Hello all, I’m back again to give everyone some new findings and to revise on a few things i originally posted.
First off, happy holidays and a happy Thanksgiving to everyone.
We’re all now 2 weeks into fs24 and I’m sorry to see anyone still having trouble with the Skyship. To my surprise fs24 had a much better launch than I was planning on in my opinion, especially after watching my other favorite franchises have abysmal launches and life cycles up til now. Fs24 has been a breath of fresh air for me.
3080ti and 32gb of ram on my main rig and I’ve only had 1 crash to desktop since launch. I also haven’t experienced my blimp doing a summersault while spawning in and while I think this is really funny I know it’s got to be frustrating.
I still prefer to spawn in with ‘ready for take off’ but i also do cold starts, i stay very far from spawning in ‘airborne’ as I’ve stated in my earlier comments that you need to basically save yourself from falling out of the sky when spawning in airborne.
I have a seen a few new videos on yt on the Skyship and even a basic tutorial and while I think this is great stuff I’m still seeing problems with those who are flying and while I appreciate those putting in the effort to make the videos, there is some info that seems wrong, but not on purpose. So I’d like to give you the answers to your problems
And before I start I just want to add that I’ve only figured this out by working with the airship as it’s been programmed into fs24. I just want to convincingly fly my blimp around, I’m not concerned about the true to life in-and-outs, I’m making due with what I have to work with.
- DAMPERS
TL;DR 1- UNLOCK BOTH DAMPERS
I think this is the #1 problem everyone is having right from the get go, I covered it in my very first comment but I want to go over it again and that is the DAMPERS which are right above you in the cockpit. When you start up in any condition: airborne/ engines off/ ready for take off - these are set in the AUTO position and this is just a no no at this point.
I am thoroughly convinced just from playing around with all combinations that UNLOCKED DAMPERS are the only way your going to get the most use out of the Skyship. I saw in 1 video the speaker had mentioned at that you want 1 damper unlocked and the other in auto??? And this is also present in the take-off section of the checklist which I’ve gone through over and over again. I’ve tested it myself more than once just to be sure, and if 1 is locked and the other is open your either point nose up gaining altitude or nose down losing altitude, and there is no balance point. This just adds an extra step when you already have your air valves to do this for you.
- TRIM
TL;DR 2 - SET YOUR TRIM TO +45% (Up)
I want to correct what I originally posted about trim being useless. It is not useless and I was very wrong. Upon further inspection of my elevator fins there is a tiny trimmable flap on the elevator fins. Go into 3rd person and zoom in on your tail and you’ll see it for yourself. On spawning in your trim will be either 0% / 7% or in the case of spawning in airborne it will be -140% (WHY???)
So right when you spawn in your trim is in an odd place. Zoom in to your tail and set it to 45% (Up) and you will see it become flush with the rest of the fin. Unlike your airplanes you won’t notice much change with the trim unless you give it large changes. If you really want your skyship to point up while using your trim you’ll start noticing the changes at +75% - +100%. And the more you go to 0% you’ll find your skyship wanting to point downward which is pretty confusing. With that being said - just use +45% trim.
- TAKE OFF
(No MORE tldr. Read this v v v v )
I’m sorry ladies and gentlemen, but I’ve had a good amount of laughs over this one. From watching videos on yt to observing others in multilayer in real time, everyone gets 80ft of the ground and just falls to earth right after. So here’s the answer to your question, so you no longer have to awkwardly pull your yoke back as far as you can to keep yourself from making a hard impact on the ground.
And this is also another reason why you want you DAMPERS UNLOCKED.
While grounded what you want to do before you take off is first make sure your BALLONET FANS ARE ON (they are 2 switches located right above you in the cockpit and are labeled as such) Then open either air valve #1 or air valve #2. Both of these give the same effect and one does not work better or worse than the other.
Look at your pressure gauge box to your left and it should read like this—
MFB: 0 / MH: 2.0 / MAB 2.0
Whether you are in 1st or 3rd person view you will see your blimps nose slowly rise to a point and stop. It will not rise enough for your rudder fin to hit the ground. This is THE take off position. You want to follow up by setting your VECTORS to 45 degrees upward. (You should re-bind your vertical vector movements, the Skyship does not have horizontal vector movements.) Otherwise on the left side of the yoke you will see 2 small switches where your thumb would go, those also control the vector up/down. Pull back on your yoke just a little bit and go full throttle. Your skyship is going to take off vertically and it WILL NOT start nose diving, I promise 
Your blimp will remain mostly level for the first 300-400ft and then the nose will start to tip upward. When this starts to happen you can begin bringing your vectors back to 0% and you will continue to gain altitude.
Also, your throttle goes through 3 different detent stages: watch the little arrow above your rpms in 3rd person. 1st stage is just above idle 2nd stage the arrow will be above the 30 and the 3rd stage is full throttle.
Once I’ve reached and airspeed of 43knots I set my throttle to the 2nd stage which is when the little arrow is above the 30 on the rpm meter. This maintains the airspeed of 43 knots the whole time. This is our cruising speed and throttle power.
I like flying anywhere from 800ft to 1200ft.
If you think any info I’ve given is wrong up to this point i would suggest you fly to 2000ft so you can test things out at a safe altitude.
- CRUIS’N (cruis’n world, anyone???)
Now that we’ve reached a height that we are comfortable with, it’s time to level out.
