I just got a joystick...having problems with choppers.

[exho]

once you start going down and get nice and straight hit "j" and it will keep your heli steady and then when you land hit enter, kinda cheating but what works, works

[Merlin]

for that joystick try setting it up this way:

turn left/right - set that to twist left/right

roll left/right - set that to push left/right

I have the same stick and that helped

^:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: A bit obvious?

Back to the topic, There is nothing you can really do to make chopper flying with the joystick any easier, Its purely practice. I flew the Apache in DC, Huey/MI8 in BFV so the Super Cobra was not so bad to control for me.

Pracrtice Pracrtice Pracrtice Pracrtice Pracrtice

[Talus]

I have tried the keyboard/mouse thing and sure it is easier to fly steady, hover, and land. But it's not as much FUN as flying with the joystick.

I use the MS Precision 2 (Precision Pro R.I.P.) and I find that you simply have to practice on an empty server. Just create your own local LAN server.

You really have to learn where the 'zero' position of your throttle is. If you don't, you're gonna have problems.

Also, when you're hovering successfully, notice how the HUD changes. That bounding box you see is actually there to help you with your hover. It will tell you when you're moving or sliding and in which direction so you can compensate. Play with it.

[Firefoxa]

once you start going down and get nice and straight hit "j" and it will keep your heli steady and then when you land hit enter, kinda cheating but what works, works

Been flying for so many hours and not knowing there is a auto hover mode wich I guess hitting j kicks in?

Why enter when you land? Do you mean that hitting enter when in hover mode you land?

Thx.

[Talus]

Hitting J bring up the 'chat to all' box. Effectively, it disables joystick input (because you're supposed to be text chatting) to ensure that your helo hovers. Hitting enter 'sends' the text...which is blank...and enables joystick input.

I have never tried it but I'm assuming that is how it would work.

I'm going to see if I can set up JoyToKey to somehow autohover without using this method.

[Firefoxa]

Hitting J bring up the 'chat to all' box. Effectively, it disables joystick input (because you're supposed to be text chatting) to ensure that your helo hovers. Hitting enter 'sends' the text...which is blank...and enables joystick input.

I have never tried it but I'm assuming that is how it would work.

I'm going to see if I can set up JoyToKey to somehow autohover without using this method.

Thx, and give us a shout on the JoyToKey work when you have something to tell us

[Scrobes]

Remember if you've just started using a joystick, to calibrate it in windows. I use my Saitek USB Gold and it didn't recognise it at first, but after calibrating it, it works fine.

I think a lot of people new to helicopters fall into the trap of overcorrection. An example would be trying to maneuver to the right by pushing your stick to the right, then wanting to stop, so pushing to the left, but they don't start going left instantly, so they push left harder, then when they do eventually start going left, it's waaay too much, etc. It's a something of a vicious circle.

Thing is to remember small movements. Realise that the helo doesn't react instantly, and understand how it reacts to your input, or how it's 'going to react'. I think throttle control is important. I seem to use that almost as much as my directional movements. It gives you a tighter grasp on the helicopter's inertia and movement. Coming into a hover or landing by pulling gently back to angle the helicopter backwards to slow it down, coupled with a reduction in throttle, then as you feel yourself slowing down enough, leveling the controls and increasing the throttle a little bit again, is a nice smooth way of coming into a hover over a flag or landing pad.

I don't think anyone can teach you how to fly. Just the principles. It really is down to practise and experience. :) But it's oh so enjoyable to do. Hugging the ground, flying fast, lining up for your gunner to exploit the best angle, etc. It's so much fun.

Finally, if you want to learn, I'd probably suggest trying one of the transport helicopters. They are generally less agile and a bit more smoother to fly. More forgiving basically. Once you're comfortable with those, move to the cobra, etc, as they are nippy little things.

Once you're comfortable with the basics, you can start developing your situational skills which would include positioning for your gunner, awareness of friends/enemies around you, AA avoidance, threat prioritisation, and little tricks, etc.

[dim]

When I first started with BF2 I didn't have a joystick, and I wanted to fly Heli's.
And I’m new to flying anything all together.

One thing that kept annoying me with mouse/keyboard, after getting some flying experience, is that I kept running out of mouse pad room, because I would always to these crazy maneuvers in the Heli, but I'm sure if I stuck with kb/mouse I would have gotten the hang of it eventually. Raising sensitivity would probably help with that, like most of you are saying.

But I got a Logitech Extreme 3d pro, took some time to adjust my controls to the way I like them (mainly the many buttons this JS has, which is great) and all is great now.

In Helicopter controls, I have it set at 2.0 sens with 1 for yaw and that other settings below it.

for Hovering with joystick, you just have to find that magic throttle percentage number (different for each Heli, but usually around 30%) and try to hold joystick steady in the middle, but play around with forward/backward if you have to, to level is out.

[Major_Rosha]

I use Joystick/KB to fly. I think I am getting pretty decent at it now. I use the Joystick for Pitch Up/Down and Roll Left/Right. I use the W/S for the throttle and the A/D to turn. That set-up works well for me. I can get into a hover with a transport easily enough then pitch to one side a bit to give my gunner the best angle and then just sideways crawl to where I want to move, keeping the gunner facing where we are moving.

I've tried using the Mouse and I just can't maintain control well enough :P

[Pedro]

i prefer to use my kb and mouse when flying a chopper, and my joystick when flying a plane... why you ask? try strafing with a helicopter using a joystick, it's impossible... but with a mouse and kb it's as easy as landing... even orbiting around a hill/building/tank is real easy when using a kb and mouse...

[Talus]

I couldn't get JoyToKey to do what I wanted.

I've tried combining my Nostromo n52 in the left hand with the joystick in the right...it works well for transport chopper runs. Not so good with attack choppers though.

It's a neat combo. You get the autohover the keyboard guys are always going on about with none of the control problems the mouse guys go on about.

[RedWolf43]

I disagree with you on saying that a joystick can't do what a k/m can. I have been using a joystick since DC, and will never go back to k/m. A joystick gives you a true "feel" for the helo, especially from first person, which is mostly what I fly from. I've got over 1,000 kills in a helo, 588 deaths, as of this posting. Fairly sure that qualifies me as an able pilot.