How to get rescue helo to stay with carrier?

Try as I may, I cannot get the rescue helo to stay with the carrier.

According to Wags, set helo altitude to 100 feet and speed the same as the ship.

Every time, the helo flies faster than the ship. Same with Kuz and Ka-27.

Am I missing something??

I just noticed. It's not the helo speeding up, it's the ship slowing down.

It starts at 25 knots, then in a few seconds it slows to 11.

OK NVM. I think I got it. I added more waypoints for the carrier and now it doesn't slow down.

I had the same problem except my ship was slightly faster so I ended up with a helo to hit if overshooting into the groove lol. My solution was to use the Airboss MOOSE script. The RescueHelo function gives you a helo that launches, recovers to refuel when necessary, and will hold station correctly regardless of boat speed without you needing to set any speed at all. It'll also go circle and "rescue" a pilot that ejects around the boat and bring him back to the ship haha.

That plus the RecoveryTanker function, plus the persistent gradesheet abilities, almost makes up for losing vLSO when I switched to DCS. If only the SC LSO would be improved now...

I just setup waypoints for ship and helo at identical places (used map grid lines to get that set) then set Helo to be fixed time and that fixed time at waypoint to match carrier time at corresponding waypoint. Works really well for me. No need for script.

I use a very nice script by @FunkyFranky:

https://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=4346909&postcount=5

I just setup waypoints for ship and helo at identical places (used map grid lines to get that set) then set Helo to be fixed time and that fixed time at waypoint to match carrier time at corresponding waypoint. Works really well for me. No need for script.

I do this too as I have no knowledge of scripting. However it does need some tinkering. Setting the helo waypoint fixed time exactly the same as the carrier will still cause a speed difference. If you want the helo to pretty much perfectly follow the carrier, you'll need to play with the fixed waypoint time a bit.

In fact, by doing this you're actually setting the helo airspeed to decimal accuracy (e.g.: 11,32kts)

Edit:

But obviously, we're in dire need of some sort of "follow ship" waypoint action...

It would be nice to hear if they are planning the ability to have a helicopter escort a ship and a tanker to orbit with a circular orbit with a ship (carrier) as reference for the orbit

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We really need the advanced waypoint action 'follow' for helicopters, that allow for the following of ground vehicles and ships.

We have it for planes, and it allows planes to follow other planes, and you can tell it how far forward/backward, left/right and at what elevation.

It's extra curious because we already have the helo action “ground escort”, which should essentially provide all the logic needed, except it would allow ship assignments instead. And maybe not quite as aggressive flying back and forth.

It would be nice to hear if they are planning the ability to have a helicopter escort a ship and a tanker to orbit with a circular orbit with a ship (carrier) as reference for the orbit

 

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You should seriously look up the RescueHelo and RecoveryTanker functions of the Airboss script, they accomplish those exact things with like 3 simple lines of script. It would be nice to have it built into the ME but there's no need to wait, this is dirt simple. You don't have to be any kind of programmer for it.

But I dont use MIST or MOOSE in my missions because of the need to update them with new versions of it. In the best scenario, in the worst scenario a DCS update makes MIST or MOOSE incompatible and the missions I worked on many many many hours unplayable. So I use only whats in the ME, and this must be coming. It would just be nice if they would confirm it. But thanks anyway!

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Try as I may, I cannot get the rescue helo to stay with the carrier.

According to Wags, set helo altitude to 100 feet and speed the same as the ship.

Every time, the helo flies faster than the ship. Same with Kuz and Ka-27.

Am I missing something??

 

I just noticed. It's not the helo speeding up, it's the ship slowing down.

It starts at 25 knots, then in a few seconds it slows to 11.

 

OK NVM. I think I got it. I added more waypoints for the carrier and now it doesn't slow down.

You can also set a waypoint where both arrive at the same time.

But I dont use MIST or MOOSE in my missions because of the need to update them with new versions of it. In the best scenario, in the worst scenario a DCS update makes MIST or MOOSE incompatible and the missions I worked on many many many hours unplayable. So I use only whats in the ME, and this must be coming. It would just be nice if they would confirm it. But thanks anyway!

