When are you REALLY ready?

[MrTomRobs]

I had a quick little search on this but couldn't really find anything on it...

Anyway, quite frankly, i had a shocker of a round the other night on Muttrah flying Hueys on the NWA server. There was one guy in the mountains around A12 who kept asking for a crate. I tried flying out to him but couldn't see anywhere really viable for me to drop it to him, so i flew off before i crashed trying to get to him. He then had a go at me for being a noob pilot.

In the same round, a squad asked me to pick them up from the docks and drop them just past the westernmost roundabout. I flew low around the edge of the map, but picked up a lock when i got there. Dropped them off, took the hit and the huey blew up, presumably killing the squad.

I dropped flares, flew low and still got hit, so i don't really see how i could have avoided getting blitzed there, but, once again, enter a rant for being a noob pilot. One guy even requested i get kicked for it.

Now, bear with me, i have been practicing on local servers, learning how to fly low through streets and such, learning how to avoided getting locks, how to avoid missiles if i do get a lock, dropping off squads and crates etc. but all this has just been on my own.

My question to the community is this: When do you think you're really ready to get flying in a populated server?

In empty or local servers, there's no real threat from AA, and there are very few squads asking to be picked up or dropped off, so the only way that I can see to really get to grips with real sorties is to get some experience in populated servers, but the harsh reality is that you lose one chopper or think the approach is wrong for one sortie, everyone hates you. Even the enemy who just shot you down.

[cyberzomby]

Sounds to me you got a lot of "theoretical" knowledge instead of real knowledge. For instance in your example, I would have taken off with the squad because it happened to me as well. Setting down a squad who than got killed by the AA hitting me.

And thats the difference. You dont learn these things against empty training servers. You know how the aircraft handles and you go out there and fly squads around. You can still mess up even with so many flights of experience. Terrain is un-even, comp freezes (wich it never does), lags for a moment etc.

Theres only so much you can learn from the training grounds. And most squads will rant at you on most servers when they go down. As a new (and experienced pilot) you need a thick skin.

For instance, squad wants to be dropped right on flag, you drop 'm 500 m away in the north because its safer for the both of you. Better put up your flame repellant clothes

[Jigsaw]

You should use local servers to practice your ability in handling the controls, so making sure you are totally in control of what the aircraft is doing and where you are going. Once you have that control down you are ready to go on public servers, but really there is no substitute for experience.

In your examples the AA probably got a lock because you were popping flares after the missile had been fired. The warning tone is delayed for the pilot so you should be popping flares all the time. If you were picking up a lock just on the way in then you should divert to a different LZ.

Remember that you decide where to land, not the people you're transporting and if you don't think it'll be safe then don't go there. You have a responsibility to protect your aircraft so try to exercise good judgement of the situation before you take off.

[Acecombatzer0]

Just a little tip when I fly trans, set draw distance to 50. This will make it much less likely to hit a "graphical spike" that will cause a crash, especially in high detail urban maps such as Muttrah City.

I was also gonna post what Jigsaw just said but I got ninja'd.

[Rudd]

You are ready to fly in a populated server when

1) You have reasonable ability at landing and taking off quickly
2) You can plan your entry and exit beforehand
3) You can react to changing circumstance (e.g. there is something at teh LZ, abort or fly elsewhere)
4) You understand that the chopper is your responsibility, and no one can make you do anything with it, if you believe the action is unreasonably unsafe, you don't do it - but you offer an alternative.

[AnimalMother.]

stick at it, you're hardly going to have a 100% clean record. I think my longest strech of no choppers lost was about 4 consecutive hours (split over two rounds). Even then you still TK people with the skids or get people killed in some way shape or form. They love you or hate you

however you'll find the smile you get from some guy sat in the back on mumble who's all like "dude you're awesome, great flying thanks" that outweighs by far the ignorant idiots that expect you to do everything they demand.

closing note, you've done offline practice it's a good start, don't stop that. Maybe watch what other good pilots do in certain situations. See when they flare, routes they take. Approaches etc

it's a very hard ingame discipline to get into imo, but then the harder you work the greater satisfaction you get from it.

edit: like rudd says, the N and O keys, i recommend using them when needed.

[ledo1222]

Don,t Worrie bud. stuff happens and not all Heli pilots are the best we make mistakes. i once kept the BH on Ramile and i was only shot down at the end, and i still got Shit and called a NOOB. i was like _-_ 4 real. if it was in your hands it woud of been gone, and just remember keep on flying!

[Rudd]

oh, and also Mumble is useful for this.

"where you wanna go?

"M2"

"Sorry mate, theres an APC in that area, will M5 do?"

"ok"

"do you want a crate there?"

