Don't let the Hover monster get you! Confidence through practice and patience. DCS Huey

Video geared for the newer helo pilot players in DCS with regards to the challenge of finding the "hover button". I promise you its there, just keep looking!
Discord: / discord

[@mikesolyom6884]

You're absolutely correct about the need to practice, even after it gets boring. Flying is all "muscle memory". You can't build that by listening to a lecture. You've gotta do it and keep doing it because it is perishable. Amateurs practice until they get it right. Professionals practice until they get it wrong.

[@tomaszwota1465]

wasn't the saying go "...until they can't get it wrong"? Haha! But I like your version too.

[@WilliamBugeater64Simpson]

I believe you are absolutely correct. I know for me, hovering is much easier in VR compared to even TrakIR. Another excellent and helpful video. Well done. ✔

[@kentyannayon3741]

I remember very clearly the day that I was taxiing back in an R44, and it just occurred to me "wait, when did this become normal???" and it promptly got difficult until I stopped having foolish thoughts. Once you get the feel though, it does just become normalized. Takes a lot of practice though.

[@robertd57i989]

I flew in a R44 when i was 17 and i had a great instructor with me who made it look like he pressed a button and it was not going anywhere...then i was my turn and i was all over that skid pad. That was the hardest thing i have done and now that i just bought the Apache on DCS all those memories are coming back and its rough but yeah, its fun and challenging and that's why i bought it. Just need to get my hours in.

[@fabry55]

Been doing the "going around an object" drill and is great for developing control... keep the videos comin! Great channel

[@CasmoTV]

Thanks for watching! Glad it helps.

[@sandman11]

Just upgrading from my CH pedals to the T-Rudder made a HUGE difference for me. Thank you for the videos!

[@CasmoTV]

Awesome! They already are good. Went ahead and made my spring tight too. Thanks for watching!

[@jmullentech]

This + VR for me was an absolute game changer! TrackIR is great but things just feel soooo much better in VR.

[@matk4731]

Thanks for the tips. I’m the biggest thing I have trouble with is the transition phase from forward flight to a hover & land. Thanks for sharing 👍🏻👍🏻🙃🙃

[@ninjaduck3k]

Definitely helpful, and the encouragement was definitely useful. Just got done with a DCS session and was feeling a bit frustrated. Flying the Huey? Fun and easy. Taking off, landing, hovering? Not so much. I needed this video right now.

[@Bluenoser71170]

Great video. Like others the hardest thing for me to learn has been transition from forward flight to to hovering/approach. I just figured out last night that I need to stay ahead of the aircraft, that took me a minute. I'm using a VKB Gladiator twist stick, and it's working out. I don't feel like I'm sucking any worse than if I was using pedals, and I'm making strides. Thank you for the content.

[@brittoncooke1890]

Thanks for this. After about twenty hours in the Huey I can *sometimes* perform a decent hover for a few minutes. Other days... not so much. If you are feeling like making another tutorial video I would love to hear your thoughts on approach to landings and how to train for them. They are seriously kicking my ass at the moment.

[@CasmoTV]

You got it

[@thebiggestoneyouveverhad]

Struggled with approach, landings, and hover in DCS Huey so hard. Then I got a VR headset. I could actually control the bird...

[@Zatracenec]

For me...I had problems with Huey for a looong time. Even stopped flying it. Then I was trying Bell 206 in X-Plane which was hell to learn. Then I came back and it just snapped with Huey. Also coming to stop, turning to stop....I found out I was too "gentle". Ofc Im not ripping the blades out of the rotor, but You know. XD One day I just sat down and it worked. Great true in that overcontrolling. That was a big part of my suckage with Huey.

[@CasmoTV]

Yeah sometimes you gotta walk away for a bit to get some perspective.

[@kmcnelley1981]

Definitely struggling with hovering the Apache (or any rotary wing I reckon), really glad found this. Will work towards making circles around object soon enough. Happy at the moment making my way down the runway slowly. Throwing some landing and takeoffs to get used pedal work. Very helpful Casmo :)

[@Tatsukoa808]

We all know the new student pilots learning how to hover when they get to the "box" and the instructor gives them the controls!!!

[@0BuLLeT01]

I've had the Huey for two days now as a practice tool for the Apache. Practiced a the cold start a few times and general hovering around the airfield. I totally get the absolute NEED for rudder pedals now. My forearm is actually tired from using the twist grip for rudder.

[@vracan]

hovering is my most favourite and satisfying part of flying heli's (in VR)

[@horus_simgadgets]

Hey Casmo, great video as always. Could you tell us what controllers you're using to play DCS helicopters? Conventional joysticks usually for fixed wings or helicopter-speciallized controllers(cyclic, collective, etc.)?

