| Helo Sim Flight Models
by Zero G |
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4) Wind. Wind can be a big help if used right and it can kill if you don't pay attention to it. For a better post on some things that wind can do read the post in the Choppers forum called "Odd Apache-Havoc FM Quirk." Though my thoughts on why it wasn't in A/H turned out to be wrong I now am pretty sure some of this is modeled in A/H. Don't forget what wind did to the Apache pilots in the gulf war: it blew them off course enough to make the first kills a friendly APC. Wind is a must have in sim modeling. 5) Vortex ring state. Sadly this was in Apache Havoc but at the request of beta testers it was removed. This is a big must as far as I am concerned. The reason it was killing so many beta testers is that it is just that dangerous.The rules to avoid this problem are simple and if it happens with enough altitude the escape rules are simple enough also. What happens is this. If when flying you bring your helo into a slow enough speed, usually 20 mph or less, and you have a sink rate of 500 feet per minute or more you get the helicopter into its own wake and down wash. This makes the helo drop fast and the worst part is the more collective you pull the faster you fall. It may sound like alot to have a 500 fpm sink rate but it isn't: most guys flying helo sims do it all the time. I have watched helicopter pilot instructors encounter the vortex ring state in sims because they are doing somthing that seems more important. Remember the first rule of flying is to pay attention to that task above all else. The only way out of this mess if you get into it is to lower the collective and push forward to add airspeed. If you are too low for that then you must lower the collective to the bottom and enter autorotation and hope you don't hit too hard. 6) Blade stalls. There are three types of these: retreating blade tip, reverse flow and compressibility stall. For the most part only the retreating blade tip stall will have an effect on normal helos and pilots. I will have to see how it is fixed in Apache Havoc 1.1d. It didn't seem to work at all in 1.1c. It should make the helo vibrate when it first starts then if the helo is allowed to speed up it should pitch nose up and roll over causing a massive loss of control. This also is a must. |
 7) Throttle. I would kill for a helo sim that lets you control the throttle. It would allow for proper start ups which are easy to mess up and if done wrong you can burn out a turbine in just a few seconds. Proper throttle modeling also allows for autorotations if a clutch is modeled. These are two wishes a bit lower in priority though. 8) Dynamic roll over. I see no reason why it isn't present in todays sims. What happens is as you lift off or land you dig a skid into the ground because of an uneven attitude. Because of the way a rotor moves air as the helo tilts the rotor starts pulling over in that direction. There comes a point when there isn't enough cyclic movement to correct this and the helo rolls over. The only way to correct this is to lower collective and let the helo resettle on the ground and start over. 9) Ground resonance. This happens when a helo on wheels is set down fairly hard and at an uneven attitude. Spin a quarter on end and watch what happens when it runs out of energy. That funny roll around its outside edge is the same thing that will happen to a helo: it can pull the machine apart in a very short time. The best way to fix this is to get it back up in the air. If enough power isn't there to allow lift off then the helo should be shut down right away. This is another thing that is lower on the wish list.
 10) I almost forgot about tail rotor failures. They can be controlled if they happen in flight and they made for some of my most sweat filled training. This could only be done if they add in throttle and autorotation controls. Join a discussion forum on this article by clicking HERE.
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