BF2S Forums Chopper Controls Guide

good diagrams.. well but it's too obvious.. people can't fly choppers with joysticks (that's me lol) cuz we tend to over correct it or whatever

gah over correcting sucks

oh yea one another thing..

how the hell do you hover + circle around one spot? i tried lots and it's not going around lol

Last edited by washow (2006-01-29 17:45:59)

washow wrote:

oh yea one another thing..

how the hell do you hover + circle around one spot? i tried lots and it's not going around lol

When hovering, you have to constantly be making adjustments to the pitch. When you take off in the helicopter, you might notice a circle in the HUD move off the screen. This indicates perfect hover. The closer it is to its original position, the closer you are to a perfect hover.

I wonder how chopper pilots have the nose pitched down, circling an area without losing altitude or moving forward.

few questions

how do you circle an area with nose pitched down without losing control

and how do you like halt while going 300km? do i cut throttle while pitch up?

and i'd like to know some throttle controlling tips

Gah, I think some people are just born to be BF2 helo pilots.  Like me, I've had the game nearly seven months and have racked up a pathetic 0.16 K/D with choppers (on the very rare occasions I've felt confident enough to pilot one outside of single-player).

I recommended my friend buy BF2, which he finally did six days ago.  In those six days his flying ability has surpassed mine to the point where he's disappointed if he doesn't go 5:1 or better in a helo.  Six days.

But it's been seven months for me and I can still barely avoid crashing into shit.  Go figure.

lol, if you have a good joy-stick you can fly really well. But a bad one won't get you far but it's still alright.

Well, thats a secret for the advanced pilots.  But if you have some knowledge of Physics, it should come to you with some thought.  For the rest of you, a chopper ALWAYS exerts force on a normal down from the blades, (in BF2 anyways).  Knowing this, we can then apply it to our Circling choppers.  SO, they rotate around a point, easy, use the strafe (aka, Roll) to move you sideways, then use the Rudder (aka, Turn/Steer) to stay on your target.   But wait, wont we fall?  We are pointing down...  Well, in plays a thing called Centrifugal force.  Basically, our chopper is spinning in a circle, so it is being forced away from the center of your rotation.  BUT, the force from the blades, is pointing back and down, cause we are on an angle looking at our target.  So the part of the force that would send you forward, is offset by your rotation, ala the Centrifugal force.  All that is left is the vertical vector of our Thrust, keeping us in the air.

You need practice with this to use it.  Basically, the steeper your aim angle, the faster you have to spin around your target.

No problem

But Throttle controll is important to keep your speed constant, else you will go fwd or down.  I prefer the Joystic, but thats not for this topic, its Throttle Stick works wonders.  I find it sits about 2/3 full throttle most of the time, full throttle is only needed for evasion.

i'd be very interested in chopper flight guide

i'm pretty okay with jets but choppers... sigh let's just say i can't get far with joystick (i can fly well on keyboard but i want to fly nicely with joystick)

and i don't really know how to control throttle like when to cut (i just leave it at 100% all the time)

thx

The problem I have is how to slow down and stop from going forward.  I think it's mainly a problem with my coordination however.

I wont get into the Keyboard vs Mouse thing, but from what Ive seen, the mouse/keyboard users are more accurate with their missiles, but they will not be as maneuverable.  Gunning for pilots, I can tell by how they fly based on how they transition from a turn to hover or vice versa.  The joystick is a smooth transition where mouse users will be more abrupt movments, like a start/stop kinda thing.  Overall, fly how ever you fly well.

As for shaking jets, well thats an interesting topic.  IMO the ONLY thing wrong with jets is they can slow down too much and stay in the air.  That being said, a F35 is the worst jet to get on you, as they can hover just like you if they desire.  Evasion - It depends on where the jet is comming from.  If its comming from the side, then I max thrust and gain height, while not changing my course.  Most jet pilots don't see this comming for some reason.  I think its because they have it in their mind that they will pull up after they shoot you...  There's a good chance you will get rammed, but thats why you keep moving fwd, it helps to minimize the chance.

If they are behind you, then I roll 90 to the side, and pull back full doing a 180 horizontal turn.  Fast flying jets will already pass you as you reversed dir, but the slow ones will still be comming, you shouldn't take too much damage, but you will probly take 1/4 or more if they are good.  Now, I do the 180 because I like to stare them in the face, and make them sweat.  Again they may ram you, or they will veer out of the way.  I always line my gunner up for these jets, as they are moving slow, they are PERFECT targets.  Sadly, most of the time, my gunners don't feel they can hit the jet, and don't try.  But when I get a good gunner, its trouble.  Ive shot down 2 jets via this method with the pilot's missiles, and had gunners shoot down 5-6 or so jets.  I have wounded countless jets this way, and most jet pilots will not try again for the rest of the map.

If they are comming straight at you, I line the gunner up, shoot some missiles, then do what resembels a pendulum.  I roll back and forth about 20 degrees to each side, keeping my aim on the jet.  It really freaks some pilots out when you hit them with a missile.

THe ONLY time i use flares, is when I am attacking ground based AA, and my gunner doesn't see it right away.

EDIT:  Just for reference, since I started using these methods, I have yet to be shot down by a jet.  Only time they can take me out, is by ramming.

Last edited by Nodrak (2006-01-30 19:10:39)

I'm down with the keyboard, and keyboard only, no mouse, no joystick. been flying that way since 1942 and its the only way to go. I can fly just as good as most of the stunt vids you see. Only when i'm in a game i'm going for the kill, and hard to do with the helo whores so i have stuck with the ground pounding lately...

My suggestion to all of you wanting to learn, pick all 3 see wich one is more comfortable, use that technique and practice in YOUR OWN GAME, then join a server and try it out.