Aero Elite: Combat Academy: Harrier Guide by Paiseley 'faeaerissa' Tobin
Version 1.2 final, Last Updated 2008-08-28 View/Download Original File
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Aero Elite Combat Academy Harrier V/STOL guide. v 1.2
by FaeAerissa
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Introduction:
------------
I decided to do this guide because I've become highly adept at flying the
Harrier in the game, and since there aren't any other guides to flying the
Harrier in the game, I decided to give it my best shot. I wanted to do the full
FAQ for the entire game, but being how my hard drive bought desert farmland at
the end of March, I decided to do this one. I'm sorry it took so long to do a
Guide, but hey. It's here.
I know it's not perfect, but it IS my first FAQ/Guide...EVER. So pleasebe nice.
And who knows. Maybe you'll find this useful.
Updates:
-------
28.8.2008
Wow. I can't believe it's been five years since I put up this faq. I sure hope
people got some good mileage out of the game.
Word has it this game still sells for about $15-20 used (and is pretty hard to
find outside of eBay).
Unfortunately, Sega hasn't come out with a sequel, and I've gotten my flying
needs fulfilled elsewere
(i.e. MS Flight Simulator 2004, and X-Plane, as well as getting my pilot's
licence in real life).
This is the final update to this faq. Some typos will be corrected, and some
information will be omitted.
Disclaimer:
This Harrier Flythrough is now considered complete. There will be no further
updates.
This Flythrough/guide will hopefully help you get through the V/STOL training
in the game with more than flying
colours (or at least passable scores), and is by no means a substitution
for the instruction manual (or flying in real life).
You may reproduce this Guide, but ONLY if you reproduce this unaltered, and give
me credit for this Guide.
If you find this guide to be helpful or you have any suggestions, feel free to
email at
[email protected]. Make sure to include "Harrier Flythrough" in
the subject line. Repeated emails will be deleted.
Use Courier New or Courier or Monaco or any fought that can display this
properly:
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz12345678901234567890
Now it's time to strap on your helmet, fire up the jets and taxi to the runway.
We're taking off. (:
I. Basics
II. Lessons
III. Extra tips
IV.
V. Credits
VI. end
I. Basics
a. the Controls
The Harrier, even though it's a fixed-wing aircraft, isn't too dissimilar from a
helicopter, in that in VTOL mode, pitching the nose forward (by pressing up on
your analog stick). When going under 50kts, you can use your rudder controls to
turn left or right. You can also bank left or right to make your Harrier slide
in each respective direction.
However, if your forward speed is more than 50kts, banking to the left or right
will make you turn. The same holds true with the rudder controls.
Hovering with the Harrier has the same effect as hovering with a
helicopter, except you don't have the force of the torque from
the tail rotor to worry about.
b. V/STOL - Vertical/Short Take-Off and Landing
The V/STOL ability is the Harrier's claim to fame. At about 250 kts, you can
switch the Harrier from forward-flight mode to V/STOL mode. Whether this is the
speed where you can switch to V/STOL for the Harrier in REAL LIFE is accurate or
not, let's just say it's 250 kts for the purpose of the game and this guide.
When you're in VTOL mode, the vectored nozzles at both the front and the back of
the plane point to roughly and angle of more than 80 degrees. Since you don't
have much in the way of fine control (like you would with the real thing),
your nozzles are either at 83, 89, or 98 degrees.
While using the airbrake will almost certainly have your nozzles point
directly downward at 90 degrees, you can point the nozzles about
8 degrees forward by using the gear brake.
This is very helpful if you're trying to slow your forward speed
and attempting to hover.
Another thing that has an effect on your nozzles is your forward pitch.
When you're in VTOL mode, you will also get a statoscope display on your head,
which lets you know your rate of ascent/descent. This is yet another similarity
to the helicopter.
Also, you're using your throttle to control your rate of ascent/descent. Keeping
your statoscope between 0 and 1 (or 0 and -1), assures easy control of altitude
and rate of ascent/descent. Anything more than that, and your Harrier becomes
very hard to control/bring under control.
STOL is fairly straight-forward. It's the same as a normal fixed-wing aircraft,
except the take-off distance is much shorter. If you've chosen the Harrier for
your alert hangar, you're automatically in STOL mode. You're ALSO in STOL mode
if you're armed with missles and bombs.
When you're landing, it's the same as landing a fixed-wing aircraft, only you
can control your descent and stop much faster. Notice that you can't use the
Harrier in STOL challenge....:P
c. VIFF - Vector in Forward Flight
Vector in Forward Flight is another feature of your Harrier. This is activated
when you're in forward flight, and you hit your throttle button when it's at
100%. This gives you extra maneuverability when you're performing steep turns.
What happens is when you're in VIFF mode, your nozzles point downward (which is
the same position as VTOL, only you're in forward flight.
