Maneuvering your aircraft | Do's and Don'ts | DCS AH-64 Apache 

Whenever I take ground fire, I like to do several erratic manoeuvres and then flip over and hit the dirt.

I was so used to keeping my speed up in the 58D that it carried over to my civilian law enforcement flying. The civilian pilot that was checking me out as a new guy was constantly saying "why are you flying so fast?" "slow down, your not in the Army anymore", "no one is shooting at us here in Florida". Ha. Old habits die hard🤷‍♂

Those clips are pure gold. I'm one of the guys who, if he flies a module, he want to do it right. Technical and tactical. Without you I could totally scratch the tactical part.

I like that most apache tutorials use the cockpit keys. It seems more real to me (if you were flying irl, you'd be using the physical sticks, screens, etc.) I wish more jet tutorials were like that.

Apache Pilots/attack Hilo pilots in combat see more action in 1 week than the average fighter pilots sees their whole career lol

"I'm up, he sees me, I'm down" - instant flashback to getting pissed on by freezing rain in February at Fort Jackson.

Started watching your apache videos thanks to a friend I fly with. You're a huge help, thank you!

Perfect explanation. Hovering in a hostile environment. Is asking to get a RPG or take a HE round up the ass. Once caught a AH-64 shooting at a FOB pass the front line online after retreating with a Unarmed Mi-08 from one further upfront line that got overrun by ground force. Only to come behind him & hover for a good minute behind him wondering what to do since he was going to turn me into a swiss cheese the second I go anywhere near the front. Decided to trade one of my landing wheel for his tail rotor XD Rumor is that he's still mad about that one on the chat.

I'm an Apache pilot. I shared your video with my buddies to say, this is how we should do things

Just downloaded the trial, flew twice with my buddy, who manned the front seat, and wow I love this machine. Awesome videos!

first time Ive heard "Im up, he sees me, Im down" in like 22 years.

From what I have read/observed the real power of the Apache D model is the Longbow radar on top of the mast. That allows you the luxury of hiding behind cover with just the Longbow exposed to search the area. I imagine the computer will sort out terrain and other clutter, identify targets that match profiles stored in the library and pop up an icon on the FCR screen. When you go to the FCR page, it's blank. Have you heard of any implementation of the Longbow/FCR in DCS? That would add such a massive change and make the Apache what it truly can be. I don't even know if ED is working on that addition. But just think of the dynamic of having that feature. Gives me chills!

Guilty! Yep time to rethink my flying- again good stuff! Thank you for the information!

Id be interested in seeing your fly control settings. Like curves, ect.

There is a saying in flight for me, it applies to fixed wings and rotary. Low is fast, High is slow. The Idea is that if you are low, you want to stay as fast as possible in order to not get caught by random fire. If you are high altitude, chances that small to medium arms reach you is low, so you don't need to go that fast, allowing you time to aim better. Also at high altitudes, not much protection against AA Missiles, so going fast won't help against it either. Losing Altitude will though, in a defensive maneuver. Great video also :).

Good to see my instincts was correct when taking fire. Get fast, and leave the area. 6 battle tanks firing on me, and we took only two hits.

Hover v keep speed up examples: Thanks for it!

Casmo, these videos are epic & and an amazing asset for people new to the world of flight sims, DCS, helicopters and more importantly Apaches. I’ve learnt a lot from your tutorials, I’m a decent pilot now. I’m currently learning routes, manoeuvres & tactics, however I’m getting wrecked by enemy forces though. Do you prefer to fly via head tracking or VR?

Cheers Casmo!

Thank you!

Hello sir nice video, looking to pick up DCS next year, gonna try my hand at helicopters

Man, I REALLY want to see like a multi-POV situation like this, 2-ship Apache working together with 1 or 2-ship overhead CAS doing a big old mission together...that would be the scenario. And I feel like a lot of servers already have missions that would make something like this really work. We just don't see it in recordings. Anyhow, this is a great and informative video, thanks Casmo!

Hey Casmo it would be really awesome if in the future you can turn on the thing that shows stick position and collective, for me it helps a lot when i can observe the correct inputs

Great vid.

Im curious what manuver would be done if a MANPAD missile was launched at the helicopter, do you keep flying straight in this video or do you pull the most janky maneuvers while letting off flares? (I am referring when the missile is already in the air.)

Coming back to this video because I am having a really hard time with VRS and settling with power. Hovering in ground effect is a cake walk. But getting some altitude and trying to hover I most times begin to lose it and the plummet begins. I find that if I maintain a little forward velocity, even a few knots, I can avoid all that crap. But sitting at zero and trying to hover is a lost cause in most cases. The Apache is probably the most forgiving of the helos I own. The Huey is the worst, the Hind is a mixed bag and the Blackshark III I don't hover unless I am in ground effect. With that helo because it's so new to me I just lose altitude straight away. The Gazelle is also a fairly stable hover airframe. I understand it's probably just me and there's something I am doing wrong or not doing at all. But as long as I stay out of the "funnel" and creep forward, I can stay at altitude. But that's not hovering. Any help or tips from anyone would be a real help.

