Power
The cockpit electronics — the GPS, the gauges, the radar and the chin camera — run when the engine is running or the dashboard lights are on. With neither, the screens go dark, the GPS shows its NO GPS SIGNAL screen and the electric gauges rest at their stops. A destroyed helicopter’s electronics are dead.Dashboard Lights
I switches the dashboard lights on and off. It lights the instrument panel and powers the cockpit electronics, so you can set a waypoint or check the radar before you start the engine.
- It works from the seat at the controls — the pilot seat
- Switching it on needs a fitted Helicopter Battery that is not ruined and has some charge; switching it off always works
- With the engine off it uses the battery like the other lights (
battery.lightDrain); while the engine runs, the engine carries all the lights. See Lights - At night the autopilot switches the dashboard lights on for you, and switches them off again when it lets go — unless someone is sitting at the controls
- The key can be changed in Options → Controls (Lights: Dashboard), and server owners can set the key their players start on with
keybinds.dashLights
Cockpit GPS
Every helicopter has a GPS screen in the cockpit. It shows a satellite chart of the map with your position as a dot, and:- your waypoint as a marker with a line to it — set it on the Pilot Panel map with
G - while the autopilot is flying, its destination instead of the waypoint
- an RF warning symbol for a couple of seconds whenever a hidden tracker on board transmits
Instruments
The cockpit gauges now move on every helicopter. Which ones depends on the cockpit — the flight gauges such as airspeed, altitude and climb rate, and, where the aircraft has them, the artificial horizon, the heading, the radar altimeter and the engine and system gauges.- The gyro instruments spin up over about 4 seconds once there is power, and run down over about 20 seconds when it goes, leaving the horizon at a tilt
- On a badly damaged aircraft the needles shake — players who would rather not see that can switch off Instrument vibration in the Pilot Panel. On a ruined one the airspeed and climb gauges drop to zero
- The panel lights come on with the dashboard lights
Cockpit Radar
Five aircraft carry a radar scope: the AW101 Merlin, the MH-60L Blackhawk, the MH-47G Chinook and both Ospreys, the CV-22B and MV-22B.- It sweeps 60° either side of the nose every 5 seconds and shows up to 8 contacts
- It sees cars, boats and helicopters whose engine is running or that are moving out to its full range, and people on foot who are moving out to 60% of it. It never shows infected or animals
- It cannot see through hills — a contact needs a clear line over the terrain
- A parked vehicle with its engine off does not show, unless the server turns on All Radars: Also Show Parked Vehicles (
handheldRadar.detectStationaryVehicles) - The pilot and co-pilot hear a ping for a new contact and a soft tone when one is lost. Players can turn this down with Radar volume in the Pilot Panel
- It needs power
Radar Warning (RWR)
Only the five radar aircraft have the warning, and it needs power. When another helicopter with a powered radar and someone in its pilot or co-pilot seat has you in its radar sector and within range, with a clear line between you, your crew is warned: RWR with the bearing and side (for exampleRWR 045 R) shows on the HUD, the pilot and co-pilot hear a tone every few seconds, and the radar scope marks the direction. A switched-on Handheld Radar warns its holder the same way.
|
crew.rwrEnabled | 1 = radar warnings are on. 0 = nobody is warned. Shown in the Admin Panel as Radar Warning (RWR) | 1 |
Terrain Warnings (TAWS)
Every helicopter warns its crew before it flies into the ground or something on it. The HUD shows TERRAIN, OBSTACLE or SINK RATE in amber with a caution tone, and a flashing red PULL UP with a faster tone when it is urgent. Only the pilot and co-pilot hear the tones, and players can turn them down with Alert volume in the Pilot Panel. It stays quiet where warnings would only get in the way:- below 15 m above the ground, and for 20 seconds after lifting off
- below about 20 knots, and below 60 m when flying under about 40 knots without sinking fast — a normal approach to land
- while the autopilot is landing, including an Osprey runway landing
- with no power
Handheld Radar
The Handheld Radar (CZ_HandheldRadar) is a portable ground radar for players on foot. It takes a 9V battery, weighs 650 g, and can be carried in the walkie-talkie or chemlight slot.
- With it in your hands, use it to switch it on or off, and hold Look at Radar to raise it to your face
- It sweeps all the way round every 3 seconds and shows up to 8 contacts: vehicles, helicopters and boats that are running or moving, and moving people on foot. Terrain blocks it, as it does the cockpit radar
- Switched on, it beeps for new and lost contacts and gives the radar warning tone wherever it is in your inventory. It stays quiet while you sit in the pilot or co-pilot seat of a radar helicopter
To have it in your world, add
CZ_HandheldRadar to your types.xml and traders — see Types & Events.