Is it just me or is this aircraft just a B*TCH to fly? I am so pissed because I used to be a rotorhead back in EECH and Gunship! days and prided myself in being able to fly 50 feet AGL at 90 KIAS. This abomination will do that, but getting it to do anything else afterwards --- kaboom!

Also, is it just me or does this helo seem to be working with stone-age weapons? ie, a TV camera with no IR capability whatsoever... a laser-guided LOS missile with pathetic range... a big-ass gun that can only swivel so far...

I am not looking for a flame war, just venting/ranting. I will still fly this anyway for lack of anything better, plus I see what good pilots can do with the Shark, but I'll be damned if I am wrong with my above sentiments.

It can be a #%&*$# to fly if you mishandle/misunderstand the Autopilot-stabilisation system. Once you truly understand how that works, it is a dream to fly, and you can throw it around the sky with abandon.

As for the weapons - older than the stone age.

Nate

It does require a lot of attention and concentration. Moreso than about any other simulated aircraft I've flown. I think of it this way though: The real guys that fly these things make it a full time job. They study it, study it, study it. They probably fly a simulator a lot, and spend time in the real cockpit. They are probably comfortable enough that they can sit blindfolded and find every switch from memory. That is their job.. Their lives depend on it. For us, it is a part-time hobby at best..so we aren't afforded the luxury of dedicating our lives to it. But DCS modeled it so completely that it requires a true commitment to learn it and fly it well. Let alone fight it well.

I'm a firm believer in the two-pilot (or pilot/CPG) system. In the Ka-50 it is very easy to get task saturated, and a lot of stuff does require heads down action. The environment it operates in (low altitude, sometimes fast) is just so unforgiving of lack of attention or distraction. The two-pilot crew of the Apache has some distinct advantages (you fly, I'll fight, and we'll talk about it the whole time).

That's why I'd love to see an Apache from DCS..with front/back seat connectivity. I think it would be really cool to fly like we did way back with F-15 Strike Eagle III (front seat/back seat).

This will be an interesting discussion..



BeachAV8R

Thanks for confirming that on weapons Nate. I would love to go online with you sometime and you can demo for me how "you can throw it around the sky with abandon" and probably teach me a thing or two.




So do A10 pilots but that is so much easier to fly and you spend your time learning how to FIGHT in it. The Ka-50 is so difficult to FLY, I don't even know why they bother.




If DCS or anyone comes out with a proper Apache sim, I will commit myself to learning to operate both seats. That will be kick-ass multiplayer -- I don't care if there is no SP in the game. Then I hope the devs of that game will include some Ka-50s so I can exact vengeance on the airframe I've come to love to loathe.

I've got about 20hrs in BS2 and it's getting alot easier. Like Nate said getting a handle on the autopilot/stabilization system makes flying alot it alot better. I think I'm trimming alot more then when I started. I usually fly around using the autopilot going to f/d mode if I need to do any serious manuevering or NOE. I'm really enjoying the challenge of learning this sim, but if they come out with the F15E or even better F105G or F4E with a real backseater option I'd have to go back to the fast jets. I used to have some fun trying to dogfight in a A20 with a buddy in the gunners seat in Aces High.

I just did the Shooting Range mission. Damn aircraft won't even lift UP into the sky properly, it'll either pitch back or slide sideways. And whoever says this thing should do a rolling takeoff is forgetting something very important about helicopters -- they are H E L I C O P T E R S... they should be able to take off and land V E R T I C A L L Y.

Got to the mission area alright, all AP channels on and FD on. Upon approaching my "spot," FD off, coast to a stop without gaining too much altitude, and establish Hover Hold. Damn thing can't even hover properly. I've only twice achieved zero-slip hovers... and if you're slipping and sliding while hovering, you're not hovering. You're slipping and sliding. Stupid helo.

Okay, so heads down, work the Shkval and alternate between the twirly-twirly Vikhrs (the guidance system alone proves that some drunk Russian engineers thought this up after a party) and the frikkin' awesome "thum thum thum thum" of the gun. I'm drifting too close to the target site so I head back out... coast to a stop, hard left rudder to face the right way again.... and enter some sort of spin and kaboom! Plant myself into Georgian soil. Note that I did not die because I was fired upon, I did not die because I had system damage, I did not die because I was too busy heads down, I did not die because I was talking while flying, I did not die because I was texting while flying. I died because the damn thing went crazy at 40 meters AGL and decided to land.

Are any of the Ka-50 designers still alive? Or have the pilot's wives hunted them down to the last man?



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For something more constructive here, has anyone managed to pull out the Shkval and the ABRIS screens and put them on a second monitor? Or better yet, do Helios on this b*tch and put the entire front console on a 24-inch monitor on a dual-screen display?

Lol - good read.

I like the twirly whirly vihkers.

Helicopters require a lot of inputs..that is just the nature of the beast. Taking off from the pad you have to get a little light on the "skids" and feel what the default trim is going to do. Wind will affect where the rotor disc needs to be for a level takeoff. I trim quite frequently. I also like to use the ROUTE mode between waypoints and I prefer to fly at 200KPH or so to avoid any catastrophic rotor meshing or anything.

I've not run into any situations (yet) where I couldn't takeoff or land vertically with BS2. I have had difficulty maintaining a hover at extremely high mountain passes. Most helicopters are capable of making "running" takeoffs when they can't hover. Even Hueys in Vietnam used to scrape along the runway sometimes to get enough translational lift to transition to a climb. (If you are struggling with Black Shark - you need to read "Chickenhawk" so that you have a full appreciation of how difficult helicopters can be to fly - and how unique they are in terms of how they fly..)

Regarding auto hover. I usually engage it when I'm at 10kph or less. Once I engage it, I then manually input a corrective input and retrim. The helo will not ever maintain a perfect hover over the engaged position (at least I've never found that to be the case). I was spoiled by both LB2 and EECH - they maintain positional hovers quite easily.

Comparing the workload of the A-10 (a very stable platform) to a helo (an unstable platform) is problematic. I think BS2 closely replicates the flying workload that is inherent to helo operations. I can always tell when I've been flying BS2..my shoulders ache from the tension of having to constantly be on the controls.

Good luck!

BeachAV8R

This is something I need to do too. I think it would be very cool..

Beach, I do know about the AP function of the helo for going from A-B, but I am doing this to learn how to control the aircraft. It's just too... fiddly and unforgiving. And crazy.

Regarding hover, I've done a perfectly-stable hover in that mission twice before. And I do mean rock-solid hover, not an inch of drift. If only I can figure out how the hell that happened and replicate it consistently. And no, I'm not one of those guys that hit Auto-Hover while doing 100KPH, my hover hold is engaged at 5KPH on a level aircraft.

I am told this poor-excuse-of-an-aircraft is even worse with wind. Duh!! Didn't the designers know wind exists? AAAARRRGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now I know the phrase about "helos are so ugly the earth repels them" is quite true. Except for the Longbow.