MD500Enthusiast

i've landed next to the people on the ground but they just stand there.

I feel for ya, but don't give up. Took me close to 10 hours of inflight training to actually nail it consistantly. My instructor told me that landing approaches are one of if not the hardest maneuver to learn as a helicopter pilot. So hang in there and like the others have said RELAX and keep trying. Don't try to replicate the video just yet, just practice your slow speed flight at first, as you get more comfortable go slower and slower until you're hovering. Like i said after i posted the video, it helps a lot more to have someone in multiplayer sitting in the copilot seat watching you fly and giving you instruction and feedback.

yes i set my trim before take off

i only use trim on take off for the medium helicopter. the light helicopter is very predictable and easy to control. usually slight forward stick and slight less cyclic but i have found that foward cyclic is not always neccessary.

oh, have you remove the deadzones from your joystick in game? because on default there's like a 15% deadzone for all axis.

looking at videos gives you an idea of what you need to do but to have someone in the cockpit with you giving you instructions helps a lot more. i'm sure there are some real life helo pilots in these forums that are willing to spend some of their time doing in cockpit trainings. if you ever see me in multiplayer or want to schedule a session let me know.

the trim system helps relieve pressure on the stick but doesn't mean it'll fly the helicopter for you. you still have to predict the how the helicopter will move by being light on the skid first if you're inexperienced. once you see how the heli wants to move then use your joystick to counter that movement by holding it slightly forward and to the left or whatever, you might also need the appropriate pedal input. then slowly increase collective to gently raise yourself up and counter any movement with small, smooth but deliberate inputs. if you're trying to fly these helos like you do blackshark then that's your error because different helicopters have a different feel even though the basic behaviors are the same but not always. for example the blackshark probably weighs twice if not three times more than the md500 so it's bound to be a little less twitchy, plus these helos have skids and the blackshark has wheels, it also has a coaxial rotor system which non of the helos in this game has. also keep in mind it's a different game and the flight dynamics aren't quite on par with blackshark.

thanks for the compliment, glad to help =D. my sensitivity is on default value, 50,50 for x,y axis. but i do use the saitek x65f so it's quite a different feel than other more conventional joysticks.

hmmmm i could try but it is very distracting for me to fly with those hud gauges lol. ---------- Post added at 10:29 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:47 AM ---------- here it is

i reduce and add collective as neccessary to keep on glide path (lining up the landing zone with the imaginary line on cannopy). you don't want to nose up too much when you've established your approach angle because you want to be smooth in your approach. howver if you're coming in too fast and you've got some distance between you and the landing spot you can a flare with collective full down or as much as you need to lower it. you can nose up a bit more during the last few seconds to shed the airspeed and come to a hover. when you get more proficient with your landing approach you can do it more aggressively, in real life people call it cowboy approach because it doesn't leave much room for error. basically you going down with a lot of foward airspeed and do an aggressive flare at the end. when you say turbulence i think you mean drift, yaw and roll? yes i had to compensate for it. it also helps to approach the landing spot a little higher than normal hover and lower yourself slowly, i did get the slight bouncing up but i corrected for it immediately by lowering collective a bit. you land steep because you're not controlling your approach speed and descend angles properly. look where the landing zone is on my cannopy and how i keep it there by reduce airspeed slowly and dropping collective to get the right amount of descend rate. also the slower you become the more collective you'll need to keep that sight picture.

here's a video demonstration on full engine off auto for light helicopters

hope this help you guys learning the approach angle, you'll need it once vortex ring state is implemented.

ok here's the light helicopter version of normal approach to landing. and here's the medium helicopter version

If its legit maruk will hand deliver a brand new top of the line pc with flight link cat III flight system and pc tower is made of gold.

If you start at larkin aviation base and fly to downtown area(where all the tall office buildings are) stay on the water and make a left. Following it for a little while and you'll find the cruise liner.

yes i'll make a vid for you guys right now for a normal landing approach to touch down.

it's ok nightstalker, I FORGIVE YOU!! :D :cool: :p

really? i played dcs for a while and i was able to land anywhere.

i understand how the manifold pressure gauge works, i am myself a helicopter pilot in real life and if search md500enthusiast on youtube you can see a couple of videos of me doing full down autos in r44 and hovering autos. so you're telling me that raising and lowering the collective while the engine is running doesn't make the needle move on the manifold pressure gauge? from my experience flying the r22 and r44 it does and if so then the collective has a direct relationship with the manifold pressure gauge. i don't think you understand that i dont disagree that the manifold pressure is a measure if available engine power and the collective is what changes the pitch of the blade but you fail to understand i'm simply saying they work hand in hand. the only measure of how much collective authority is available is measured by the manifold pressure gauge. say during a given day the you have 22" of MCP and maybe 24" of TOP. if the manifold pressure gauge doesn't tell you how much collective you can pull then why not just pull all the way up collective during take off and ignore the manifold pressure gauge all together? but in real life we keep a close eye on the needle in the manifold pressure gauge to monitor how much collective authority we have, so i stand by my statement that the only guage in the cockpit to show how much throttle authority you have is the manifold pressure in a piston helicopter. i have no doubt you're a competant helicopter pilot but remember this game hardly represents how a real helicopter handles. you can look at the rpm gauges til the sun goes down but they won't make any sense if you're comparing it to a real helicopter. also if someone is willing to give you their hard learned knowledge why not just take it, and like i said there's a trick to it with the light helicopter? instead you'd be willing to crash over and over again and come to the forum asking if it's even possible because you can't seem to get it work. besides it's more of an invitation to play together in multiplayer and have some fun! =)

yes learning to hover in a simulator is taxing. just try landing on one of those landing platforms people use to haul helicopters around, you can find them in the editor under empty/objects/landing platform. even i don't make it on the first attempt and have to realign a couple of times before getting it right.

you are correct, but my meaning is that the manifold pressure gauge has a direct link to your collective. it gives you a measurement of how much collective you can pull due to temperature, air density etc. in essence you can basically use the manifold pressure gauge as measurement of how much collective authority you have at any given condition. of course you can pull more collective and exceed the performance envelop but that is unwise and sometimes fatal. ---------- Post added at 11:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:27 AM ---------- [/color]Also, has anyone tried to do a full engine off auto yet (not just idle)?, as the last time I tried I failed miserably due to being unable to maintain rotor rpm as the flight model doesnt seem to be accurate enough to handle this situation. ---------- Post added at 11:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:16 AM ---------- on another note if you watch my autorotation demostration video which is in this thread a couple of posts above yours it clearly demonstrates both throttle set to off and autorotation is very manageable. i've also been doing them in the light helicopter which requires more finess and a little trick at landing but it is also doable. if you like we can get into multiplayer and i can demonstrate.

roll throttle to idle then to off then turn battery off and engage rotor brakes.

no that is not ground effect but it is how this game simulates ground effect which is total bogus. anyway best way to handle it i found is to approach your landing zone slowly and slightly higher than your normal landing height, and anticipate when that bump will occur. it seems that it occurs when the vertical axis of the rotor meets the new edge/ground/building etc. so just decrease your collective quite a bit as it comes into contact.

I don't see anyone in multiplayer =(, i'm hosting a game right now.

so i've made two videos in game demonstrating the autorotation to a general area. the first video is still uploading but the second one where i do an 180 autorotation is ready.