Thinking in getting the Gazelle

Hello!

I am thinking in getting the Gazelle.

I would like to hear some opinions, I will say what I like from other helos and if I can find it in this one or if I am going to have some problems.

First of all I was a plane pilot, I love to fly fast and high but after getting the Ka50 the situation changed, being more fun.

I would like to have an attacking bird, I got the Huey,Mi-8 and Ka50. Everything is fine in the last but in the two cargo helicopters I feel that I need to punch more holes although I like cargo missions but I feel useless sometimes.

What do you thing about the HOT3 missile system? it will be usefull against tanks?

I don`t have pedals, I have an X55 and for now I am confident with some clunky skills, I can fly without much trouble the Huey and the Mi8. Is this going to be worse?

I am really looking foward the L version, and that was the point that is getting me more sure about a purchase, another version with more weapons.

Can you guys help me?

and last of all, sorry for my english, is not my first lenguage.

Salute and thanks

The Gazelle is very sensitive on the rudders, unless you add a huge amount of saturation and curves, then you'll rarely be going more than half-way with them. So you may find the Gazelle much more difficult to fly without rudder pedals compared to the Huey, Mi8 and Ka-50.

But you probably should just get a pair of rudders anyway if you take flight sims seriously. Trust me, having a good set of pedals does make a difference - even for planes.

I do recommend the Gazelle anyway. I personally find it way more "fun" in the traditional sense than the other Heli's as it's much faster and more agile than them. Also, the campaign is excellent.

The Gazelle is very sensitive on the rudders, unless you add a huge amount of saturation and curves, then you'll rarely be going for than half-way with them. So you may find the Gazelle much more difficult to fly without rudder pedals compared to the Huey, Mi8 and Ka-50.

 

But you probably should just get a pair of rudders anyway if you take flight sims seriously. Trust me, having a good set of pedals does make a difference - even for planes.

Well, I must get used to it, rudder pedals are coming in some years if I decide to get them.

The control was a problem but I trust I can get it to work with more time expent on it

Thanks for the fast answer

Don't sell armament of UH-1 and Mi-8 short, obviously they can only operate in low threat environments, but against a convoy or a troop concentration, or artillery group etc, they can pack more firepower than Gazelle.

However, Gazelle, if flown right, can work against targets with more bite. You can take out ATGM armed tanks and IFV, with right combination of skill and luck, may be some SAMs even. Viviane sight offers fairly decent magnification, or alternatively pretty good field of view, with it's many zoom levels, as well as low light capability with it's IR mode. HOT3 missiles are sort of short range but they pack a punch, and one shots even the biggest, baddest of armor. Although, unlike Shkval, Viviane has no tracking functionality apart from ground stabilization, and you would need to manually lead / correct for moving targets. Also, while packing more of a punch, HOT3 have only about half the range of Vikhrs, and you can carry one third as many missiles compared to Ka-50s 12 Vikhrs.

As for the helo itself, it is very twitchy, yet also very agile, soo fun to fly with, and suited best to nap of the earth flying (and frankly, needs doing that against serious threats). It is both harder and easier than at the same time compared to other helos, well excluding Ka-50 anyway. With practice in flying other helos, on top practice with Gazelle itself, aside from difficulty in getting it to a hover every now and then, I was quite precise with it. But gave a few days of break to flying it, and now I am a noob all over again :D. Also looking forward to L version with unguided weaponry to put it's agility to use.

Gazelle is a light helo, with an engine rather weak compared to engines of other DCS helos. SA-342M version is further loaded down with big Viviane sight and other equipment, as well as having a different main rotor than other versions, which favor better takeoff weight over speed. Therefore, it is rare to exceed 200 km/h in Gazelle, at least it's been so for me. Also, it's high altitude performance does not compare favorably to other DCS helos, even the Huey. Getting to a hover and holding it while still turning with tail rotor gets quite tricky on mountains. But hugging terrain and licking treetops, or weaving between city blocks is a breeze for Gazelle, more so than other helos.