[@CasmoTV]

RBR fan I have a thrustmaster T16000M setup and VK pedals.

[@ziljanvega3879]

"guys are learning how to do auto rotations to the ground before they learn to hover...". Ha, yep. That was me. I can hover in just about anything now, but I learned autorotations in the first week. Hovering took a bit of practice.

[@steagle33]

Not a pilot in real life, but very good video. I had to follow some of the same things you spoke about when I was first learning the Huey, but from multiple sources, so thank you. To reiterate for others, very small inputs on any of the controls for sure, and making inputs to any one set of controls will affect the other two. As stated, practice practice practice, it takes a while. Try to focus on a single point in the distance to gauge what the aircraft is doing, I found looking too close in front of the aircraft causes overcontrolling. Practice with different aircraft weights, less weight should be easier to start. Most importantly don't underestimate the importance of good pedals. It was surprising to me how much of a difference it made being able to make fine adjustments, where cheaper pedals jerked me around (I've settled on vkb pedals).

[@CasmoTV]

Pedals are a huge help and I kick myself for waiting so long to get them. They actually make helo sims enjoyable. Thanks for watching!

[@CakePrincessCelestia]

Good pedals are literally a must have. Luckily I already had Simpeds when Black Shark was released so my only helo stick time with a twist grip was the AH-64 in Jane's Longbow, Microprose's Gunship! (2001) and the 206 and R22 in the MSFS series. Stepping up to VR is another thing that indeed helps a lot. I literally couldn't hover decently before getting that and with the Rift I could suddenly hover taxi along the yellow lines and settle the thing down on that helipad of that well-known huge hotel in Dubai nice and smooth - definately could have been better, but without VR I wouldn't have made it at all. Another great thing to have certainly is an extended stick with the base on the floor, so you'd get much finer controls. Another feature that's great to have is Force Feedback, at least when it comes down to the force trim behaviour which is much more like a real helo then. And you could always soften the spring on those simply by changing a value in the axis mapping.

[@steagle33]

@@CakePrincessCelestia I agree on all those points. VR isn't quite where I want it to be so I'm holding off on purchasing for now, and track IR will suffice. I expect it to be a game changer when I do buy though. Force feed back is really nice, which is why I use a Microsoft FFB2, though the movement of the stick isn't as smooth as I would like, not sure how to fix, feels like it's inherent to the design. A floor mount with a longer stick would be awesome to have, but I haven't delved into modding controls yet. I use a TWCS as throttle/collective and the little finger controlled rocker at the front does well as pedals in a pinch. I would never recommend a twist grip, sounds like a great way to hurt your wrist. You want your hands/forearms relaxed to make smooth inputs and that doesn't feelcomfortable to me, also it's very fatiguing

[@CakePrincessCelestia]

@@steagle33 I never had problems with the twist grip, but I started to use it quite early (was 14), and even was rather precise with that. Once had a Saitek X45 though for a very short time - that rocker for the rudder axis on that thing was a big no go. That's when I decided to get the FFB2 instead of a HOTAS. Probably one of my best decisions ever. I wish I had this, must literally be the best setup out there: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gHOcoKx9i6yGpZo

[@iafscx]

Great videos! I know you flew different helicopters then what we have in DCS for now, but, it's interesting to hear what is your opinion about the flight modeling in DCS? how realistic it is? Thx

[@CasmoTV]

I think for the most part it’s good. Helicopters are very different animals and hard to model properly. A fixed wing wants to fly (and I’m a FW rated pilot too so I stand by that statement). A RW wants to beat itself against the earth. It’s hard to replicate that. I think the Huey is overall good be decelerates WAY too fast below 40knots. The black shark, once you figure out the AP modes and FT, flies pretty well and for the most part flies about what I expect something like that too. Haven’t flown any of the others; admittedly my guilty pleasure in DCS is flying things I DONT get to fly in real life which is FW fighters lol.

[@getous]

I can hover okey, my biggest issue in the Huey is doing a proper approach, my landings usually include overflying the pad and doing a spiral descent down

[@robs3733]

Is it possible to do the movie style landings in DCS where they come in fast, and jaw 90 degrees left or right and touch down. When I've tried I'm having to lower the collective to prevent over torque but always seem to lose too much alt to fast and hit the ground like a rock.

