_______________________
| Battlefield: Vietnam | Hello and welcome to another High-quality FAQ
| Air Vehicles FAQ | from WOODENSTICK!
| By WOODENSTICK |
| VERSION 1.1 |
|______________________|
Battlefield: Vietnam (BFV for short) is a game which attempts to take
Battlefield 1942 to the jungles of Vietnam. While not nearly as succesful, the
game introduced some very nice things that the BFV community liked. One of
these was the official introduction of Helicopters. Lets face it, the Planes in
this game are far cooler than the ones in the previous. They go faster, look
cooler and pack meaner weapons.
Having said that, I find Air combat to the one of the best parts of the game.
Its a sheer adrenaline piloting these things through the trees. While I admit
im not really any kind of professional at flying BFV planes (im more of a
kamakazie pilot, actually :D ), I have always been glad to help pick up the
slack when I think something needs explaining.
Read this FAQ, the go out there and enjoy the BFV air vehicles!!
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Vehicle Info
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[US AIR VEHICLES]
UH-1 Iroquois (Huey) Transport (Helicopter)
-Holds 5 people
-2 side mounted M60 machine guns
-Can airlift certain vehicles
UH-1 Iroquois (Huey) Gunship (Helicopter)
-Holds 2 people
-Dual missile launchers, M5 40mm nose mounted grenade launcher, M134 autocannon
AH-1 Huey Cobra (Helicopter)
-Holds 2 people
-Dual missile pods, heat-seeking missiles and M134 autocannon
-Good helicopter for air conflicts
ACH 47 Chinook (Helicopter)
-Holds 6 people
-Two forward-facing autocannons, 2 M60 machine guns and 2 missile launchers
F-4 Phantom II (Plane)
-Heat-Seeking missiles and Napalm -High speed and manuverbility
A7 Corsair II (Plane)
-Autocannon and Bombs
-Good against helicopters and planes
[NVA AIR VEHICLES]
Mi8 Hip (Helicopter)
-Holds 6 people
-Missile launchers X4
-Assault craft/Transport hybrid
Mi8 Hip Cargo (Helicopter)
-Holds 6 people
-No weapons
-Acts as mobile spawn point
Mig 17 Fresco (Plane)
-Machine gun, Bombs
-Very fast and agile
Mig 21 Fishbed
-Machine gun, Bombs
-good at taking out both air and ground targets
Ok. If you ever flew one of these in Battlefield 1942, its the exact same
thing, so you could skip this. To those who havent, listen closely.
Battlefield Vietnam planes have the following controls.
| Control | Key assigned (in my game)
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Speed up | W
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Slow down | S
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Rudder left | A
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Rudder right | D
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Roll left | Left Arrow
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Roll right | Right Arrow
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Pitch up | Up Arrow
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Pitch down | Down Arrow
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Fire | Space
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Alt. Fire | Ctrl
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In addition to those, you may also note the parachute key (default is 9), for
those unplanned evacuations.
NOTE: You can, if you want, steer the plane with the mouse, However I find this
limits you a bit with manuvrebility when flying around.
Ok, when you find a plane, get into it by pressing E (the default key) You can
change views with C, you may want to start with the outside view until you get
the feel for the plane. Here are some simple steps for taking off.
1. Hold down W. The plane will start to move down the runway.
2. When you feel the plane is moving fast enough, hold the down key to take
off. Keep the key held down to rise . From now on, The pitch down key makes you
go up, and the pitch up key makes you go down.
Now for the harder part: turning.
In normal land vehicles, the turn button is usually a key such as A on my
controls, located for easy access near the accelerate button. In these planes,
attempting to turn using only the A and D keys will send you into a
pathetically large turning circle. To fix this, we have to use the "roll left"
and "roll right" these make your aircraft - you guessed it - roll either left
or right. Rolling while turning makes for a much smaller turning circle. Just
don't roll too much, or you'll end up crashing.