What I personaly like to do, is to set up a mission in mission editor. Have a village full of soldiers, AA guns, as well as a few tanks / bmps / btrs. First I go in with Gazelle and take out more threatening targets like AAA, BMP and tanks. Then I take Huey with it's rockets and flexible miniguns to mop up remaining targets. This way they work very well with each other :).

One advantage compared to Ka-50 is, Gazelle actually have a RWR, and a good one too. Though, unlike Kamov, it doesn't feature a laser warning receiver.

Edit : I also don't have rudder pedals, and fly with a twist stick, without any curves or saturation settings. While it is sensitive and twitchy, it is nothing that can't be gotten used to.

As for the speed, Gazelle is not faster, actually it is quite a bit slower than Ka-50, Mi-8 and UH-1. Not the M version we have anyway, even without any missiles loaded, it can barely be about as fast as Huey.

Thanks, those details helped me a lot.

Damm! I am getting it!

Once caught the helo virus, one can't look back :D Welcome... now I am waiting for Bo-105 too, as well hopefuly Mi-24 and AH-1 from Belsimtek :D.

Once caught the helo virus, one can't look back :D Welcome... now I am waiting for Bo-105 too, as well hopefuly Mi-24 and AH-1 from Belsimtek :D.

Yep.

I must say the same as I said in my first post.

After being a whole life sim plane pilot, getting into mountains, flying trhough forest and evading shots is a whole new expierence and also very funny

I can give only an excellent feedback about the product. It's incredible fun to fly.

You got enough detailed answers from the others. Mine is just about the experience of flying it. One word, you won't regret a cent

I can give only an excellent feedback about the product. It's incredible fun to fly.

 

You got enough detailed answers from the others. Mine is just about the experience of flying it. One word, you won't regret a cent

Completely agree, more polished than either of Belsimteks birds at a comparable time scale. Very frustrating and very rewarding and fun:thumbup:

Thinking in getting the Gazelle

Completely agree, more polished than either of Belsimteks birds at a comparable time scale. Very frustrating and very rewarding and fun:thumbup:

Let's have a flight together. Since the last time you flew with us we didn't see you anymore.

Sorry for the out of topic ...

Edit: to the OP buy the gazelle and come fly with us... Now I'm on topic again

Yep.

 

I must say the same as I said in my first post.

 

After being a whole life sim plane pilot, getting into mountains, flying trhough forest and evading shots is a whole new expierence and also very funny

I'm a virtual fast jet pilot myself, and although I have Blackshark and Huey for quite some time, i wasn't much into them.

I wasn't realy planing to buy Gazelle, it was an impuls purchase. And im glad I bought it. Learning to fly it was quite a challange, but very rewarding. I'm still learning I guess.

It seems I got bitten by a helo bug, and started to enjoy my other helos too. And compared to Gazelle, thery are breeze to fly. :D

Beware, though.

I didn't have any investment in mind.

But since I got the Gazelle, my order for MFG Crosswind rudders is on the line. Expecting it for July.

In the meantime, I handle it with X-55 twist, it's quite some work, but doable. Ultra touchy when facing threat in low speed conditions, though. Really a challenge.

I bought it on Sunday and I adore it. I was going to invest it in another product but decided to give the biz to Polychop because of their excellent customer interaction and frequent updates. I can control it pretty well just using an x-55 with the twist for the rudder. It is a marvelous work of art.

Great to hear! I pre-ordered the X56 and can't wait to test her out with the Gazelle....although I do have rudder pedals. I did fly a fairly long time with a twist rudder back in my early flight days.

I bought it on Sunday and I adore it. I was going to invest it in another product but decided to give the biz to Polychop because of their excellent customer interaction and frequent updates. I can control it pretty well just using an x-55 with the twist for the rudder. It is a marvelous work of art.

So far so good, I`m able to start up, take off and land.

Also shooting from autopilot.

Just need more practice in the transitions from Ap to normal flight and some time

Worth every penny!

Once caught the helo virus, one can't look back :D Welcome... now I am waiting for Bo-105 too, as well hopefuly Mi-24 and AH-1 from Belsimtek :D.

cant agree more.... the Gazelle is my first Heli and the virus immediately got me, especially when nervous behaviour and instability turned into Agility :matrix: