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DCS Pilots - Do you think you could fly a real Helicopter? Answers here... AMA!


fargo007

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What is great about flying in a squad is how you can share your passion of DCS helicopter flight simulation with some other crazy rotorheads. Flying with the BlackSharkDen squadron, you even have the opportunity to virtually fly and exchange with several real chopper pilots both civilian and military.

 

Earlier this month I was treated to a very unique opportunity.

 

One of our pilots at BlackSharkDen, and also A good friend, our own [bSD]TXSailor graduated helicopter flight school and received his wings as a fully fledged Naval Aviator. Aside of attending what was an amazing ceremony, I was also provided a very robust tour of the facility, and got a chance to look at lots of the teaching equipment and spaces that are used.

 

 

 

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This was a public event, and I was authorized and encouraged to take pictures and video.

 

The day started in the Night Vision Lab. We were issued a set of Gen 3 NVG's, the same ones Navy pilots fly with. The lab had a huge table set up like a model train set. It had different types of miniature lights on it, and the room was set up so that they could mimic moonlight in different places so you could see what things would look like. Power lines, enemy tanks & SAMs, they were all there, in various places, simulating how it would be to view them in different terrain conditions.

 

Under NVG (SA-11 BUK)

 

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Daytime conditions:

 

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The room:

 

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Here's the place the Naval Aviators learn about how the helicopter works. Everything about the drive train, transmission, engine, you name it. The degree of familiarity they need to have with everything is a lot higher than I expected. The 206 engine here. Slightly bigger than a Briggs & Stratton grass cutting engine, and I forget the HP, but it was surprisingly low. Perhaps about the same.

 

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This was motorized and it turned. You could see how your inputs on the stick and pedals translated mechanically to movements in the swashplate.

 

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We had some time to kill, so a trip around the flight line was in order.

 

Happened to catch a Huey being worked on:

 

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Then an F-35 showed up. It had no business being there, so this was some kind of hot-dogging going on....

 

 

At last it was time for the rubber to hit the road. My host had booked simulation time in a real, military 206-C simulator. They have two kinds there. One with a more realistic flight model, and one with better graphics. I was in the one with the more realistic flight model.

 

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It was at this point, seeing it there... right in front of me that doubt truly began to creep in. Was I about to make a complete ass of myself? I hopped into the right seat.

 

The words of another of our pilots [bSD] Eagle_Rising, himself experienced on the 206 as a UH-60 pilot rang in my ears: "If you come back and tell me you couldn't hover that thing......."

 

Initial impressions - Wow - the cockpit was literally real. The way the controls worked was very dfferent than my own set up, which is crosswinds pedals, and TM warthog stick/throttle. The amount of force required on the controls is significantly higher than on my simulation gear. Especially the pedals.

 

I was assured that this flies exactly like the real helicopter. It costs several million dollars, and its only job is to provide the exact same experience as the real helicopter.

 

Also noteworthy, the pedals are self-trimming. What I mean by this is that they stay put, and do not attempt to return to center as my crosswinds do.

 

I wondered if, with only knowledge of the DCS helicopters, could I start the 206 up. The shut the sim down and made the 206 cold. The switches are all in different places, but YES! I was able to start the helicopter cold.

 

At this point, the fear REALLY started to creep in. It was time to take off. I took a deep breath, and held my hands out in front of me. I was literally shaking. Just like I would be if I were taking off in a real helicopter for the very first time. I was about to find out whether I really did have some skills, or if everything I learned in DCS was totally worthless.

 

I bean pulling power and watching the torque rise. I went easy - until my host told me I wouldn't see anything until I got to at least 60. So I raised the pace a bit.

 

Approaching 70 or so, I felt it get light on the skids. My inner monologue reassuring me: "hmm.. this isn't unfamiliar....."

 

A little bit more and it lifted off the ground. I remember how dry my throat felt, and my goatee concealed the sweat on my upper lip.

 

I had some left pedal in place, but not enough to prevent a little bit of "huey shuffle." I quickly corrected, and wound up in a 5 foot hover.

