Arma 2 & 3 Helicopter Guide - Flight Controls & Techniques - Art of Flight, Ep 6

[@tjbarke6086]

I think one of the main keys in watching Dslyecxi fly is that he's usually not going as fast as you think. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.

[@GarenPhillips]

I bought a track IR because of dslyecxi, totally worth $150. Although you will constantly leaning your head as you watch his fly videos from now on.

[@dslyecxi]

+Robert Vogel - can't respond to you directly due to your G+ settings, but the TIR takes up no appreciable space. It sits on your monitor and is maybe 2.5" wide and 3" tall, including the legs that hold it to the monitor.

[@tubelitrax]

What comes me in Mind is: Are you the Bob Ross of ArmA Helicopter Flying? ;-) We have a nice litte landing with a slight touch down. ;-)

[@foxhedalpha]

Your voice makes me want to go to bed! I feel so comfortable and happy when I watch this video!

[@tomdavidson4164]

Search for 'ASMR', whole community dedicated to that stuff ;)

[@Frost_x_NB]

Your so inspirational. Your the kind of pilot I want to be. Good stuff bro.

[@dslyecxi]

Frost x Apache Thanks, and good luck!

[@shadowblaster124]

This is my favorite of all your videos. It's you giving real advice and demonstrating it. You speak clearly and I can make out most words you say (unlike your combat missions where often you're whispering incredibly quietly). This video feels real and stress-free. I like it a lot. It has a better ambience than the previous Art of Flight videos.

[@Tibialstone7]

I have no idea how you manage to reply to most of these comments on your videos, but this video has been my bible Dslyecxi. It's really taught me to use my head more intuitively (I was just sitting still out of bad habit from not previously owning a TRACK IR), and this has made rooftop landings and all kinds of types of flying possible for me. I've got my flying to the peak of what it could be without TRACK IR, which was originally substituted by a ridiculously high field of view in game, just so I could see my feet during landing. Hopefully now, I can develop even more new skills, especially when the Helicopter DLC comes out for ArmA 3- which will add a bit more depth to flying dynamics. Not enough pilots in ARMA put themselves in a wide variety of challenging situations that they are forced to adapt to. Like you said- doing a landing with no pressure, no fire, no time limits in the editor is not really commendable for any kind of combat flying training. Even in a game like ARMA where the flying dynamics aren't as in-depth as games like DCS Huey, it still takes a ridiculous amount of practice to get to a standard of a trust-worthy helicopter pilot. Another thing I'd like to mention, is how grateful I am that you shared the 'balanced flare' landings on your Art of Flight Series. That technique has accelerated my piloting skills *months* ahead. Being able to loose speed without gaining altitude is damn awesome when you can get it right. I'm still stuck in some bad habits, like pulling tight, lateral pitching-up manoeuvres to bleed of speed if I overshoot a landing. But I am slowly finding more satisfaction in a proper, bleed flared landing. I look forward to joining ShackTac one day, and flying in your company :)

[@vanowen]

I have always used my saitek joystick for aircraft thinking that I should just use what I know. After watching this I decided to give your setup a try. I should have tried it out quite a while ago. The difference in fine control is remarkable. Its only been a few hours practicing and I can seen an obvious improvement in my flying over the joystick. Thanks!

[@Void304]

Another very helpful video. As a user of Track IR myself, I wholeheartedly second the planks of his argument. ArmA...Falcon BMS...DCS: World...IL2...I really don't know how I'd be able to maintain spatial awareness without something so handy. It's saved my bacon more times than I could count by helping me become aware of threats that I would never have known were there otherwise. Thank you, Dslyecxi, not only for sharing the experiences of Shack Tactical with the rest of the community, but also for taking the time to teach others who might be newcomers to ArmA.

[@FrozenFrostVT]

you're so chill in this after a while you become like the Bob Ross of Arma flight

[@SkullCollectorD5]

I dig your philosophy of 'no talking it without walking it', and it definitely shows in your live footage. Love it. Thanks for investing so much of your time in showing and giving. it has really helped me in my flight career.

