DAGGER ARMANET 172 Posted July 21, 2015 Currently working on the early stages of an Sikorsky S-97 Raider mod. Again this is the very early stages and the model is currently being worked on, the screenshots below definitely have some issues and proportions that are still not right. There are still a hundred things being addressed, added, and adjusted. This will be my first ARMA 3 mod, but i have experience modding in other games over the years. As such this will be a labor of love and there are two others helping with it at this stage. FVL Program. The Sikorsky S-97 Raider is Sikorskys bid for the Future Vertical Lift program. It is a high speed scout and attack compound helicopter. The S97 Raider made its maiden flight on May 22nd 2015. It features coaxial main rotors as well as a pusher propeller which is what makes the S97 a compound helicopter. This gives the helicopter the ability to reach higher speeds. I know that the current ARMA flight model may prove tricky with some of the features this helo can bring to the table which is why its still early in development. But the real world timeline of this helo fits nicely within ARMA 3s timeline. And its high speed thanks to its pusher propeller will nicely fit within ARMAs large terrains. Please keep in mind this helicopter is still in active development, things will change with the real world version of this helicopter that I may not try to capture. This is a PROPOSED helicopter for the FVL program. It will most assuredly look a lil different with new pods, sensors, and add ons IF it eventually makes its way to active service within the military. AND THAT IS A BIG IF. I will say once again. I know this helicopter is one of several different platforms being developed by different companies for the FVL program. I just thought the S97 Raider was cool and would fit within ARMA 3. Thanks! Features: Crew: 2 Pilots Capacity: 6 - 8 Troops Cruise Speed 407 km/h Service Menu (later down the line and after an Alpha release) Armament: (Still figuring this out as its a bit of a shot in the dark) .50 cal gun w/800 rounds rocket pod of some sort Possibly other configurations that would seem plausible. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
officeramr 269 Posted July 22, 2015 Isn't the S97 meant to be the fastest Helicopter in the world? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Von Quest 1161 Posted July 22, 2015 Looks great! Fantastic. What software you using for the modeling? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
croguy 19 Posted July 22, 2015 Oh man, this is going to turn into a must-have mod if you make it all fine and well. I'd imagine most people would be confused when handling it, however. Pusher prop and all. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rasdenfasden 12 Posted July 22, 2015 Oh boy, I really wanna see this thing ingame. What possible methods of creating a suitable flight model are there? One way would be to make it Arma 2 VTOL-esque. Perhaps a cooler method would be to use the chopper FM (maybe even AFM!), and use custom bindings to control the pusher prop, if that can be convincingly simulated with scripts. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
serjames 357 Posted July 22, 2015 Looks good... Weapons wise I would hazard a guess that the tactics for this bird would be about utilising its speed and momentum... stand-off weapons may be more applicable ? Anyway... Looks great and totally fits the 2035'verse Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DAGGER ARMANET 172 Posted July 22, 2015 Isn't the S97 meant to be the fastest Helicopter in the world? I am not sure but that would be really cool. I know some folks that are involved with the Sikorsky S97 program at least from a support side of things. Maybe I will ask them Looks great! Fantastic. What software you using for the modeling? Hey Goblin, me and some friends were having a great time with Spookwarcom last night btw ! The modeling has now been handed off to a friend of mine. I did the initial model you see in Cinema4D and have now handed it off to him to work on in 3DS Max and finished there as well. It was started in Cinema4d simply because its the 3D software I am the fastest in. I would say the model is currently 90 percent complete. The screenshots i posted at the top of the thread are a couple weeks old and new stuff has been added to the model already. I will detail that below. Oh boy, I really wanna see this thing ingame.What possible methods of creating a suitable flight model are there? One way would be to make it Arma 2 VTOL-esque. Perhaps a cooler method would be to use the chopper FM (maybe even AFM!), and use custom bindings to control the pusher prop, if that can be convincingly simulated with scripts. Great question Rasden, discussions are ongoing about the flight model itself as we speak. I would like the pusher prop to have some active element to it and not just window dressing on a helo flight model. But not sure if thats possible. I think the bottom line with this helo is that i want to take the stance that sykocrazy has taken with the MELB, which is to make the flight model realistic, balanced, but most important FUN to fly. I believe he has said that in regards to the MELB and I personally think its the best flying helo in ARMA. They did such an amazing job with it so its sort of our inspiration. I will probably reach out privately to a lot of the great helo modders soon to get any insights they may have. I am starting to get to that phase of the project as we speak. Weapons wise I would hazard a guess that the tactics for this bird would be about utilising its speed and momentum... stand-off weapons may be more applicable ?Anyway... Looks great and totally fits the 2035'verse Yeah serjames i would say your correct in your assessment of the tactics this helo would employ. It was originally slated for the United States Army's Armed Aerial Scout Program. So weapons wise I am going to be diving into that stuff next. Figuring