WARDOGS Helicopter Guide: Controls, Take-Off, Landing and the Season 3 Littlebird

A WARDOGS helicopter answers to 4 inputs. The collective sets your lift, pitch tips the nose forward or back, roll tilts the aircraft sideways and yaw swings the nose left or right.

Every helicopter bind sits under Rotary Vehicle in the Controls menu, so check yours there before you fly. On a controller, update 0.3.0 moved Fire (Pilot) from A to B: A now changes seat, and holding A moves you straight to the driver’s seat.

Most pilots fly with the mouse. Turn on Rotary Vehicle Mouse Control in the Controls settings, then set mouse up and down to pitch and mouse left and right to roll.

• Keys: with pitch and roll on the mouse, a common layout puts the collective on W and S and yaw on A and D. Rebind them under Rotary Vehicle.
• Invert: the air vehicle setting of Invert Y Axis is separate from the infantry setting, so set it to match how you want the nose to move.
• Sensitivity: start helicopter pitch and roll sensitivity near the middle, about 50 to 70%, and lower it if each correction overshoots. Keep the Air Vehicle Multiplier at about 1.0 or a little lower.
• Flight assists: the menu holds Stability Assist, Auto-Hover Assist, Envelope Limits and Turn Coordination. Keep Stability Assist and Auto-Hover Assist on while you learn, and switch assists off as your hover gets steady.

1. Pick the MH-6 Littlebird. It is the small transport Littlebird, and the Firing Range lets you fly it before a live match.
2. Lift off slowly. Raise the collective in small steps until the skids leave the ground, then hold a steady low hover before you touch pitch or roll.
3. Move off. Ease the nose down a little to fly forward, and keep every input small until the aircraft settles.
4. Turn. Yaw swings the nose; for a tighter turn, roll into it and add yaw with it.
5. Slow down early. New pilots crash on landing mostly because they brake too late. Pull the nose up to shed speed well before the landing spot.
6. Land level. Level the aircraft, lower the collective gradually and give it a small tap up just before touchdown. Sideways drift at touchdown can tip the helicopter over.

Once you carry a squad, landing it in the zone pays Cash on top of the ride. Where else Cash comes from is in our WARDOGS money guide.

• Tougher Littlebird cockpits: the pilot and co-pilot of the MH-6, AH-6R and AH-6M take less from gunfire, so they last a few more hits.
• AH-6R rockets: its pods now launch their own 70 mm rockets instead of the Havoc’s 122 mm ones. They hit vehicles and FOBs as hard as before, with a wobble in flight.
• Anti-air blind spot: the anti-air emplacement now aims no higher than 60°, down from 65°, so the space right above it grows.
• Height readout for passengers: riders see their height above the ground over the minimap. The Basic Parachute is now the emergency chute for bailing out, and it works above about 100 m.
• Cheaper airframes: an AH-6M Littlebird costs 10,480 Cash a life, down from 12,000, and a Havoc 26,000, down from 28,000. Air vehicles collect kill streak rewards again.

Every other change of the update is on our Season 3 patch notes page.

A PRO helicopter coach stays in your squad on voice while you fly and teaches controls, landings and routes. You fly your own account the whole time, booked by the hour.

Rather ride than fly? Book a PRO pilot who flies your squad into the zone. The armed helicopters open on the Pilot track: the AH-6M Littlebird at level 8, the AH-6R Littlebird at 20 and the Havoc at 35. A PRO can unlock any of them on your account. What each role track holds is in our WARDOGS classes guide.