Saturn Tiberian
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"I am just so tired of seeing the heli crash because the fucking pilots don't know it has a fuel gauge"
- Saturn upon witnessing an awe-inspiring demonstration of aeronautical prowess.
An introductory guide to flying the helicopter.
Flight Controls:
Buckle into one of the front seats to access the flight controls. Both pilots can use the flight controls at the same time, however, usually it is better to have just one person do so.
Movement - WASD
Turn right/left - E / Q
Ascend/descend - SPACE / X
Raise/lower throttle - UP / DOWN ARROWS
You will also see two panels on your screen. Position these as you like, they are important.
Caution panel - contains the MASTER light and various indicator lights:
EGT TEMP - If the throttle is left too high for too long, it will begin overheating the engine, giving this caution. If the engine overheats for too long, it will start fires randomly inside of the cockpit, starting at the rear of the aircraft.
LOW FUEL - when fuel runs out, you will descend uncontrollably, either landing (if above a suitable landing surface) or exploding (if not).
LOW ROTOR - if rotor speed drops too much, you will descend and possibly crash similarly to fuel gauge. Rotor speed is kept up by having the throttle high enough for your weight and altitude.
Instrument panel - contains various gauges:
Altimeter - altitude/height in feet above ground level (AGL)
Airspeed indicator - showing speed of movement (higher airspeeds can be attained at higher altitudes in Gruntz)
Heading/navigation indicator - shows X/Y coordinate position
Fuel gauge - It's advisable to refuel when below 50% fuel in case you need to hover somewhere for a while
Weight gauge - more weight needs more throttle to take off.
Throttle - 85% is high enough to lift you without overheating in most cases. If you are heavier you may need more throttle to take off.
Buttons - BAT, GEN, FUEL for battery, generator, and fuel pump.
Startup procedures:
Turn the BAT, GEN, FUEL buttons on (instrument panel).
Wait a few seconds for fuel pressure to raise.
Hold SPACE to engage starter - STARTER light comes on amber (on caution panel)
When STARTER light turns green - hold UP ARROW to raise throttle until at takeoff setting (85% is generally fine). Release SPACE.
Takeoff:
Hold Space to ascend (climb). If you cannot take off, you may need to increase throttle with UP ARROW.
Hold X to descend (go down). If you reach an altitude of zero, you will land.
Hovering:
At a height of 10-20 feet you will hover. While hovering, the amount of dust under the helicopter will increase significantly as a visual cue, however, this is not entirely trustworthy and you should always confirm when you are and are not hovering to passengers trying to exit the aircraft.
When hovering, passengers can safely board and depart the aircraft by walking off it, or walking towards one of the doors with CLIMB intent enabled. Enemies can also do this. It is therefore inadvisable to hover near a massive horde of zombies as they will rapidly board the aircraft, weighing it down massively and most likely causing LOW ROTOR and a crash or forced landing.
Turning:
Turning the aircraft can be dangerous and in many cases you should verbally announce "Turning" before actually turning. A few cases:
The helicopter can only be refuelled when landed. Supposedly you can refuel from inside, I didn't find the trick for this, but you can refuel from any point outside so there's no need to run all around, simply take a step out and click the heli with a fuel can. They are purchaseable for $100 and also commonly found all over engineering so you should always have a few on you.
If refuelling with enemy presence and chance of boarding, figure out what the plan is if an enemy shows up. Running back on and taking off quickly usually works but the pilot on the controls can't be AFK or you will get boarded and die.
Gear:
It's important to rush money at round start for some of these things.
Personal:
Night vision or gamma maxed - required
Fuel cans, stored in backpack - required
Medical:
Crew scanner/tracker - Highly recommended to medevac and move people without begging for coords
MedHUD - very important to identify dead/perma passengers, don't waste your time recovering a perma
Surgical kit - at least one per heli
Lifesaver toolbelt - at least one per heli
Defibrillator - multiple per heli
Modifications:
Toolbox - useful. Wrench to remove default seats and make room, welder for repairs.
Door guns (M2 and MK19) - requires vehicle mount (purchased seperately). Keep extra ammo inside the original vendor box for fire resistance.
Plasteel - for repairs. Useless without engineer (sadly).
Crew coordination:
A few terms you may want to include in your pilot lexicon.
"HOVERING" - Announce when holding a hovering altitude and it is safe for passengers to disembark
"TURNING" - announce your turn before performing it when doors are open or weapons in use. When firing a lot it is much safer to just hold one heading(point in one direction) until there is nothing in a gunner's field of fire he could reasonably want to shoot at, call "turning" or "hold fire" and then turn.
Problems you may encounter:
Damage:
Only an engineer can repair the helicopter. They may be dead, braindead, or not even spawned. Therefore it is advised that you avoid damage. This is not especially hard if you don't have an M2 gunner shooting the walls, and aren't letting a bunch of enemies in and shooting them inside the heli.
Damage causes fuel leaks which can be very annoying. Bring extra fuel if you are damaged.
Weight management:
Do not keep useless shit on board. Permadead bodies, zombie corpses, etc. should be thrown off.
Fuel tanks (the large obstructive ones, not the handheld ones) are extremely heavy and flammable. You should drop one off on a rooftop somewhere to refuel handheld cans, but don't keep it on board.
Fuel management:
Make sure you always have enough fuel for whatever mission you're about to do, including getting back and landing, whether it be rescuing a downed person, moving passengers, or going on a gun run. Maintaining 50% or above is a good rule of thumb.
Turning the throttle down when landed and not planning to move soon saves fuel.
Fire prevention:
Engine overheat fires start at the back. Don't put flammable things there. They also spread somewhat randomly so having as little flammable material (Loose grenades, ammo, fuel tanks) on the ground is adviseable.
Keep the small fuel cans in your backpack, more convenient for fast refuel also.
Scatter fire extinguishers on the floor in the hopes one of your passengers saves the day in an emergency. Sometimes it happens.
Boarding prevention during hover pickup:
Clear a landing zone before hovering, if you see an enemy coming, be ready to lift the helicopter if youre about to be boarded. Seconds matter when you need to pick up passengers and there's enemies nearby. Make sure your door with the least guns is oriented towards the person, and make sure no one is standing in it (standing people block rappelling). Sometimes it can be faster to just land if boarding large numbers or noobs who dont know about rappelling.
Refuelling safely during xenos at night:
Ideally you land in a FOB or fully moat a rooftop with overhangs so xenos can't climb it (they can climb walls but not overhangs). If you do not do this you will get mobbed and 2-3 xenos in the aircraft is a risky prospect.
Out of fuel/forced landing:
If you run out of fuel on the ground, or manage to land after running out in air, make sure to turn all buttons off. I am pretty sure leaving the fuel pump or generator with no fuel will set the heli on fire after a while (it makes a loud whining noise and I came back to a burning heli once after doing this). Close all doors and run away so enemies aren't aggrod onto it. Enemies hit random things around them sometimes, but don't seem to intentionally target the helicopter if empty of people, so simply vacating the area until you can come back with fuel and firepower to clear the site is advisable.
A note on medevac timing:
A person has 5 minutes from death before they are permanently unrevivable (perma). I see far too many pilots twiddle their thumbs when they know someone is down on e.g. scanner. No, you cannot wait for day. You can at most refuel, and then go, because clearing the body of enemies and evacuating it will take several minutes and reviving may also. If you waste time on the medevac you will waste a lot of time to retrieve perma bodies.
A note on finding people:
If someone wants help on the radio locate them on the medical tracker. Asking for coords slows you down and occupies the caller's time to find and type it out when most likely they are busy fighting.
- Saturn upon witnessing an awe-inspiring demonstration of aeronautical prowess.
An introductory guide to flying the helicopter.
Flight Controls:
Buckle into one of the front seats to access the flight controls. Both pilots can use the flight controls at the same time, however, usually it is better to have just one person do so.