out what would work best and be realistic while at the same time giving the helo some flexibility. Ok so here are a few things I wanted to note for everyone. Parts of the model that are currently being changed from the screenshots posted. - Cargo door shape and position - Landing gear door - Main rotor angle - Pylons - Rear inverted wing length - Refinement of the pusher prop geometry - Refinement of the main coaxial rotor assembly Parts that are being added to the model - Cockpit - Internal cargo area seating - Landing gears - Additional small pieces to the outer layer of the helo to give it more detail - IR Jammer More details to come especially in taking inspiration from the MELBs IR Jammer - Windscreen (windows etc) Will hopefully post more screenshots after the helo is done be worked on in 3DS Max. Thanks for the kind words, glad this project has some admirers. I think the S97 is a pretty awesome concept and really wanted to see it in game so thats ultimately what made me finally decide to do it. Patience is a virtue. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chortles 263 Posted July 22, 2015 What possible methods of creating a suitable flight model are there? One way would be to make it Arma 2 VTOL-esque.Major warning: this is simply meaning a fixed-wing aircraft (Plane class) with vtol = 3; which is a problem since a fixed-wing aircraft won't work with the Advanced Flight Model or sling-loading and the fixed-wing flight model is its own can of worms. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yasotay 197 Posted July 22, 2015 Very excited to see this aircraft coming to Arma. Having had opportunity to fly the S-97 Raider simulator and keeping an eye on the program I will offer you some thoughts for your effort. First the aircraft is intended to cruise in the 200-220 knot range. The pusher prop will allow it to do some very unique maneuvers to include: horizontal acceleration (don't have to put the nose down to accelerate), rapid horizontal deceleratoin (no flair to decel), prolonged nose low and nose high attitudes. Aircraft has a 3g load rating (i.e. really tight turns at high speed). The aircraft is currently planned to seat 6 troops, however since seats are the first thing to go in a combat zone (especially with the "operators"), I would recommend that you make it able to hold eight. The aircraft will, in its current form have a gun pod (most likely a .50 cal) and a small seven shot rocket pod. That does not mean that it won't be able to carry larger payloads like bigger rocket pods or Hellfire missile, they just have not gotten there yet. That will slow down the aircraft some as well due to the increased drag. I think your greatest challenge will be as mentioned, getting the Arma code to adapt to the aircrafts capabilities (like level acceleration/deceleration) and the higher speeds. Good luck and looking forward to flying your model! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DAGGER ARMANET 172 Posted July 23, 2015 Very excited to see this aircraft coming to Arma. Having had opportunity to fly the S-97 Raider simulator and keeping an eye on the program I will offer you some thoughts for your effort. First the aircraft is intended to cruise in the 200-220 knot range. The pusher prop will allow it to do some very unique maneuvers to include: horizontal acceleration (don't have to put the nose down to accelerate), rapid horizontal deceleratoin (no flair to decel), prolonged nose low and nose high attitudes. Aircraft has a 3g load rating (i.e. really tight turns at high speed). The aircraft is currently planned to seat 6 troops, however since seats are the first thing to go in a combat zone (especially with the "operators"), I would recommend that you make it able to hold eight. The aircraft will, in its current form have a gun pod (most likely a .50 cal) and a small seven shot rocket pod. That does not mean that it won't be able to carry larger payloads like bigger rocket pods or Hellfire missile, they just have not gotten there yet. That will slow down the aircraft some as well due to the increased drag. I think your greatest challenge will be as mentioned, getting the Arma code to adapt to the aircrafts capabilities (like level acceleration/deceleration) and the higher speeds. Good luck and looking forward to flying your model! Thanks so much I may get in contact with you soon via private message was some of your thoughts in regards to your flight simulator experience with this bird Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yasotay 197 Posted July 23, 2015 Happy to assist anyway I can. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DAGGER ARMANET 172 Posted July 23, 2015 (edited) Quick Update I have included some new stills of the model which is currently undergoing refinement and major additions. In these screenshots your getting some of the animating cargo door, refined tail section, new rocket pod, beginnings of pitot tubes, railings, Imporoved landing gear door shape etc. Next update will take awhile as we are working on the internals of the helo, -cockpit -seating -wires, hoses, items that give it some realistic feel -flooring WE ARE ALSO CREATING NEW ROTOR BLADES AND PUSHER PROP GEOMETRY. The ones in the stills were are temporary rotor blades. Enjoy. Edited July 23, 2015 by Opsixdelta Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chortles 263 Posted July 23, 2015 I imagine that those launcher 'tubes' will actually empty once the rocket is fired...? (The sample helicopter is useful in this regard I think.) On the other hand, is that what a S-97-specific pod is supposed to look like or were you not able to proxy in an existing A3 rocket pod for the visual appearance? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yasotay 197 Posted July 23, 2015 (edited) Looks great. Will try to get you photos of the rotors and fan for you. Probably already know exhaust is just forward of the fan. Have a photo of the cockpit design somewhere. Side stick cyclic and single collective in between the two pilots. PM me so I can get you some of the info if you need it. Edited July 23, 2015 by Yasotay Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DAGGER ARMANET 172 Posted July 24, 2015 I imagine that those launcher 'tubes' will actually empty once the rocket is fired...? (The sample helicopter is useful in this regard I think.) On the other hand, is that what a S-97-specific pod is supposed to look like or were you not able to proxy in an existing A3 rocket pod for the visual appearance? More place holder for the build at this point. Weapons systems is something we are moving into now. Its a proxy for the time being. One of the issues with this helo is identifying proper weapons systems at this point. So any thoughts would be welcome ! Looks great. Will try to get you photos of the rotors and fan for you. Probably already know exhaust is just forward of the fan. Have a photo of the cockpit design somewhere. Side stick cyclic and single collective in between the two pilots.PM me so I can get you some of the info if you need it. That would be appreciated especially cockpit wise. Rotors and fan we do have proper reference for but I welcome any you have of course. We have several images both real and concept from different stages of the S97 program and there are some variations. So yeah any expertise and reference you have is great ! Again this mod is EARLY in development. Most of it has just been the modelling so far. The hard part is about to begin lol. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Von Quest 1161 Posted July 24, 2015 Model looks gorgeous. Just got into modeling this year. Not easy stuff. How do you get such smooth curves without a zillion poly count? Any Tip/Guides for a noob modeler? Been using Blender for my projects. Looks awesome! Perfect fit for ArmA III. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DAGGER ARMANET 172 Posted July 24, 2015 thanks Goblin, i work at a visual effects company in NYC that works in film and television so we have a lot of talented people to help model. The poly count is a little too high at the moment and will be brought down . It's a process we use both in film and television, my partner in this is a master at translating high poly models to game worlds. He has worked in the game industry for 10 years. So the modeling phase I knew would be easy. It's now the flight model that will be the hard part. Lower poly model will be up next week. It actually looks identical except for a few areas that you shouldn't notice. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sykocrazy 67 Posted July 24, 2015 Awesome! As much as i really dislike this helicopter, you're doing a great job at modeling it! I can't wait to see how it flies! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LoseBummer 4 Posted July 24, 2015 Absolutely gorgeous. The big brother of the Raider it´s also coming. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yasotay 197 Posted July 25, 2015 (edited) Tried to find a good picture of the cockpit for you. Unfortunatley the ones I could find have "Proprietary" stamps on them so this may be a challenge. Will ask them if they will share. So anyway here is what I can tell you, As mentioned earlier their is only one collective in the middle and the cyclics are outboard for the pilots (left side pilot will fly with their left hand). Other than that the grips will be identical. There is no decided on control panel so I would tell you that you can likely do as you please. Two large multifunction displays are probably as good as any idea. There are no pedals in the aircraft. Yaw is done through the cyclic. The aircraft will accelerate like a jet (i.e. start slow but accelerate very quicky. Slowing on the other hand will be very rapid, like throwing out an anchor. Aircraft will have a very distinct sound when flying at high speed. Recommend you check out the Sikorsky X2 demonstators videos on You Tube. There will of course be a FLIR under the nose, but again that is later in the program. If you model the one on the MELB or the one on the MH-60M DAP you are probably not far off. will see what i can find out about the gear retraction, but imagine the oloe strut pulls up some while folding in. Edited July 25, 2015 by Yasotay Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
officeramr 269 Posted July 25, 2015 Absolutely gorgeous. The big brother of the Raider it´s also coming. I dont think it will replace the BH since there is the allusive stealth hawk about Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HitmanTwoActual 188 Posted July 25, 2015 I dont think it will replace the BH since there is the allusive stealth hawk about Good... good... it's working. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CaptainAzimuth 714 Posted July 25, 2015 I dont think it will replace the BH since there is the allusive stealth hawk about If your talking about the one used in Zero Dark Thirty, we've already seen it. The Arma 3 Ghost Hawk looks so much better than the real life version. On another note, found the Cockpit of the S-97 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Sikorsky_S-97_Raider_Cockpit_MacDill_AirFest_5Oct2011_(14513001908).jpg Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sykocrazy 67 Posted July 25, 2015 If your talking about the one used in Zero Dark Thirty, we've already seen it. The Arma 3 Ghost Hawk looks so much better than the real life version.On another note, found the Cockpit of the S-97 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Sikorsky_S-97_Raider_Cockpit_MacDill_AirFest_5Oct2011_(14513001908).jpg That looks more like a placeholder than anything else.. here's a shot of something closer to a final version. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CaptainAzimuth 714 Posted July 25, 2015 That looks more like a placeholder than anything else.. here's a shot of something closer to a final version. fantastic! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