That's a fair argument against the scripting solution, but then again, it's almost as common that an update breaks built-in ME functions and tasks, and that the thing that is broken in the scripting is just a case of the script calling on functions that use the same logic that is being used for the ME tasks… and it's the task itself, rather than the script that has broken down somehow. So swings and roundabouts, really. :D

That said, yes, it's a bit silly how some tasks (eg. follow and escort) are only available to certain specific units types in relation to other specific unit types, even though they'd be obviously applicable in other constellations as well. Escort and follow are prime examples of this.

Explicit waypoint timings help in this case, but even then the AI can get all kinds of funny ideas that break that solution as well.

You should seriously look up the RescueHelo and RecoveryTanker functions of the Airboss script, they accomplish those exact things with like 3 simple lines of script. It would be nice to have it built into the ME but there's no need to wait, this is dirt simple. You don't have to be any kind of programmer for it.

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You should seriously look up the RescueHelo and RecoveryTanker functions of the Airboss script, they accomplish those exact things with like 3 simple lines of script. It would be nice to have it built into the ME but there's no need to wait, this is dirt simple. You don't have to be any kind of programmer for it.

I hope ED adds this to the core soon

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You can also set a waypoint where both arrive at the same time.

All well and good, but it is such a pain in the a** to make that many

waypoints over a long distance for both the Helo and

support ships to follow like a real task force would.

Even then, they start out ok and then the speed discrepancies

creep in and after 15 minutes or so they are out of sync.

I agree with northstar98, we need an advanced waypoint action for

helos and support ships to follow the carrier.

I set tha aircraft carrier at 25 knots with 1 Waypoint and a rescue helo with 1 Waypoint too, abeam the carrier, and i set the helo to 25 knots too. At 400 ft. No problems from this side.

I set tha aircraft carrier at 25 knots with 1 Waypoint and a rescue helo with 1 Waypoint too, abeam the carrier, and i set the helo to 25 knots too. At 400 ft. No problems from this side.

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How many hours do you run the mission after that to test that there are no problems with the helo overtaking the carrier?

 

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No need to do this if the helo is there at the carrier when he returns from his mission than he has set it right. whether his flight is 20 minutes or 2 hours

True, I have it set up in the same way in a mission I have where I take of and just return to land just to train on that.

But in 2 hours the helo would have overtaken the carrier. And in about 2,5 it would run out of fuel and returned to the carrier to land so there would be no helo there at all.

That was why I was asking how long he ran the mission without any problems.

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I had the same issue. I just want a helicopter to sit 500 feet of the starboard beam, and track with the carrier for the entire mission. Matching speeds didn’t work, and matching arrival times didn’t work. The helicopter is always a slightly different speed vs the boat.

I did find a solution though, but it take a bit of trial and error.

1) Set up your carrier, and put a helicopter abeam at whatever distance and altitude you want.

2) Set each one with a waypoint down range, spaced the same distance apart as they were in the start. I used 500’. This should be “Waypoint 1” for each vehicle.

3) Change the waypoint setting so they both are arrival time, not speeds. Set the same arrival time for both helicopter and carrier. In theory, this should be all you need, but it’s not.

4) Load the mission, and go to BOAT VIEW (F9 I think). Move around the viewpoint so the helicopter is positioned in front of the carrier. Time warp to max, and watch and and see if the helicopter moves forward or backwards in comprising to the carrier. Likely the helicopter is moving faster. If so;

5) Go back to the editor and move waypoint 1 for the HELICOPTER closer to its starting position. For my 90 NM leg, I needed to move it back by about 6.5 miles. That’s around 7% of the track, so start with 7% of your total track to get you in the ballpark.

6) After you moved the waypoint, load the mission and repeat step 4. Is the helicopter still faster? If yes, keep moving the helicopter waypoint closer to the start. If the helicopter is slower, move the helicopter waypoint farther away.

7) Keep doing this until the helicopter has no movement in relation to the boat.

It took me about 6 or so adjustments until the helicopter was completely stationary. As a final test I loaded the mission and time accelerated, then came back a few minutes later. The helicopter was still dead abeam the ship. Yes this is annoying to do, but so is having the helicopter be in wrong place when you come back from an hour long sortie.

I had the same issue. I just want a helicopter to sit 500 feet of the starboard beam, and track with the carrier for the entire mission. Matching speeds didn’t work, and matching arrival times didn’t work. The helicopter is always a slightly different speed vs the boat.

 

I did find a solution though, but it take a bit of trial and error.

