Search and Rescue Manual
Index-> Flying

Flying

Here you will learn how to fly the aircrafts, everything from basic flight manuvers like take offs and landings to navigation and rescue.

Search and Rescue is not, by most standards, a realistic flight simulator. It focuses more on entertainment rather than authenticity, so flying is not too difficult and the learning curve is simple.

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Controlling The Aircraft

For the helicopter there are 4 basic compoents to its control.

  • heading
  • Pitch
  • Bank
  • Throttle/Collective

The helicopter's movement is controlled by tilting the rotors in various angles to cause it to move and gain momentum in a desired direction. The helicopter gains altitude by increasing power to the main rotor which makes it spin faster and create more thrust. In addition the altitude can be fine tuned with the collective which adjusts the angle of the rotor blades to fine tune the amount of thrust desired.

Pitch

The pitch is the angle of the helicopter's nose with the horizon, the pitch can go down or up. Pitch is the most sensitive and oscilating aspect of controlling the helicopter. When the helicopter pitches down it causes the direction of the thrust to point sligntly behind it which gives it a compoent of thrust that pushes it forward.

You can control the pitch with the joystick's pitch axis or by pressing DOWN or UP. The pitch can also be fine tuned using the elevator/pitch trim by pressing HOME or END (CTRL + HOME to center the trim).

PITCH DIAGRAM

Bank

The bank is the tiling of the helicopter to either side. This affect is slightly more complex than the pitch. If the helicopter tilts to the side (banks) with the pitch remaining level, then the thrust from the helicopter's main rotor causes the helicopter to fly sideways. If the helicopter tilts to the side (banks) and is pitched forwards then the helicopter's main rotor creates thrust in many directions causing it to turn instead of just flying sideways.

You can control the bank with the joystick's bank axis or by pressing LEFT or RIGHT.

BANK DIAGRAM

Heading

The heading is the direction that the helicopter is flying, it can be changed by the tail rotor. The tail rotor adds thrust or eliminates thrust that counteracts the main rotor's rotational momentum. This causes the helicopter's direction to change.

If the helicopter has forwards or sideways momentum and the heading changes then it causes a great loss in momentum in the direction in question. This is why heading should be changed in small amounts.

You can control the heading with the joystick's heading axis or by pressing CTRL + LEFT or CTRL + RIGHT. If your joystick does not have a heading axis then press and hold the joystick's rotate modifier button (see joystick button mappings) in conjunction with the bank axis.

HEADING DIAGRAM

Throttle/Collective

The throttle controls how fast the engine spins the rotors. The faster the rotors spin the more power is available to create thrust. This thrust is used primarly to gain altitude. The tilting of the main rotor causes the thrust to be directed in the direction you want to move.

The throttle controls only one aspect of thrust, the collective fine tunes the amount of thrust resulting from the power of the spinning rotor blades. The collective adjusts the angle of the rotor blades (see diagram on the right) to produce more or less thrust, basically it fine tunes the amount of thrust so that the altitude can be controlled with precision.

You can control the collective with the joystick's throttle axis or by pressing PGUP or PGDN (holding down SHIFT increases the amount of change).

COLLECTIVE DIAGRAM

For a complete list of keyboard keys see Keyboard Keys List

Flight Physics

The flight physics determines how sensitive and realistic the controls behave. You can change the flight physics by going to Option->Simulation... or during simulaton by pressing CTRL + D. The settings are as follows:

  • Easy - All controls have nullzones and engine response is immediate
  • Moderate - Some controls have nullzones and engine response is slightly delayed
  • Authentic - Controls are extremely sensitive and engine response is delayed

Engine & Fuel

The engine uses more fuel when you increase the throttle/collective. To see the fuel status press F. You can also transfer fuel from reserved or external fuel tanks (if the aircraft has them) by pressing SHIFT + F. To drop (jetteson) external fuel tanks press CTRL + F.

To turn the engine on press E. The engine takes a few seconds to start up (depending on the flight physics). If starting the engine while the aircraft is already airborne with the rotor blades spinning, then the engine will start up almost immediately.

To turn the engine off press SHIFT + E. Note that there is rarely a reason to turn the engines off while in flight.

Take Off & Flight

Once the engine is on and you are familiar with the helicopter's controls (see above), slowly increase the throttle/collective until you begin to lift off the ground. Make sure that you are at least 100 feet above the ground before you attempt to tilt the helicopter and begin moving.

Once the helicopter is airborne, you can tilt the helicopter pitch down to begin moving forwards. Pitch down just a few degrees to see how much of a momentum it creates.

When you are moving forward, practice banking and turning. Tilt in small amounts at first to stay in a safe flying situation. Each helicopter has its unique handling responses, some have a lot of power and can accelerate quickly, others are more forgiving and require more tilting to achieve the desired momentum.

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Landing

LANDING

Landing a helicopter is more challenging than simply taking off. To land a helicopter, first you must find a spot to land (such as a helipad), manuver the helicopter over it (the approach), and then set it down gently.

In most cases it is easiest to land using the spot view (press F3). Adjust the camera position so that you see both your helicopter and the desired landing site (usually a helipad) at once (see image on the right).

