Gazelle change log

You guys give me the hype, MUST TEST IT NOW :D.

Agreed. It's been a while since I've been wanting to properly learn the Gazelle. I guess now is the perfect time to do it.

Either i learned to fly Gazelle, or you unbroke something :)

Either i learned to fly Gazelle, or you unbroke something :)

Or maybe both :D

I hope it's just me being bugged, but I'm getting some rather strange flight behaviour.

Whenever using the joystick to change the attitude it reacts with -nothing--nothing--sharp move to a fixed angle and stabilizes there-. Same thing happens again when trying to turn even further, essentially forcing you to pick between 5' angle increments and nothing inbetween, which makes precision flying virtually impossible.

Really hope it's just me, but happens in both pitch and roll, with and without FFB checked, with AP/Gyro on and off, and with or without stick saturation changes.

....Really hope it's just me, but happens in both pitch and roll, with and without FFB checked, with AP/Gyro on and off, and with or without stick saturation changes.

I am certain it is.... I can only suggest..

• FBB MUST be off unless using a FBB stick.
  
• The aircraft should be flown with all AP channels on UNLESS for a specific reason.
  
• Check you axes assignments. DCS often binds all sorts of axes to all sort of stuff. Clear then all off bar what you actually use.
  
• Ensure your devices are correctly calibrated.
  
• If you still have a problem run a DCS repair.
  
• The SA342 is by design sensitive to control inputs. If unfamiliar with this tune your pitch and roll axes within DCS by reducing Y to around 60% in the first instance then increase until comfortable. With the latest joysticks or with extensions 100% if often good though.
  

I hope it's just me being bugged, but I'm getting some rather strange flight behaviour.

 

Whenever using the joystick to change the attitude it reacts with -nothing--nothing--sharp move to a fixed angle and stabilizes there-. Same thing happens again when trying to turn even further, essentially forcing you to pick between 5' angle increments and nothing inbetween, which makes precision flying virtually impossible.

 

Really hope it's just me, but happens in both pitch and roll, with and without FFB checked, with AP/Gyro on and off, and with or without stick saturation changes.

Perhaps we could start a new thread?

From my observations.

Have a look at the controls indicator 'left CTRL & Enter" I see here that there is a sort of "dead spot" around center and very little happens until you move the joy stick forward or aft and then the position indicator kinda just jumps. same applies to roll but in my case the jump is smaller for roll. For me this jump is a good 2% or so of input range around center for pitch.

This action is compounded by the now more sensitive action of the cyclic since the last update and I have had to drop saturation to 85% for pitch and 90% for roll.

To be fair it seems this is a function of the joystick controller in my case a Logitech 3D Pro (well at least a Frankensteined 3D pro :D ) and the effect is likely part of the firmware in the controller to give the gimbal positioning a "dead spot" for it's mechanical centring. This affects the Gazelle more so then the other helis due to the centric nature of the Gazelles cyclic.

The work around for me at least for fine pitch/roll control is to just use a series of short blips of the cyclic for me that is only millimetres of travel of the cyclic (and that's with a 22cm extension) in the direction you want to apply the fine correction as the Gazelle reacts with inertia you get an overall fine pitch/roll control unless of course you want to apply a larger amount of correction then that's a different story.

HTH

To this end I am working on a home brew cyclic with a third party controller. :music_whistling:

<PS>

I wonder if the combination of "dead spot" in controller and the sensitive nature of the Gazelles cyclic somehow gives people the wrong impression that the Gazelle is twitchy?

I actually find the Gazelle responsive to input and as always less input is more control and I have to say the Gazelle feels great to fly still more testing to do. :pilotfly: :D

Frag I think you find that that is local....perhaps joystick or calibration.

I see no issues with the module. (VIRPIL T-50) As said earlier SA342 is by design sensitive to control inputs and any joystick irregularity may cause issues.

Yes totally agree and that is my observation and it is as best I can see a function of the joy stick controller I was just trying to illustrate that the effect is not the Gazelle but it does affect the Gazelle and depending on the users kit may give adverse control of this awesome helicopter. :)

I hope it's just me being bugged, but I'm getting some rather strange flight behaviour.

