Enstrom 280C/Systems

1 HUD

When you first wear the HUD it will be dark and "disconnected" will displayed to indicate the HUD has not connected to an aircraft. When you sit in either the pilot (right) or co-pilot (left) seat, the HUD will connect and light up. The HUDs of the pilot and copilot/passenger show identical flight data including control positions. There are three main parts of the HUD: gauges on the top, switches for electrical systems in the middle, and flight controls on the bottom. The HUD is collapsible. By clicking on the collapse button at the top of the HUD, you can collapse it down to just the flight controls.

The gauges starting at the top are:

• Fuel Quantity - Shows remaining fuel. Only active when master switch is on.
• Amps/Volts - The "Amps" side shows current power usage. Numbers below 0 indicate a drain on the battery, numbers above 0 indicate a charge to the battery. The "Volts" side shows the current health of the battery. 14 volts indicates a full charge, 8 volts indicates a depleted battery. Electrical systems including the starter will begin to fail when you are near 8 volts. This gauge is only active when master switch is on.
• Aircraft ID - Shows the tail number of the aircraft the HUD is connected to. "--" will be displayed when disconnected. An indicator light to the left of the ID number shows the current connectivity status. A green light indicates normal connectivity, while a yellow or red light indicates no connectivity. It is normal to see a yellow or red indication for one or two seconds during a sim crossing.
• HOBBS meter - Shows total time on your aircraft in hours and tenths of hours. Accumulates time only while engine is running.
• Altimeter - Shows altitude in feet.
• RPM - Shows speed of engine and rotor in RPMs. The outer scale with the long needle shows engine RPMs in hundreds. The inner scale with the short needle shows the rotor RPM in hundreds. The green arc indicates the normal operating RPM range.
• Airspeed - The middle gauge shows the airpseed in mph. The red line is the "never exceed" speed.
• Vertical Speed Indicator (VSI) - Shows the current rate of descent or climb in hundreds of feet per minute.
• Manifold Pressure/Fuel Flow (MP/FF) - The left half shows current manifold pressure (MP) indicating power being produced by the engine. The red line is a never exceed value. Exceeding this value in flight can lead to a dangerous loss of rotor RPM. The right half shows the current fuel usage in pounds/hour.
• Inclinometer - The ball-in-tube display between the VSI and MP gauges can be used to coordinate turns while in cruise flight. In normal cruise or during a turn the ball will move to the side that needs more pedal. Think "step on the ball". When the ball is centered, you have exactly the right amount of pedal.

The switches are:

• Master - Main electrical switch for aircraft. Don't forget to turn this off after shutting down or you will drain your battery.
• Alternator - Enables recharging of the battery. Under normal conditions, this should always be turned on with the master battery. The alternator only produces power once the engine RPM is high enough.
• Boost - Pumps fuel to the engine while the engine is off. Must be on to prime engine, and should remain on in flight.
• Governor - The governor automatically adjusts the throttle to keep engine RPM in in the green arc as you adjust collective. It should be turned on at the end of the start-up sequence.
• Ignition - Powers the ignition system. Necessary to start engine.
• Anti-Collision - Turns on the anti-collision lights on the horizontal stabilizer.
• Nav - Turns on the nav lights on the sides and tail of the aircraft.
• Ldg & Taxi - Turns on the landing and taxi lights on the front of the aircraft. You need to enabled "Advanced Lighting" in your preferences to see the spot light effect on the ground in front of helicopter.

Flight controls are:

• Start - Press and hold this to start engine. The engine must be primed and in the proper state for the start to be successful. There must also be adequate charge on the battery. The starter drains power quickly, so do not use longer than necessary.
• Throttle - Controls the throttle. Normally you only need to manually control (by dragging the red dot with the mouse) this at start-up and shutdown. In normal flight conditions the governor will automatically control throttle for you. There is also an "idle lock" feature that is activated by click on the box with the word "idle" under the throttle. This will lock the throttle in idle position for practice autorotations.
• Collective - Collective controls the total thrust the helicopter is producing. Drag the red dot with the mouse to move the collective. You can also use the Up/Down arrow keys. The red dot will show current collective position regardless of which method you use to manipulate it.
• Cyclic - Cyclic controls the direction that thrust is directed. Drag the red dot with the mouse to move the cyclic. In cruise flight, turns should be performed primarily with cyclic, with the pedals used for trim.
• Anti-Torque - Anti-Torque (pedals) is used to control the tail rotor thrust. Use the mouse in the horizontal bar to set pedal position, or use the Left/Right arrow keys to control anti-torque. The pedals should be used for turns during hovering flight, and for trim using the inclinometer while in cruise flight.
• Clutch - Used to engage rotor to engine after start, and to disengage before shutdown.
• Mixture - Controls the fuel/air mixture to the engine. See the start-up procedure for information on how to use it.
• Mags - Turns the magnetos on/off. There are both left and right magnetos. In normal flight you want to use both.