II. VTOL Training
1. Hovering
Objective - self-explanatory
High score - 100
My score - 99
a. Ascend to 300ft
b. hover
c. descent to 100 ft
d. hover
e. land
A few things to note here. When you're ascending to 300 ft (and the same when
you're descending to 100 ft) is you want to do this in increments. Use your
throttle to keep your statoscope between 0 and 1 (0 and -1, if you're
descending.). Even though you're being timed in this exercise, you want to take
your time. Not TOO much time, but enough where you can control your Harrier with
little to no problem. If you lose control of your Harrier, you'll have to use a
LOT of throttle JUST to bring your Harrier back under control.
Another thing to note is once you're about 10 feet off the ground, pitch your
nose forward to 0 degrees. This will keep you from slowly moving backward,
thus causing you to get drastic points deducted.
2. Level Flight
Objective - to successfully maintain level flight after switching from VTOL mode
to forward flight
High Score - 100
My Score - 97
a. Throttle your engine power accordingly and ascend to 500 ft.
Remember to pitch your nose forward to 0 so you don't move backwards.
When you're at a little bit below 500ft (let's say, about 490ft above the
ground),
keep your statoscope to just a little above zero (but well below +1).
When you're at 500ft, maintain that altitude for 10 seconds.
b. Now you'll be switching to forward flight. Raise your landing gear, and go
full throttle. By pitching your nose forward by a couple of degrees, you'll
actually help increase your speed. At about 50 kts, you'll enter full flight
mode. You'll know you're in full forward flight when your speed vector appears.
Keep your pitch at 01/4.
Be sure to watch your altitude, and make sure you can maintain a constant
altitude of 500 feet to the end of the runway.
3. Shift to Hovering
Objective - to successfully go into hovering after changing from forward flight
to VTOL mode within the time limit.
High Score - 100
My Score - 92
You're already in forward flight. Decelerate while maintaining altitude.
Decrease engine output accordingly and use your airbrakes to slow down to 250
kts. Once you're at 250 kts, lower your landing gear (which will put you in VTOL
mode). Use your gear brake to further decrease your speed in VTOL mode. Remember
what I mentioned earlier. Using your gear break will change your VTOL angle to
981/4, causing you to slow down. Don't forget to line up your speed vector to
maintain altitude.
Raising your nose will also help slow you down. Just to make sure to adjust your
throttle to compensate for any increase or decrease in altitude.
Once you're around 10 kts, land gently. If you're going a little forward in
speed when you're trying to land, use the gear brake while keeping your pitch at
0. If you're flying backwards, lower your nose until you're at 0 kts.
Just before you touch down, you want to pitch your nose to abouve five degrees,
which is where your Harrier is naturally pitched at when it's on the ground.
Once you're on the ground, cut the throttle and use your gear brake.
4. Turning
Objective - To successfully take-off, ascend, hover, turn 180 degrees while
hovering,
and land gently without moving forward or backward
My score - 87
Take off and ascend vertically to 200 ft, while keeping your nose at 0 degrees
pitch.
Using the rudder controls, rotate your nose 180 degrees (18 on your heads up
display)
to your right.
This is where you want to take your time when you're turning. If you turn too
fast, your Harrier will bank, thus changing your position. The idea is to
maintain the same position you were at when you first started.
This is difficult, because all the while, you're maintaining an altitude at
200ft.
Once you're at bearing 350 (35), land gently. Remember to pitch your nose up
5 degrees up when you're within 10 ft of the ground.
5. Parallel Shift
Objective - to ascent to altitude, slide to the runway on your right, and land.
My score - 87
Shifting is not unlike the sliding maneuver for helicopter training. The main
difference is you don't have to worry about needing to compensate for the torque
(inertia) from the tail rotor on a helicopter.
Lift off from the helipad you're on, and ascent to 200 ft. Remember to pitch the
nose forward to 0 degrees. While maintain an altitude of 200 ft, bank your
Harrier
slightly to the right. The aim here is to land on the runway on the right. When
you're about halfway from the runway, bank in the opposite direction with the
same amount of tilt. This will decelerate your Harrier slightly, so be sure to
adjust to halt smoothly. Remember to maintain altitude. Once you're over the
runway, land gently.
For your troubles, you get the AV-8B Harrier in full Marine camouflage paint.
Congratulations!!! You have your own Harrier. Remember to feed it and hug it and
give it proper care, okay? (:
And that concludes this section of the walkthrough.
IV. Information about the Harrier
http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/military/av8b/index.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrier_Jump_Jet
V. Credits
Thanks to Sega for actually having the courage to do another Aero Wings game. To
Sony for publishing this very unique and great sim. To all the guys who post on
the AECA board, especially YWingAce, HondaF1, and others I'll mention in an
update. It's nice to know there IS a hard core console sim fan base for this
game.
VI. end
And that's the end.
Aero Elite: Combat Academy: Harrier Guide by faeaerissa
Version 1.2 Final, Last Updated 2008-08-28 View/Download Original File
Hosted by GameFAQs
Return to Aero Elite: Combat Academy (PS2) FAQs & Guides
