happens in choppers too but only at speed. I was ferrying some people from base yesterday in the black hawk and had to keep tapping nose down to keep the chopper from bring the nose up.

That's how physics work, a pilot has to cope with it.

[Avoidable 10]

I always thought most planes were fairly capable of level flight without constant elevator input through design.

Might have to look into a joystick. Now to think of excuses to justify the purchase with the missus. I shall use your post for this Celery