As you approach the helipad, slowly reduce your speed (level the helicopter to minimize any tilt) and reduce the collective until you slowly begin to descend (watch the rate of climb (ROC) and the altitude closely). Make sure that you stay a safe distance above the ground until you are over the helipad.

With the airspeed decreasing, pitch down slightly to apply a small amount of thrust for forward motion as needed. You can adjust the heading as needed, but do not bank too much or else the helicopter will move sideways due to the slow speed. If the helicopter has retractable landing gears then make sure the landing gears are down (press G).

As you descend and get closer to the ground you will see the helicopter's shadow and prop wash, use it as a guide to judge where you are with respect to where you want to land.

Slowly position the helicopter over the landing site, keeping a safe altitude above the ground (at least 20 feet). Some helipads can be located on top of buildings, mountains, vehicles, or vessels, make sure that you remain a safe altitude above the helipad to avoid hitting any obstructions along the way. Tilt the rotors sparingly to gently nudge the helicopter into position. Once the helicopter is over the landing site decrease the collective and let the helicopter touch down.

Once landed at a helipad, you can refuel, repair, and drop off passengers (press R). Note that not all helipads support refueling, repairs, or allow the dropping off of passengers.

You can land on virtually any hard surface. If the aircraft has floats then you can also land on water. Most building rooftops are landable (even ones without helipads).

You can adjust the damage resistance by going to Options->Simulation... The damage resistance determines how "hard" you can hit the ground and/or at how steep of an angle.

For a complete list of keyboard keys see Keyboard Keys List

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Navigation

MAP VIEW

Most theaters in Search and Rescue are considered small, so long range navigation is rarely needed. There are basically two forms of navigation that are needed for long distance flights:

  1. By waypoints.
  2. By map view.

    When you fly missions, the waypoints have been set and all you need to do is follow them on the heading display (displayed on both the cockpit HUD and outside views). Press W to change waypoints. The waypoints are also displayed as lines when you view them on the map (press M to see the map).

    You can also fly using the map alone, when you are in the map view (press M) use the joystick hat and zoom buttons to pan around and find your destination. You can always press BACKSPACE to jump to your aircraft's current position. Holding down the SHIFT key while using the joystick hat or zoom buttons will increase the amount of scroll and zooming.

    For a complete list of keyboard keys see Keyboard Keys List

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    Rescuing

    Rescuing victims is often considered the most difficult part of Search and Rescue. First you need to find the victim (which is virtually a "needle in a haystack"), manuver the aircraft over the victim, and then use the hoist to pick up the victim.

    On most missions, the waypoints are already set to the location of the victim (or near the victim). Once you reach the location of where the victim was reported to be by the waypoint you need to begin searching for that victim by flying around the area. Make sure that you do not stray too far away from the search area, the victim is typically within a few miles of the waypoint. Using the spot view (press F3) often gives you a better vantage point while searching for victims.

    At night you should use the spot light to help search for victims, press L to turn on the spot light and hold the CTRL key down while using the joystick hat to move the spot light around. It's best to move the spot light around in conjunction with moving the camera around in order to cover a broader area.

    Night vision (FLIR) also helps, press I to toggle the FLIR (see image on right).

    The spot view (press F3) is considered the best vantage point in the search for victims. Move the camera around to help cover a broader region of the search area.

    Once you have spotted a victim, you need to manuver the helicopter over that victim. This is similar to landing but make sure that you stay at least 20 feet above the ground. Level the helicopter to reduce momentum, tilt the rotors sparingly to nudge the helicopter over the victim (this takes a lot of practice).

    If you are picking up a victim over land, then you can simply land next to the victim and let the victim come to you. However, if you are over water then you need to use the hoist to lower a rescue basket or diver (press P to change the hoist deployment) to the victim. Use the joystick's hoist lower/raise buttons or press CTRL + PLUS or CTRL + MINUS to raise and lower the hoist's deployment.

    Watch the Rate Of Climb (ROC) and the Altitude closely, adjust the Collective to maintain a safe distance above the ground or water. Once you are at the desired altitude (about 20 feet above ground) you can use Autohover (press A) to lock the altitude. Be careful not to hit the water or else the aircraft will sink!

    Once you have the victim, raise the hoist deployment in order to pull the victim up into the helicopter.

    RESCUE RESCUE AT NIGHT WITH FLIR PICKING UP A VICTIM

    For a complete list of keyboard keys see Keyboard Keys List

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    Crashing

    There are several ways that you can crash or damage the aircraft in Search and Rescue:

    • Landing too hard (crash or damage).
    • Landing at too steep of an angle (crash).
    • Landing in water when the aircraft does not have floats (splash).
    • Flying into buildings or obstructions (crash).
    • Flying too fast and exceeding the overspeed limit (damage).

    If you crash during free flight then you can press SPACE to start over at the nearest helipad. The aircraft will be fully repaired and refueled, but any passengers on board will be lost.

    If you crash during a mission then (typically) the mission is over and you have failed the mission.

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Search and Rescue

http://wolfpack.twu.net/SearchAndRescue