Realistic Helicopter Behaviour

[Yahoo]

I was watching an documentry on the AH1 Cobra and they often whent behind trees then popped up blew up a few things then whent back behind the trees and i thought it would be a good idea to implement this in Flashpoint.

[ofpeditor]

its called:

unitname flyinheight xx

unitname = cobra
xx = height you want it (try 10-30 range if you're looking to pop up behind trees)

cheers
oe

[Yahoo]

Yes i am aware of that command and use it as a subsite what i mean is that the AI detects an Enemy Tank then it automaticly go low fly near some trees or hills etc pop up just enough to fire a missle then fire one and go back down.

[Iwesshome]

That is called Switch Triggers....

[O Neil]

Hmm......I'm not much into this topic, but what sorta thngs can you do with the switch ?

O'Neil

[Ball Zack]

For one thing Shilkas and Vulcans are old hardware and in real life, their search radars have trouble tracking low flying helicopters.  Therefore they shouldn't be able to detect you when you are flying by them 5m above the ground at night time.  Luckily you can fix this with scripting and triggers if your mission requires this much realism.  Also It would be nice if you could fly the helicopters inverted for short periods of time, and do loops (yes helicopters can do loops if they enter the manuever at a high enough altitude).  Unfortunately the OFP engine doesn't allow this.

[VUSN042]

Actually no, *most* helicopters can't loop.  Only a very few helo types are structurally capable of looping.

Helicopters with semi-articulated rotor-systems for example (most Bell helos, all the 200 series - 204/205/206/209/212/214 etc) can't tolerate their rotor-systems being unloaded.  They absolutely require at least a little loading on the rotor to prevent mast-bumping and having the parts seperate (generally considered a Bad Thing in rotary-wing aviation).  Modern semi-articulated rotor-systems have loading sleeves that reduce the loading requirement but they still need some positive rotor-system loading.

Of the other helicopters with less vulnerable rotor-systems (eg. rigid; articulated), very few types are structurally capable of safely performing high G manoeuvres, but either way, almost *none* of them are capable of safely performing loops at combat gross.  Sikorsky's S-65/S-85 (H-53) is one of the very few ships that can safely perform high load manoeuvring (including loops) at anything close to combat weight.

Apart from all that, in an operational context, no helo aviator in his right mind would be messin' around with 'airshow' manoeuvres during combat, for gossake.

OTOH, I sure do wish the OFP helo model was at least something even just *close* to the mark in terms of dynamics.  Even if it was only to lose that *really* stupid built-in pedal to cyclic coupling...  Oh well, it's still one of the best overall games ever.

[Ball Zack]

Well I didn't expect a cargo helicopter to be capable of doing this kind of manuever, but I have seen plenty of clips from airshows that show attack helos such as the Cobra, Links, Apache, and MI-28 doing loops and inverted manuevers.  Although loops aren't much use for combat, I have seen video footage of attack helos peeling off from formation and diving down to attack positions from medium altitude dives.  So I believe there is still a use for inverted attack helo flight, and I hope that BIS adds a feature allowing people to fly advanced "realistic" flight models in OFP2.

[VUSN042]

Yeah well, I did say most, not all... :-).

I'd love to see a more advanced helo flight model in OFP2 also, no argument there.  I'd also like to see a more advanced avionics, equipment, weapon and ordinance system for them...

[Ball Zack]

Here is an idea for OFP2.  They can have an option for simplified aircraft controls or advanced aircraft controls.  To switch between the two you would simply go into the options menu and change that feature.  In simplified mode aircraft would be even easier to handle then the current OFP models.  In advanced mode, the aircraft would handle as close to real life as possible.  Also The pilot would be able to turn the radar on/off, lase targets, change the MFDs, perform autorotation landings, and activate jammers.  And the BIS programmers don't need to be real pilots to know how real choppers handle.  Simply find a copy of Janes Long Bow 1 or 2.  The Apache, Blackhawk, and Kiowa Warrior are all modeled on real life flight evelopes, and characteristics.

[VUSN042]

LOL, I just gotta ask... how in the world could the helo flight model be any easier than it already is!?

As for the Longbow games, they have some really good weapon systems and avionics modelling, but like all other 'combat' flight simulations the flight model is as far from reality as can be.  The emphasis on the flight model is performance characteristics, while the handling and dynamics are on the one hand, very highly simplified and on the other, just plain wrong.

Sure the dials might show the right numbers under the right conditions  for the given weight/torque/speed/height/load/etc, but the helicopter nevertheless flies nothing like a real helicopter, and Jane's is one of the worst in fact, as they don't even get the basic cyclic vs pitch relationship right.

I don't really expect much more from the OFP helicopter than is already there, after all it's not specifically a flight simulator, just needs to clean up what it's got and get rid of that pedal to lateral cyclic coupling.  There are plenty of more fundamental game issues that need attention before significantly improving the flight model.

Just my 2c worth...