Wow, that blog post title is a mouthful but I'm going to add another word - "
Flying a helicopter in SL using SL GO on an iPad" - and as a teaser for a future post, I also flew an airplane using SL GO on an iPad. More about that peril later.
Open the inventory window, select your helicopter, drag and drop on the ground.
I don't have any shots of my take off or first moments of flight because... to be honest it was total craziness. I wasn't even sure I was moving at first. My helicopter seemed frozen on the ground. Was it the ice, or those rare SL GO glitches?
Anyway, back to the flight. After about 30 seconds of wild flight - trimming trees and house roof with the rotor blades - I finally got the hang of the controls.
I highly recommend slower speeds than you would normally fly on a computer viewer.
I'd also stay away from the higher advanced flight scripted aircraft that are available in SL. Save those for the PC or Mac. Flight on an iPad should be easy-peasy.
The left and right arrows control your helicopter turns (Just like walking).
The up and down arrows control your movement forward and back (Again just like walking).
The arrow keys on the right part of the screen control altitude.
The next photos show mid-flight and landing.
After landing it's time to take it back into inventory.
It isn't easy to get the menu pop-up for an object..
Keep trying, it'll work...
So to wrap up, not so great first take-off, great recovery and landing. Stay away from complex aircraft scripting and attachments.
It's far easier to fly on SL GO for PC (or Mac), but an iPad with SL does offer a great back-up solution when a computer is dead, too old, or when traveling.
The screen may be small, but the lush graphics and animated-movie-like frame rates make the experience a visual treat.