2 MINI-HUD

In addition to the standard HUD, there is also an alternative "Mini HUD". The mini HUD is essentially the same as the main hud in collapsed state, but has all the scripting for the instruments removed.

3 FUEL SYSTEM

There are left and right fuel caps located on the top of the aircraft near the main rotor mast. The fuel cap must be removed before servicing the aircraft. You can use any compatible refueling system (including typing "refuel" in local chat). For more control over your refueling, you can use the "SA AvGas Canister" bundled with this aircraft. Rez the canister within 10m of your aircraft and click on the canister. It will search for nearby aircraft which have had their fuel caps removed and display a list by N-Number. Choose the N-number of the aircraft you wish to fuel. Click the canister again to get a menu of refueling options. Refueling options include:

• Check - Check the current fuel level.
• n Gal - Add n gallons (various quantities are listed) to the tank.
• Fill - Fill tank completely.
• Done - Exit menu and disconnect from aircraft.

While a fuel canister is in use, it cannot be used by anyone else until they have selected "Done", filled the tanks, or a 5 min. timeout has expired.

Note that fuel has weight and will affect the performance of your aircraft. One gallon weighs approximately 6 pounds. If carnying a lot weight, it is sometimes useful to fill the tanks only part way.

4 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM AND BATTERY CHARGER

This aircraft uses a 12V electrical system. The current status of the electrical system is displayed on the top gauge of the HUD. The scale on the left side labeled AMPS shows the current rate of power consumption (or charge), while the right side labeled "VOLTS" shows the current charge on the battery. Both gauges only register when the master switch is on. All electrical devices use power and will drain the battery. The starter and the landing/taxi lights place the highest load on the battery. Below 9 volts, electrical devices including the starter will begin to fail or be less effective. Care must be taken to turn off the master switch after flight or the battery will be dead by the next flight.

An engine driven alternator recharges the battery during flight. It is enabled by switching on the Alternator switch on the HUD. The amount of power generated depends on engine RPM, and very little power is generated at low RPM levels. For this reason, it is best to turn off non-essential electrical equipment while idling.

A recharging system is provided to recharge the battery and/or perform a jump start if the battery is depleted. To use the recharger, you must first remove the cap on the electrical port located on the belly of the aircraft under the right passenger door You can then rez the "SA Battery Recharger" near the aircraft. Click on the power pack to select and connect to an aircraft. Once connected, it will automatically begin charging. Leave the master switch off in the aircraft while charing to minimize recharge time. A red light on the power pack indicates that the battery is being charged, while a green light indicates that the recharge is complete. An indicator on the power pack shows the current charge on the aircraft battery.

5 SEAT CONFIGURATION

You can switch between a 2-seat and a 3-seat configuration using the @Options menu. In the 2-seat configuration, the copilot (right seat) controls are installed, and dual controls are enabled. In the 3-seat configuration, the copilot controls are stowed in the baggage compartment and the helicopter can carry the pilot plus two passengers.

6 MAIN MENU

Menus are only available to the owner and registered or guest pilots of the aircraft. In general button options beginning with an "@" are sub-menus, and options beginning with "( )" or "(*)" are options that can be toggled. The buttons on the main menu are:

• HUD Connect - Reestablish connectivity between helicopter and HUD if it becomes disconnected, or if you wear HUD while already seated.
• @Options - Control various flight option settings.
• Park/Unpark - Make the aircraft non-physical/physical. Normally this occurs automatically when you sit in the aircraft, but this option can be used to control this manually.
• CG - Shows the current CG (Center of Gravity)
• @Realism - Enable or disable "realism" features of the aircraft flight characteristics.
• Get POH - Get a notecard with the aircraft POH (i.e., the manual)
• Get Checklist - Get a notecard with the aircraft checklists (start-up and shut-down).
• @Admin (owner only) - Access owner-only options
• @Give HUD - Display a sub-menu allowing you to give a copy of the HUD to the avi sitting in the pilot or co-pilot seat. Since the HUD is no-transfer, this is the only way to give a HUD to your passengers. If delivery fails, try again after waiting a few minutes as the sim on which the HUD server is placed may be down.
• @Cheat - Displays the "Cheat" menu with options to bypass various procedures. See "CHEATS" below for more details.
• @REGISTER - Access the aircraft registration menu. This button will only appear on the main menu if an N number had not yet been assigned.
• Safe Unsit - Slide avatar outside aircraft before unseating them. Useful when aircraft is physical.

