Heading diamond and Russian MFCD

Howdy !

My hubby bought me the Black Shark for Christmas( Not sure why as I am not really a Heli girl) I only have about 5-10 hours in it now. So far it has proven to be a fun...if not finicky change of pace from the other planes I fly.

I have got the basic understanding down the trimmer switch is key, but my issue is the diamond on the heading tape. When I click the trimmer switch the BS dosn't hold heading and that diamond never changes position on the heading tape...but the Heli always wants to orientate to it. I am not sure what I am doing wrong as the manual dosn't seem to cover it I have not found a trouble shooting tip for this particular problem in the forums. When watching vids and tutorials the diamond moves when the trimmer switch is clicked for me it does not ?

Also even though I have the cockpit set to English. the MFCD to the right is all still in Russian, this is a problem as I don't speak Russian, anythoughts ?

Solution 1: Keep the Waypoint/Target Point in the PVI-800 deactivated (No Button Light in the left column).

Solution 2: Keep the DH/DT 3 way switch in the middle position.

Howdy !

 

 

My hubby bought me the Black Shark for Christmas( Not sure why as I am not really a Heli girl) I only have about 5-10 hours in it now. So far it has proven to be a fun...if not finicky change of pace from the other planes I fly.

 

 

 

I have got the basic understanding down the trimmer switch is key, but my issue is the diamond on the heading tape. When I click the trimmer switch the BS dosn't hold heading and that diamond never changes position on the heading tape...but the Heli always wants to orientate to it. I am not sure what I am doing wrong as the manual dosn't seem to cover it I have not found a trouble shooting tip for this particular problem in the forums. When watching vids and tutorials the diamond moves when the trimmer switch is clicked for me it does not ?

 

 

Also even though I have the cockpit set to English. the MFCD to the right is all still in Russian, this is a problem as I don't speak Russian, anythoughts ?

1. Congratulations on being married to a hubby who knows that real pilots fly choppers. :megalol:

2. Regarding the diamond on the heading tape:

I am assuming your not flying with route mode on, or way points activated in the PVI-800, so what is actually happening is every time you hit the trimmer button you're actually setting your autopilot on the heading the bird was on when you released the trimmer. Any further movement of the stick without touching trim, will make the bird want to return to the heading that you where heading when last hit trim.

There are two schools of thought on how to best deal with this situation. Some people find it easier to repeatedly tap the trim as they make course corrections. Personally, I find it much easier to HOLD trim until I get the bird stabilized on the desired course. How you handle it is up to you. The important thing is you need to understand that the trimmer is tied into the autopilot system.

3. Regarding the ABRIS (MFCD as you call it), to make this English, you need to turn your avionics to English. At the moment, not being in game, I can't remember for the life of me which tab that is under (believe it's general). English cockpit in the Ka-50 is kind of a two-step process: a) Avionics to English (under general??), and b) cockpit to English under the Ka-50 tab.

Hope the above helps, and may your new adventures be good ones. I know you're going to love it.

/r

Baaz

1. Congratulations on being married to a hubby who knows that real pilots fly choppers. :megalol:

 

2. Regarding the diamond on the heading tape:

I am assuming your not flying with route mode on, or way points activated in the PVI-800, so what is actually happening is every time you hit the trimmer button you're actually setting your autopilot on the heading the bird was on when you released the trimmer. Any further movement of the stick without touching trim, will make the bird want to return to the heading that you where heading when last hit trim.

 

There are two schools of thought on how to best deal with this situation. Some people find it easier to repeatedly tap the trim as they make course corrections. Personally, I find it much easier to HOLD trim until I get the bird stabilized on the desired course. How you handle it is up to you. The important thing is you need to understand that the trimmer is tied into the autopilot system.

 

3. Regarding the ABRIS (MFCD as you call it), to make this English, you need to turn your avionics to English. At the moment, not being in game, I can't remember for the life of me which tab that is under (believe it's general). English cockpit in the Ka-50 is kind of a two-step process: a) Avionics to English (under general??), and b) cockpit to English under the Ka-50 tab.

 

Hope the above helps, and may your new adventures be good ones. I know you're going to love it.

 

/r

Baaz

Ah thankies both, I got the Heading tape sorted ( I had it in fallow way point mode ) But now.... it seems to be fighting me constantly and not wanting to hold heading specially if I add weapons to it, The thing is it dosn't feel like the auto pilot modes are working even though I can tell that the trimmer switch is. Like pitch and heading hold, even in a hover it will start to pitch and yaw until it nearly gets out of control. The controls seem overly sensitive when compared to the Hawg, Hornet, and Harrier. Should I adjust the saturation or curve ?

Ah thankies both, I got the Heading tape sorted ( I had it in fallow way point mode ) But now.... it seems to be fighting me constantly and not wanting to hold heading specially if I add weapons to it, The thing is it dosn't feel like the auto pilot modes are working even though I can tell that the trimmer switch is. Like pitch and heading hold, even in a hover it will start to pitch and yaw until it nearly gets out of control. The controls seem overly sensitive when compared to the Hawg, Hornet, and Harrier. Should I adjust the saturation or curve ?

There's a lighting issue with the Ka-50 that makes the AP buttons look like they are off, when in fact they are on. The button will be darker when on. This confuses a lot of people when first starting out in the Ka-50 as they think the APs are on by default. Just verify that this is not the case.

As for control sensitivity, it comes down to personal preference. While the TMW is the most popular controller out there, it's certainly not the only controller on the market. All have their pros and cons. Not knowing which you are using, makes it difficult to tell you if you should apply curves, or adjust saturation. It's something you will have to tinker with till you find something you're comfortable with.

Now, that being said, I do have some SAT-Y and CURVE on my setup. Try not to go too extreme though, as the greater the curve the more extreme the controls get at the outer limits.

Again, hope the above helps.

/r

Baaz

To add to previous comments, the AP in the Shark is a bit different than in other aircrafts I think. You basically need to manually configure a stable attitude (pitch, roll, speed and altitude) with trimmed controls before it will start to act as intended.

One thing to check is if you have the rudder trim activated in settings. If you have non-centering pedals this should be off, i.e. let the pedals stay in place after trimming.

(the AP and trim in the Shark has been debated and cursed upon since the very beginning of BS1)

I have pinned down the problem but can't seem to correct it. When I get the helicopter into stable level flight and hit the trimmer switch the BS will maintain it for a second or two before developing and slight 1-2 degree bank to the left or right( it seems to be random)it seems to happen no matter were I have the stick trimmed. Dead center it will bank right. trim it left to get rid of the right bank, perfectly level hit trim and I get a 1-2 degree bank to the left. This isn't so much a problem when flying point A to B as I can correct it with a little stick and keep it flying straight. The real problem is trying to hover or attack a target, turn to target setting dosn't seem to work either as it will still drift. I have tested dead zone saturation even adjusted the spring in my flight stick flipped the auto pilots channels on and off but it will not hold heading. It feels like there is a switch or a setting that I am over looking some were.

Do you have pedals? Sounds like they might not be centered.

I have pinned down the problem but can't seem to correct it. When I get the helicopter into stable level flight and hit the trimmer switch the BS will maintain it for a second or two before developing and slight 1-2 degree bank to the left or right( it seems to be random)it seems to happen no matter were I have the stick trimmed. Dead center it will bank right. trim it left to get rid of the right bank, perfectly level hit trim and I get a 1-2 degree bank to the left. This isn't so much a problem when flying point A to B as I can correct it with a little stick and keep it flying straight. The real problem is trying to hover or attack a target, turn to target setting dosn't seem to work either as it will still drift. I have tested dead zone saturation even adjusted the spring in my flight stick flipped the auto pilots channels on and off but it will not hold heading. It feels like there is a switch or a setting that I am over looking some were.

About the trimmer button.

HOLD IT DOWN. Then, keeping it held down, change the position of the heli to where you want it, then WHEN IT IS STABLE, release the trimmer button. Also, as someone above said, the button lights are now reversed ( a bug ), and AP is now on when they are dark.

Auto Hover only works when you are moving less than 10 km/hr.

Turn to target I'm not so sure about. I never use it. There are bugs with the Shkval right now. Wags says they are working on a new cockpit for the Ka-50 and A-10C.

You don't really need turn to target. Just trim the copter to level and stable ( doesn't need to be hovering ). Lock your target in the shkval, now select Vhikers. You'll see the larger launch circle. Slowly yaw until the small targeting circle nestles within the large circle. You should see a C appear at the bottom of your hud, which means you are clear to launch. Fire. Now just keep the target within your shkval, and the weapon guidance system will do the rest. You can now do slight maneuvers as long as the shkval camera can still see the target.