Movement - WASD
Turn right/left - E / Q
Ascend/descend - SPACE / X
Raise/lower throttle - UP / DOWN ARROWS
You will also see two panels on your screen. Position these as you like, they are important.
Caution panel - contains the MASTER light and various indicator lights:
EGT TEMP - If the throttle is left too high for too long, it will begin overheating the engine, giving this caution. If the engine overheats for too long, it will start fires randomly inside of the cockpit, starting at the rear of the aircraft.
LOW FUEL - when fuel runs out, you will descend uncontrollably, either landing (if above a suitable landing surface) or exploding (if not).
LOW ROTOR - if rotor speed drops too much, you will descend and possibly crash similarly to fuel gauge. Rotor speed is kept up by having the throttle high enough for your weight and altitude.
Instrument panel - contains various gauges:
Altimeter - altitude/height in feet above ground level (AGL)
Airspeed indicator - showing speed of movement (higher airspeeds can be attained at higher altitudes in Gruntz)
Heading/navigation indicator - shows X/Y coordinate position
Fuel gauge - It's advisable to refuel when below 50% fuel in case you need to hover somewhere for a while
Weight gauge - more weight needs more throttle to take off.
Throttle - 85% is high enough to lift you without overheating in most cases. If you are heavier you may need more throttle to take off.
Buttons - BAT, GEN, FUEL for battery, generator, and fuel pump.
Startup procedures:
Turn the BAT, GEN, FUEL buttons on (instrument panel).
Wait a few seconds for fuel pressure to raise.
Hold SPACE to engage starter - STARTER light comes on amber (on caution panel)
When STARTER light turns green - hold UP ARROW to raise throttle until at takeoff setting (85% is generally fine). Release SPACE.
Takeoff:
Hold Space to ascend (climb). If you cannot take off, you may need to increase throttle with UP ARROW.
Hold X to descend (go down). If you reach an altitude of zero, you will land.
Hovering:
At a height of 10-20 feet you will hover. While hovering, the amount of dust under the helicopter will increase significantly as a visual cue, however, this is not entirely trustworthy and you should always confirm when you are and are not hovering to passengers trying to exit the aircraft.
When hovering, passengers can safely board and depart the aircraft by walking off it, or walking towards one of the doors with CLIMB intent enabled. Enemies can also do this. It is therefore inadvisable to hover near a massive horde of zombies as they will rapidly board the aircraft, weighing it down massively and most likely causing LOW ROTOR and a crash or forced landing.
Turning:
Turning the aircraft can be dangerous and in many cases you should verbally announce "Turning" before actually turning. A few cases:
- If someone is walking in the aircraft with a door open and you turn, they will now be walking in a different direction in the helicopter. This will likely make them fall out of a door and die.
- If someone is firing a MK19 or handheld grenade launcher, turning may cause a grenade they launched out of the side door to land in the cockpit (since you turned into it). This will kill everyone inside and crash the helicopter. Damage can also occur if a shooter fires at too large an angle out of the door - the bullet/grenade may clip the door. This is common with the M2 which has a wide firing cone, but with grenades one bad nade will kill everyone. Coordinating turns with door gunners is very important and if you do not trust a gunner, kick them out or force them not to fire their weapon.
The helicopter can only be refuelled when landed. Supposedly you can refuel from inside, I didn't find the trick for this, but you can refuel from any point outside so there's no need to run all around, simply take a step out and click the heli with a fuel can. They are purchaseable for $100 and also commonly found all over engineering so you should always have a few on you.
If refuelling with enemy presence and chance of boarding, figure out what the plan is if an enemy shows up. Running back on and taking off quickly usually works but the pilot on the controls can't be AFK or you will get boarded and die.
Gear:
It's important to rush money at round start for some of these things.
