Advance Helicopter piloting

[SuperScythe]

Re: Advance Helicopter piloting

#1. Your co-pilot should be in charge of taking out armor. In fact, the pilot's rockets should come second ALWAYS and only if your gunner has missed a couple of times.

Agreed 100%. But, you've got to remember, there aren't that many good gunners out there. If they miss twice with TV-missile, it's my turn to do some damage. I've been shot down waaay to many times waiting for my gunner to take out aa. Lined them up and they just sit there looking at the trees.

It's all a learning curve though. I've had some awesome gunners fly with me. I would just as quickly go gunner if I knew there was a good pilot around. I love that guided missile.

Another question for the pro's out there: Is it better when capturing a flag to swivel around on top of the flag (think stand in one place and spin around) or to circle round the flag? This is to check 4 threats like AT etc.
Or does it even matter. I'm thinking in terms of your gunners chance to hit enemies.

[Talus]

Re: Advance Helicopter piloting

The key is having somebody you know as gunner and being either on in-game VOIP or using a 3rd party VOIP app.

Anybody who flies an attack chopper solely for themselves and without a copilot or even regard for their copilot, is REALLY missing out on some awesome fun

Sure..your copilot will likely get GOLD every round..but that doesn't bother me

[Talus]

Re: Advance Helicopter piloting

Another question for the pro's out there: Is it better when capturing a flag to swivel around on top of the flag (think stand in one place and spin around) or to circle round the flag? This is to check 4 threats like AT etc.
Or does it even matter. I'm thinking in terms of your gunners chance to hit enemies.

Circle strafe around the flag as wide as you can juuuuust at the margin of the flag radius if you and your copilot are the only ones there. That way, you're a moving target

If there are others there to cap the flag, then circle outside of the flag capping radius and take out troops or vehicles that are a threat to the team capping the flag.

I certainly don't recommend the hover and spin unless you have a UAV over the area and know you are alone.

[Reider]

Re: Advance Helicopter piloting

if i have a good gunner and we have communication, then what 'we' do is:
look on map if there are teammates capping a flag
if there ar none, then pick one. take out the aa, tanks, etc. at that location and make a smooth turn around the flag. mostly i end up hovering at the location new enemy's would probably come from

[TacticalSkirmish]

Re: Advance Helicopter piloting

Ok offline I mess around with the BH by doing rolls. Dumb question but I trust online with folks in the back they don't fall out, right? :laugh:

[(-W3rD-)GotMilk]

Re: Advance Helicopter piloting

thats not a stupid question, someone in a blackhawk should fall out or atleast get messed up when you do a roll but they dont... everything stays stuck in place.

when capping flags i center myself above the flag and spin, just my preference, takes less concentration, gives me a few seconds to check the whole game radar (whats it called) to see if anything has been spotted, see what place i'm in, grab a bite to eat... whatever, alot of people will simply hide, let you cap then once you leave re cap it. anti tank guys will have a go at you but they are easy to spot because of the trail the missle leaves once you fire it. (so you take a hit, kill the guy, if you have it neutralized by then, finish off the cap, if not go repair) alot of the time though i wont bother trying to cap a flag unless theres someone on the ground below me.

gunners suck talus! ha!

[DarkHorse2160]

Re: Advance Helicopter piloting

futile, i'm all about flying the hawk, that thing is a hovering tank. you better get your stats with that bad boy in as quickly as you can though because from what i've read once the patch comes out your going to cap a flag as if you were in the hawk by yourself, even when you have a full crew. they will have to jump out to capture it any quicker. i wonder if people will be able to choose to patch or not, and stay behind with this version still racking up the points with the hawk.[/quote]
__________________________________________________ _________
Man, I really hope they don't do that. Speaking as a selfish Blackhawk pilot (and veteran of TF-160 Night Stalkers, but not a pilot) I can assure you from first hand experience, that a hawk with 2 fairly competent gunners can wreak havoc on anything except heavy armor from well over 500 meters away! They could EASILY capture and defend almost any target, with the armor exception noted above.

If they really want to fix something that's broken, they should fix the accuracy (or lack thereof) of the AA! That situation is so f-ed up it's laughable. It makes the jets and attack choppers seem invincible.

