Battlefield 3

[GregH]

Originally Posted by Arinoth

How do I go forward if W is lift off unless I'm missing something here

Aim down a little (up arrow)

Biggest mistake of rookie pilots is they just hit W and go flying backwards into a tree.
Aiming down a little translates that thrust into forward momentum.

I'd disagree with Bob a little on the "always hold W" comment, as it's easier to keep low altitude to sneak up on AA guns if you're not holding W. That's probably more advanced flying than you're looking for though :)

Here are some flying tips shamelessly copy/pasted from another forum I frequent:

How to fly the helicopter.

1) find a server that is 0/32 and on a map with the chopper (the isla v something for example)
2) get in
3) no you idiot, the pilot seat, put the minigun down
4) move breakable objects out of reach, yes that includes little tiddles the kitty
5) W is throttle up, is lift, S is throttle down and go down.
6) a & D are rudder left and right, it swings the tailboom around (sloooooowly)
7) nose down to generate forward motion, nose up to slow/go backwards
8) respawn
9) swear at the cat
0) Try it again
A) GENTLY damnit, give the cyclic a chance to kick in and get you moving, remember forward energy comes from somewhere, give it a bit more throttle (w) to counterbalance the loss of lift, MORE THROTTLE QUICKLY!
B) ok, you bailed out that time, jump a 2nd time to pull your chute out and... oh, respawn then
C) Take off, use W to gain height, be aware of where your tail is and the boundaries of the map
D) Slide the mouse slightly to left or right, see the horizon change, youre banking -slightly)
E) combine a mouse movement with rudder and come about slooooowly, its a form of circle strafe.
F) Damnit I told you to make gentle movments
G) No, it wasnt lag, quit making excuses, try again
H) You can shuttle people up, you can act as a mobile jumping off point, but the longer you sit still, the easier you die, the tag gun is infinite range and has no droop....
I) slow, gentle & precise movements will serve you well in the blackhawk.
J) The apache/hind works much teh same way but the guns all point -forward-. Both fly like the hind does (think a tank) and are best served with fast strafe runs, get out of range, turn and come back.
K) Loitering will get you killed, be moving, be aware that the miniguns ahave about 160 degree port and starboard firing ranges, and if you zoom about like a madman theyre not going to be able to hit much. However, several maps let you play `hide and go **** yourself`, that is to say, hide behind the trees/land, pop up and let your gunners unload and then settle down into cover
l) a medic in the passenger slot on the blackhawk will heal those in a radius around it (ie not pilot or gunners, but the +4 slot), likwise assault can ammo up.
m) inverted, sensitivity, doesnt matter, they fly like tranquilised pigs
n) the predator is R to climb, F to drive, fires a tow missle on a 40 second cooldown, no machinegun like in single player. You can play sneak and peak and mark LOTS of targets (q), you can blow up buildings, you can drop shots on emplacements, you can also be a complete git and fly it through buildings using the blades to decapitate people.
o) Now youre getting the hang of it, now you get to try it on hardcore mode where anyone farting in your general direction will kill you and your passengers.
p) Yes an engineer in the bitch seat can pull out their wrench and fix up damage, yes they can also pull out the rocket launcher or tank mine and blow you the hell up when friendly fire is on.

[bob saget]

For noob up to average level fliers, never let W go. The advanced fliers wouldnt even be looking for flying tips, so they know how to fly and can control the chopper perfectly, and can out run AA guns or missiles. Anyone else should never let W go, and like was said, tilt mouse forward to get the thrust to go forward.
I thought it is common sense how helicopters work. you got the main rotor providing lift upwards, and you need to angle this lift in a direction if you want the chopper to go in said direction.

EDIT: actually a lot of the advice above is not serious and complete bs. i am guessing they are just trying to be funny.

[mjpd1983]

Originally Posted by bob saget

For noob up to average level fliers, never let W go. The advanced fliers wouldnt even be looking for flying tips, so they know how to fly and can control the chopper perfectly, and can out run AA guns or missiles. Anyone else should never let W go, and like was said, tilt mouse forward to get the thrust to go forward.
I thought it is common sense how helicopters work. you got the main rotor providing lift upwards, and you need to angle this lift in a direction if you want the chopper to go in said direction.

EDIT: actually a lot of the advice above is not serious and complete bs. i am guessing they are just trying to be funny.

There's two kinds of AA guns in the game, one can be outrun most of the time, the other ( if the guy shooting it knows how to aim in front of a moving target) is impossible to outrun unless you have the cover of hills ie - heavy metal. It's just too powerful.

And yeah like this guy said, for the newer pilots, hold w so you don't go crashing down, also dont make sharp erratic movements, people who are new to flying crash more trying to correct their 'over steering' if you will, rather than just crashing from lack of direction.

Good luck

[headsh0t]

It's really damn hard to fly a chopper with mouse and keyboard efficiently. I see guys flying all crazy and I'm thinking they MUST be using joysticks, either that or I gotta crank up the DPI/sensitivity for when I'm in a chopper so i can pull off tight turns. Is it possible to set my 360 controller as a joystick for flying? Because even that would be better than mouse/keyboard.

And yea I need invert controls for flying and I have mouse set for yaw/pitch. Sucks when I want to use the UAV though because with THAT I need it off of invert, so I have to open the menu and turn it off. I wish they had a setting for each.

[mjpd1983]

Originally Posted by headsh0t

It's really damn hard to fly a chopper with mouse and keyboard efficiently. I see guys flying all crazy and I'm thinking they MUST be using joysticks, either that or I gotta crank up the DPI/sensitivity for when I'm in a chopper so i can pull off tight turns. Is it possible to set my 360 controller as a joystick for flying? Because even that would be better than mouse/keyboard.

And yea I need invert controls for flying and I have mouse set for yaw/pitch. Sucks when I want to use the UAV though because with THAT I need it off of invert, so I have to open the menu and turn it off. I wish they had a setting for each.

Sometimes you can definitely tell someone is using a joystick with it well optimised in settings. You can tell when you are a gunner in a chopper and the pilot is maneuvering at ridiculous speeds with nice tight turning circles, it's just a much more responsive feel. I am quite good at flying with keyboard and mouse because I learned it the hard way over a long period of time. I have always wanted to use a joystick to try tho, I imagine it would be a big advantage.

[Perineum]

I've never got my joystick to work for flying..... will it?

[supaflyx3]

Yes,
I use my joystick for BF2 all the time and works just fine.

[JMCD]

I find flying choppers in BF2 much more natural than BC2. There's something goofy about the way they handle in BC2 that I don't like. I tried using a joystick for both games and didn't really like it. In BF2 it was more about being able to single seat when needed so I stuck with the mouse. I

I really freakin' hope jets/choppers handle like BF2 and not something else....

[Perineum]

I had it working in BF2, but never BFBC2... still possible?

[JMCD]

Originally Posted by Perineum

I had it working in BF2, but never BFBC2... still possible?

I had mine setup for a while, seemed to work alright.