Flight School - Helicopters.

[QuietJosh]

Does anyone else find the helicopter to be extraordinary difficult to fly as I do? I've been trying for hours to pass the flight school / helicopter portion, and iI swear, the controls are so twitchy that even a slight movement to one side sends you all over the place.

 

Even when I manage not to crash, I can't make the time limit for even a bronze medal.

 

Any tips out there? Obviously there's some trick to this I'm not aware of...

[GTA-iFruit]

Can someone help!! there isn't a clock or bar on bottom right screen when im trying out flight school.

[QuietJosh]

That means you're over the time limit. Been there, done that, more times than I want to count with this f-ing chopper.

[circa542]

Does anyone else find the helicopter to be extraordinary difficult to fly as I do? I've been trying for hours to pass the flight school / helicopter portion, and iI swear, the controls are so twitchy that even a slight movement to one side sends you all over the place.

 

Even when I manage not to crash, I can't make the time limit for even a bronze medal.

 

Any tips out there? Obviously there's some trick to this I'm not aware of...

the helicopter wobbles ilke its a storm everyday

try keeping the stick stable right up and use the RB LB and keep the nose down

[GTA-iFruit]

That means you're over the time limit. Been there, done that, more times than I want to count with this f-ing chopper.

no it should be there from when taking off an before you finish! iv seen it on youtube but when I try it there isn't a clock or bar.

[QuietJosh]

This is one area Rockstar really messed up - and badly. I never had this problem with GTA IV choppers. :|

 

i've tried everything I can think of, except to superglue the damn stick into a forward position. I'm about to give up on flight school entirely.

[circa542]

chopper was easyer than the buggy loop barrel roll thing and that annoying flight teacher ..

[QuietJosh]

 

That means you're over the time limit. Been there, done that, more times than I want to count with this f-ing chopper.

no it should be there from when taking off an before you finish! iv seen it on youtube but when I try it there isn't a clock or bar.

 

 

Well, post your issue in the troubleshooting forum, where it should have been in the first place instead of thread-jacking, please.

[GTAV92]

Just practice with a helicopter before completing the Flight school - I would say i was a good pilot in Gta4 but when i first used the Helicopter in Gta5 in the flight school i was all over the place haha!

 

Soon got use to the wobbling of the screen and with the flying too

[circa542]

 

That means you're over the time limit. Been there, done that, more times than I want to count with this f-ing chopper.

no it should be there from when taking off an before you finish! iv seen it on youtube but when I try it there isn't a clock or bar.

 

i dont think i had a timer either

[GTA-iFruit]

 

 

That means you're over the time limit. Been there, done that, more times than I want to count with this f-ing chopper.

no it should be there from when taking off an before you finish! iv seen it on youtube but when I try it there isn't a clock or bar.

 

i dont think i had a timer either

 

Well that's odd!

[QuietJosh]

Anyone know where I can find a chopper outside of the Sandy Shores airstrip? And please don't say LS airport, I'm not in the mood to battle my way through a 3-star rating to get to a chopper, heh.

[Skeloton]

Quietjosh try on top of one of the hospitals in LS.

[GTA-iFruit]

Anyone know where I can find a chopper outside of the Sandy Shores airstrip? And please don't say LS airport, I'm not in the mood to battle my way through a 3-star rating to get to a chopper, heh.

I did a trevor mission where I had to drive through a military base to get a cargobob, lol was crazy but lucky made it.

[Kulgrim]

To the guy who cant see the clock, check your options setting under video I beleive, there is an option there to set the "safe" zone of your screen. Try reducing that safe zone, that will ensure that any gui elements are not being placed outside the bounds of your screen.

As for the OP, be gentle with the flight stick, it is very sensitive, once you have picked up speed you can then mash it forward. Also make sure you are using the rudder controls in combination with the stick for turning, sharp turns will require them along with pulling the nose up in the direction you are wanting to go. Pratice the first obstacle course with the chopper till you have it nailed, the hardest part should really be the landing, that part alone can murder you. Also DO NOT miss the waypoints, doing so costs you 5 seconds for each one missed.

[GTAV92]

Anyone know where I can find a chopper outside of the Sandy Shores airstrip? And please don't say LS airport, I'm not in the mood to battle my way through a 3-star rating to get to a chopper, heh.

 

Yeah, just go to the base jump icons on the map and rob the helicopter simple

 

All the base jumps i have done have been with a helicopter, you don't have to to the base jump just rob it!

[K^2]

R* messed up vehicle physics in general, but at least most of them they got the right general feel for. Helicopters are a disaster. Yeah, you get used to it after a while, but they really shouldn't behave like that in the first place.

[riksterinto]

I skipped the 2 checkpoints for the helicopter test that wanted you to fly through those 2 tiny spaces at the top of the bridge support beams. I got a penalty for missing each checkpoint but was still able to pass and didn't have to worry about crashing the chopper.

[QuietJosh]

Quietjosh try on top of one of the hospitals in LS.

 

Thanks, man.

 

As for the OP, be gentle with the flight stick, it is very sensitive, once you have picked up speed you can then mash it forward. Also make sure you are using the rudder controls in combination with the stick for turning, sharp turns will require them along with pulling the nose up in the direction you are wanting to go. Pratice the first obstacle course with the chopper till you have it nailed, the hardest part should really be the landing, that part alone can murder you. Also DO NOT miss the waypoints, doing so costs you 5 seconds for each one missed.

 

Some of these waypoints are so close and sharp-turning you gotta kill your speed just to make them, and that costs you even more time than just missing them. I've practiced for hours, still can't nail this thing. I've given up for now.