WAIT you mean to tell me. dont sit still when getting shot?? mind blown

@CasmoTV Good video, thank you - keep them comming. I have one, unrelated to this video, question - how can I estimate fuel consumption on th AH-64? I want to create a mission in DCS with a long cruise time to target. Just before reaching a target I want to force pilot to land on a near-by FARP to refuel, therefore I want to make it so, that whatever pilot does trying to save fuel - he would still have to land for refueling before proceeding furhter Actually - on a same matter - do AH-64 pilots ever calculate how much fuel is needed by themselves?

This is why you only attack when called in, and never hover. Attack, leave.

Casmo how do you deal with other helo threats in DCS? The AH-64D we have in DCS has ZERO air to air capability and when faced off against the Mi-24 and the KA-50 which seem to have more and more unrealistic air to air capabilities how do you counter that?

Silly question for you-(Just discovered you thru growling sidewinder!)- How LOW do Apache pilots fly? It looks like you'd have no qualms about flying a few feet above a road to the point your wheels are only a couple feet above it, and you almost could land in 3 seconds, but are hovering/flying right above it and able to engage from as low as a ground vehicle- which is insane- but is that unheard of? Just REALLY curious now, if that's a thing- pretending to be a ground vehicle practically lol

How were you hovering at 98% torque and not gaining altitude. I can keep her level an barely moving but the damn thing has an icarus complex an keeps climbing.

Do you have any problems with the tail rotor? Everytime I release the tail wheel my aircraft just spins in place. I cannot hardly control it on the ground with the tail wheel unlocked. Anyone know why this is? l

I found the best strategy in DCS is to either hover at standoff when there are no air defense units, LOAL air defense units from cover if there are any, from stand off hover behind cover, or to stay moving while engaging up close to avoid RPG hits. In DCS standoff range provides enough time to dodge eventual ATGMs and prohibits cannon and AAA fire from reaching you. The hellfires even offer you a range advantage against SA-13 and SA-19 and if you play it right you can even take out SA-8 and SA-15, despite their longer engagement ranges. The only real problem you have when hovering is if you are within direct fire range of RPGs or cannons. Hovering over a BMP is a bad idea, hovering 9km from a strella is a good idea. flying around, out of cover with a strella at 4km is a bad idea. Also doesn't help that the AI has 360° vision with 0ms reaction time, can see through smoke, fog, cloud, bushes and trees and that their guns are laser accurate. In the situation presented, I would first of all advance more slowly and have my CPG scan the area ahead before moving on. If i were ambushed, I'd have him mark the approximate position, turn around and get some range, then search (from a hover) from a safe distance, formulate a plan to attack, and then engage the threat. 6:52 If you hit DIR, you can select the waypoint from the list on the right, if it's in that list. It's faster than fuffing about with the cursor. Of course I'd also relegate that task to the CPG, just george isn't really any good right now.

Is it my head playing games or is it a reupload ?

Dos and don'ts.

I haven't gotten into the Apache yet, but I plan to eventually... What is an acquisition source, is it the same thing as a SPI?

what button was used to set the cursor too waypoint 2

I’ve needed this video, thankyou

i cant even fly with the heli why i want to get up in the air i crash lol

You know I often hear how irl point track or two or on this case MTT wasn't used much... is there a reason why it wants used that much?

thanks man.. to help DCS rotor community how to have fun at fullest, rather than let the arcade player cancer the SIM with their Warthunder style.

How can You fly with 60% Collective. my collective has to be like 90 to 100 to take off..

Brother you have no idea under what kind of combat conditions pilots are flying in Ukraine, go there and show 'em how it's done if you know it so well, or pipe down.

I was surprised at my first pitch back turn. It wasn’t violent at all. I just pulled back and over gently and then I was upside down. Lol.

If your statement "don't have friend" is true, can I be your cpg sometimes? As I don't have friend to fly apache with😅

Good practical explanation Casmo! Keep it coming

I’m up he sees me I’m down 😂😂😂 I haven’t heard that in a long time

Seriously, if you can't 'deadstick' ANY helicopter from 1000ft, fly a jet.

I wish/hope ED changes the enemy LOS/ accuracy of OPFOR. It seems no matter how you mask, conceal, or whatever…..if you are in range, they unrealistically know you are there and are unrealistically accurate. DCS infantry all seem to be expert marksman…..this takes away especially when the Kiowa comes.

Is it possible to put an automatic rudder in the Apache module? I don't have a rudder and I find it really odd to fly it with trigger thing

The problem in Ukraine for Russian attack helicopters is that the GBAD is all dispersed, with systems like Buk and Osa not working in integrated systems, but scattered about. So there is often no precise intel on where they all are, and they are just basically lying in wait for targets of opportunity to pop up. The Buk systems are even just using the TELAR by itself and using passive tracking to remain as stealthy as possible and then rapidly relocate. Combined with frontline and recon units being equiped with MANPADS, it seems that there is not really any safe area where you could reasonably be sure there wasn't someone looking at you with a weapon that could reach out and touch you.

Am I crazy? I feel deja vu with this video.. @.@ Is this a reupload?

Thanks dad