[@longriflem14]

Hi CASMO great, vids, I fly Mi8, well try too, mor like just riding circus ride. i can kind hover but have probably over 200 hrs and still cannot hover. Ive tried the runway crawl. picking up looking at a distant tower , make a move then take out the movement and nothing im still all over. but most important what i havent seen in alot of the heli videos. is what you are actually doing getting into a hover. especially from flying to getting into a hover then land like say landing on the numbers. A video on what you are doing or needing to do would be great because i should be able to get into a hover nicely by now and transition into a hover to land but something is missing. which is what exactly you have to do to achive that. I hope that made sense.

[@garethroberts9223]

Really useful!!!! I love doing these Drills... At some point can you cover Cyclic trim as flying over 100mph means constant forward cyclic pressure which is a real arm ache. I know there is a trim-on trim-off but no real instruction out there on how and if its used.

[@CasmoTV]

Just hold the trimmer, move the cyclic to where you want it, release the trimmer. Easy peasy

[@garethroberts9223]

@@CasmoTV Many Thanks! I've been doing it the other way around resulting in rolling.

[@djblackruss]

I got a 15 cm extension and it's MONEY. Its easier to do everything now. If i have a 45 before i have to leave for work, I jump in VR and just hover taxi, or just try to hove over a said object or structure. Practice is key 46 hrs later and I'm still smoothing out the rough edges but it's a blast. Only regret when i was in was not dropping a WOC packet.

[@xaxac85]

Hey Casmo I'm sure you've been asked this many times but what is a good sensitivity to set the TM T.16000 to? Any advise when it comes to picking up crates? I feel like the there is something I'm missing with the lift, aircraft doesn't want to work with the minor inputs and I usually will shoot out in a direction I don't want.

[@CasmoTV]

I’ve never actually done any sling loading so got no advice. I don’t have any curves set it’s just muscle memory. Keep practicing small inputs.

[@xaxac85]

@@CasmoTV damn, ok I will keep working on it. Any break through and I will pass it along.

[@clericneokun]

I've only recently discovered your basic tutorial videos and I wish I've found them sooner. I'm curious about one thing you often do though and that's turning off the force trim switch. Does it do anything else besides enabling the force trim button on the cyclic? Or do you just tell new pilots to turn it off so they dont rely on it too much?

[@armyfreak9389]

Question, when increasing/decreasing the collective do you have to change throttle inputs to counteract RPM changes?

[@CasmoTV]

Not in any of the DCS modules cause they have some sort of governor or FADEC type system.

[@armyfreak9389]

@@CasmoTV What about in a real helicopter?

[@CasmoTV]

Most modern helicopter; no. In the Kiowa we would purposefully turn off the digital control to practice as an emergency procedure but typically no, you have systems that regulate the fuel flow based on collective position.

[@Johnwilkinsonofficial]

@@CasmoTV in the hallowed huey of nam the pilots had to coordinate four controls, cyclic, collective, antitorque pedals and throttle is that right ?

[@quadg5296]

@@Johnwilkinsonofficial no they had governor. but like with the kiowa there is a governor control switch below the fuel switch that lets you turn it off.

[@Johnwilkinsonofficial]

are some of the realistic aeronautic problems that can happen like vortex ring states modeled in dcs ?

[@CasmoTV]

Jonathan Wilkinson to some extent yes. Tho sometimes a little stronger than real life or not strong enough.

[@Johnwilkinsonofficial]

CasmoTV man i loaded up dcs for jets but your channel is tuggin me to rotory wing !

[@CasmoTV]

One of us! One of us!

[@Johnwilkinsonofficial]

CasmoTV 🤡🤪

[@Mad-Coo]

Phased lag

[@borderm3]

Would you say you are a better pilot in real life or dcs?

[@CasmoTV]

Real life

[@borderm3]

@@CasmoTV Never have flown a real aircraft but have tracked cars and drove sims, theres just no replacement for how fast the psychophysical system works. I do ok in dcs but when it requires very precise and accurate reactions to small stimuli in a small timeframe, I struggle. I hope to get on a path to fly one day, your answer is encouraging, thank you!!! I just stumbled across dcs a few weeks ago and upon watching this video, joined your discord. Any advise how to get into the community to learn from others and do some multiplayer?

[@CasmoTV]

@@borderm3 just ask folks for help and let people know what times you’re on. And don’t be a douche. That’s the number one piece of advice for new pilots.

[@john6203]

To this day I still cannot fly it. It rattles and shakes and falls out of the sky like a big bag of washing machines. I can take off and land in MI8, Black Shark, Hind and even manage to fly the Apache. But the Huey, man I just give up.🤣

[@snowman374th]

The Huey should be revamped in my opinion..

[@vracan]

don't agree!!