AH-94

The AH-94 (Dragonfly) is a dedicated attack helicopter designed chiefly for air-to-ground combat. It was released on January 6, 2022, as VTOL VR's first DLC. The AH-94 is known for its high maneuverability and responsiveness, allowing it to fill many close-range air support roles on the battlefield.

Strategy

The AH-94 serves best as a close air support (CAS) asset. Its high maneuverability makes it good for sneaking up on ground targets, such as SAM Launchers and Tanks. The AH-94 is not built for air-to-air combat but has its own IR missiles for defending against hostile aircraft at close range. The feature that makes this aircraft stand out from the rest is its ground radar. This device is located at the top of the aircraft and can be equipped in the Hardpoints screen. The location of the ground radar allows the player or players to hover with the radar above an obstacle like a building or mountain and figure out where the enemy positions are. When you lock on to something with the ground radar, the radar will display an image of what it senses. This feature allows the pilot and gunner to classify targets according to their radar cross section.

Start-Up Procedure

1. Enable the main battery
2. Engage the APU
3. Enable all MFDs and the HUD
4. Activate interior lights if desired
5. Close the cockpit door
6. Ensure that Rotor Fold is not active
7. Disengage Rotor Brake
8. Activate the left engine Starter
9. Increase rotor Power to Idle using the lever on the left
10. Wait for the light next to the starter switch to turn off; use this time to set up your MFDs.
11. Engage the Right engine starter, wait for light to turn off
12. Increase engine Power to max, wait for Rotor RPS to enter green zone on engine stat display
13. Disengage the APU
14. Slowly raise the Collective lever to ascend
15. Raise landing gears
16. Adjust Trim as needed using the flight Collective and Cyclic

Armament

Main Article: AH-94/Hardpoints

Cockpit

The AH-94 has a tandem cockpit design, with a pilot's seat in the rear and a co-pilot/gunner seat in the front. Both seats allow for the complete operation of the flight controls and weapons systems. Only one crew member can have control of the flight controls at a time, with a designation light displaying who is in control. In singleplayer, it is possible to switch seats to fly from either position. The copilot in singleplayer is present only for decoration and has no actual in-game functionality.

Copilot Controls

In Multiplayer games, up to two pilots can fly a single AH-94, allowing aircraft functions to be delegated between the two players at will.

In the copilot's seat, the TEDAC (TADS Electronic Display And Control) is located in between the two MFDs, allowing for easier interaction with the TADS (Target Acquisition and Designation Sight) or other manually-operated targeting systems.