[@slyderace]

38:35 YES! That is exactly me when I fly on Squad lol...when an SL says "don't land here, it's too hot!" I'm like "LOL....watch me!" and then I pull it off and their jaws drop :) It sure is an amazing feeling when you manage to make landings that others think would be impossible :) Watching your Art of Flight series is why I'm learning to fly like that in Arma3 :)

[@cpt-cheese3489]

It’s less awesome when you don’t pull it off

[@october001]

This is one of my all time favorite videos on the topic of heli's in ARMA. I'm a sim racer as well so I already have very good pedals (clutch, brake and throttle) under my desk and I found that the clutch and throttle work very well for rudder controls. I almost bought TrackIR but ended up with DelanClip, an affordable TrackIR compatible alternative. Most of my key bindings are the same but I found I like roll on the mouse instead of turn, as I already have the rudder pedals.

[@Dragoru]

I've had TrackIR for a little over a year now, and Dslyecxi isn't lying. I can fly much better as a result of it, and it even makes me want to boot up the Editor now and again just to fly around Chernarus, Utes, Takistan, whichever. It's so beautiful and so immersive. Thanks for all of the wonderful videos you upload, Dslyecxi, and keep up the great work.

[@Jakob6250]

Even though I'm a seasoned Arma 2 pilot myself, its nice to wach these tutorials, and get your memory refreshed. One thing i want to add if you don't mind, is that if you want to use a joystick in Arma, you need one with a serious forcefeedback. Because the game controls when you are using a joystick is extremly sensitive. I don't know if you can set down the sensitivity, i never tried. Also thanks for the tips about vanilla auto rotation, never figured that out myself.

[@Hidenseekandfortnite]

When i'm watching TV and want to relax I watch Bob Ross paint. When i'm online and want to relax I watch Dslyexci pilot. Thanks for this video, tons of good info!!!

[@kirby_tactical]

I bought myself a racing wheel with pedals just to give it a try and what I can say so far is that it works like a charm! Especially as driver in Arma 2 you can now drive by any speed you'd like. this is amazing for long way convoy trips e.g. driving is so much fun now.

[@Jena_Helsdottir]

all i can say is from the first video i watched you piloting a chopper i needed to know how you where able to look around while still maneuvering the chopper. when i found out it was track ir, i have started saving, i want, i will have, i will be piloting a lot when i get. really liked this type of vid mate please do more

[@balist0]

Dslyecxi I would happily watch a series of vids of you flying around towns at seemingly impossibly tight altitudes and generally being the badass mentalist pilot that you are. You wouldn't even need to talk, it is actually great just to watch it happen man!

[@strangepete956]

point taken. the auto rotation part felt pretty good in testing compared with how vanilla rotations just fail currently, wanted to share. It will be an option in my random rotations script on its next update if you're ever bored. thanks for your videos, much inspiration!

[@findearl1]

As a complete noob to the Arma series, I thank you for your informative and entertaining videos.

[@TheCornyCob]

You are insane dude, i don't own Arma or ever played any arma game but I still could watch you all day always great content keep it up!

[@ABlockerLemming]

This has certainly made me want to fork out the money for a TrackIR system and see how nice it is to be able to look around while flying. I've started trying to get used to the choppers in Arma 2 & 3 and keep finding it difficult to land due to wanting to look at what I'm doing but needing the mouse controls to land smoothly. Excellent video again Dslyecxi!

[@Xoniksken]

When I get back to the states I want to join you guys, Been in China for 2 years watching your videos on a VPN, thanks for all the work you do. Makes my time here entertaining.. No one here plays Arma series but Dayz and that is a little hard to do when my mandarin Chinese is horrible.

[@ChrisPowa-]

Thank you very much! Flying is probably my favourite thing about ARMA II and this video was nothing but good viewing and inspiring.

[@sykk1981]

Your voice is so soothing i sometimes listen to your narrated videos to go to sleep.