"yes thanks"

so much faster than typing if you use mumble

when I'm SLing infantry and I get a chopper ride, I also offer an alternative LZ sometimes when I feel it could be hot, "If M5 isn't good, just bug out to K6" etc

Its a 2 way street, but the pilot has last say on if a plan is good or not unless there are extenuating circumstances (like the team is in serious danger)

[Tim270]

Also do not bother dropping off snipers unless you are sure you can do it. Dropping 1 guy with a crate is never worth the risk of losing a Huey. Just because someone asks to go somewhere does not mean you have to listen to them.

[Selver]

Hey MrTomRobs.

Just want to say couple of things, 'cause I(selemeister) was playing that round with you.
I was the one requesting crate at a12 grid and to be honest mate, I never called you a "newbie". What I did say was that you weren't ready for flying. I might also add, that there were more people agreeing with me that you weren't ready for flying. Also, for future request about crates on uneven ground.. You can hover above the ground and drop the crate mid air. I told you that on team chat several times, but guess you missed that.
Anyway, good luck in the future.

[Redamare]

you know your Really ready when a man and a woman love eachother very very much . . .. . . . jk when you feel that you are comfortable to fly and drop people supplies and avoid enemy detection . . . while having very good control over the chopper

[hobbnob]

Just a small tip, modify coop so that the enemy has an AA class and quick spawn on the helis, then you can practice your evasion drills in relative safety. Remember to make it separate to your main pr though

[Bringerof_D]

sounds like you just ran into some grumpy players.

common misconception is that flying low helps from being hit, not true. Flying low helps because this means any AA might have more obstacles in the way as they pan from side to side keeping sights on you. However if they have a clean lock on you even at low altitude, it does not help. The continuous lock tone would eman that despite being low, there are no obstacles along the way of their pan to break the lock.

in such a scenario it is advised that you increase altitude and release flares. flares released at low altitudes serve little purpose for the same reason why you fly low. Obstacles will quickly block them off leaving once again only you to be locked. particularly in game if i recall the flares disappear when they clip through objects such as the ground. there fore they become useless fairly quickly if you are flying low.

best way to avoid AA is to find tight valleys where even AA setup within it would only have a brief moment to lock. and anything outside wont be able to see you. other wise in open terrain fly at a regular altitude.

[MrTomRobs]

Hey MrTomRobs.

Just want to say couple of things, 'cause I(selemeister) was playing that round with you.
I was the one requesting crate at a12 grid and to be honest mate, I never called you a "newbie". What I did say was that you weren't ready for flying. I might also add, that there were more people agreeing with me that you weren't ready for flying. Also, for future request about crates on uneven ground.. You can hover above the ground and drop the crate mid air. I told you that on team chat several times, but guess you missed that.
Anyway, good luck in the future.

I was wondering if you were hanging around in the forums... You'll notice i didn't fly any more after i got blitzed by the AA.

I saw your things on chat but i thought they were for the other guy in the squad cos i told him to go and see what he could do about it cos i didn't have that much experience... he sounded a little drunk or something though so i'm not sure if he understood.

And i agree with you saying there were other people saying i wasn't ready (and to be fair, maybe i wasn't because i've not had any pressure of actually having guys shooting at you yet), which is why i posted this thread

But cheers for the advice guys, i really appreciate it. Like i've said, i've done plenty of practice on all sorts of helis in locals, but i think i've generally just been on about general handling and such, but perhaps some specific map knowledge would be helpful on making routes and such, what do you guys all think? I might try and tag along in a few more trans squads as a passenger and take some serious notes from now on.

Thanks all!

[TheComedian]

I would say that you never fully realise when you are "ready".

My suggestions for better experience:

Try to get a friend on a training server and practice hovering-pick up. You can get a good feel for the hovering capabilities of each chopper and the place where the crate "deploys".

Stick to flying transport hueys for as long as you can. Try flying it upside down to lift your spirit when people flame you. Then try it with a full squad inside to dispel any thought of them flaming you.

I have over 150 hours of PR flying. 50-60 of those were in an empty public server. I am still finding out better, faster and safer routes with every flight (like sliding under T building with huey for maximum protection against AA.

[cyberzomby]

Just a small tip, modify coop so that the enemy has an AA class and quick spawn on the helis, then you can practice your evasion drills in relative safety. Remember to make it separate to your main pr though

oh! I'd like to do that! Any documents on how to do that?

EDIT:
Sorry about the double post! didnt realise that

I might try and tag along in a few more trans squads as a passenger and take some serious notes from now on.

Thanks all!

Well thats dedication! I never did that tho. You know the lay of the map by playing it as infantry and flying around as a pilot.