Now, you should be able to take off and fly around. If you ever get into any
kind of trouble, for example if you don't think you are going to clear a tree,
then don't hesitate to exit the plane in midair (Default key is E) and open
your parachute (default is 9) I suggest as soon as you exit the plane, you
hammer the parachute key like crazy until it opens.
Ok, you now have the basic skills it takes to fly an fighter plane in the game.
[HELICOPTERS]
These are new to Battlefield, and they are a bitch to keep airbourne, as I have
found out on many occasions. If you don't get good at this straight away, don't
worry.
The controls are vastly different.
| Control | Key assigned (in my game)
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Fly Higher | W
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Fly Lower | S
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Tilt Left | A
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Tilt Right | D
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Swing Tail Left | Left Arrow
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Swing Tail Right | Right Arrow
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Pitch up (fly forward) | Up Arrow
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Pitch down (fly backward)| Down Arrow
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Fire | Space
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Alt. Fire | Ctrl
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: Helicopters also can have multiple seats. Some are just for transport,
but some can be used to man guns on the sides. To control the guns, you direct
them with your mouse and fire with the fire button (default mouse1)
Also, remember the parachute button too.
Find a helicopter, and get in. Here is what to do to start flying around.
1. Hold down W. This should get the helicopter airbourne.
2. Gently tap the pitch up key. This will get you flying forward.
Directions for turning:
Much like the plane controls, it is useful to combine the left/right arrows wit
the A/D keys. Be careful, the controls for helicopters are very sensitive.
1. If going forward qickly, slow down by pitching down.
2. Swing the tail end of the helicopter away from the direction you want to go,
so you're facing the right way.
3. Fly forward again.
Once again, use the parachute. Use it frequently, it will save your life.
Well, you should now be able to fly both types of air vehicle with basic skill.
Combat in the air can be fast paced, and you need to have nessecary skills in
order to make the most of your time in the air.
[AIR TO AIR COMBAT - Helicopters]
Helicopters rarely stand a chance against a good fighter pilot. Their missiles
are not homing, which make for a big problem for the fast-moving jets. Machine
guns are their only chance of survival.
Try to out manuvre them. If you can fly close to the ground, that helps.
Helicopters can hover, while planes can't.
When taking on another helicopter, it helps to be at the same height as they
are, if you can get a few missiles away, and get them off balance, they should
be easy to finish off.
[AIR TO GROUND COMBAT - Helicopters]
This is what the helicopters are built for. If you're flying, you want to give
your gunners the best view of the enemy as possible. Use the tilt and rotate
buttons, and move your helicopter around above the enemy. Missiles are the main
thing you have to watch out for, it's best to hit one place fast, take a few
lives, then fly away to return later. The missiles on your helicopter are by
far the best weapon availible to you here, use them well for destroynig tanks
and other vehicles.
[AIR TO AIR COMBAT - Jets]
With this, the object is simple, find a target, and don't lose him! I recommend
using the cockpit view for this, because you get a crosshair. Use your radar,
it will show you where the enemies are. If you have homing missiles, find a
enemy, fly in close behind him, and let them have it. If you have a machine
gun, lead to the target by aiming in front of where he is going. This isn't as
effective as missiles, but the machine gun lasts longer and can be more
effective if used correctly.
Remember, if someone is tailing you, or shooting you, you have to lose them.
Try some tricky turning, or one of the manuvres in the next section.
[AIR TO GROUND COMBAT - Jets]
Machine guns are no use here. You need explosives to make your appearance known
on the ground. Bombs/Napalm are your friends, if you are the one firing them.
Fly low over the target, and drop the bomb about a second before you actually
pass over the target, and the bomb's momentum will guide it the rest of the
way. Missiles can be used, but they are best saved for other jets. Don't do the
same bombing pattern over and over, enemies might try and take you down with a
missile if you get to predictable.