[@Sectionmanifold]

Your voice. It's so calming. Dslyecxi's Zen and the Art o̶f̶ ̶M̶o̶t̶o̶r̶c̶y̶c̶l̶e̶ ̶M̶a̶i̶n̶t̶e̶n̶a̶n̶c̶e̶ of Flight

[@qaubby9256]

Absolutely loved the video. I've seen most of your videos and they are very helpful. Also you should totally make more of your flying around and rambling videos. They are very funny, but also informing of different ideas and ways to challange yourself to be a better pilot. So thank you, cause you're making me a better pilot.

[@MBKill3rCat]

I thought I was a decent pilot, adequate for gunruns and quick insertions. After watching your videos, the realisation has suddenly dawned on me that I am quite crap by comparison. You sir, and your skills, have made a massive impact and I take much inspiration from your proficiency and deft flying.

[@force83x]

thanks dslyecxi before i tried out for my groups air assets i was just OK but then they reminded me of your videos and i watched your videos and practiced and practiced and became a whole lot better and was accepted because they saw a huge improvement.... TY

[@marvinsemler]

I dont even play arma but your flying was really chill to watch.

[@ToneyMo]

Awesome stuff as always. Your Art of Flight series has drastically improved my skills in just about every chopper in Arma. I now jump at the opportunity to hop in a chopper and push my limits.

[@joeracer302]

Dslyecxi, along with your training mission this series has done a lot to improve my flying technique in Arma. I'm using an Xbox controller, and I've mapped nose up/nose down/roll left/roll right to my right thumb stick and I have the foot pedal controls (rudder left/rudder right) mapped to my left thumb stick. I also have throttle up/throttle down mapped to the right/left triggers. Incremental controls all around, works great for me and allows these fine control maneuvers you demonstrate. Thanks

[@PALbub]

this is the most impressive video i have seen for a long time!! seriously your videos are entertaining, professional, fun and unique! i now now why bohemedia hired you. hope you both continue the partnership, i guess you will! thank you for showing your skill! thanks man.

[@Vladdie777]

Thanks dslyexci for the informative response! I knew it amplifies the head movement, I meant looking over you shoulder in game would obviously require a bigger head movement. Even though it's a small angle, my nose might block one of my eyes (my left eye is significantly weaker) so it might be a problem, also I have neck ache problems which it might exacerbate. I can just configure it to my needs though, and I see they have a 30 day trial period in case you don't like it which is sweet!

[@wulfherecyning1282]

Old video but a great one. I use a joystick because my left hand is derpy since I had a stroke, so offloading control to my right hand is good. TrackIR is great, and frees up the HAT giving 8 extra inputs i didn't have before. I want to get pedals, but for now I'm using an analogue switch on the back of the thrust lever, so I'm still getting some benefit. The moment I got TrackIR my landings improved significantly.

[@Hydros92]

I love this video, it's like a little airborne adventure with Uncle Dyslexi the crazy littlebird pilot.

[@Jokerr303]

Hey Dslyecxi. I just wanted to let you know that I really enjoyed watching this video and would love to see more. I'm sure I'm not alone when I say this too. Watching someone else fly changes perspective in a very good way and gives me ideas on things I can work on. Keep it up!

[@alexgehl8691]

Wow. Wonderful video. Best one I have seen for a long time. This will make me try much harder and train longer on my joystick than I ever have before. Thank you for the advice.

[@NightShadowVI]

Hey thanks for covering this, I messaged you recently about what your thoughts were on a HOTAS setup were for Arma Helicopters and this has answered a few of my questions. I am actually looking at buying a TrackIR 5 now just because of the perks of having control while in free look. Love your stuff, keep it up.

[@slyderace]

That "stroll" through the woods had me on edge the whole time! I don't think a fart could've made it out at that point! LOL You are an amazing pilot! I'd love to see you fly like this IRL in the air force! :P

[@gfouty1]

I wanted to say, your are the Best Helicopter pilot I've seen. I'm not trying to boost your ego but I have invested in take on Helicopters and I cant even come close to flying like you. Is it really just a lot of practice and it will come? That's so hard to believe. anyway great job and thanks for sharing.