7 ADMIN MENU

The admin menu contains options only available to the aircraft owner. Buttons/Options are:

• Guest - If enabled, anyone can sit in the pilot seat and fly the aircraft. If disabled, only the owner, or pilots explicitly added can fly the aircraft.
• Passenger - If enabled, allows anyone to sit in the passenger/co-pilot (left) seat. If disabled, only authorized pilots can use the co-pilot seat.
• Eject - Ejects whoever is sitting in the passenger seat. Use this to get rid of unauthorized passengers.
• Add Pilot - Add an authorized pilot. A maximum of 12 pilots can be registered. The pilot to be added should stand within 10m of aircraft to be recognized by the system.
• Remove Pilot - Remove a pilot from the authorized pilot list.
• List Pilots - List the authorized pilots.
• Recal. W&B - If you make any changes to the linkset, you should use this option to recalibrate the weight & balance for the scripts.
• @REGISTER - Assign or changer your aircraft's registration. See "N-NUMBER ASSIGNMENT" in Section 1 for more details.
• @Paint - Change the color/markings of your aircraft. See "PAINTKIT SYSTEM" below for more details.

8 ELT

This aircraft is equipped with an onboard ELT (Emergency Locator Transmitter). The ELT is located behind the baggage compartment with a small antenna mounted on the top of the fuselage. Controls for the ELT are on the main console below the Low RPM Warning light. The controls consist of a light that will flash to indicate an ELT alarm has been triggered, and a two position switch. When the switch is in the "Off" position, no ELT alrams will be triggered. When the ELT is in the "Arm" position, a sudden impact will trigger an ELT signal which can be tracked by search and rescue personnel.

Note: When fragile mode is enabled, an ELT alarm will cause the fire effects to persist until the ELT is turned off.

9 PAINTKIT SYSTEM

The paintkit system allows you to change the appearance of your helicopter. It is accessed through the @Paint sub-menu found on the @Admin menu. On this menu there are several built-in colors, and a "Custom" button to load a paint set from a separate "paintkit" prim. For custom designs you can either use a paintkit from a 3rd party vendor, or load your own texture set into the paint kit that came with your helicopter. To apply a paintkit, simply rez the paintkit near your helicopter and select "*Custom" from the @Paint menu. The helicopter will search for nearby paintkits and allow you to choose which you want to apply. Instructions on how to create your own custom paintkits can be found in the paintkit object.

10 OPTIONS MENU

The options menu is accessed from the @Options button on the main menu and is available to any registered pilot.

• Alerts - If enabled, alert messages about collisions or other unsafe conditions will be given. If disabled, no alert messages will be issued.
• Dust - If enabled, dust effects are produced when the aircraft is near the ground, water, or over a prim.
• Fragile - If enabled, a crash will cause helicopter to burst into flames and become non-responsive. Resets after a set time (or until ELT is turned off).
• Doors - Enable to show doors, disable to hide doors.
• Show/Hide GPS - Show or hide the GPS device.
• (n) Controls - Select a control scheme. Control schemes are discussed in the CONTROLS section near the beginning of this document.
• Copilot - Enable or disabled copilot controls
• (n) Seats - Select between 2-seat (pilot+copilot) and 3-seat (pilot+2 passengers) configurations.

11 CHEATS MENU

The cheats menu accessed from the @Cheat button on the main menu allows you to access functions to bypass several of the normal procedures.

• Charge Bat. - Charge the battery to full.
• Panel Fix - If you forget to put your side panels back on before you take off, you will "loose" the side panels. Use this button to get your side panels back.
• Fast Start/Stop - Use this button to start or stop your helicopter without going through the full procedure. You will still need to wait for the rotors to come to full speed when using Fast Start.

@Fuel - Accesses a sub-menu that lets you set the fuel level to a specific level.

12 REALISM MENU

The realism menu lets you enable or disable some of the RL helicopter flight characteristics. The features that can be enabled/disabled are:

• Density - If enabled, density altitude will have an effect on aircraft performance. This comes in play when operating at high altitudes. At high altitudes hover height and climb rate will be reduced from their values at lower altitudes.
• ETL (Effective Translational Lift) - If enabled, additional lift/performance is gained when forward airspeed goes above about 20 mph due to the main rotors constantly moving into clean air. When disabled, the additional performance is always available.
• Low RPM - When enabled, pulling excessive collective can result in decay of main rotor RPM. Decay can occur when the MP gauge is above red line. If this effect is disabled, rotor RPM will not decay when pulling collective beyond the red line on the MP gauge.
• Torque - When enabled, torque effects from the main rotor will be experienced. Torque increases as collective is pulled and manifests as a right turning tendency. As a result, left pedal will need to be increased and maintained as collective is increased.
• Vortex - When enabled, the helicopter can be subject to "vortex ring state" also known as "settling with power". This can occur when the helicopter is in a vertical descent of more than 300 feet/min with a forward speed of less than 30 mph while collective is at more than 50%. When vortex ring state occurs, the helicopter will experience a loss of lift and begin descending rapidly, even if additional collective is pulled.
• Translate - If enabled, the effects and compensation for translating tendency will be active. The net effect is that the left skid will hang slightly low in a hover.