[vbl]

Re: Advance Helicopter piloting

Regarding the nose cannons:

1) Isn't the Z-10 gun the same as the AH-1? I always thought they were basically the same weapon.

2) I've noticed that, if you switch from the default first-person view, to the TV missile, back to first person view, then hit "c" to get rid of the instruments, the gun does not hit what you aim at. The fix I've been using is to rotate the gun to the extreme 4 corners of its movement (like calibrating a joystick) - that seems to re-center it and ensures that the bullets hit where you aim.

I consider this a highly annoying, serious issue that DICE ought to fix in the patch, but I haven't seen enough complaining about it yet.

[dasick]

Re: Advance Helicopter piloting

yea I've noticed that 2.

[Talus]

Re: Advance Helicopter piloting

Regarding the nose cannons:

1) Isn't the Z-10 gun the same as the AH-1? I always thought they were basically the same weapon.

2) I've noticed that, if you switch from the default first-person view, to the TV missile, back to first person view, then hit "c" to get rid of the instruments, the gun does not hit what you aim at. The fix I've been using is to rotate the gun to the extreme 4 corners of its movement (like calibrating a joystick) - that seems to re-center it and ensures that the bullets hit where you aim.

I consider this a highly annoying, serious issue that DICE ought to fix in the patch, but I haven't seen enough complaining about it yet.

Good tip if it's true..will have to try that.

[xNightfirex]

Re: Advance Helicopter piloting

when dogfighting, always try to be above the other chopper. It is IMPOSSIBLE to aim a TV missile when the other guys is against the sky (above you). The crosshair on the TV is white, and the sky is white

I disagree with this. I have a very good gunner I fly with, and when the chopper is above me, I tilt my nose up so he's lined up with the chopper. If you're gunner is good, he can still hit the chopper even though the cursor is white.

[Sub_Saint]

Re: Advance Helicopter piloting

Carrier runs:
When attacking the US carrier, always approach from the side that does not have the AA gun on it. You can always stay low right next to the carrier. Watch out for enemy antitank soldiers.

Not sure if anyone mentioned this...but the carrier actually has AA on each end...although the one (by the UAV) seldom gets used.

Good guide...this is one area I need and am actively engaged in trying to improve.

[imported_CharminXtra]

Re: Advance Helicopter piloting

The best thing that helps with helo piloting is a joystick that has rudder controls on it as well as a throttle. It's the biggest pain in the ass to fly low and not that fast with the w key.

[Futile]

Re: Advance Helicopter piloting

I'm loving this gunner / no gunner debate. I have to agree with both of you in some respects. Basically ask yourself, is there anything the gunner can do that I can't do as a pilot? Talus is right when you are flying a MEC or Chinese chopper: you really should have a gunner. When you are in the MI29, the gunner will be able to take out infantry inside buildings, around corners, etc at more than 180 degree angle! That means you can circle around the beach bases in Oman (not cirle strafe, which is hard because of the damn trees) and have the gunner kill anyone inside. When you are in a Chinese chopper, you NEED the gunner to take out the blackhawks. Otherwise you end up wasting a whole clip on them and most of the time they repair themeselves.

GotMilk is right about the Cobra. There really is nothing the gunner can do that the pilot couldn't... Most of the time, a good gunner in the Cobra would just uses his missile while i've got the armor in my sights and half dead anyway! Then he complains about how I don't hover way high and let him have shots! Although on Dalian there are situations where there are a few tanks / AA together and the gunner and I pick separate targets, but that's rare. And shooting down enemy transport copter with Cobra is easier since A) they are huge (bigger than the blackhawk) and B) they never have engineers on board.

So yea, in a Cobra, gunners are not necessary. For the other choppers, you need them.

The nose cannon on the Cobra is NOT the same as the one on the Z10. The one on the Z10 has even tighter aim and slower rate of fire (i think it's the same one as on the transport). The Cobra one is a chaingun i think, and i've found it easier to kill infantry up close with it than with the Z10.

I'm not sure about losing accuracy when you switch back from TV missile view... Will check that out.

[auditech]

Re: Advance Helicopter piloting

Futile why in the world would you say you dont need a gunner in the Cobra, for god sakes its the same gun as the Chinese chopper and the TV missiles only help in a dogfight