 

I honestly think Rockstar completely screwed up with the design and flight characteristics of the helicopter.

[Kulgrim]

I have gold on all three characters for all the flight school events, it really is not as hard as you are making it out to be. I admit my first few times going up it sucked, but once you get the hang of it, it really isn't bad. You are suppose to bleed some airspeed on some of the turns but very few of them actually require much loss if any at all as long as you can learn to "slide" through them. Hardest turn I can remember is the one on the final helicopter one near the end of the course, when you have to hard left while climbing at the same time, while avoiding the antenna on top of the building.

[K^2]

Some of these waypoints are so close and sharp-turning you gotta kill your speed just to make them, and that costs you even more time than just missing them. I've practiced for hours, still can't nail this thing. I've given up for now.

For when you decide to give it another shot, try to think of the heli going at full speed as an airplane. It behaves in many similar ways. In particular, if you want to make a sharp turn, you should roll the heli to the side and pull on the stick. At the same time, use the rudder/countertorque (bumper buttons) to make adjustments. With a bit of practice, you can turn the thing on a dime.

[Skeloton]

K^2, I started doing that in GTA4 in the annhilator. LS isnt the concrete city LC is, no imagining im in the godzilla film(the new york one). Slightly annoying when the swaying in clear weather gets in the way.

[Kulgrim]

Clear weather has nothing to do with wind shear.....

[Skeloton]

I know but as a game mechanic it would be nice if the swaying was isolated to the more volatile weather.

 

Edit: i get to observe helicopters in flight more often than I'd like, but its what you get when you live within 100m of a airbase. At no time when an apache/chinook/gazelle/lynx fly over my house do they sway like in GTAV. Cant say the same for planes....hard to catch a glimpse of a tornado in flight.

Edited September 26, 2013 by Skeloton

[BlueBoar]

So were just stuck with the wobble? I was hopeing it could be learned out by the characters. Oh well..

[K^2]

Edit: i get to observe helicopters in flight more often than I'd like, but its what you get when you live within 100m of a airbase. At no time when an apache/chinook/gazelle/lynx fly over my house do they sway like in GTAV.

They don't sway because they physically have no reason to sway. A helicopter isn't suspended like a pendulum. Lift of the rotor always passes through the center, so it stays balanced even when tilted. The only reason a real heli might sway is if it has an inexperienced pilot who keeps over-correcting. But if you keep the stick steady, swaying is the one thing it will never do.

 

In GTA games, however, going all the way back to Vice City, helicopters have had a "righting" torque added, that kept it upright. Probably meant to make flying easier. My guess is that V coders aren't aware of the fact that when you implement such a system, you should make sure that it is properly damped. Preferably, critically damped. Else, you get oscillations.

 

Either that, or they just coded it like a pendulum. After realizing that they coded airplane stall as an engine stall, nothing would surprise me.

[Skeloton]

K^2, the self righting certainly makes it easier, not sure if you have played BF3 the helis dont have it(took me a few tries of that coop mission to get it right)

 

I did think it might be the self righting going overboard but i passed it off as me being silly. Hopefully it is a bug and not as intended, not that it matters as both can be adjusted/fixed.

[QuietJosh]

I got to thinking about this before I went to sleep, and when I woke up, I remembered the same difficulties i had with SA's flight school and how I finally solved the problems I had with passing it.

 

The solution was to use first-person/cockpit view in-between take-off and landing, I did that, and nailed a silver on my first try.

 

That exterior camera viewpoint gives me trouble when flying (but not driving), it always has, for some reason. Should'a remembered I used the same method with IV, but it's been a while since I've played that version.

 

[Edit] Silver on the speed run as well, after one crash trying to get the first one in between the bridge tower supports. Guess that solves the problem, dampens the sway in the viewpoint as well. Hopefully this helps others with the same problem.

Edited September 27, 2013 by QuietJosh

[Munx]

R* messed up vehicle physics in general, but at least most of them they got the right general feel for. Helicopters are a disaster. Yeah, you get used to it after a while, but they really shouldn't behave like that in the first place.

 

Well the overall physics for helicopters is awesome, the problem is the unrealistic amount of turbulence (and more importantly unejoyable amount of turbulence).

 

A helicopters flight in normal conditions is mostly smooth flight, so I don't know why the hell gta V helicopters experience severe turbulence every 3-5 seconds.

 

That said The turbulence when its very rainy is just awesome, as that actually makes sense.

[riksterinto]

 

Edit: i get to observe helicopters in flight more often than I'd like, but its what you get when you live within 100m of a airbase. At no time when an apache/chinook/gazelle/lynx fly over my house do they sway like in GTAV.

They don't sway because they physically have no reason to sway. A helicopter isn't suspended like a pendulum. Lift of the rotor always passes through the center, so it stays balanced even when tilted. The only reason a real heli might sway is if it has an inexperienced pilot who keeps over-correcting. But if you keep the stick steady, swaying is the one thing it will never do.

 

In GTA games, however, going all the way back to Vice City, helicopters have had a "righting" torque added, that kept it upright. Probably meant to make flying easier. My guess is that V coders aren't aware of the fact that when you implement such a system, you should make sure that it is properly damped. Preferably, critically damped. Else, you get oscillations.

 

Either that, or they just coded it like a pendulum. After realizing that they coded airplane stall as an engine stall, nothing would surprise me.

 

Can't a jet engine have compressor stall similar which is similar to flight stall? I've only seen that happen with jet engines in the game.