What I always did on Kashan training for instance was fly low and just follow the lowest points. Keep some hills between you and the enemy side. When I started flying on real games I did the same. Just think of your chopper as water so to speak. Find the way of the fewest resistance. That goes for terrain (go between hills instead of over them) but also enemy wise. Only "pop up" when you need to. On Yamalia for instance I always fly over those grassy fields. Now this is very dangerous when theres APC's around but makes your chopper safe for AA's.

But thats also the thing. Every pilot has his own school of thought and preferences. Someone drops people right on the flag and gets away with it. But if I do that I get a LAT in the face.

Usually its the safest bet to land them away from a flag or fight. If your lucky and the team uses markers you can gain a good idea of where the fight is happening. If not, keep reading the chat. When I was flying I had almost as much info about the battle as the CO because I was standing by on the deck reading the chat and looking at the map.

And theres a lot that you just need to learn by doing it as we said earlier. The easy drops will be easy enough for you to figure out as you come in. But more difficult ones will be based on your experience, ability to judge the situation and just doing them

This is also a good tip a few pilots dont know about or do: Do not wait for the squad if you'r on a pick-up. If you cant find them dont hover around looking for them. Return to base and ask for a coloured smoke signal. Its there own fault not finding a clear landing zone and marking it as such.

If you managed to find them but one guy is 50m away without sprint, fly away, do a lap and pick up again. Dont stay still on the ground to long.
EDIT:
What the comedian is suggesting is pretty cool as well. Although I did that jus with imaginary objectives. Just chuck down a move marker at a random spot and try dropping imaginary troops there Usually did this when there where no servers online. If you fly out and theres something in the way you practise finding a different drop-zone.

[Maverick]

I would say that you never fully realise when you are "ready".

My suggestions for better experience:

Try to get a friend on a training server and practice hovering-pick up. You can get a good feel for the hovering capabilities of each chopper and the place where the crate "deploys".

Stick to flying transport hueys for as long as you can. Try flying it upside down to lift your spirit when people flame you. Then try it with a full squad inside to dispel any thought of them flaming you.

I have over 150 hours of PR flying. 50-60 of those were in an empty public server. I am still finding out better, faster and safer routes with every flight (like sliding under T building with huey for maximum protection against AA.

Stunts in an helicopter that are unrealistic and don't help immersion do NOT help the team. Nor are you "a good pilot" for performing it. You are just a show off.

[goguapsy]

Hey, I have flown once or twice in a Local server... I fly with WASD + Arrow Keys (= not so smooth flight)...

Never ever EVER had an issue like you did (I mean, sure I got flammed by a sniper... Oh well) but I've been complimented many times and all I did was take off, go wherever they want to go, turn back, wait for next ride... I managed to evade a couple of APCs by doing tight turns around buildings.

But I never had extensive practice.

What I mean, dude, is, don't do stuff you can't - I never drop people on pointy hills because it is useless for me. But I've made hot insertions. And with close to no practice.

[tntkid22]

As a keyboard-heli pilot (dont worry Jet-Joystick) Ive never really practiced offline ever since i played in .65. This was a privilege and was most likely since people put up with it back then XD.

Now a days if Im having a good day with lag Ill fly trans and usually have no trouble. You just gotta have practice and most importantly know the map. (of course this is hard if its your first time on it) Id say go inf for a few times on the map to learn where pockets of action are and were its safe to fly/drop. Also your'll see where people want to drop and can practice differnet scenarios offline on such locations. (IE: Muttrah City triangle. VERY common drop. But lets say...theres aa there. WAHH or maybe the 30mm MTLB etc)

Hovering Pickups/drops and crates are always nice, but not always necessary. make the damn inf walk. they have legs. When I play inf it might be a hassle but I understand 2 tickets (Recon Team) < Huey Trans that will move people all over the map and help the team more and 10 tickets.

And as cyber said pay attention to comms. Even hop on mumble so its easier to adjust and get battlefield info. Just so you know that apc is there BEFORE it starts shooting at you.

And always wear your anti-flame pilots jacket

and after watching the Muttrah V1 Vid BRING BACK THE LB!!! (which the PMC's are yay~~~)
- tnt

[Ninjam3rc]

I wouldn't worry about it, so long as you can get troops and ammo to the places requested then good on you. However, if you are knowingly flying into a hot *** LZ with a squad of ground pounders on board then there might be some issue. I've been riding medic on two squads now into mutrah on a huey where the pilot has been shot out after a second pass onto an LZ that is pretty obviously hostile (ie 30 mike mike into the chassis, ******* be bleeding, squad dies, and I the solo medic am left to face an IFV with guns up).

In short, keep your helo safe while keeping in mind faction requirements. So should you need to fly into the danger zone to keep units re-supped at the expense of yourself, ye might do it for... the greater good.