Arma 3 Heli action

Some good stuff starting to come out from the community!

So this is now a full blown heli sim?

Depends on how you define "full blown"

In short, it has Take On Helicopters flight model installed now (referenced as the "advanced flight model", as the previous pre-school student/boo-hoo-I-don't-have-a-HOTAS flight model also still exists; a user can choose which to fly with). The community was slow to integrate this into mods, but slowly but surely baby steps are being taken. We're about a year in now with this flight model.

It's still roughly the same systems depth as the strike fighter series, so hardcore DCS level button jockeys need-not-apply.

That said, it's nice to be able to fly such a large swath of birds without needing a libraries worth of flight manuals just to find the wind-shield wiper switch

Sadly though, the V-22 is still beholden to the "Basic flight model" for fixed-wing aircraft.

AggressorBLUE, thanks for sharing. I loved ARMAII, but I have been holding out on III. Maybe on the next sale I will buy it. It just seems the older I get, the less time I have to sit down and use half the software I purchase. I didn't know that they had upgraded the Heli FMs, thanks for the info. Do they have plans to or have they done this with the fixed wing aircraft?(are there fixed wing aircraft in ARMAIII?) I have some
Crosswind Pedals shipping this week, and I am looking forward to using them on the Helis in DCS, but maybe that will be a good excuse to purchase ARMAIII also. HeHe! Beautiful pictures by the way. Keep them coming Sir.

S!Blade<><

Wow! Very cool looking shots!

Rob

Blade,

Based on the fact that your hardcore enough to own crosswind pedals, and you have limited time to use them, I'd DEFINITELY get A3 if you have even the remotest interest in heli-flying..

So, first, I can personally attest to how awesome the Crosswinds are in controlling helis in A3

Second, while A3 does feature fixed wing aircraft, there isn't an advanced FM available for those. That said, Armas maps tend to be small by flight sim standards, and it trades a high level of ground detail for constricting view ranges when flying at Fixed wing speeds. Even with DCS level flight models and systems, it still wouldn't be an ideal platform for those kind of ops.

That said, these constrictions make it a great helo sim though, as slower speeds make the limited view range less of an issue, and you get a better sensation of flying with all those ground details.

For reference, I own all the helis currently available for DCS, and I still find A3 to be my go-to for heli ops. It's a larger hanger to choose from, and it's way more "jump in and fly" friendly.

Lots of great replayability to! A guy name RobJ on the steam workshop has created a bunch of missions for various helos (and Fixed wing birds) that auto generate missions ranging from convoy intercept, to CAS, to troop insertion/extraction. Factors such as weather, time of day, enemy resistance level, and mechanical failure probability are all user chosen, so there's hours of replay-ability there. Most of the shots above were taken using his missions, and freeware mods.

Having tons of fun with the Tigre!

How do the helicopters compare to Take on Helicopters? (If you had that one)

Rob

Cool, didn`t know that the Tigre is available! Thanks for the heads-up.

RobJ also have a mission with/for the Apache from Franze and NodUnit.

Thanks for all the info. I will keep my eyes open for the next sale of A3. Again, nice pictures.

S!Blade<><

Yep, love Arma3, and 2 for that matter.... yes, the fm and control system are dumbed down, but flying the aircraft is certainly fun!

Roughly the same, although some of the basic "cold start" button pushing options are gone. Well known A3 community member Dslyecxi does a fantastic job of walking one through the AFM in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-miNL8dDa04

That Tiger is from the Spanish Forces Mod. The BWMod guys are also working on their Tiger UHT, one "realistic" version without machine cannon, one what-if-version with a 30mm cannon for the BW. It's not out, yet, got massively delayed by BI reprogramming and a lack of coders.

Why on earth would germany not want a canon on their Tigers?

Initially the Tiger UHT in german service was basically a flying ATGM system. It was supposed to pop up from behind cover, fire a volley of ATGMs at advancing soviet tanks, disappear, repeat the process at another place and then return to an FARP to rearm and refuel. Rinse and repeat. When the Cold War ended the concept was "extended" a bit but due to the enormous reunification costs and the public demand for a peace dividend money was tight and the Army was denied the request to modify the original concept.

[tongue in cheek] Besides a real combat helo is such a nasty thing, a 30mm cannon could theoretically be used to kill innocent bystanders as well and ... well, our political lords and ladies don't want those headlines or accusations of "the Krauts still be Nazis". [/tongue in cheek]

Yes, saw it when visiting the Steam Workshop. Had to DL the whole Mod and didnt had a chance to try it out yet. I´ll keep an eye on the BWMod. Thanks!

Flying helos in A3 is a blast. I'm not a hardcore helo guy (but I am a hardcore jet guy) but it is still very, very fun.