 

Not wishing to push my luck, I opted to get into ETL quickly and efficiently. I nosed forward, staying on the pedals to maintain heading, and pulled a little bit of power in.

 

To my surprise and amazement, I had a nice, straight takeoff right down the runway. I felt it translate and my airspeed and lift both increased. My conversation with myself in my own head kept going. "this is also not unfamiliar, but don't F@$k it up and embarrass yourself"

 

 

I flew some traffic patterns around the base airfield for a good 15 minutes. I landed and took off a dozen more times and like I predicted, my second pickup was nearly 0 deviation in heading. Straight up. Feeling like I had a good sense of the 206's "Monkey Skills" as my host put it, It was time to land on an LHA.

 

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Easy Peasy. I point out that DCS wins hands down here in the GFX department.

 

This sim did not have full 360 degree view like I'm accustomed to in VR with my Samsung O+. So when doing a pattern around the ship, you can't see it for quite a while in your turn. Nevertheless I put it down where I was told with no difficulty, and even made it look pretty good.

 

It was time to stretch my legs a bit. I tried some of the more difficult exercises to perform in a helicopter without any issue. Turning about the nose, and a nice slow "around the mast" in a 10' hover.

 

I hot dogged around the airfield doing quick stops, buzzing the flight line, and generally joy riding. My inner monologue then says: "Hey - why don't you land on one of these small rooftops like you do in DCS all the time?"

 

Nailed it!

 

I tried some autos and never got the sim to score me successful on it, even though they kind of were according to my host. He told me that autos in the real 206 are MUCH easier than this, and that the sim is unusually strict on marking them as bad. Oh well. You can see I had no difficulty maintaining the speed range, and heading after losing the engine. The timing of when to pop the collective is crucial.

 

I received some high fives from my host, and even the civilian tech who ran the sim told me: "that was some really good flying."

 

I had gone from a sweaty, shaky shit sandwich before I started, to something more like a fat kid with a giant piece of cheesecake.

 

Back to my original question: "Could you fly a real helicopter with only your highly competent skills acquired in DCS?"

 

 

The answer, according to me is YES. Absolutely yes. HELL YES.

 

There are some key differences, but you can adapt to them very quickly. The absence of us having a real helicopter collective is not insignificant. I had to translate using my warthog (forward = power) to pulling up on the 206 collective. It took mindful concentration at times to remember the difference. The way the pedals work is also very different from our sim gear. Also, the amount of force required on the collective and cyclic are much higher. You really have to push that thing. No subtle wrist motions are going to make that helicopter move.

 

In our squadron, we have a training progression where you go from a trainee (RL3, through competency of flight and navigation (RL2) where you get your virtual wings, and then on to RL1, which means you are competent in more advanced maneuvers such as sling loading, NVG, Deck qual, weapons employment, etc. I'm at the RL1 level by our assessment, and I'm sure many here are similarly competent.

 

So if you've ever wondered if this is possible, I'm happy to tell you that absolutely yes, it is. If you are a highly competent DCS pilot that can handle the Huey, Mi-8, and SA342 in a variety of circumstances, conditions, and challenges, I am convinced you'll handle a real helicopter the same way.

 

Here are the video cuts from the sim:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day was all about the graduates. The Navy considers this a real honor, and the effort put into the ceremony really shows. Earning your wings is a really big deal in this world. It was on this day that I learned that my host graduated #1 in his class. I simply could not have had a better person in the left seat.

 

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I had some pretty good seats judging by the company:

 

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I'm overjoyed to have had this fantastic experience, and I can't thank my host, [bSD]TXSailor enough for giving me this unbelievable opportunity. May God Bless as your career as a United States Naval Aviator continues to unfold.

 

If you've got any questions about the differences between DCS and the military simulator, please ask and I'll answer to the best of my ability.