Same applies to air targets, but you want to select "air target" or "head on air target" fusing. Heli's are a somewhat hard to lock, and jets are near impossible, because they are so fast. One thing you can do in an emergency against these, is launch without a lock. If you can't lock it soon after launch, just use your switch to keep the lock gates over the target as best you can. If the missile made it into the laser guidance cone, it should keep homing. Keep hitting lock after you see the laser cooling count down, to fire the laser again, and get a new distance reading, as this is critical to where your missile ends up. This doesn't seem to work that great. I've seen near hits on jets coming head on at me, but it seemed the explosion was too far away to effect it. However, it might cause them to veer off the attack on you.

Another thing, if you have a non-FFB joystick ( 99% of the them ), in your Ka-50 setting screen, you need to select the non-FSB joystick setting where the joystick will do nothing after trimming until you let it go back to center. There are three options ( default, non-ffb centering [ or something like that], or ffb with no springs ). Set it to non-ffb centering. Otherwise, it thinks you have a FFB joystick that centers on trimmer click, and when you let off the trimmer, it will instantly do whatever you have the joystick set to do ( dive, bank, etc. ).

Wow I feel dumb, yeah I been trying to fly with the Auto pilot off. I wasn't understanding about the lighting bug. I thought it meant that the lights didn't work at all...which they were for me so I thought I was getting incorrect info. After reading 3WA post I set them so the channel buttons where not lit and now I have a fully stable Kamov chopper....

Thankies for all the tips and pointers...I am sure I will be back!

Wow I feel dumb, yeah I been trying to fly with the Auto pilot off. I wasn't understanding about the lighting bug. I thought it meant that the lights didn't work at all...which they were for me so I thought I was getting incorrect info. After reading 3WA post I set them so the channel buttons where not lit and now I have a fully stable Kamov chopper....

 

 

 

Thankies for all the tips and pointers...I am sure I will be back!

Happy to see you were able to sort it out. Now you can really let the fun begin!!

Lol, yeah, you'll notice if your AP channels are off. You're copter will fight you like a bucking bronco. They also go off automatically if your 4 meters? above the ground. Something like that. You'll notice the helicopter start being less stable, and if you look at your AP channels, you'll notice they've shut off.

Yeah, yes...do NOT engage AP-Hover if you are lower than 4 Meters and NOT right after you took off, it needs some more time ( like 1-2min iirc ) to be all set. You can see if it is ready when you can read your IAS on the HUD, no IAS = do NOT engage HOVER or ALL your AP-Channels say " We hate you" :pilotfly:

About the trimmer button.

 

You don't really need turn to target.

I don't agree with you. Turn to target is quite helpful. When I am 8km from a target rich zone and no air threats, I concentrate on by Screen, pick targets and turn to target will get me in the proper position to fire. No input from rudder and trimmer needed. It's fast and efficient. So, less work for the pilot. In any other situation, indeed I do not use it.

I prefer using the Data link combined with PVI-800. Designate a target, lock it (Enter key), send to memory in Data Link and NAV/TGT on the 800.

Or if you're feeling lazy, with the HMS on look at some point / something, designate, and the helicopter will fly you there - then look to the next place you want to go to...

Start a mission or free flight mission with no weapons.

Slave the "auto pilot emergency disengage" button to your Hotas, this Button is (LALT+A) and disengages all auto pilots. In real life it is located on the cyclic... it is that critical! You will never regret placing this button on your stick!

When you start in a mission hot to trot, hit the emergency disengage button(LALT+A) and have a go riding this girl bare back. She is a wild one!

The pit problem with lighting is truly disruptive as the autopilots cannot be visually confirmed on or off. The emergency disengage button brings you to a point of certainty.... they are off!.... all of them!

It is on the real life cyclic for a reason, it was deemed important to disengage these mofos toot sweet and without hesitation!

It is important to know and understand how the original design engineer understood the problems that could occur, It is important to know that such a button, is a fundamental override by intent.

Also, another tip, while it is said to only really be used for emergencies, enabling the flight director mode, labled "FD AP" on the AP button panel, will have the KA-50 behave more like a "traditional" helicopter. In this mode, you need not "Hold" the trimmer like described above, but "clicked" just like in the Huey. I always use this mode after engagement for quick and easy egress. Essentially what this mode does is disabling the heading/pitch hold of the AP but keeping the "damping" of inputs.

Download and use Ricardo HD cockpit mod. It provides a work around for the lighting stuff. Unfortunately it's a must have mod until ED updates the Ka-50's cockpit.

Regarding the ABRIS' language, that is set in options in the main menu of the DCS client, under gameplay if I'm not mistaken. Set avionics language to English.