Flying Guide

Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.czautoz.co.uk/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

This guide covers how to actually fly — from startup to shutdown — including the physics systems that affect handling and what to do when things go wrong. For key bindings, see the Controls Reference.

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Before You Fly

Battery The HelicopterBattery must be in the helicopter’s battery slot with charge greater than zero. Without it, the engine start action will not appear. The battery charges automatically while the engine is running — lights drain it, so leave them off until you’re in the air if the battery is low. Damage Zones The HUD shows six zone health indicators (Body, Engine, Chassis, Fuel, Main Rotor, Tail Rotor). Check them before starting — a damaged main rotor will reduce lift, and a damaged tail rotor will make yaw control difficult. Crew & Control Transfer Both cockpit seats can be filled, but only one holds flight control at a time — the first player into either cockpit seat gets it. Press T to hand control to the other seat (they must be seated and alive). Control passes automatically if the holder leaves or dies. Watch the HUD control indicator: green means you are flying, red means the other seat has control and your inputs are locked out. See Co-Pilot Control Priority. Controller / Gamepad Flight is fully playable on a gamepad — cyclic on the left stick, collective on the triggers (right raises, left lowers), yaw on the shoulder buttons, and Autohover on Y. Every binding is rebindable. See the Controls Reference.

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Starting Up

1. Sit in the pilot or co-pilot seat
2. Hold the Start Engine action (~1 second)
3. The rotor begins to spool up — watch the animation and listen for the rotor sound to build
4. Wait until the rotor has reached full speed before attempting to lift off

Startup time varies significantly between helicopters:

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Takeoff

1. Increase collective with Shift gradually — don’t yank it to full
2. As the helicopter lightens, use Q / E to correct any yaw rotation
3. When you feel lift, continue increasing collective to rise off the ground
4. Ground effect gives extra lift within approximately 10 m AGL — takeoffs feel easier close to the ground than climbing through mid-altitude
5. Once airborne, pitch forward slightly with W to begin building forward speed

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Forward Flight

Once moving, push pitch forward and let speed build. At around 72 km/h you will notice the helicopter climbs more easily — this is Effective Translational Lift (ETL), a real helicopter aerodynamic effect where forward movement makes the rotor more efficient. At cruise speed you’ll need less collective to maintain altitude than in a stationary hover. Speed limits: Each helicopter has a VNE (velocity never exceed). Above 80% of that speed, progressive drag kicks in and pushes the nose down — you cannot sustainably fly above it. Weathervane: At low forward speed, the helicopter naturally aligns its nose to the direction of travel. This automatic tendency is strongest on lighter helicopters and weakest on the heavy Merlin.

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Hovering

Hovering is the most demanding phase of helicopter flight:

• Hold altitude with Shift (climb) and Z (descend)
• Small Q / E inputs to hold heading
• Ground effect gives a helpful stability cushion below ~10 m AGL — hovering close to the ground is slightly easier
• Press X to engage Autohover — the helicopter decelerates, stabilises, and holds altitude, heading, and position automatically. Any control input immediately disengages it.

Autohover is your best tool during cabin mode entries, crew transfers, or any time you need hands-off stability.

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Landing

1. Reduce forward speed with S — bring airspeed back toward zero
2. At low speed, reduce collective gradually to descend
3. As you descend through 10 m AGL, ground effect returns — you may need slightly less collective than expected
4. Flare the descent rate with a small collective increase just before touchdown
5. Touch down gently and reduce collective to zero once skids or wheels contact the ground

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Autohover

Press X at any time while you hold flight control in a cockpit seat.

• The helicopter smoothly decelerates and transitions into a locked hover
• Holds altitude, heading, and XY position
• Any control input immediately disengages it — no need to press X again

Automatic engagement: Autohover engages on its own if the control-holding pilot voluntarily exits while the helicopter is airborne. This stops the aircraft drifting away unmanned. It does not engage if the pilot is killed. A pilot killed in their seat leaves the helicopter flying on its last heading with no hold — the co-pilot must take control, or it will eventually crash.

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Autorotation (Engine Failure)

If the engine fails — from fuel exhaustion, engine destruction, or manual shutdown — the rotor continues spinning through inertia. This is autorotation and it is your path to a survivable landing. During the glide:

• The helicopter descends in a controlled glide rather than an immediate freefall
• You can now steer the descent — tilting the cyclic translates the helicopter, so you can glide forward and pick your landing spot instead of only rotating in place
• Descent rate is capped per helicopter (lighter aircraft glide better than heavy ones)
• The rotor coasts down gradually after the cut (tunable via autorotation.coastMinutes) and stays useful as long as you maintain airspeed

The flare:

• On your final approach, pull collective up — this converts rotor inertia into a brief vertical lift boost, slowing your descent rate for the last few metres
• Time this correctly and you can land safely with a dead engine

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Emergency Procedures

Fuel low Warning beeps start at 20% fuel remaining (configurable). The beep interval shortens as fuel continues to drop — increasing urgency. Find a landing zone immediately. Both pilot and co-pilot hear the warning. Tail rotor destroyed The helicopter enters an uncontrolled yaw spin. Spin rate depends on helicopter type. Attempt an immediate autorotation landing — yaw authority is gone, but collective still works. You have limited time before the spin becomes unrecoverable. Main rotor destroyed The helicopter loses lift immediately and falls. There is no recovery from main rotor destruction. Inverted on the ground If features.groundFlipRecovery is enabled on your server, pressing X while grounded and inverted will flip the helicopter upright. This is disabled by default.

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Helicopter Differences

All six helicopters use the same controls but feel significantly different: Heavier helicopters are more stable in cruise but harder to hover precisely. Lighter helicopters are agile but can feel twitchy for new pilots.

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Shutting Down

1. Land fully — wheels or skids on the ground
2. Hold the Stop Engine action (~1 second)
3. The rotor will spool down

The engine cannot be stopped while airborne and moving — the action is blocked as a safety measure.