Edited by fargo007

 

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Have fun. Don't suck. Kill bad guys. 👍

https://discord.gg/blacksharkden/

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Cool! Takes me back to my military flight training. I let my sister fly our Level D sim during my graduation day. She was.... less successful than you, but she'd never played DCS :pilotfly:

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My experience with translating from sim to RL was that it's dependent on your equipment. The short stick Saiteks I used were NOTHING like the real thing... my full size VKB replacement, Slaw pedals, etc, they feel EXACTLY like the real thing.

 

As far as basic principles, quality sim time definitely teaches you the basics of flight and how to use instruments.

 

Also, good job on your flying =) Quite an experience!

Де вороги, знайдуться козаки їх перемогти.

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Zhukov - I completely agree on that point. Flight simming isn't a poor man's hobby by any means. I'm sitting on less equipment than yours, but still totally credible.

 

How it's set up I think has an influence too. I always endeavored to set mine up exactly like I'd find it in the real helo where possible.

 

Smallberries - I'm glad there was no charge, or I'd have gone broke.

 

The actual flying is but a small part of everything my friend went through and learned. Memorizing routes, approaches.. Hundreds of little details... Weeks in a row of showing up at 0230.... Test after test after test...

 

Flying the helicopter is one thing. Doing it with the full weight of the Navy on the back of your neck all the time is a different story.

 

As much as an advocate for our military as I was, I came out of this experience with a heightened respect for what the guys with wings on have gone through.

 

There were some rooms I saw that were filled with very sad looking students. The flight planning software room was one of them. It was like there was a guillotine next door, and they were standing in line.

 

You don't see anyone talking or joking around at all. The level of stress they are under is tangible.

 

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Have fun. Don't suck. Kill bad guys. 👍

https://discord.gg/blacksharkden/

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wow, nicely done! You made us all very proud! :) And congrats to TXSailor !

hsb

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Awesome write up Fargo and Congratulations once again TXSailor on earning your wings.

 

I didn’t mean to freak you out Fargo when I said you better be able to hover, I just would have been surprised considering your setup and the realism of DCS.

 

I am also really glad you got to see the other side of making a flight possible. Being a military aviator is still the coolest job ever but the military being the military always finds a way to suck the fun out of it.

 

I think that was the hardest part to convey to BSD pilots is just how much planning goes into a flight. We went back and forth for a long time in the high command on how much planning was necessary and I think we have done a really good job of stripping away some of the more tedious aspects and left what was essential for mission success.

 

Honestly some of the planning products I have seen produced by our members are on par if not superior to some I have seen IRL.

 

I also have seen some pretty high stress missions conducted to standard which if you consider the limitations of DCS is impressive to say the least.

 

Really Fargo there was never a doubt in my mind that you could do it and there really is not a doubt in my mind that any of our BSD pilots could do it.

 

 

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Are you ready to take your chopper flying skills to the next level?

Then check out http://www.blacksharkden.com/ Or visit us on Discord https://discord.gg/kaayJ5z and talk to some of our awesome pilots today.

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I knew you could do it! I bet I could as well. Congratulations to [bSD] TXSailor on his wings. BBQ and beers on me when you get settled in the new house!

At our meet in Atlanta Fargo was quick to jump in the Huey and ask a lot of questions. During the flight he was front and center looking at and calling out our speed and all. I think we have found a good balance from real life to what you can do in DCS here at BSD.

Picture of Fargo getting into the nitty gritty on our UH-1H before the flight. Well done sir.

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If it doesn't hover, it just sucks and blows

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Yeah you could for sure bro. As said, I think most of us at RL2 or above could handle it.

 

For those who don't know - here's how that visit turned out. The pilot doing the talking is Jack McCormick, a Vietnam Veteran combat pilot who truly understood the type of information that was valuable to us, and did his best to walk us through every type of maneuver we wanted to see. It was a privilege to fly with him, and we literally drank information from a fire hose.

 

I was drunk on this for months.

 

Having him narrate this was pure genius - credit to BadCrC.

 

 

We do tend to dig in here @ BSD. We have a good time in the dirt working together and sometimes laughing at ourselves and each other while we're doing it.

 

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Have fun. Don't suck. Kill bad guys. 👍

https://discord.gg/blacksharkden/

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