Arnie_Ze_Austrian wrote:
You may have a different idea of what constitutes being 'smooth'. I'm just talking about giving the gunner a nice steady aim against targets when, in particular, using the cannon. No matter how good a gunner is, it's a lot harder to hit stuff with the cannon if the chopper is jerking around erratically (when the chopper is spinning or changing direction, it's particularly difficult to hit a target). You can fly fast and still give people a nice aim on a target because most good gunners shoot 'in lines', meaning they can take out targets while flying past. I personally change my speed & style according to the situation and my gunner's skill (most of the people I fly with are very good gunners). When lining up the TV I will generally fly very erratically since my gunner and I have a rapport: They only need one moment where I'm aiming at the target to get the shot off (or, as is often the case, they don't really need me to line it up too much as they'll just fire it off and redirect against slower targets). If my gunner is some random pleb whose skill level is undetermined, I'll make it a bit easier for them and slow down a little. My main point is that you can fly fast while still giving people a decent chance to hit stuff. The idiot pilots are the ones who just jerk all over the place and think their goal is to spin the chopper around while trying to look good. I've never met a gunner who can consistently take out an AA emplacement with the cannon while their pilot is erratically turning and pitching and sliding all over, whereas if you do a fairly fast spin around the AA position you're still highly mobile while the gunner has a good chance of killing the target
I think all good chopper pilots change their flying style depending on the circumstances. E.g. if I'm getting hounded by jets, .50 cals, choppers etc. then I won't be slowing down much at all. If we have most of the flags & aa positions sewn up, then I'll generally turn it down a notch and fly slightly slower, smoother & lower (within reason) so my gunner can get a bit of a kill harvest going I.e. Milk it for all it's worth when the chance is there.
We probably fly in similar ways and just have different ideas of what constitutes smooth flying (elite.mafia's post reinforces my suspicions ).
I actually don't find it a problem when a pilot flys erratically. I can fire off a TV in any situation, it's more tricy with the mini-gun but I do know it will prevent a death by most of the chopper teams that we are up against (not all, MOST).
EDIT: I tihnk I quoted teh wrong person