Page MenuHomeFeedback Tracker

Wind direction effects are applied to helicopters backwards in comparison to everything else.
Closed, ResolvedPublic

Description

Just an observation even though I guess you still have things to implement with helicopters to get them somewhere close to TKoH, but at the moment the most basic fundamental effects of wind is applied backwards to helicopters vs. the observation of cloud movement, angle/direction grass and small bushes or the direction smoke is blown, at the moment when the wind is blowing to the north (clouds, smoke, grass etc all blown that direction) if you fly a helicopter north (in the direction the wind is supposed to be blowing) you actually fly slower than you do flying south into the wind.

Logic and fact dictate that with the wind behind you, your ground speed should be higher than if you fly the opposite way into the wind, from my observations both your North/South and corresponding East/West are collectively backwards in their effect on helicopters.

e.g. with the MH-9, if you set maximum wind/gusts/overcast etc etc and with a direction of north, then fly North then South headings over the sea (a prolonged flat place) at maximum collective (not that you would in real life) you will attain ~ 174kph, if you fly south into the wind (opposing cloud, smoke, grass direction) you will reach ~ 216kph.

With SILLY use of “setWind [#, #, true];” to further perturb wind outside the range of the editor wind settings the backward nature of effect on helicopters is much more apparent with e.g. “setWind [0, 75, true];” negating movement in the MH-9 with the wind, yet seemingly allowing you to fly at high speed into the wind!

Details

Legacy ID
303054934
Severity
None
Resolution
Fixed
Reproducibility
Always
Category
Game Physics

Event Timeline

b101uk edited Steps To Reproduce. (Show Details)Jun 13 2013, 3:47 AM
b101uk edited Additional Information. (Show Details)
b101uk set Category to Game Physics.
b101uk set Reproducibility to Always.
b101uk set Severity to None.
b101uk set Resolution to Fixed.
b101uk set Legacy ID to 303054934.May 7 2016, 2:35 PM

Should be fixed in current dev version.

This ticket is dependent on if the indicated is taken from the aircraft's pitot tubes or from the aircraft's GPS giving a "true airspeed" or ground speed. If you are flying into the wind (headwind) your indicated airspeed will be higher than your ground speed. If you are flying with the wind (tailwind) your groundspeed will be higher than your ground speed because the wind is effectively pushing you forward.

Here is a more in debth explanation of what I'm talking about.

@DennisModem: Nope, it's not dependent. You speak the right thing, but the ticket is about other issue.
He's talking about ground speed being affected "reversively", and the effect is seen without any indicators - you just see you can't fly by the wind, and fly twice as fast into the wind. No speedometer needed ;)

Could someone confirm the fix?

This seems somewhat fixed. I placed an MH-9 over the runway facing heading 200. Set the wind at max velocity heading 200. I flew up and down the runway using headings 200 and 020 and noted the airspeed differences multiple times. It seems that you fly faster with a tail wind.

I also held a steady hover over the runway at various headings and altitudes (in ground effect and out of ground effect) and could not get the wind to cause my helicopter to drift at all. You should have to slightly apply flight control input into the wind to counter the effects and not have any drift.

Tested in Beta Dev 0.75.108659

Mass closing resolved tickets from last month.