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A few newbie questions


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Hello fellow rotorheads! I've recently started trying to learn the Mi-8, the big old glorious beauty of a machine. I'm struggling quite a bit and I'm hoping you could help me out with a few newb questions.

 

1: Coming from the wonderful counter-rotating world of the Black Shark, having to do my own counter-torquing is quite new and it's taking me a while to master the pedals. I understand the mechanics of why I need to feed right rudder to counter torque while applying lift with the collective. What I don't understand, however, is why the Mi-8 seems to require left pedal to avoid yawing to the right while parked on the ground. Why is this?

 

As I practice trying to hover-taxi along the taxilanes and runways of Georgia, two questions form:

 

2: I watched one of my own tracks and noticed I'm yawed quite a bit off-center while I'm trying to fly straight. I also notice I constantly have to correct my position in the chair as I'm leaning to the right in an attempt to aim down the center line of the aircraft. Any tips on how to maintain orientation along a straight line? Like in the Huey where I've been told to aim along an imaginary line through the HSI and ADI to fly straight. Where's that line in the Mi-8? I can't seem to find it.

 

3: The amount of right cyclic I have to apply to avoid rolling to the left while hover taxiing slowly is quite surprising. Why is this?

 

Help a n00b out! :)

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1, Simple answer. Because you don't have a nose wheel lock. Complicated answer ill leave to someone else.

 

2, To center the helicopter lateral along a given line. Taxiway in this example, line up the centerline whit your inboard knee. Or rather where it would be more or less.

 

As for flying straight, ignore the sideslip indicator in a hover and slow forward flight. Can't really give you a good reference line though.

 

3, Again, simple answer, Because its an heavy helicopter.

Complicated answer, the Tail Rotor is opposing the most amount of torque in hover. It is also located quite a bit above the axis of rotation.

Causing not only a Yaw effect but also a roll effect.

This roll effect of the tail rotor needs to be compensated for.

 

Also, the Tail Rotor is pushing the whole helicopter to the left, like a propeller pulls a plane forward.

This also has to be compensated for by inputting right cyclic.

 

Its this same roll effect that causes 99% of all helicopters to always touch down whit either the Left or Right side first.

 

The EC-155 for example has this effect much less because the tail rotor is located inside the tail boom.

 

 

***EDIT***

Just think of something, isn't the inboard side of each instrument panel perfectly straight? If so fly such that the vertical line of the instrument panel on your side is parallel to the taxi way center line.

Didn't try this myself, so could be wrong. (in fact, haven't flown this sim for a couple weeks)


Edited by 159th_Falcon

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Sit in the middle seat if it helps:music_whistling:

Also make sure your middle green light is on for your auto pilot (yaw IIRC)

See how your doing after 10+ hours:)

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Check the to tick boxes in options/special/mi-8MTV2 I don't check any and I think it helps. Though I always trim for hover and trim in increments till your flying how you want. Also try engaging/disengaging the other auto pilot channels to see what suits your style.

i5 8600k@5.2Ghz, Asus Prime A Z370, 32Gb DDR4 3000, GTX1080 SC, Oculus Rift CV1, Modded TM Warthog Modded X52 Collective, Jetseat, W10 Pro 64

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The roll of the helicopter is the result of translating tendency. Your tail rotor does not make you roll, you role the helicopter to keep the tail rotor from pushing or pulling you left or right (dependent on helicopter.) I have flown heavy, light and helicopter's with tail rotors in different positions relative to the tail boom, it does not matter the effect is that same, you have to compensate for the translating tendency. And the Tail boom might not me the longitudinal axis for the MI-8, and a higher tail rotor inst going to increase the roll in the helicopter, it might decrease it though.

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Edited by GunfighterSIX

HHC, 229th AHB, 1st Cav Div

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  • 3 weeks later...

1. Falcon more or less answered this in the 'complicated #3' answer, but I try to state it perhaps a bit more clearly.

 

The 'neutral' rudder pedal position where there is no pilot input sets the tail rotor pitch to produce roughly enough thrust to counter torque in flight at a set speed and pressure altitude. The idea is that in normal cruising flight you should need little to no rudder to fly a straight line. Since takeoff and hover taxi are slower than cruising airspeed (unless you're taking off in a hurricane) you need to apply a bit of reverse rudder to compensate.

 

One thing that I found helped once I had gotten about 5 flight hours, was practicing takeoff, hover, and transitions like hover - forward flight - hover with all of the autopilot channels turned off. It was a bit crazy at first, but it really develops fine control and anticipating what the helicopter will do. It does take a light hand on the stick though, once I got the hang of it my control inputs on my joystick were so small that during normal flight it looked like I was just holding it still.

Callsign "Auger". It could mean to predict the future or a tool for boring large holes.

 

I combine the two by predictably boring large holes in the ground with my plane.

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Well, if you liked the answer for number one, I guess I'll take a crack at number two as well.

 

If you want to pick a point on the airframe, I suggest lining up on the centerline of a runway and swapping between the pilot's seat and the flight engineer's seat until you find a spot that seems to work. I personally do not use that sort of method though.

 

The way I do it is to pick a landmark near the horizon that is straight ahead, then I just fly however I need to so it doesn't move left or right on the canopy. So I'm using the center of my field of vision as the spot to aim for, I just have to keep in mind that the helicopter is aimed at a spot about one meter to the right of the spot I'm aiming for.

 

As an example, to fly down the center of a runway, after I line up the helicopter I would fly down the runway, but instead of aiming my center view at the center of the far end, I aim it 1 or 2 meters to the left of that (of course if you fly from the copilot's seat you have to offset in the opposite direction).

 

As a note, many missions have random weather, so depending on wind you may be flying a straight ground track even if you are yawing into the wind. If you want the long axis of the helicopter to be aligned with the ground track (for example for gunnery) you will have to roll into the wind about the same amount as you would need to maintain a stationary hover in those wind conditions. In stronger winds the roll needed to do this can also make you start missing targets.

Callsign "Auger". It could mean to predict the future or a tool for boring large holes.

 

I combine the two by predictably boring large holes in the ground with my plane.

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