Sling Loading (showcase)

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Use your heavy transport helicopter to support NATO forces on Altis. Mission Description

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Sling Loading
Time	07:45 AM
Date	15-08-2035
Location	FOB Whiskey, Altis, Republic of Altis and Stratis

Sling Loading is a playable showcase mission in ArmA 3. It was added with the release of the Helicopters DLC.

Overview

This is a premium mission that requires ownership of the Helicopters DLC.

The player controls U.S. Army aviator Lieutenant Nichols, callsign November. The AAF and their CSAT allies have successfully been driven into pockets at the south-east and north-east corners of the island.

However, allied fire support units in the field need an urgent resupply to continue their mission. LT Nichols has been tasked with delivering vital ammunition to them.

Role/class:

• Air / Helicopter Pilot

Default loadout:

• Primary weapon: Vermin (4× magazines)
  • ACO SMG (Red)
• Secondary weapon: None
• Equipment: Smoke Grenade (Green) (1×), Smoke Grenade (Blue) (1×), Smoke Grenade (Orange) (1×), Chemlight (Green) (2×)
• Backpack: None

There are no alternate pieces of equipment to choose from.

Objectives

Primary

• (1) Get In
• (2) Collect the Ammunition
• (3) Deliver the Ammunition
• (4) Collect the Strider
• (5) Deliver the Strider
• (6) Land at FOB Whiskey
• (7) Load Reinforcements
• (8) Deliver Reinforcements
• (9) Land at FOB Whiskey

Optional

N/A

Mandatory

• Avoid collateral damage/friendly fire
• Obey HQ's orders
• Your helicopter must not be immobilised
• Your cargo must remain intact
• Your helicopter's slingload hook must not be wrecked
• Do not leave the AO

Walkthrough

Primary 1: Get In

Hop into the heavy-lift helicopter parked at the helipad as pilot.

Primary 2: Collect the Ammunition

Spin up your rotors and fly directly to the AAC airfield to the south-west of FOB Whiskey.

Once you arrive, hover above the marked container and toggle your Slingload Assistant (SLA). Lower your altitude until the meter turns green to denote that you are at an acceptable height above the cargo, then select the Hook action. Now ascend until you reach a suitable height away from obstacles on the surface like treetops and power lines, then fly to grid coordinates 147-148.

Primary 3: Deliver the Ammunition

Drop off the container next to the artillery batteries at the blue smoke marker on the outskirts of Faronaki. Remember to slowly descend so that the container doesn't get damaged when you unhook it.

Primary 4: Collect the Strider

Divert to grid coordinates 147-130 where an AAF MRAP has been stranded above water. Once again, descend to an acceptable height and proceed to hook the vehicle.

Primary 5: Deliver the Strider

Fly towards the capital city of Pyrgos and drop off the MRAP at the heliport next to the military base. You will see green smoke placed at the designated Landing Zone.

Descend slowly and be careful not to accidentally disconnect the slingloading ropes/hooks on the rotor blades of the parked helicopter or the nearby guard towers. Detach the cargo once you're in position and gain altitude again.

Primary 6: Land at FOB Whiskey

Return to FOB Whiskey. When you're flying over the gulf, this objective will be cancelled and you will be ordered to divert to the AAC airfield once more.

Primary 7: Load Reinforcements

Land on the runway next to the infantry squad. Wait until all members are safely onboard the helicopter before lifting off again. It is not necessary to open the ramp's door, but don't forget to lower your gear so that you don't end up landing on your helicopter's belly (and damaging it in the process).

If you need to refuel, don't hesitate to make use of the fuel cistern placed next to the logistics trucks.

Primary 8: Deliver Reinforcements

Fly directly to the military outpost at Vikos.

As you approach, you will most likely begin to take light small arms fire. Order your crew chiefs to switch to COMBAT mode and they should suppress the attacking troopers. Land at the helipad and wait for all members of the squad to dismount. However, don't remain on the ground for too long. Take off immediately once the last soldier has been dropped off successfully.

Primary 9: Land at FOB Whiskey

Fly back to FOB Whiskey and land at the helipad. The showcase will be over shortly afterwards.

Once again, don't forget to lower your landing gear as you get closer to the LZ.

Tips

• If you are inexperienced with flying and don't know how to stabilise your helicopter when attempting to remain stationary, don't hesitate to toggle auto-hover mode temporarily until you get the hang of rotary-wing flight.
  • HOWEVER, do not rely entirely on using auto-hover to land and/or sling cargo as this will only encourage a bad habit. The mode leaves you extremely vulnerable to enemy fire and is a crutch at best.
  • Getting used to doing those tasks without relying on auto-hover is a useful skill to develop over time. The showcase itself is a good place to practice with since it takes place in a (reasonably, not completely) realistic situation for both online multiplayer and offline singleplayer scenarios.
• Should you choose to use the Advanced Flight Model (AFM) instead of standard, be careful to avoid getting locked into a Vortex Ring State (VRS) whenever hovering to pick up or drop off cargo.
  • There will always be a few warning signs to denote when you are about to suffer from VRS:
    • A steady frequency of vibrations. This signifies that you have begun to enter VRS but have not yet been locked into it.
    • As your vertical speed increases, yaw, pitch, roll and thrust oscillations will begin to manifest.
    • If your condition deepens, you will start to notice a sudden loss of thrust and your climb rate will fall dramatically at which point, VRS will lock you into an uncontrollable dive and eventually, crashing hard into the ground.
  • Pay close attention when attempting to hover to sling cargo or land as these are the moments when you're most vulnerable to VRS.
    • Provided that you're not at a low altitude, you can still recover by reducing collective pitch and increasing forward airspeed by pitching the cyclic forward.
• If you play on high difficulty presets where third person view (3PV) and most of the Heads Up Display (HUD) is disabled, don't forget to observe your slingload camera at the centre of the cockpit and Multi-Functional Display (MFD) panels. Both the camera and instruments can be used to accurately observe the slingload process to compensate for the loss of your interface.

Trivia

• The starting area of the showcase (FOB Whiskey) is the same location of Point Starfire, one of the three NATO anti-air sites featured in the main campaign's Resurgent West mission.
• You will get an alternate ending if you took too long ferrying the reinforcing squad to the FIA outpost.
• When acquiring the ammo container from the AAC Airfield, another Huron will be idle on the airstrip with a Stomper drone in the process of being loaded inside it.
  • However, the Huron does not actually possess the ability to make use of the Vehicle-in-Vehicle Transport (ViVT) mechanic. Furthermore, the showcase predates the introduction of ViVT to ArmA 3's engine (ViVT was only added following the release of the Apex expansion).