Alouette-III
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| Type | Helicopter, Civil utility aircraft, Light aircraft, VTOL aircraft |
| Configuration | Tricycle landing gear aircraft, Fixed gear aircraft |
| Propulsion | Single-engine aircraft, Turboprop aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Sud Aviation, Aérospatiale |
| Author(s) |
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| FDM | JSBSim |
| --aircraft= | Alouette-III |
| Status | Early production |
| FDM |
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| Cockpit |
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| Model |
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| Development | |
| Website |
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| Repository |
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| Download |
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| License | GPLv2+ |
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The Aérospatiale Alouette III (French for Skylark) is a single-engine, light utility helicopter developed by Sud Aviation and later manufactured by Aérospatiale of France. The Alouette III is the successor to the Alouette II, being larger and having more seating.
The helicopter has a long operational history in the air forces or navies of many different countries.
Aircraft help
The Alouette-III is equipped with in-sim checklists and tooltips for ease of use - to start the engines, follow the checklist. Most controls are implemented via clickspots in the 3d cockpit, only difficult to reach controls have key bindings.
Autopilot
The helicopter comes with a simple autopilot which can hold altitude and heading or follow the heading bug. The AP is designed to help you fly the helicopter, not to fly it for you - it expects a well-trimmed craft, do not engage the AP during dynamical maneuvers.
To engage the AP, make sure you're flying straight and level and use the pedals to null drift. First flick the AP master switch Ctrl+a - this makes the AP take over pedal controls. Next engage heading-hold mode Ctrl+h and be prepared to deal with transient altitude changes. Then trim the helicopter well in the pitch axis such that you can let go of the controls for at least 10 seconds without loss of control. Once that is the case, engage altitude hold mode to lock current altitude Ctrl+l .
Once the Alouette is in stable flight, you can control it via the heading bug on the heading indicator by engaging the heading bug acquire mode Ctrl+b . You have very limited control over airspeed using the collective.
Do not change trim while the AP is on, and do not move your controls around, or you will have to fight nasty transients when you disengage the AP again.
Key bindings
| Key | Function |
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| CTRL+a | AP master switch |
| CTRL+b | AP lock course to heading bug |
| CTRL+h | AP lock course to current heading |
| CTRL+l | AP lock current altitude |
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