ARMA 3 Helicopter Flight School - Noob To Pro In One Lesson

In this ARMA 3 video, my good buddy Playboy is training me in his helicopter flight school. If you're a noob going into this video, you will be a pro when you leave. Going into this lesson I couldn't land a helicopter to save my life, or anyone else I was transporting. But after today's lesson, I am confident to fly in the heat of battle in a full live server. We learn the basics of taking off and landing, how to reduce speed without gaining altitude, how to sling load, how to land on slopes and even how to do a high speed J hook turn with accuracy. I hope this video is as helpful for you as it's been to me.

[@christiandavis3177]

after playing on the server with you guys for a week now i dont think you could have had a better teacher lol. playboy is a king amongst men in the server its a blast

[@ylsgaming]

I’m really glad you’re enjoying the dedicated server! Playboy is a great teacher too. I knew he would be awesome good teacher because he has a lot of experience flying in real helicopters (not as a pilot)

[@WarWagonDrift]

King amongst men is not something I expected to be called, but I appreciate it!

[@RobinHoodNextDoor]

This is way less stressful than learning how to fly in the slingload showcase. I made a save flying 200+ to the LZ on the hill so I could practice coming in and landing quickly. The distance marker was very helpful in learning when to start the deceleration process, and the LZ being on top of the hill naturally helped with the altitude increase while pulling up.

[@alphatyr]

The Blue and brown indicator is called an Attitude indicator shows the angle of the aircraft relative to the horizon

[@qball005]

Great video guys. I'm just getting into arma now that I have fiber internet. Mostly running single player to get used to the controls and key mapping. I just started the VR heli training last night but couldn't get past the strafing in the first tutorial, not sure what I was doing wrong that it didn't sense it but I'd rather practice on that airfield.

[@ylsgaming]

@@qball005 arma 3 has so much to offer, you picked a great game to spend your time on. We sometimes host a fly practice server on the YLS Gaming discord, you’re welcome to join and take part. discord.gg/yls

[@qball005]

@@ylsgaming I joined earlier today, I just bought some more dlc that were on sale, so I have to wait for them to download before I can finish setting up the TS add on. I'll go watch some more of your videos.

[@artsmart8759]

An addendum: in Arma, the Little Bird is the one to learn really well. By the time you learn to really throw it around (not very realistic, but no sim is), you will begin to get the “feel” of flying under the rotor blade. It’s what you will end up using most when in-game. You will spend very little time looking at instruments. Once you have the “feel” it will be much easier to transition into the other helo’s. Their added mass means everything happens more slowly, and control inputs are slower and more cumbersome. The great thing about flying helo’s in Arma is that it gives you a very satisfying experience without all the complexity you would face in real life. And in-game job one is to get everyone quickly and safely to a destination. A complex flight model (except in the hands of an expert, would simply result in a lot more player casualties.

[@WarWagonDrift]

That's exactly our train of thought on it. I fly Standard mode in the server too, just because air logistics in Antistasi is hard enough without adding anything to it.

[@Raz_Tactical]

I practice with advanced settings and fly in standard on public servers. I wish servers forced players to use advanced setting though to really make a difference between skill levels more noticeable. Playing conflict a decent pilot can turn tides of the game

[@artsmart8759]

An excellent point. I would like to see that as well. It would add a specialized role that would make a pilot feel like all the practice time and skill development was worth it, and that the pilot role was specialized and respected.

[@Raz_Tactical]

@@artsmart8759 yeah for the most part there's no advantage to using advanced flight model where as there's plenty of benefits to there simplified one. The simplified flight model allows for much more aggressive flight as you can bank harder and turn sharper than in advanced model without having the rpm fall. There's a few small benefits to advanced such as being able to taxi but for most part of two equally skilled pilots go up against each other the simplified model will have the advantage. This is before we even consider stuff like auto rotation or tail rotor loss which is much harder to recover in advanced.

[@MarkSmith8357]

I've owned arms 3 for years. Been through training more than once. I own prariefire & WW2 dlc. Still haven't played a real match. I'm not a stranger to millsims. My favorite game is post scriptum, I mean squad 44. I also play squad & war of rights and occasionally hell let loose but arma is a different animal. Sadly I've got some issues like my age & time. If it wasn't for those 2 issues I would have joined your guys by now. I have a soft spot for helicopters. I began training on helos in squad but I didn't finish cause of an upcoming update that changed the way helos handled. That was over a year ago & haven't made it back. Damn I wanna do this. Your videos are very helpful. You're doing good.

[@ylsgaming]

Well let me just say this. I too run a very busy life, but the amazing thing about our 24/7 dedicated server, is that people can drop in for 20 minutes if they want, help a squad capture an outpost and then get back to life. I typically don’t have time to game during the work week, but I’ve found myself hopping in the server, seeing where the team is fighting, hitching a ride to the frontline in a heli, play a noble life of pushing the front line with some great people and then logging right off again. I challenge you to visit our discord and try the server and I promise you that you will have an incredible time.

