Helicopters won't fly straight

[nukkxx5058]

Hi, why do helicopters follow the roads instead of flying from A to B in a straight line ? This is rather weird. Is there a way to force a straight line trajectory between 2 waypoints ?
Thx.

[CapnDarwin]

Helicopters, in order to avoid getting shot at, will fly the lowest most terrain masked route from A to B. If you hasty move them they will more likely to fly straighter, but still attempt to avoid crossing over high hills. You can also massage the path with the placement of the waypoints.

[battlerbritain]

I remember reading about F-15s when they first got to Germany picking up speeding Porsches on the autobahn with their pulse-doppler radar.

I also heard that helicopter drivers found about this and then would fly above traffic on the autobahns so as to make it more difficult for the fighter jocks to get them.

I didn't really believe it until I saw footage of an Mi-17 flying at car roof height down a motorway in Ukraine and doing the same speed as the traffic:
https://theaviationist.com/2015/08/05/m ... c-ukraine/

So if you see a helo scraping your rooftop he's probably trying to avoid an F-15 or Su-27.

Cheers,

B

[nukkxx5058]

Ok, make sense, kind of. It's a pity a straight trajectory cannot be forced (it would be great if we had the choice). One question: What if along the path of least altitude / best masked route there's an ennemi platoon ? Will the helo fly straight toward the ennemy or will it adapt its course to avoid the ennemi and stick to the orders which are to 'reach the next waypoint' ?

[WildCatNL]

ORIGINAL: nukkxx
What if along the path of least altitude / best masked route there's an ennemi platoon ? Will the helo fly straight toward the ennemy or will it adapt its course to avoid the ennemi and stick to the orders which are to 'reach the next waypoint' ?

Heli units are discouraged to get within stand-off range of enemy units when plotting a path to the destination. However, enemy units are just one of the things considered. So, in some situations, the heli unit will completely avoid getting within stand-off range of the enemy while perhaps sacrificing a bit of masking to potential other unspotted enemy units. In other situations, closing in with a known enemy is the least bad alternative.

It depends on the situation.

William