Helicopter very low on fuel - can it land on an island and wait to be rescued by FFG?
Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2025 7:12 pm
Hi,
I unintentionally interrupted a heli RTB & much later I realized in the log, it said something like "Hope you know what you're doing". Obviously, I did not know what I was doing - beginner mistake.
The outcomes of this interrupted-RTB were as follows:
1) I learned a lesson.
2) The heli ultimately did land (sort of) but nobody survived the "landing".
Before its demise though, I had an idea: there was a cosy island nearby, I thought maybe it could land there, and wait for friendly ships [it's home base, FFG] to come closer, and hop on board later. Of course, it's a bit wishful thinking, assuming OPFOR does not do air delivery of (rocket)fuel in the interim...
I am not a military helicopter pilot obviously, but logically one should be able to land a helicopter as long as there is some fuel and adequate space, like so:
Military helicopter makes emergency landing on San Diego beach
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxY1FzD757k
I also understand this is a game and very different from real life; trying to simulate infinite variables, sacrifices have to be made...
Anyhow, in the end, unfortunately, I was not able to implement that great idea because in the game interface (F2) I could not find a way to order that heli to land on that island.
With a quick web search, based on the post below, in this game (EDIT: actually "in the previous game, in the series"), apparently one cannot take a heli, and park it on any dry and level ground they like so it was not my interface-blindness that prevented the island landing:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/321410/d ... 5213015057
The obvious lesson for me here is not to interrupt RTB in the future.
Before I archive this whole experience, I just want to confirm that it indeed is not possible to land a heli on an inhabited island / level terrain anywhere on earth? (I would hate to learn it this way and 10 years later realize there was a trick which I missed!)
Thanks
I unintentionally interrupted a heli RTB & much later I realized in the log, it said something like "Hope you know what you're doing". Obviously, I did not know what I was doing - beginner mistake.
The outcomes of this interrupted-RTB were as follows:
1) I learned a lesson.
2) The heli ultimately did land (sort of) but nobody survived the "landing".
Before its demise though, I had an idea: there was a cosy island nearby, I thought maybe it could land there, and wait for friendly ships [it's home base, FFG] to come closer, and hop on board later. Of course, it's a bit wishful thinking, assuming OPFOR does not do air delivery of (rocket)fuel in the interim...
I am not a military helicopter pilot obviously, but logically one should be able to land a helicopter as long as there is some fuel and adequate space, like so:
Military helicopter makes emergency landing on San Diego beach
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxY1FzD757k
I also understand this is a game and very different from real life; trying to simulate infinite variables, sacrifices have to be made...
Anyhow, in the end, unfortunately, I was not able to implement that great idea because in the game interface (F2) I could not find a way to order that heli to land on that island.
With a quick web search, based on the post below, in this game (EDIT: actually "in the previous game, in the series"), apparently one cannot take a heli, and park it on any dry and level ground they like so it was not my interface-blindness that prevented the island landing:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/321410/d ... 5213015057
The obvious lesson for me here is not to interrupt RTB in the future.
Before I archive this whole experience, I just want to confirm that it indeed is not possible to land a heli on an inhabited island / level terrain anywhere on earth? (I would hate to learn it this way and 10 years later realize there was a trick which I missed!)
Thanks