Mi-2 crazy birds

fercyful

Hi all !

Is me or the Mi-2 choppers are almost uncontrollable? Don't have problems with the US ones at takeoff/flying but those ones always end in total crash. Using HOTAS X52 Pro with the easy settings turned OFF at ARMA3 options. If I use the "arcade" settings I can takeoff without problems with them but of course they move like a brick 🙂

NightIntruder

I found it controllable in most flying regimes. Most people don't even know, Mi-2 can barely lift off with 2 people on board if its fuel tanks are full in real life (MTOW limitation). If the AFM was realistically modeled, this bird should have very little power margin in a typical test flight environment (empty helo + 100% fuel + pilot). I don't know if it's indeed true, but the helo flying characteristics surprised me once or twice. This is a good sign itself, as I got used to unrealistic, "flat" and undemanding AFMs presented by other devs, in some cases basically copy & paste from BI's default helos.

To help you get back in control of the bird I'd suggest the following things (quite universal ones, not the type specific):

note that the weight of passengers, fuel, and ammo is added to a helo in AFM and that affects flying characteristics
Helos in AFM are not magic carpets, they follow aerodynamical rules that were correctly implemented in RTD libraries that drive the AFM
burn some fuel (or lose some weight) before performing more (power) demanding maneuvers
keep the rotational speed of rotors close to 100% at all time, avoid excessive and prolonged drops,
keep the main rotor leveled if you want to get the full lifting power
if you are losing rotors RPM speed (and the altitude), do not rise collective! Do the opposite to get the rotors back to speed, dropping the collective while pitching up the helo a little help to speed up the process of restoring the rotors' speed - if you are at low altitude by the time, you are out of luck
do not fight the machine, if you need to turn the helo, do it in the direction caused by the main rotor's torque
operations of a tail rotor takes up to 10% of available power produced by helo engine(s) IRL, if you are heavy or flying high in the mountains plan your maneuvers to reduce the need of using of the antitorque pedals
be a step or two before your helicopter, think and predict how the helo would perform, and in doubts or at the first signs of abnormal operation - abort the maneuver early
as a rule of thumb: every couple of seconds check the terrain for any suitable place to perform autorotation in case of sudden engine lost (enemy fire?)
if you are sling loading a cargo, emergency jettison of the payload is the very first step to do in case of any troubles
if you cannot hover due to the weight of a helo, you can still perform rolling takeoff/landing if the terrain permits. How does it work? After passing the region of 16-24kts a helicopter starts "catching an air" and that provides additional lift, it's called "effective translational lift".
the X52Pro is truly great HOTAS, had it twice, but in order to be more effective you may need a pair of antitorque pedals which are extensively used in any helicopter simulation, twisted stick is not a good thing in steady hover to counter rotor torque, believe me
you may need to look at YT videos of how pilots are flying their Mi-2s, it's a good way of learning how to fly a helo more immersively for everyone around you (airshows don't count here)
the Mi-2 has yaw turn rate limited to 12 degrees per second, it can turn to be real danger in flight, take a look at this mishap here: https://youtu.be/s_CcHgBVjas?t=23
using manual trimming might be a better way of handling the helo at the edge of power margins, I found the autotrim not a magical and ideal solution, it takes a part of available power as well so I always fly in manual trim mode
- keep trying

fercyful

wow NightIntruder !! Thanks so much for your extreme reply. I will try again with an empty Mi-2 just with me inside. Just think that the first one I tried was the AT one with the 4 AT-3 missiles loaded, copilot and the door gunne, Mama mia!! I´m quite experienced in flight sims since 8-bits era and now playing a lot DCS (waiting for the A-6 there (!!) there soonTM) but the Mi-2 here make me a little crazy hehe The mayor problem was in the time of takeoff, If I place it already on air I can fly it in some way, so I thought it was some kind of bug. But sure is that the sim part is accurate for that little bird.

Thanks again for take the time in reply me and sorry for my bad english. Thumbs up for you!

NightIntruder

fercyful wrote:
I´m quite experienced in flight sims since 8-bits era and now playing a lot DCS

Same here, buddy, long time huh? 😉

fercyful wrote:
The mayor problem was in the time of takeoff, If I place it already on air I can fly it in some way

I do it with manual trim, slowly rising collective without excessive cyclic movement, waiting for a response from the helo, and then counter undesired moves. When in hurry, I just use the "Red TRQ" regime briefly (because it damages the transmission), the "Yellow TRQ" being constantly abused when necessary. I do avoid hovering and push the helo immediately forward low above the ground (if the terrain permits), as the "ground cushion" phenomenon theoretically should help in gaining forward momentum. For that reason, I always take off having wheel brakes off, just in case the helo would inadvertently touch the ground during the acceleration. Not much else I could advise you on this matter. But, indeed, that small bird may become quite rewarding, I just need to fly it more and learn it better.

No worries about your English, it's fully understandable, mate.
Thanks for the thumbs up!

Maarten

Thank having a detailed look into it guys! Once you have defined what you want to report please post it in the feedback tracker so it doesn't get lost: https://community.sogpf.com/threads/44-Bug-reporting