[@hlaplayer]

I do not have a computer strong enough or fast enough to support Arma. But seeing you fly around like that surely makes me want to upgrade my computer and go flying around in Arma.

[@Tibialstone7]

Personally I think keyboard, mouse, TRACK IR and pedals are the friendliest combination in a game like ArmA. Thanks for the upload! And I am LIKING the original quality!

[@KiraPhusion]

Yeah, that's understandable and makes sense. Whilst I don't feel I'll be getting the highest quality I want, I will still be giving the OR a shot when retail arrives. I've seen positive remarks already, and who knows what the future might bring for it. One problem I see between OR and Arma, is the amount of detail that goes into Arma's HUD, with it's vehicle management, context menu and inventory - I can't see all that detail in the OR, but who knows. I could be wrong. Thanks again, Dslyexci!

[@MLPvipiao]

Yes, trackIR gives you situational awareness from close to medium range, but not that much when flying towards a target at long range. Then I feel that the pedals are way more essential to be able to hit a target. I have both pedals and trackIR, the biggest leap in preformance achivement I got from the pedals.

[@samisawright]

You are an absolute legend Dslyecxi.

[@Federation42movies]

This is so relaxing to watch. Your voice makes me feel so calm.

[@Streaky100001]

My personal favourite thing about track IR is that if I'm taking fire I can actually see where it's coming from and avoid it, I mean I had one troop deployment where I came in towards the LZ and the whole sky just lit up with tracer, now obviously my first response was "Oh holy hell, lets get outta here" so I picked up forward speed, but was able to actually see all that fire was coming from a ridge just outta town, so I just hoped over a building so they couldn't hit me and dropped the troops there, they were then in a great place to deal with it, but without track IR I wouldn't have had a clue where that fire was coming from, and would likely have ditched the deployment and just got out of there, or even worse attempted the landing and been a sitting duck.Also, I decided to try your hangar landing trick, instincts sometimes don't help, I got in the hangar but had too much forward speed so figured "OK, time to GTFO" and put full collective on...yeah...I'm sure you can see a flaw, or rather roof, in that plan.

[@wraith6766]

Wow, just wow. Phenomenal flying. Thanks for the show, the insight and the rambling.

[@PantsuMann]

Damnit Dslyecxi I keep catching myself holding my breath when you fly around. Awesome piloting.

[@FlyingMidge]

I'm appreciating the large amount of uploads recently Dslyecxi, so much good content in so little time! I know it takes a lot of work so thanks!

[@JachuTcw]

With your commentary, flying really is art :) Since I got Arma 2 (it's like since 2011?), I always wanted to be able to fly like you! You make me want to practice and get better. Thanks for the great videos and tips! Hope we can meet someday in ArmA series (I'm from Polish Arma Community) ;) Also I'm in pain that I don't own any TIR, but I'm gonna try make one.

[@GoatFiddler]

It changed things quite a lot and added to the cohesion of the community as a whole in actuality. A noticeably higher percentage of 18, 19 and 20 year olds would mess about in one way or another or simply not bother to try and fit in, compared to 21s and up we found.

[@SuperFraggleRocks]

Lovin your vids! I've decided to spend a bit more time with the helis having overlooked them a bit in Arma 2 and you're guides are great. I literally just uploaded a demo flight of the AH-99 Blackfoot and I wish I watched this first, your making me look like a noob :/ Keep up the good work.

[@Lambofgodd1]

I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks like you Dslyecxi :D

[@c4blew]

Great video! This is like the gaming version of Bob Ross - The joy of painting and like with Bob Ross it´s equally fun just to listen to you talking about stuff while you demonstrate those incredible skills!

[@ProspektMir]

Excellent video, some great tips and info. A number of your videos have helped me quite a bit in the past, thank you very much!

