TLDR: Allow us to utilize either the “toggle airbrake” key bind, or the “special maneuver and limits mode” keybind to allow players to essentially toggle the automatic pusher prop on or off to allow us to be able to slow the helicopter down; can’t slow it down at speed currently without large maneuvers, can be very limiting.
Video below demonstrating issue.
Hi guys. So with the addition of the AH-56, we’re given a compound helicopter. While in the game as it currently is, it does handle very well, and has very good speed, but there’s an issue: outside of large sweeping maneuvers or J-hooks, you can’t slow it down.
It being a compound helicopter, IRL the pilot had the ability to control the pitch of the pusher propeller to accelerate very quickly from a hover, sustain a high forward speed, and in dives use the pusher prop in reverse to slow the helicopter down.
As its currently modeled, the player has no control over any aspect of the pusher prop. It is automatically controlled based on either the collective % or the airspeed, or a mixture of both (from what I’ve gathered in the test flight, rear prop begins to kick in around 80 knots, allows you to fully release the collective around 120 knots and fly like a fixed wing aircraft).
But because it is automatically controlled, once it gets up to speed, you can’t gradually slow the helicopter down. If you want to bring the helicopter back to a hover, you need to perform large sweeping maneuvers to bleed off air speed quickly.
This might not seem like an issue at first, but on certain maps like Poland, Hurtgen Forest, or European Province, being able to gradually slow down at a good ingress point, without needing to gain altitude or again perform a large sweeping maneuver is very important, as these maps are flat, and cover is limited, and you don’t want to be exposing the helicopter anymore than you need to (because you have to perform these maneuvers to get it to good speeds for engagements).
In addition to this, on maps that allow you to fly very close to terrain and in buildings, the lack of control over the pusher props creates an issue of overextending during popups out of cover: As you pop up behind terrain/buildings to attack, you have to nose down to get weapons on target. As you nose down, you of course begin to gain forward air speed, and if you’re not cognizant of your speed, all of a sudden you’re accelerating very quickly out of cover and exposed.
Maybe due to the complexity that adding a dedicated key bind would add is putting the devs off from implementing it for just the AH-56, a simpler option in my opinion is to utilize either the “toggle airbrake” key bind, or the “special maneuver and limits mode” keybind to allow players to essentially toggle the automatic pusher prop on or off.
Toggled on, it would work the same way it does now based on either the collective or airspeed, then after we get to wherever we want to get to and/or want to fly like a more traditional helicopter, we toggle it off, and the pusher prop is feathered/generates no thrust.
Regardless, we need to have some level of control over it. Thank you for reading <3
Below is a video demonstrating the issue:
