Problems with take-off - Who can help me?

Years ago I bought the A-10 and the Ka-50 stand-alone editions. But after some weeks my life went in a direction, that prevented me from gaming at all. Now I have time again and I installed DCS World and I can play it on full graphic level and I like it extremly. Some modules like the A-10C, Ka-50 BS 2, F-14, FC3 and others make it a new adventure everytime I have time to fly. But ONE module makes me crazy: the SA-342 Gazelle. I have downloaded all video tutorials and manuals for this copter, made myself a PPT-file for the complete cold-start procedure, but I can't find anywhere how to handle the heli for taking-off smooth without problems. 9 from 10 tries end in a crash and this is not very motivating me. ???????????? Can anybody help me with with this problem? My input devices are Saitek X-52 HOTAS and Logitech Combat Paddles.

HI,

would you be able to share a track of a take off?

Gazelle is extremely sensitive compared to Ka50 (it is a very light helo), and the anti torque is not very powerful.

3 things I find helped

1. Clear any curves, uses default axis settings

2. reduce the Y Saturation for both pitch & roll axis's to about 60, it's personal preference, setting it lower can be better depending on stick, it helps reduce stick throw

3. use tiny stick movements like 1 to 2cm on pitch & roll (above saturation helps with that) and don't over compensate or make large full deflections as that tends to make the Gaz do weird stuff.

....But ONE module makes me crazy: the SA-342 Gazelle...... Can anybody help me with with this problem? My input devices are Saitek X-52 HOTAS and Logitech Combat Paddles.

(1) Go to your main DCS screen, settings, then MISC. 7 Items down ENSURE FORCE FEEDBACK is unchecked - having this checked is often the major problem, if it checked the Gazelle will be a demon and impoosible to fly stable.

(2) Map a HAT switch to your DCS SA342 TRIM NOSE DOWN, NOSE UP, NOSE LEFT and NOSE RIGHT.

(3) Calibrate your joystick / cyclic

(4) Run a mission with a hot start gazelle on the ground. 'PULSE' your HAT SWITCH 3 down and 2 right, leave it centred and do not touch it.

(5) Engage about a 1/4 right torque pedal

(6) SLOWLY raise your collective and the aircraft will slowly rise totally under control WITHOUT touching your CYCLIC, give it a bit of nose down

and away you go, simples....

The advice of reducing Y AXIS to 60% in pitch and roll is sound. I would even advise 40% in pitch for novices. Even then only move the cyclic millimetres in flight. As you become more experienced experiment and increase Y AXIS.

Below is a simple quick video... look at the diamonds in relation tot he cross in the control window...

Hope this helps...

https://youtu.be/CKK0eFxGgJc

Edit: Once up and away, reset your trim.... likewise in the early learning stages for a good hover then touch down, it can help for landing, reset trim, then 3 down, 2 right...

Thank You,

I'll try to follow These instructions

Already some good advice posted by the others.I now use helicopter controls, but when I was using a joystick/pedals, here are the curves that I was using.

I have a CH FighterstickPro and CH Pedals. My settings are:

 

              |<--  STICK  -->|   PEDALS
                Z     Y     X       Z
             Coll  Ptch  Roll    Rddr
             -------------------------
Deadzone         0     0     0       0
Saturation X   100   100   100     100
Saturation Y    70    40    25      60
Curvature        0     0     0       0

It could still use some tweaking perhaps, but it works for me.

Another thing that helped me get to grips with the SA342 (and helicopters more generally) was to switch on the control indicator (it shows where your cyclic/collective/ATP position is). Create a "take-off from parking hot" mission and look at the position of the control indicator. Take off by gently raising the collective and look at the point where the helicopter starts to lift off. Then repeat and at that point really slow down and look at which way it yaws. Correct that, then work on tilt, then work on pitch. Incrementally do this until you get an idea as to where the sweet spot is. Stick with this until you build up some intuition as to where the take-off position is. It took me at least a couple of weeks to get the hang of it.

Also consider using the autohover to help you get a feel for what to expect. Engage it the instant you take off and then let the helicopter hold itself in position. From there you can look at the control indicator and see where the helicopter would like you to be.

What do you mean with using helicopter controls?

What do you mean with using helicopter controls?

Probably means he has a setup with real cyclic and collective controls rather than a simple joystick and throttle.

The real aircraft has a cyclic stick that is attached at at floor level between the pilots legs so quite a lot of movement at the pilots hand translates into very little movement of the actual control rods. So with a simple joystick in the sim there is a tendency to over control the stick.

The more thrust you apply to the main rotor (during takeoff) , the more anti torque rudder pedal is required to keep the aircraft pointing straight ahead. You can offset this by pushing a large amount of right pedal forward before pulling up on the collective (throttle). That way you are not taken by surprise as the aircraft loses the friction with the ground.

The further effect of using anti torque pedal is that the thrust acts sideways at a lower height than the main rotor and produces a rolling effect that then needs to be countered with movement of the cyclic stick to the side.

All of this happens the moment the aircraft thrust and lift overcomes the friction of the skids with the ground, being prepared for these movements is the key to a successful take off.

What kind of controls are you using? Aside from what's already been said, I teach to very slowly increase power and when you start to get some kind of lateral or fore or aft movement stop moving the collective/throttle neutralize the movement with the cyclic, and then start adding power very slowly again until you get another directional movement. Go slow. And how ever much you think you need to move the cyclic, move it less. Helicopters are very touchy and every input affects every other.

I'm using Logitech G Saitek X-52 HOTAS + logitech combat rudder pedals

Hey

you may check out this videos to answering your questions

nice

For the longest time i hated this helo. Couldn't even take off for the life of me. As soon as i even nudged the collective a hair, the helo would launch into the air like a scalded cat, spin around and break up.

Turned out all i needed to do was go into axis tuning, and invert the collective values, and then the collective started working as expected.

Since then, this has been my favorite helo to fly (not necessarily shoot at stuff, but its good for buzzing urban terrain like no other)

Hey

 

you may check out this videos to answering your questions

 

 

 

 

 

Brilliant! I had no issue with flying the Gazelle even with no curves, and halving the saturation of both axes seemed like a severe solution, but the Gazelle is still very agile even so, and "feels" more realistic now. Somehow this feels different about the center than even 30 point curves at the same center slope as a 50% saturation flat line. More steady maybe? Idk. But it WORKS.

Thank you sir!

I had a majore headache with this helo until I got a decent stick. It is amazing what a difference a high-accuracy joystick makes. I was pretty upset about it, actually, as I had spent a lot of time converting my Saitek X45 stick into a proper helicopter setup. It wasn't even nearly accurate enough for flying most of the helos in DCS. If you have a spiky joystick, it will seriously impair your ability to fly the Gazelle. Most of the time I'm moving the stick a couple of millimetres to change direction.