Personal:
Night vision or gamma maxed - required
Fuel cans, stored in backpack - required
Medical:
Crew scanner/tracker - Highly recommended to medevac and move people without begging for coords
MedHUD - very important to identify dead/perma passengers, don't waste your time recovering a perma
Surgical kit - at least one per heli
Lifesaver toolbelt - at least one per heli
Defibrillator - multiple per heli
Modifications:
Toolbox - useful. Wrench to remove default seats and make room, welder for repairs.
Door guns (M2 and MK19) - requires vehicle mount (purchased seperately). Keep extra ammo inside the original vendor box for fire resistance.
Plasteel - for repairs. Useless without engineer (sadly).
Crew coordination:
A few terms you may want to include in your pilot lexicon.
"HOVERING" - Announce when holding a hovering altitude and it is safe for passengers to disembark
"TURNING" - announce your turn before performing it when doors are open or weapons in use. When firing a lot it is much safer to just hold one heading(point in one direction) until there is nothing in a gunner's field of fire he could reasonably want to shoot at, call "turning" or "hold fire" and then turn.
Problems you may encounter:
Damage:
Only an engineer can repair the helicopter. They may be dead, braindead, or not even spawned. Therefore it is advised that you avoid damage. This is not especially hard if you don't have an M2 gunner shooting the walls, and aren't letting a bunch of enemies in and shooting them inside the heli.
Damage causes fuel leaks which can be very annoying. Bring extra fuel if you are damaged.
Weight management:
Do not keep useless shit on board. Permadead bodies, zombie corpses, etc. should be thrown off.
Fuel tanks (the large obstructive ones, not the handheld ones) are extremely heavy and flammable. You should drop one off on a rooftop somewhere to refuel handheld cans, but don't keep it on board.
Fuel management:
Make sure you always have enough fuel for whatever mission you're about to do, including getting back and landing, whether it be rescuing a downed person, moving passengers, or going on a gun run. Maintaining 50% or above is a good rule of thumb.
Turning the throttle down when landed and not planning to move soon saves fuel.
Fire prevention:
Engine overheat fires start at the back. Don't put flammable things there. They also spread somewhat randomly so having as little flammable material (Loose grenades, ammo, fuel tanks) on the ground is adviseable.
Keep the small fuel cans in your backpack, more convenient for fast refuel also.
Scatter fire extinguishers on the floor in the hopes one of your passengers saves the day in an emergency. Sometimes it happens.
Boarding prevention during hover pickup:
Clear a landing zone before hovering, if you see an enemy coming, be ready to lift the helicopter if youre about to be boarded. Seconds matter when you need to pick up passengers and there's enemies nearby. Make sure your door with the least guns is oriented towards the person, and make sure no one is standing in it (standing people block rappelling). Sometimes it can be faster to just land if boarding large numbers or noobs who dont know about rappelling.
Refuelling safely during xenos at night:
Ideally you land in a FOB or fully moat a rooftop with overhangs so xenos can't climb it (they can climb walls but not overhangs). If you do not do this you will get mobbed and 2-3 xenos in the aircraft is a risky prospect.
Out of fuel/forced landing:
If you run out of fuel on the ground, or manage to land after running out in air, make sure to turn all buttons off. I am pretty sure leaving the fuel pump or generator with no fuel will set the heli on fire after a while (it makes a loud whining noise and I came back to a burning heli once after doing this). Close all doors and run away so enemies aren't aggrod onto it. Enemies hit random things around them sometimes, but don't seem to intentionally target the helicopter if empty of people, so simply vacating the area until you can come back with fuel and firepower to clear the site is advisable.
A note on medevac timing:
A person has 5 minutes from death before they are permanently unrevivable (perma). I see far too many pilots twiddle their thumbs when they know someone is down on e.g. scanner. No, you cannot wait for day. You can at most refuel, and then go, because clearing the body of enemies and evacuating it will take several minutes and reviving may also. If you waste time on the medevac you will waste a lot of time to retrieve perma bodies.
A note on finding people:
If someone wants help on the radio locate them on the medical tracker. Asking for coords slows you down and occupies the caller's time to find and type it out when most likely they are busy fighting.
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