[@WarWagonDrift]

If you decide to hop in, I host helicopter practice servers from time to time where I guide people just like I did here with Mav. It can be 1 on 1 if you want, but sometimes we get a good group in there practicing and without exception everyone that has joined has said it helped them. I encourage you to hop in the YLS Antistasi server and run with us a bit, you won't be disappointed.

[@Zulban48]

This was a neat little video, especially after seeing your helicopter mishaps from previous videos. I'd like to throw in my own two cents, mostly for anybody else who watches this to learn. At the beginning they talk about hardware. Let me say this up front: you only need a keyboard and mouse to fly in ARMA. Your movements might be a bit jerkier but don't feel discouraged just because you don't have a flight stick or pedals or even a head tracking device. The rest of this comment assumes you're flying with keyboard and mouse. If you have to you can tap the numpad keys or ctrl+numpad to change the default view and numpad 5/ctrl+numpad 5 to re-center it. Any controls input from the keyboard should be quick taps ideally, except for the collective which you might need to hold it during flight. Landing will still require taps however. While hovering within a certain speed moving the mouse will move the nose of the aircraft just as if you were aiming a weapon. This means it will use the antitorque rotor/yaw to turn. At higher speeds it automatically changes this to roll the helicopter, and it's pretty intuitive once you get the hang of it, no need to have some kind of crazy toggle for controls between low and high speed flying. Just remember you will need to tap the A or D keys to roll while in a hover, or Q and E to yaw during those crazy high speed maneuvers. If you find yourself in a hover but you're rolled one way or the other from tapping A or D you can wiggle the mouse left and right a bit to automatically re-center it. If you're going particularly fast when you wiggle the mouse the helicopter will likely turn towards where you're going so be careful. It's been mentioned in the video a few times but I'll repeat it here because it's probably the biggest thing to take away from all of this. Every input you make not only takes a while to be felt, but might require additional inputs to counteract the change in attitude, but not too much or the 'weightiness' of it all will just make you overshoot your target. If you want to think about it in simple terms, imagine you are playing the snow level of a 3d platformer with the most horrendously offensive ice physics imaginable. You're sliding to the left so naturally you jam the controls to the right, only to find yourself overshooting and sliding quickly to the right. You need to gently input a right roll and anticipate a few seconds ahead to level off so you don't end up going too far. Now here's an example which I'm sure everyone has experienced: you are going forwards at a decent 180+ km/h and your landing zone is coming up. No problem, just pull back on the stick. Except your flare has you shooting upwards into the sky now. No problem, just lower collective and level off... only now you have no forward momentum, you've leveled off, your collective is 0, and now you've crashed into the ground. Anticipating your aircraft's reactions to your input ahead of time is vitally important. Which aircraft you learn in can also be an important factor in how you learn. The Littlebird/Pawnee/AH-9/MH-9 in my opinion is a bit too squirrely in its handling and it's incredibly easy to overdo the controls because of how little inertia it has. The Huey/Hellcat/WY-55 on the Independent side I feel is a nice small-mid sized helicopter with decent handling that won't make you do backflips if you're too rough with the controls. It even has a Helmet Mounted Display which will give you an idea of what direction you're flying even if you're at a hover without needing ground objects nearby to use as a reference. Regarding the advanced helicopter flight model from the helicopters DLC... yes it makes them behave more realistically but the traditional arcadey flight model is also what makes flying accessible to more people. It's worth learning it but learning the basic model alone can give you some vital experience and act as a stepping stone to the more difficult stuff.

[@ylsgaming]

This is a valuable comment!!! Anyone interested in flying should be paying close attention to this comment!!

[@JohnnyLawBMC]

What a great episode. I have been flying VTOL H94 and I want to play a game where I can help. I suck at shooting. My son and friends just beat me to death. I can't even see what they are shooting. I love flying and I have been looking for a game wher I can transport and resupply. This all started from Squad but their helo is not easy with mouse and keyboard. I just bought an XBox controller and hope I can fly smoother with it. Fantastic information and instruction. I'm saving this so I can watch it over and over again. Thank you so much

[@ylsgaming]

@@JohnnyLawBMC definitely worth checking out Arma 3. Great game for flying! Mouse and keyboard is manageable but I like using the HOTAS joystick with a head tracker for my free look (when I turn my head in real life, my head turns in game) makes for easier spacial awareness

[@oficial_Dj_kiko]

I learned so much now I know how to fly

[@desorder2386]

The man of all crafts ! amazing as always

[@ylsgaming]

Haha you know it

[@Demeionite]

Finally you learned after so many crashes lol but otherwise amazing server and community I’ve been there a while and it’s really fun

[@ylsgaming]

Thank you for being a part of it. I’m proud of what it’s become. Finally I can fly in game without embarrassing myself 😅

[@hobo.gaming]

North Eastern airfield is long enough for an A10 (just). Take off eastbound with flaps and you'll make it. Anyways, awesome video and I had the pleasure of being flown on the server by Playboy last night in a helo he wasn't comfortable with. Still made it look easy! Anyways, having a blast getting back into Arma3 with you guys and your server, and i forgot how hilarious 'squaddies' could be when sat idle waiting for transport. Thank you all :D

[@ylsgaming]

Thanks for being a part of our ever growing community!

