I'm getting fairly proficient with the weapons systems.. but goddamit, I can not fly this thing worth a damn.

I'm having a ton of trouble setting up in a nice stable hover, so that I can actually deploy the weapons. It seems like I try and get setup to scan for targets and shoot, but I'm constantly fighting the bird to stay put. I watch some videos on youtube, and some of the training missions and the bird is in a basically perfect hover.

Any tips on hovering, and also evasive maneuvers?

Have read of this - unless you understand the Autopilot/stabilisation system, you are going to have a hard time in the Shark.

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=36246&highlight=autopilot

Nate

Operating the systems is fairly easy. The first thing any pilot is drilled in for months is how to fly the aircraft. No weapons, no funny stuff - so focus strictly on flying for a little while. Forget weapons, forget targets - just free flight and fly around the airfield making the aircraft do what you want it to do.

Like Nate pointed out, you might just be running into AP interactions and you're fighting them - check up on that first. A video or track of your troubles would be useful.

Hello.

If you're using realistic flight model (not simplified) AND not using the trim control, then I think that's the problem.

Read through this: http://www.simhq.com/_air13/air_428a.html

That's a good guide - I 'll try to remember that for future reference, thanks.

Nate

I'll second that using the avionics in this thing is far easier than flying it. After an hour you can learn all you need to know to attack and kill targets using the gun, rockets, and Vikhrs. It takes a lot longer than that to fly the thing with confidence. At 100 hrs I think I've just about got it down.

On the flipside, I can fly the A-10C with confidence after just a few hours, but using those systems is another matter. I've got a 50% success rate only with LGBs, and Mavericks are better but still boil down to "one per pass". A far cry from my rippling Vikhrs down a column of armor...



The Jedi Master

I find it dificult too to fly the shark, specialy while landing.

I'm in doubt about the proper way to trim. It seems to exist two aways.

1 -> change pitch and/or roll, press trim button and center cyclic.
2 -> press trim button and keep it pressed, change pitch and/or roll, release trim button, center cyclic.

Which one is the proper way?

As far as I'm concerned everybody should fly with the Flight Director on. I know this is heresy to the purists, but is it is so much more enjoyable to trim and fly with the FD ON..

Nate

@NATE, HOW DARE YOU EVEN SUGGEST THAT... ... <ahem>

@Jacobs, as Nate insinuated in his post, you're probably going to get a bunch of different answers from different perspectives.

<My $0.02USD>Whatever works for you, works for you. Deep, right? Personally, I fly with FLIGHT DIRECTOR OFF <harumph> and press and hold the Trimmer button before and during any attitude changes. I also press and hold the collective brake when making collective changes. That said, if you're learning to fly this bad boy, I strongly recommend learning to fly with Flight Director ON. I even promise not to completely shun you if you decide to fly with it on all the time. Many folks do and for good reason.

In the series of well-written <ahem> articles linked above, I describe how the autopilot can appear to be constantly fighting the pilot but only because the pilot is constantly fighting the autopilot. The Flight Director mode removes all the control inputs from the autopilot so the only thing the pilot is fighting is the Trimmer.

Learn the Trimmer.
Love the Trimmer.
Become one with the Trimmer.

Only then can you appreciate what the autopilot is trying to do in the background and only then can you flight with it, instead of against it.</My $0.02USD>

Tks Einstein, I'm corrently trying to learn flying with FD of, also I and find it easy to keep trimmer pressed while manouver (just as you said).