Ok, I'll start.

With the GC scrim finished, I've been giving a lot of thought to how we here at TG, and also people generally, use transport choppers.

For the most part, I don't see them being used as 'sports but more as secondary attack choppers. While the Sokol may have been highly effective in this role prior to 1.80, my experiences after the scrim lead me to believe that it, like the other 'sports, no longer fits well with an active aggressive role. It does "OK" against armored units and other transports, possibly even the cobra, but is outright pitiful against infantry.

Frankly, I don't veiw this as problem because I feel that the pilot of a transport chopper should be focused on other, more worthwhile things. To that effect, I created a couple of clips showing how I feel transport choppers are best deployed - ostensibly, as transports. I first posted these in the 5th's forums for discussion so I'll just lift my comments for each directly from there.

The clips:

Sokol Transport Chopper 101 - SL Insertions Over Contested Flags - Saitcho Over The Listening Post


After reviewing the material in this clip, I deem that it could have been executed a little better on a couple of fronts. But if there are any faults, it is mostly due to the fact that I had no way of communicating with Saitcho, the SL I dropped off over the Listening Post roof.

First of all, however, it’s worth noting that before this maneuver was executed, the Ukraine team had just lost their last flag at the light house and were on bleed. The USMC overran our position and we were left spawned at the Ukr main where everyone took off in their vehicles, giving no rides on the side It was then that I decided that a transport chopper was needed rather than a combat Sokol. I waited for it to respawn, and in good GTA fashion, snagged it away from the last pilot who took it to the Beach and bailed out, leaving it there. Flew back, repaired, picked up Saitcho and crew, and that ‘s where the video starts.

Things that I would improve upon: communicate with the SL before embarking so that he and his crew all deploy over the roof together (one of them deployed on the chopper's left side and was pushed off). I could have gone in a little straighter and let momentum take me through. However, I was busy concentrating on all of a.) threading the needle over the roof at high speed, b.) braking and leveling to give a safe dust off over the LZ, using the radar domes as cover, c.) getting the hell out before I got nailed again and sent the flaming wreck down onto Saitcho and his men, and d.) chasing off the cobra and LB that were in the area and could easily disrupt Saitcho’s contested flag ops.

Apart from that, I call it a successful mission, one which expresses the value of a transport chopper when flown after the manner it was intended.

Sokol Transport Chopper 102 - SL Insertions Over Contested Flags - MoreGooder over the USMC-held Camp.
Not too much that could have been done differently on this one. It was important to provide support for Gooder on the low-ground beachhead and draw fire away from him if he were to be discovered. With no cover and being low to the ground, flares burn out quicker and are less effective. A direct hit from a MANPAD and 2 more from the F22 finished me off in fairly short order. [But not before the Gooder’s team flipped the flag in favor of the Ukraine.]

These two clips where pulled from the same BFR. The flags were flipped within I'd say (conservatively) about 3-4 minutes of each other (I botched an insertion before the second clip - VADs at the Camp got us, which is why I dhose the ramp as my next LZ ). The USMC didn't have majority bleed for long in either case.

The strength of a transport chopper is in its speed and mobility over land (not constrained by winding roads, hills, and other terrain artifacts). It can quickly change attack vectors on the fly, selecting from a number of LZs, where a jeep is fairly limited in terms of how it approaches enemy-held flags, especially when water needs to be crossed. A transport chopper's ability to react quickly to contested areas of the map and to initiate surprise assaults on poorly defended areas of the map that might otherwise be inaccessible over land - "back flags" being guarded by ground units who've set up thick kill zones, for instance - are its chief assets.

Pilots should look to exploit these strengths to their fullest rather than fly it like a secondary assault chopper. They just aren't well equipped for these roles. Through top-notch flying, a transport pilot delivering a steady run of SLs to hard points around contested flags or other areas of the map where they can flip flags quickly and unexpectedly will do more for their team than the handful of kills they might be able to acquire otherwise over the course of a round.

It's worth noting that, when flying an SL to a flag he wants to assault, it's probably best if he alone rides in the chopper with the pilot, instructing his SMs to spawn in after he's been dropped off at the LZ. Not only does this reduce the risk of accidental TK's, but a chopper full of men is a huge waste of tickets should things go south and is a real treat for AA, jets, other choppers, and and even for the odd tank when they get a screen full of kill reports.

It's also worth noting that a transport pilot would benefit greatly from having a commander to relay pickup and drop off orders and/or requests from SLs by suggesting safe LZs around flag areas.

Finally, wherever possible, the 'sport chopper should stick around for a while to provide some close air support (CAS), evac options for the SL, or at the very least, to draw fire. Their toughness allows them to absorb a couple of solid hits from most things before needing to RTB and repair/rearm. To that end, transport choppers might benefit from a support crew in addition to the pilot; an engineer to provide field repairs and someone to man weapon stations where appropriate (the BlackHawk, for instance) would greatly increase is combat potential and endurance as a CAS vehicle after SL delivery.