[@WarWagonDrift]

When we were messing with the A10 mentioned in this video we were on the northwestern airfield, due north of our current HQ, can you get one in the air from that one? We tried 4 different people and nobody could do it without skipping off the high ground at the end of the runway.

[@hobo.gaming]

@@WarWagonDrift If i'm honest I've never tried from that one (not that I was any good taking off from the NE one, I just know it is possible).

[@WarWagonDrift]

​@@hobo.gamingwhen we get there in the server I will definitely give it a shot lol

[@Dante3d]

Blue/Orange = Attitude Indicator or Artificial horizon by some.

[@WarWagonDrift]

Attitude indicator! I should have remembered that. Thank you!

[@ylsgaming]

Mystery solved

[@jamesbevan9989]

Only horizon nothing to do with altitude, just lets you know how your aircraft is oriented in space, a must watch in low vis, lets you know if your going to become a lawn dart

[@ylsgaming]

@@jamesbevan9989 I thought it said altitude at first too but he said attitude which I believe translates basically to horizon indicator

[@martinsmallridge4025]

Really useful tutorial, particularly for me thinking about coming back to this (with Hotas) in the future. Thanks for sharing it.. Oh and as a parent the mantra here is “Practice, practice, practice.” My kids know KZbin “perfection” is just editing out the years preceding

[@ylsgaming]

Your kids know are wise. We did this tutorial completely on a HOTAS as well

[@martinsmallridge4025]

Thanks@@ylsgaming caught the references to the Logitech stick so figured as much... Now I need to decide how to break the suggestion to my wife about the importance of "practice"... with a virpil collective.

[@ylsgaming]

@@martinsmallridge4025 lol it’s an art justifying gaming to our wives. I’d like to think I’ve got it mastered however in reality I think my wife just likes her solitude sometimes so secretly likes when im doing my thing

[@QuartzOrc87]

If you keep your nose level with the horizon, full 0 on collective while pulling cyclic full back on the j turn, you wont loose altitude.

[@ylsgaming]

Noted, I’ll have to try this

[@ragekagegaming1]

Nice... loving the server, best bunch of dudes

[@ylsgaming]

It really is a great group of people

[@qball005]

The horizon indicator is called a Gimbal

[@steviee.6129]

Great video! I also have the X52, but I’m guessing I mapped the controls wrong somehow. As soon as I add collective, the help shoots up to 50km. Hoping to get back with you guys in the server soon.

[@steviee.6129]

*heli

[@ylsgaming]

Yes I had the same problem. Next time you’re on the discord, give me a ping and I can walk you through fixing it

[@artsmart8759]

Arma has a more realistic mode. In game settings chose ADVANCED flight model. Much harder to fly, but has a very good physics model. What isn’t realistic is that most real helo’s have a side stick that encompasses separate throttle and collective adjustments. Arma combines both into one control which makes things easier. In Arma, both flight models provide a very good feeling of what it’s like to fly under a rotor blade.

[@WarWagonDrift]

I've been practicing a lot with the Advanced mode. We made this video in Standard because it is quite a bit easier but still challenging to get started with. Most of our flying is done in Antistasi, which is difficult enough to get a helicopter around without the Advanced model. Eventually we'll all graduate up to the big boy mode lol.

[@ylsgaming]

Yeah big boy mode once I can successfully do hot drops

[@MidwestSurvivalCompany]

I’m new to arma 3, I’d like to play with y’all. Just don’t know where to start this game is so overwhelming at first.

[@ylsgaming]

@@MidwestSurvivalCompany discord.ylsgaming.net join the discord server and we will help you

[@MidwestSurvivalCompany]

@@ylsgaming done

[@ivaniuk123]

DCS needs to get FPS ground combat. If it ever does it will take front and center role as the go to for realistic military simulation.

[@ylsgaming]

If they could offer the diversities of war like arma does, they would dominate

[@uscstaylor]

Do you fly in the server with Standard or Advanced setting for the helos. I fly Helicopters in Arma 3 and was just curious cause I joined your group the other day. thanks

[@ylsgaming]

As much as I’d like the challenge, arma 3 is hard enough so when it comes down to ensuring I get my troops to the drop zone safely, I just use standard

[@NPC-Gamer]

Good teaching technique and a good teacher. Is your server open to anyone or was there a training period involved ? I've been flying helos for a few years in Arma but haven't worked up the nerve to fly them in multi-player yet.