[BARREL ROLL]
Conducted simply by doing a full 360 degree roll either left or right. Remember
that when you are upside down, the control are inverted too. Pitching down will
mean pitching up, and vice versa. Don't fall into the trap of holding down
pitch up, so that when you get upside down you go ploughing into the ground.
Best to stay off the pitch keys all together.
Helicopters can do this, but almost nobody with a social life can. :D
In other words, if you are flying a helicopter, don't try it.
[REALLY SHARP TURNS]
Conducted by rolling onto your side while pitching down. For maximum effect,
don't go fully onto your side, just so you can swing around easy and straighten
up. You should approach this by flying straight, then rolling the way you want
to turn, and pitching up.
It is not recommended helicopters do this, but if you are going to, only tilt a
slight bit, or else you are going to lose control.
[LOOP DE LOOP]
To do this, its simple. Hold down W, and the down key. Your plane will do a
loop de loop. This an excellent way to lose a enemy plane, it works almost
every tims. A word of advice though, don't try to do them taking off/really
close to the ground. You will end up losing altitude if you do the loop de
loop.
Helicopters can do this, but the are hard to recover from. It requires quite a
bit of counter-pitching. Try it and see if you can manage it. You need to be
going high and fast though.
[LOW-ALTITUDE FLIGHT]
This can actually be used to "re-fuel" your plane/helicopter in midair, or even
pick up passengers without stopping if done correctly. Is also a good way to
shake an opponent. Be careful where you do this though, Vietnam has a lot of
trees which are all to happy to smash your plane/helicopter up. Fly your
vehicle so it is skimming across the ground.
[UPSIDE-DOWN FLIGHT]
More of a showing-off tactic than anything else. Think Top-Gun. The hardest
thing about this is remembering that your controls are all messed up. If you
fly normally when upside down, you will crash so fast it will not be funny. For
you, anyway ^_^
Helicopters can not do this for more than 0.44 seconds before they crash and
burn.
[LOW-ALTITUIDE UPSIDE-DOWN FLIGHT]
As if flying upside down was had enough! For the ultimate adreneline rush, this
is the only way to fly!
[NOSE DIVE]
Fly high, then drop nose first, straight down. Another good way to lose a enemy
plane. Leave quite a bit of space to pull up from, and ease off the
accelerator.
Planes only.
Q: I still can't fly after reading your FAQ
A: Perhaps its best you keep both feet on the ground, son.
Q: Why aren't there many manuvers to do in helicopters?
A: They just aren't built for it. Helicopters aren't really about tricks and
stunts.
Q: *crazy female voice* OMG WOODENSTICK! I love you have my babies
A: Maybe later. I have FAQs to write at the moment. >_>
Q: You got a fact wrong
A: Email me. I probably won't care though.
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VERSION HISTORY
===============================================================================
[1.0]
First Version. Started 26/1/05 Finished 26/1/05. Still have to implement the
"vehicle info" section, waiting for info.
[1.1]
Recieved info, finished vehicle info section, corrested spelling and fixed
margins. Started 27/1/05, Finished 27/1/05
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SPECIAL THANKS AND CLOSING
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Hope this FAQ was of help, and that you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed
writin- errr, I hope you enjoyed it a lot >_>
I admit I was never a big BF: Vietnam player, I don't have much online
experience, but I enjoy the game as much as the next guy.
There are several things that need to be thanked, the first is myself, for once
again stepping in to write a much-needed FAQ on this subject.
The second is this great site, GameFAQs. Its too awesome to comprehend.
Also a big thanks to my iPod. Its been a big help.
And thanks to you, for reading this FAQ and learning from it.
To anybody thinking of writing a FAQ, its a great thing to do, something I
recommend.
Peace out!
Till next time,
WOODENSTICK
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CONTACT INFO
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I can be contacted on the below email.
jib1337@gmail.com
Please include "FAQ" in the subject line, or it will not get the filter.
Thanks. Remember to read the FAQs before contacting me.