[@SuperJayEff]

It looks a joy to fly with such fluidity and precision

[@PacTheOne]

if i hadnt got trackir since flight sim 2004.. you would have sold me about 1000times allready (: And natural point deserves every cent for their products. (They do motion capture for games aswell). Great video man! go bis! go shacktac!.. keep it up

[@slugger449]

OH HELL YEAH, Original Quality! Thank you Dslyecxi

[@NBGZerO]

That's a techique called autorotation. He made a video on that as well. You want to bleed all forward speed, and decrease your throttle, so the rotorblades have less air friction and spin faster. When you're decending, wait until you're like 50 - 30 meters off the ground, then give it full throttle. That will make the fast spinning rotor blades give you one final boost of lift, to slow your descent. If done right, you'll hit the ground with just enough speed to not explode and die.

[@DirkaDirka07]

If you don't have the cash for TrackIR, which is obviously a great product, research and build your own and run it with Freetrack. Great video as usual, Thanks!

[@InvalidUsername725]

Another amazing video Dslyecxi! I have been waiting for one like this for a while now. :}

[@BaronVonHaggis]

You're the Bob Ross of virtual aviators! Thanks :)

[@pulver117]

What a great and informative video Dslyecxi. Thanks for continuing to produce quality ARMA content. Can't wait to see what your future holds with ARMA 3 when it's ready. Also, thanks for having served our country.

[@PetterWolff]

Got inspired by watching this and unpacked my old MadCatz2 wheel for Xbox 360, and the pedals worked splendidly for both Arma 2 and 3! Yay! Only a TrackIR to go, then. And some training, presumably...

[@ArcticGoober]

Thank you for this Dslyecxi, I've been running practice since watching this and i've been enjoying challenging myself to new and better flight techniques. Still Flying without pedals makes it quite interesting to get into those corners you have been, but I am getting the slight hang of it

[@PatchworkHD]

Just checked it out and I can confirm it is amazing. Thanks for showing me this. Most certainly not as good as TrackIR, but it works and was free for me since I already had a playstation eye. I still plan on buying a TrackIR in the future, but this is more than welcome until I find the money. Thanks again for showing me this.

[@SuperFraggleRocks]

Awesome vid! You're probably my fav YT'er. I have to recommend Freetrack as an alternative to TrackIR though. Having recently installed it I'm finding it flawless and not just a poor mans TrackIR tbh. I just uploaded a guide to using it to spread the love, it gets overlooked WAAAAY too much.

[@menjoo]

I absolutely loved this video! More like this please!

[@kentrel2]

I can do many of these same fine movements, and fine turns using mouse and keyboard alone. I don't use pedals or TrackIR. A custom keybind I found incredibly useful was to bind the Look Around keys that are normally bound to the numpad to Ctrl+W,S respectively. It means that without TrackIR I can quickly change the direction I'm looking in to adjust for a quick landing or fine maneuver between buildings. A lot of these movements are learnable with just M+K, and are not too difficult.

[@CarbonSteel93]

Thank you! I've been asking for a video like this on reddit and a few of your videos for a while.

[@seanylewl]

In this video, when Dslyexci mentions flaring, he is talking about an aerial manoeuvre which consists of raising the nose of the aircraft up towards the sky, putting the craft towards a perpendicular angle and reducing the aircraft's speed.

[@willalderson7838]

I use racing pedals from a racing wheel apart from the different stiffness's of the pedals they work well. Very nice video thank you Dslyecxi.

[@ValtheroPens]

You seemed to really enjoy yourself as you were recording this video. I think that's a huge plus when you're trying to teach people something. You also raised some really interesting points. I'd never considered just how wonky flying without TrackIR was.

[@TheCipher29]

Very impressive what you can accomplish with a mouse and keyboard, I personally can't stand them for flight. Also, I just got TIR (from your recommendation) and I've been messing with it in Arma 3, and it's improved my flying more than my joystick did! Thanks Dslyecxi!