[@WarWagonDrift]

Servers open to anyone! Hop in and have fun!

[@NPC-Gamer]

@@WarWagonDrift I will give it a look see

[@imdalyn]

THANK God i wont get yelled at anymore!

[@ylsgaming]

lol

[@brwsamurai]

Turn on advanced mode and off auto trim it makes it more realistic

[@ylsgaming]

Agreed, just harder to learn that way

[@artsmart8759]

That gauge is called an ATTITUDE INDICATOR

[@WarWagonDrift]

Thanks! We learned that shortly after the video went up, and all future flight videos will include as much correct nomenclature as possible.

[@aahmkabooom6616]

whats about the control setup, because i tried to setup my hotas but it didnt work (iam sure thats 100% user error xD)

[@ylsgaming]

Most likely user error haha

[@Bolson24d]

22:41 Attitude Indicator

[@ylsgaming]

Thank you!!

[@Bolson24d]

31:47 airspeed indicator

[@ylsgaming]

Thank you x2 😁

[@elfhighmage8240]

MASTER, TEACH ME!!! I can't land a Little Bird for nothing!!!

[@ylsgaming]

We are going to do an advanced flying class next. But I can honestly say the tips in this video made it possible for me to fly in the heat of combat. Just keep in Mind the heavier the bird, the more time you need to allow to slow and decend. It’s an art

[@elfhighmage8240]

@@ylsgaming I'm nowhere near close to that level. I'm stuck using mouse and keyboard. No head tracker. I'm mostly broke. Flying is easy. Landing where I want to is the problem. Hovering is another problem. My birds seems to drift. No, they DO drift.

[@ylsgaming]

@@elfhighmage8240 drifting is something that takes alot of practice to control. Yes the head tracker helps, but the joystick is just an immersion bonus. Since it’s hard to freelook on the fly with mouse and keyboard, really practice using the instruments on the dash. Everything works and provides crucial information that will make controlling the bird much more manageable

[@elfhighmage8240]

@@ylsgaming How sensitive should I set my keyboard and mouse for flight? I am aware of the 1 second delay with controls, but I also want to avoid being TOO sensitive. Maybe that's where I fail.

[@ylsgaming]

@@elfhighmage8240 I’m not sure about mouse and keyboard, I only fly with my hotas and let me tell ya, she’s touchy

[@japlaneta12345]

Please turn on AFM is more interesting and give more realistic feelings. The minimum requirement for flying helicopters is rudders pedals and collective. There is a fun.

[@ylsgaming]

You’re right about one thing, there is definitely a fun 😁

[@jacobLewis307]

what is the server? and is it still active?

[@ylsgaming]

@@jacobLewis307 absolutely. Thriving better than ever. discord.gg/yls

[@np66uh]

Love arma 3 cool lesson many tnks i play arma 3 exile in Bse-free servers and ps-46 this game is epic since arma 1,2 etc

[@ylsgaming]

You’d make a great member of our community! Check out the discord link in the description of this video to join and be a part of it

[@jamesbevan9989]

Having a lot of hours in an OH-56/Bell 206, arma doesn't do a very good job in simulation. But fun to play because you can do a lot you cant in a real helo.

[@ylsgaming]

Yeah it definitely makes helicopters much easier to fly than real life. That’s assuming DCS is fairly realistic. Helicopters are really hard to fly in dcs because as you raise throttle, y ouu need to adjust trim so you don’t spin like a bayblade

[@WarWagonDrift]

It definitely leaves a bit to be desired in the realism department, but it's challenging enough to be rewarding when you get it right, and that's what matters. As far as I know there's no other game that lets me fly in a helicopter, get out, and open up on bad guys with a machine gun, which are two things i love dearly lol

[@jamesbevan9989]

@@ylsgaming yes I love DCS more for it's realism. It has torque, you feel the weight more and ground effect is better. But FYI you bring the throttle to 100% and never touch it again until shutdown. You don't use it flying just the collective. If throttle and collective are bound to your throttle you need to bind throttle to something else or use keyboard to raise it to 100%

[@QuartzOrc87]

cyclic is pronounced sie-click, not sick-lick.

[@Kiwi_Dave]

Fly's absolutely nothing like a helicopter in any way Just a free camera wrapped in a helicopter skin.

[@ylsgaming]

That’s the little bird for ya

[@Kiwi_Dave]

@@ylsgaming I did my BGT course and rating on a MD500 30 years ago, that is nothing like the MD or any other helicopter. More like a kids toy RC drone.

[@ylsgaming]

Well I suck at flying my drone too, I’ve crashed it a few times lol