Aircraft capable of VTOL (Vertical Take-off or Landing) are incredible assets to the team especially when you're operating from a short airstrip or base without space to make use of traditional jets. Combining the speed of normal jets with the ability to land like a helicopter where required, they are versatile aircraft that can easily adapt to any situation they find themselves in.
Examples of VTOL aircraft:
- V-44X Blackfish - VTOL Transport/Gunship (Apex DLC)
- Y-32 Xi'an - VTOL Transport/Gunship (Apex DLC)
- Harrier Gr.9 / AV-8B - VTOL Ground Attack Jet (Modded)
I recommend doing the VTOL showcase that comes with Arma 3 in order to learn how to take off and land however here are some guidelines.
Take-off:
- Decide whether you want to take off vertically or horizontally (and do you need the entire airstrip or just a short section).
- If you're taking off vertically, make sure you have space above you.
- A vertical take off requires you to disable auto-vectoring and increase vectoring until you can't do it anymore (i.e. engine nozzles pointing down/90 degrees/100%).
- You may have to move forwards to do this, but once it's done applying full throttle should start the take-off.
- It's slower than a horizontal take-off and certain aircraft may struggle to have enough thrust to take off purely vertically.
- If you're taking off horizontally, decrease/increase your vectoring depending on how much space you need. Trying 60 or 75 degrees can perform a shorter take-off. Trying 0 degrees would be a standard take-off but would make you the quickest when you're up.
Remember that if you're using vertical/semi-vertical vectoring, you must decrease vectoring gradually to transition to horizontal flight as transitioning to horizontal flight immediately will most likely cause you to lose thrust and potentially altitude while the vectoring is adjusted.
Landing:
- Similar to a helicopter, you should reduce your speed once you're above the landing zone (airbrake is the recommended option and pointing the nose slightly up)
- Increase vectoring to maximum (90 degress/100%) to start hovering if you're going slow enough.
- Decrease throttle if you want to go down faster, and make sure to manage your horizontal speed so you don't drift away from the landing zone.
- As you approach the ground, ensure your gears are down and watch your vertical speed before touching down. You may have to go full throttle to slow yourself down enough to not take damage (this depends on the aircraft used).
While text is harder to understand than a video, it's just something you have to practice yourself.