 

Whenever using the joystick to change the attitude it reacts with -nothing--nothing--sharp move to a fixed angle and stabilizes there-. Same thing happens again when trying to turn even further, essentially forcing you to pick between 5' angle increments and nothing inbetween, which makes precision flying virtually impossible.

 

Really hope it's just me, but happens in both pitch and roll, with and without FFB checked, with AP/Gyro on and off, and with or without stick saturation changes.

I have exactly the same !!!

I have exactly the same !!!

I'll try to repair dcs.

I have exactly the same !!!

I seem to have fixed it by deleting all of the SA342's controller input files and the DCS options.lua, which made it fly far better.

Then of course, in my infinite wisdom (and because I use a Sidewinder FFB2) I enabled FFB to see if FFB is still broken, and the problem came back, remained even after unticking FFB, and only seemed alleviated by restarting the game. So as usual screwed over by either having FFB on for every other module I use, or off for the Gazelle (and having to use SimFFB to get anything other than a limp stick *giggity*), which really sucks since I fly almost exclusively in multi and tend to hop between different airframes all the time.

By the way, the power-to-weight ratio of the thing is through the roof. With full fuel and 4x HOT3's it used to be "Oh god, at 90% torque I hope I can still hover once I leave ground effect" to being able to take off and hover with only 50% torque. It feels nice and all, I just hope it's accurate.

Just had a quick spin and I love the new FM!

Still have the "darkish" cockpit but hope ED will fix the lighting issues overall and on the plus side I gained a few FPS with the latest patch as well and quicker loading times. Haven't tried MP or any real combat but so far so good...

Finally a great step forward! Really good work, guys!

Maybe there's still something to rework along the vertical axis (ground cushion, collective).

I hope it's just me being bugged, but I'm getting some rather strange flight behaviour.

 

Whenever using the joystick to change the attitude it reacts with -nothing--nothing--sharp move to a fixed angle and stabilizes there-. Same thing happens again when trying to turn even further, essentially forcing you to pick between 5' angle increments and nothing inbetween, which makes precision flying virtually impossible.

 

Really hope it's just me, but happens in both pitch and roll, with and without FFB checked, with AP/Gyro on and off, and with or without stick saturation changes.

The Microsoft FFB 2 has a small dead zone at the center and it causes this issue particularly with the Gazelle, though this issue exists with all aircraft in DCS or any other sim for that matter. Any joystick with a dead zone will have the same issue, and I now realized that perhaps many of the complaints about the Gazelle's flight characteristics are due to a joystick dead zone or because people incorrectly program a dead zone in the joystick axis settings. For a FFB stick in particular, you do not want a dead zone.

Because this is a big topic, I have started a new thread (link below). I noticed the problem particularly with the MS FFB2. I also have a Logitech G940 which is even worse due to its hysteresis (what is commonly referred to as the G940 reversal bug). The HOTAS Warthog does not have this issue because it does not have a dead zone, but because non FFB joysticks have a center detent, it can create a similar result. It is all about the hesitation caused by moving past the dead zone, or having to overcome a center detent. There is no solution for the FFB2, but installing the G940 v1.42 firmware makes a _huge_ difference. I now fly using the G940 and have shelved my FFB2 sadly.

New thread on this issue:

https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=3428457

@Ramires: Please test stuff like ground cushion/ Ground effect first, before you report something that is already there since the release in April 2016. Thank you

Hi Gents

First post edited.

Thanks.

Well doesn't that look lovely! Thanks for the update guys, looking forward to spreading some freedom!

Impressive ¡¡¡

Awesome thanks for the heads up looking forward to trying out the updates.

Gotta say the Gazelle has been great and with these updates it just keeps getting better, time to fess up I looked at my log book and Gazelle now has over 60% of my flight time. ;) :music_whistling:

Wow. That is not a small list. You folks have been busy! Can't wait to try out the changes.

Thanks team i love this chopper

Thanks team i love this chopper

Sign:thumbup:

Great news guys! Looking forward to it!

Hi Gents

There are women flying in DCS as well, not just men.