VTOL Guide

VTOL Guide - Contents:

- Basics (Setting up controls)
- Manual Engine Pitch Control and Taking-Off
- Landing Procedure
- ArmA 3 VTOLs

Basics (Setting up controls):

    So, first thing first, you’ll need to set up your key bindings. The key bindings we will need to set are: Flaps Up; Flaps Down; Auto-Vectoring On; and Auto-Vectoring Off. All of these can be found in the ArmA 3 controls screen under “Plane Movement” (please ensure the buttons / axis for the other plane controls are set too, i.e. Pitch, Roll, Yaw, Throttle). 
    Now, once you have set up these controls, head into the editor and spawn yourself a VTOL aircraft, preferably a vanilla ArmA 3 one (V-44 X Blackfish [NATO] or Y-32 Xi’an [CSAT]).

Manual Engine Pitch Control and Taking-Off:

    Much like with the ArmA 3 Jets, you will notice that the throttle can be changed from 0%  to 100% by using the Throttle Up and Throttle Down buttons or an analogue throttle controller (flight stick throttle controller). In addition, you will notice a symbol in the top left corner (next to the gear and engine symbols), which looks like one vertical arrow on top of another with a line in between, this is the Auto-Vectoring symbol, if it is white, it indicates Auto-Vectoring is ON.
    When this is turned OFF, the Flaps Up and Flaps Down buttons will now rotate the engines by 15 degrees (up or down), from 0 degrees to 90 degrees. This will allow the pilot (or co-pilot) much more control and options over how they fly their aircraft.
    So, if you wish to take-off vertically, turn off Auto-Vectoring and set your engines to 90 degrees, increase power to the engines and you will lift off. Once in-flight, use the Flap Up and Flap Down buttons to change the angle of the engines for horizontal or vertical flight, or anywhere in between. Or if you wish to do a rolling takeoff, set your engines to the lowest pitch possible and apply power to the engines, and once in the air you can set the engines horizontal (if they are not already horizontal from before take-off).
    However, when Auto-Vectoring is OFF, you cannot change the flaps, so you will need to activate Auto-Vectoring in order to change the angle of the flaps.

Landing Procedure:

    So, if you’re coming in for a vertical landing, tilt the engines upright, and lower power until you start descending at a safe rate, whilst trying to limit the horizontal speed to what is appropriate for the landing zone, whilst maintaining awareness of your surroundings, similar to a helicopter landing.
    But, if you wish to land like a plane, you will need to set the engines to an appropriate angle, in the Y-32 Xi’an, you are able to land with the engines horizontal, whereas with the V-44 X Blackfish, the engines cannot be tilted lower than 75 degrees, else they will impact the ground.
    As with normal Fixed-Wing aircraft, the same procedures apply, ensure you have your flaps lowered, you are coming in at a safe glide slope and bearing, as well as at a safe speed, as not to stall the aircraft or land too fast.

ArmA 3 VTOLs:

    Currently there are 5 VTOLs in Vanilla ArmA 3, the V-44 X Blackfish (Gunship / Infantry Transport / Vehicle Transport) and the Y-32 Xi’an (Infantry Transport / Vehicle Transport).

V-44 X Blackfish:

Gunship Variant: Armed with a 20mm Minigun (4000 rounds) and a 105mm Howitzer (100 HEAT-MP rounds), both controlled by the Left Gunner, and a 40mm cannon (160 APFSDS-T and 240 GPR-T rounds) which is operated by the Right Gunner. All 3 guns are situated on the aircraft’s left side, allowing both gunners to engage targets simultaneously. 

Infantry Transport: Unarmed variant, with 32 seats in the cargo hold, but unable to airlift vehicles.

Vehicle Transport: Also an unarmed variant, however has an empty cargo hold as it is optimised for airlifting ground vehicles.

Y-32 Xi’an:

Both variants of the Y-32 are armed with a 30mm Autocannon (250 HE-T and 250 APDS-T rounds), along with four pylons (2 under each wing), capable of carrying any of the following: 1 x Scalpel ATGM, 3 x Scalpel ATGM, 20 x Tratnyr HE (unguided rockets), 20x Tratnyr AP (unguided rockets), 19 x Skyfire (unguided rockets), 1 x Sahr-3 AAM, 1 x Sharur ATGM, 1 x LOM-250G LGB, 1 x RBK-500F, also it has a turret operated laser designator in order to mark targets.

Infantry Transport: Its cargo space contains 16 seats for passengers, however it is unable to airlift vehicles.

Vehicle Transport: Its cargo space is empty as it is instead intended to airlift ground vehicles.

Note: Info about sensors and what vehicles can be transported internally by the VTOLs will be added SoonTM, as well as details regarding countermeasures and vehicle specs (top speed, crew, service ceiling, etc.)