I dont have a HOTAS and instead use a Saitek Cyborg Evo and I have to say that the trimmer function on the Black Shark is an absolute god send. I've become much better at the sim ever since I finally learned how to master the trimmer. I dont find myself "chasing the controls" any longer and I'm surviving most of the missions I go on.

Oh, you mean trim controls in the sim. Looking at the subject line, I thought you were just bragging or something.

The Trim is the deepest secret, and the simplest concept ever of DCS. Once mastered it makes the Sim a deeply satisfying experience.

Learning to fly with the exclusively Flight Director is the next step.

Nate

I never use the flight director, and I don't miss it at all.

Learning to fly without it is 'the next step'. You can turn it on to pretend you're flying your auto-pilot-less training chopper ... and then, you learn to fly with it OFF, like you should be flying the black shark

What exactly is the flight director?

Heheh GG we'll never agree on this one

Panzer the Flight Director basically disables the autopilot input to the control channels, but most importantly maintains the stabilisation input for the channels. Generally the FD should be on when you are throwing the Shark around the sky for fun. I wouldn't recommend it in a combat situation unless you need to make a sharp exit.

Nate

We don't have to agree.

FD off is how the helicopter is flown in RL, save for exceptional situation (throwing the heli around the sky is not included in them)

FD on is how certain people like to fly, but it isn't realistic. Obviously you have the game to play it and have fun your way - and that's fine.

The flight director allows a human pilot to fly like the autopilot would. It turns on HUD elements corresponding to cyclic and collective controls that, well, direct you how to fly.

Turning the flight director on also disengages most auto pilot functions but leaves damping active. It makes the helicopter fly more like a helicopter, which can be the worst or best thing in the world to you depending on opinion.

To me the most important reason to use the flight director is that the AP is not infallible, and chances are there will be a combat situation where it gets knocked out. It's always good to be ready to handle this crazy bird without the AP's help and turning the FD on is a quick way to approximate this situation. For "day to day" flying and tank busting I leave it off.

If the AP gets damaged, you'll also lose damping, so the best way to prepare for that is to turn off the AP channels. Turning on the FD doesn't prepare you for anything other than flying your entire route by hand. Turning on the FD only gets rid of the hold functions of the autopilot (attitude and heading hold), which is exactly the same as holding down the trimmer button (plus the director cues).