[@mrluga]

I hope you can do more for Arma3 as well! I'd love to see more content about that

[@themongoosedog]

Watching this, I realized that Dslyecxi is the Bob Ross of badass helicopter piloting. "And here we have some happy little trees. We're just gonna use a little bit of rudder, and we're gonna flyyyy right through, just like that. Wasn't that nice?" :D

[@jetmech24]

Excellent tutorial vid Dslyecxi, lots of good info! And a great demonstration!

[@EnragedPlatypus]

You're a monster for making this video. I would love some TrackIR while flying, especially so I don't have to switch to third person for those trickier landings (Usually in the larger helicopters), but I just can't part with $150 for a controller. On the other hand, it was nice to see that I can almost fly with the same precision as you, without TrackIR. I still envy your ultra short stops in front of the building.

[@InfinityMW2]

Its Dslyecxi, his vids are always good no matter what, and i just commented upon it

[@MatthiasLievens]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge Dslyecxi!

[@seanylewl]

I don't know if this is what dslyexci does, but I have found that a solution to this problem is to reduce the collective. If you gain speed, and then drop the collective as you descend for low level, you can reach a point where you are perfectly level and still moving fast. The problems you mention are usually symptoms of an always maxed out collective.

[@RazorClamTV]

Inspirational. Loving your work.

[@commanderbly009]

Most likely has something to do with an insanely overwhelming amount of submission emails dyslecxi spends his time carefully reading through each. I myself am not old enough to get in Shacktac but, it'll be worth the wait when i do!

[@Kid574]

I tried flying with my TM WartHog and CH ProPedals.. didn't work well... then decided to go Dslyecxi's "method" and damn it works! ArmA's flight model is not made for joystick flying, sure you can use it, but don't expect precision at mouse's levels in the movements

[@mglohmeyer]

Nice vid. Re: TrackIR, I'm surprised sometimes there is any argument. I've flown flight sims since MS Flight sim in the '80's, but I only started enjoying them once I got a TrackIR. If you want to enjoy flying, get a TrackIR (or similar), period. Also, mouse vs. keyboard. I played a lot of Descent, and one of the best Descent players in the world used a mouse, not stick. With practice, either method works just fine. It's the practice that makes the pilot, not the controller. Thanks!

[@kevink526]

“I’m like a cat with a toy.” I laughed so hard I had a coughing fit.

[@Nillers]

Just a quick tip to any novice pilots that don't have Track IR and use mouse/keyboard. By doubling tapping Alt (default) while in the pilot seat you toggle on your free look mode. This way you don't have to always look straight forward, but you do sacrifice those nice subtle mouse movements for the aircraft on the mouse.

[@TheSkitzMACHINE]

Dslyecxi, You were in the Military right? did you fly there? Thanks for the tips. If i was in anything like shacktac or somthing i would buy these 2 things, seem to help alot.

[@jarpy7114]

Absolutely Badass. Time for practice...

[@NEXUSLUKE]

Awesome vid! Thanks for doing this, answered so many of the questions I had about flight, and what kind of set up you use! TrackIR5 down, rudder pedals next.

[@SimonChristensen]

What kinds of specs is your server running on? :)

[@Monkeybazzooka1978]

Your so bloody good at this

[@durtymacc]

So good I watched it twice already.

[@jimbo80982]

that's what I do too , but looking at the trackIR , you don't need to press alt at all which means that you can both steer AND look at the same time. Using alt , you can only double tap.

[@Jagdtiger74]

Hail to the king! About the TrackIR, seriously how are the haters moving around in RL? Driving a car with their head stapled to the windscreen? For flying, well try to make a standard VFR approche to an airfield without being allowed to turn your head. For Arma well if you dont have situational awareness you are useless in any kind of aircraft not even considering the landings in hot LZs. Dslyecxi thx for producing Arma footage that is always worth watching!

[@joeracer302]

Jack, in another video Dslecxi demonstrates how the rudder pedals can be mapped to lean left/right for infantry movement. It allows gradual leans instead of the off/on of the q/e keys. I would suspect that if you mapped your pedals to gas/brake the same would apply. I use an Xbox controller and it works this way for me with the right/left triggers.