In 1st person view look up towards your Dampers and then look over to right right, above your co-pilot. You’re going to see a small meter. It’s a white rectangle with black numbers and a little ball. This is going to show you how level your blimp is during flight and whether you are pointing slightly upward or downward, make sure you check on it if you are unsure of your blimp being level in the sky.
If you haven’t already, bring your throttle to the 2nd detent stage, (arrow above the 30 in 3rd person) the rpms will be over 3000 and you will be traveling at an airspeed of 43 knots, for now we will work with this speed.
What you want to do is have both air valves #2 and #3 set to open (pulled all the way down)
OR You can also use both air valves #1 and #4 set to open. Both give the same effect and one combination is no better or worse than the next.
(Or if you really want to be silly just pull all 4 down into the open position)
Your pressure gauge should read as such:
MFB: 0 / MH: 0.6 / MAB: 0
After using this time and time again I am convinced this is the perfect setting for cruising.
However, I’ve watched others who fly this blimp set their air valves to a closed position, which would bring all 3 gauges to a pressure of 2.0 meaning all 3 will be in the middle. After testing it myself, it is clear as day that you will continue to gain altitude while also moving forward when all valves are closed and the gauges are at 2.0.
Set them as I described and the blimp will remain level. It will rise a bit and fall a bit as it travels through the wind. Pay attention more to your altitude meter and dont be quick to react to your veritcal speed going up or down. Again, like a boat floating in water, your blimp will rise and fall a bit. If you find yourself losing more altitude then you would like, set JUST YOUR AIR VALVE #1 OR #2 TO OPEN, Just as I described in the take-off section, your nose will point up and you will gain altitude again.
- HOVERING
When I want to enter into a hovering position I first lower my throttle to idle and then position my vectors all the way up. At this point I will have set my 2 chosen air valves to the closed position.
You can’t fully close air valve #1 without it going back to the auto position. However, CLOSED and AUTI both have the same effect. when you’re air valves are set to closed you will now see the pressure as such:
MFB: 2.0 / MH: 2.0 / MAB: 2.0
This is our hovering setting and it works a couple of ways. Read closely.
As your airspeed reaches the low 30s into the 20s down to 0 - ALL AIR PRESSURE WILL DROP TO ZERO IF YOUR BALLONET FANS ARE OFF. This will cause you to very slowly GAIN altitude.
Watch closely as you switch your ballonet fans to ON. YOUR PRESSURE WILL RISE BACK TO 2.0 and you will now start to slowly LOSE altitude.
If you find yourself losing more altitude then you are comfortable with, add throttle (full throttle is way to much, keep it nice and easy).
I don’t know the in-depth specs but we need to keep in mind that while this particular airship is lighter than air, it is also about 5 tons, more or less. So with all of that momentum it takes MINUTES for it to eventually come to an airspeed of ZERO while in the air. So if there is an area you want to hover over you will have to plan a couple of miles in advance to get it how you want it once you reach your destination and this also goes for landing which is the final part.
- LANDING
Once you have the hang of hovering, landing will start to seem much easier. The idea is it take it slow and be patient. We are not aiming down at an airstrip and bringing the blimp down on the runway at 40 knots to bring it to a stop. Your nose is going to go right into the ground and your crashing, and I noticed this is another big problem people are having. Ideally you want to take off from a large clear space and land in a large clear space. Usually the grass fields that are scattered throughout the world.
Basically your going to want to get into a hover well before you reach your landing destination. If your moving too slow and are too far from your landing zone then instead of leaving your vectors pointed directly up, point them forward a bit to gain some speed and then point them back up as to not gain to much speed, remember that we are trying to maintain the blimps momentum at this point.
If you are too high off the ground you will want to point your vectors ALL THE WAY DOWN. They will aim slightly back and your blimp will be pulled down to earth while also allowing down your forward momentum. But don’t over do it on the throttle and do not go full throttle as this is where most people crash. You may want to do a bit of full down vector and then back to full up vector to maintain your downward speed. If you find yourself losing altitude too fast, point your vectors all the way up and add throttle as needed. Go slow, and be patient. It’s rewarding to land gently.
End.
So this wraps up how I fly my Skyship 600. It started off very sloppy on day 1 when i didn’t have a clue what was going on, since then my goal has been to add finesse to this blimp and get rewarding, non awkward, non amateur flights.
I started with clear sky flights so get the hang of it and then moved on to adding more clouds and wind. I’ve flown in nasty rainy/windy weather as well. It’s hard and inconvenient, and it’s easy to see why a blimp shouldn’t be operated in that weather. But as a little challenge, i gave it shot and while it wasn’t easy, and I’d probably pass out irl from being thrown around in a storm. I was still able to fly and land. I stand by what i said in earlier comments that this airship is capable, and while it does have some obvious minor bugs, it is in no way broken. My first 50 hours of fs24 were dedicated soley to this blimp, and so will be my 50 hours.
Also, everything I’ve written here and in my past comments has only 1 purpose and that is so YOU, the reader, can have as much fun flying this blimp as me. And I expect these overly long winded comments to make professionals out of all of you.
Most days I like to do a custom departure out of Floyd Bennet field in Nyc. I follow the belt pkwy east to JFK and hover around to see what other pilots are up to, then head over to Citi field stadium and watch as my Mets inevitability lose another game 
after that I had just west of there to LaGuardia airport and see what those players are doing. Then go around the edge of queens back to Floyd Bennet where I started. So maybe I’ll see some of you pilots up there some.
If you’ve gotten this far I appreciate you taking the time to read through this and I know the information in here will be worth it.
Thank you.
And as always,
Safe travels all!