 

1) Set up your carrier, and put a helicopter abeam at whatever distance and altitude you want.

 

2) Set each one with a waypoint down range, spaced the same distance apart as they were in the start. I used 500’. This should be “Waypoint 1” for each vehicle.

 

3) Change the waypoint setting so they both are arrival time, not speeds. Set the same arrival time for both helicopter and carrier. In theory, this should be all you need, but it’s not.

 

4) Load the mission, and go to BOAT VIEW (F9 I think). Move around the viewpoint so the helicopter is positioned in front of the carrier. Time warp to max, and watch and and see if the helicopter moves forward or backwards in comprising to the carrier. Likely the helicopter is moving faster. If so;

 

5) Go back to the editor and move waypoint 1 for the HELICOPTER closer to its starting position. For my 90 NM leg, I needed to move it back by about 6.5 miles. That’s around 7% of the track, so start with 7% of your total track to get you in the ballpark.

 

6) After you moved the waypoint, load the mission and repeat step 4. Is the helicopter still faster? If yes, keep moving the helicopter waypoint closer to the start. If the helicopter is slower, move the helicopter waypoint farther away.

 

7) Keep doing this until the helicopter has no movement in relation to the boat.

 

It took me about 6 or so adjustments until the helicopter was completely stationary. As a final test I loaded the mission and time accelerated, then came back a few minutes later. The helicopter was still dead abeam the ship. Yes this is annoying to do, but so is having the helicopter be in wrong place when you come back from an hour long sortie.

Sounds like way too much work. It takes long enough just to set up the rest of the mission to have to take so much time just for a minor event as helo following.

The simple and obvious answer is a "follow" command in the advanced waypoint options.

It's already there for other units. How difficult would it be to add it to helo to follow carrier, or

support ships to follow carrier?

I agree, but now I just use the same basic template for most missions. Now that I know the time and distances needed for each unit, it's fast to set up.

I had the same issue. I just want a helicopter to sit 500 feet of the starboard beam, and track with the carrier for the entire mission. Matching speeds didn’t work, and matching arrival times didn’t work. The helicopter is always a slightly different speed vs the boat.

 

I did find a solution though, but it take a bit of trial and error.

 

1) Set up your carrier, and put a helicopter abeam at whatever distance and altitude you want.

 

2) Set each one with a waypoint down range, spaced the same distance apart as they were in the start. I used 500’. This should be “Waypoint 1” for each vehicle.

 

3) Change the waypoint setting so they both are arrival time, not speeds. Set the same arrival time for both helicopter and carrier. In theory, this should be all you need, but it’s not.

 

4) Load the mission, and go to BOAT VIEW (F9 I think). Move around the viewpoint so the helicopter is positioned in front of the carrier. Time warp to max, and watch and and see if the helicopter moves forward or backwards in comprising to the carrier. Likely the helicopter is moving faster. If so;

 

5) Go back to the editor and move waypoint 1 for the HELICOPTER closer to its starting position. For my 90 NM leg, I needed to move it back by about 6.5 miles. That’s around 7% of the track, so start with 7% of your total track to get you in the ballpark.

 

6) After you moved the waypoint, load the mission and repeat step 4. Is the helicopter still faster? If yes, keep moving the helicopter waypoint closer to the start. If the helicopter is slower, move the helicopter waypoint farther away.

 

7) Keep doing this until the helicopter has no movement in relation to the boat.

 

It took me about 6 or so adjustments until the helicopter was completely stationary. As a final test I loaded the mission and time accelerated, then came back a few minutes later. The helicopter was still dead abeam the ship. Yes this is annoying to do, but so is having the helicopter be in wrong place when you come back from an hour long sortie.

I was not able to replicate this...

If I set both the carrier and helicopter for a fixed arrival time, then, when I move the helicopter waypoint 1 back an forth it changes the starting time either for an earlier or delayed start...

I do this too as I have no knowledge of scripting.

The Rescue Helo Script mentioned for this literially requires just 3 things. It is very simple and a good way to learn about scripting.

Here is an example mission with a Rescue Helo

Rescue Helo 1.miz

Here is an example mission with a Rescue Helo

By the way, the Helicopter setup on the C-SUPERCARRIER-HORNET-16-POPULATION TEMPLATE.miz works perfectly with just the same starting time and same 11 Knots speed... I end up using this template all the time. It's perfect.