AP Heading hold never holds

Hello community, I have an infuriating problem surfacing when attempting to deploy weapons in the Black Shark. The Shark never seems capable of keeping its nose pointed in one direction it constantly spins and sways aimlessly. Despite my attempts at incessantly switching the heading hold AP on and off again to try and force it to hold at the parameters I want, but it never seems to stick the nose in place. So I have to fight to keep the boresight on the enemy while maintaining weapon systems lock on enemy target.

Does anybody have any idea how to mitigate this problem, for example how can I force the nose of the Shark to follow my shkval for example. Any help would be greatly appreciated as this fundamentally prevents smooth safe and effective combat for me in the shark

Sounds like you aren't trimming correctly.

Maybe this vid will help you.

If I was somewhere else I would watch that video, but I cant access youtube I'm in China! grr

Auto turn on Target (left console) + HDG Hold should do the trick to align your Helicopters nose nearly with the Target.

So I should have 1. heading hold off, 2. hit auto turn to target, 3. When nose turns onto the target hit heading hold to hold the nose in place? is that correct or should heading hold be on to start with?

So I should have 1. heading hold off, 2. hit auto turn to target, 3. When nose turns onto the target hit heading hold to hold the nose in place? is that correct or should heading hold be on to start with?

No, the hold modes should usually be on all the time (alt hold as per your preference). Only with them enabled the autopilot can excert it's (resticted) authority on the repective channel. Therefore (iirc) Auto Turn To Target will work only if the heading hold mode is enabled anyways.

Which heading the heading hold channel is actually "holding" depends on:

- Auto Turn to Target = on: direction of the target

- Route mode = on: current steerpoint of the PVI-800 (and that can be a waypoint of the flight plan, a target point, an airfield, etc.)

- Route mode = off: heading of the helo at the last trim release

Basically think of it as:

Route Mode enabled = Autopilot steers the helo by itself

Route Mode disabled = you tell the AP how to fly the helo (by trimming)

Enabled Hold Mode channels = AP can use only these to fly the helo

Flight Director Mode enabled = you fly the helo yourself (AP only gives steering cues at the HUD)

*Auto turn on Target* is using *Heading hold* to turn the Helicopter into the direction the shkval is looking.

So both have to be on.

I have a slightly similar problem. In my case the black shark points roughly towards the target or towards the direction of the diamond, but for some reason it always points a little bit to the right of it. That may sound like the trim is causing this issue, but it happens even when I never changed the trim.

So I have the same problem that I have to turn my helicopter before I can launch my weapon, which makes combat much more difficult.

So I have the same problem that I have to turn my helicopter before I can launch my weapon, which makes combat much more difficult.

A track would certainly help to narrow things down.

But just to clarify, you use Auto-turn-to-target, and then once you've locked up a target and select the Vikhr, the aiming reticule is a tad off target and you have to yaw manually (well... with your feet ;)) in order to get Launch Authorization?

In that case, that behavior is to be expected, because the launchers are mounted a bit off-center, and the Auto-turn-to-target does not account for the active launcher (but the reticule does).

Long story short, hit a bit of pedal towards target and you'll get Launch Authorization. :thumbup:

 

So I have the same problem that I have to turn my helicopter before I can launch my weapon, which makes combat much more difficult.

That's normal.

But just to clarify, you use Auto-turn-to-target, and then once you've locked up a target and select the Vikhr, the aiming reticule is a tad off target and you have to yaw manually (well... with your feet ;)) in order to get Launch Authorization?

Yes, exactly!

At first it turns very well towards the target (see first image), but after the first shot the offset becomes much bigger like you can see in the second image:

I have tested this several times and I have always the same issue. The helo is still kind of following the aim reticule after the first shot, but it is pointing too much to the right like you can see in the second image.

think its always done that, but then I sit so stable I never use it :) to me its a pain to use I like my copter to move when I want it to, and its as easy as anything just use rudder left n right

The reticle for the left weapon is offset to the left, and the right to the right.

They're fired alternately.

If you align with the left reticle (by turning slightly right) and launch, the right reticle will come up, and as you're currently facing slightly right (to align with the left reticle) it will appear further to the right than the first one did to the left, but actually it's the same amount off center from the centerline of the aircraft, just the helicopter isn't pointing straight at the target any more.

Ok, thanks for the explanation! I thought that all those details were managed by the computer of the helo automatically, but now I got used to it. :)