by Richard Sheffield
Tutorial 1: Takeoff and Level Flight
The purpose of this lesson is to help you gain confidence in your ability to get the aircraft off the ground, into level flight, and back on the ground again. When the cockpit screen comes up, go to the map screen and move the cursor to position A as shown on Tutorial Map 1.
Once the cursor is in place, return to the cockpit screen. Now start both engines and press the key to engage the rotor. Now find the Torque Gauge.
While observing this gauge, start pressing the Up Fast collective key until this gauge is 80 percent of maximum. Once this point is reached, hit the Up Slow key until the aircraft starts to rise. The aircraft should stop rising at 12 feet. If it continues to rise, press Down Slow until you have the aircraft stabilized at 12 feet.
Figure 6-2. Tutorial Map 1
Locate the VSI (Vertical Speed Indicator). This gauge is very important when flying in the realistic mode. As you start to rise, the needle points slightly upward; as you descend, it points downward. Since you are hovering, it should be level.
Now that you are up and hovering, you need to get moving forward. Press forward slightly on the stick. You should start moving forward. Note that the Airspeed Indicator now shows a couple of knots of airspeed. Press forward on the stick again and you should see a further gain in airspeed. Gaining forward speed is a gradual process and should not be rushed—or you will lose lift and crash. Repeat this process of applying forward stick until your airspeed reaches 30–40 knots. At this point, without your touching the collective, you will start to gain altitude. This is due to the addition of Translational Lift.
Increase your speed further by applying more forward stick. Do this a little at a time and note that as you go faster and faster you stop going up. At 100–120 knots, you should be able to get the VSI needle level again indicating that you are in level flight.
One of the most important things you can learn is the ability to control your altitude by using the stick instead of the collective buttons. Continue to fly forward toward the INS cursor and use the stick to maintain an altitude of 200 feet. If you are higher than that, push forward on the stick slightly until the VSI tells you that you're descending. When you reach 200 feet, pull back on the stick until the VSI needle is level. Don't overcontrol. After moving the stick, wait a second and see the effect on the VSI.
By now, you're probably close to or past the INS cursor. Go to the map screen, reposition the cursor over the base in the center of the map, and return to the cockpit screen. You'll notice now that the INS indicator is off to one side of the scale.
Another important skill to learn is the transition from forward flight back to a hover. To do this, pull back on the stick, watching the Airspeed indicator, until you reach an airspeed of 0 (the needle should be straight up). Note that during the time it took to stop, you gained a good bit of altitude. Later you'll learn how to prevent this. Once your speed reaches 0, you should be hovering or descending slightly. Use the Rotate Right button to spin the aircraft until you're lined up with the INS cursor.
Return to forward flight by pressing forward on the stick. As you reach cruising speed (100–120 knots), try to lose your excess altitude and return to 200 feet. Maintain level flight there.
Locate the base with the TADS system and note the distance. When you get to two kilometers, press forward on the stick to reduce your altitude. Level off at 100 feet.
As you pass 0.5 kilometer, press the Down Fast button twice and immediately pull back hard on the stick. As you come to a stop and hover, press the Up Fast key twice to replace the collective you removed earlier. You should now be about 0.2–0.3 kilometer from the base. Adjust the collective so that you're going down slightly.
Move forward slowly toward the base and continue to reduce your altitude slightly using the collective. (Using the stick at this point would cause your speed to increase, and you'd overshoot the field.)
When you reach an altitude of 12 feet, you should stop descending automatically, due to the ground-cushion effect. Now move on to the base until the TADS indicates a distance of 0.0 kilometer. Stop, hover, and hit the Down Fast key once to get the aircraft on the ground.
Repeat this procedure until you can go smoothly from a hover to forward flight and back to a hover, and land in a precise and controlled manner. Once you've accomplished this, you're well on your way to becoming an ace Gunship pilot!