Assistance with Essential Tremor

[SSI01]

Some time ago I was diagnosed as having a moderate essential tremor. Right now it's a nuisance in some things, one of which is controlling a helicopter in FS9 or FSX. I am using a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro joystick. As one increases the torque on any helicopter, obviously the tail rotor kicks in and it requires more and more "twist" on the joystick to keep the bird level and going in the right direction. This can be a real chore sometimes.

This evening for some reason I went to Andrews AFB and took up a CeraSim Bell 212 for a little trip around the DC area, where I used to be stationed. My total flight time was about 1.5 hours, some at high speed, some not. By the end of this hop my right arm was jumping and twitching. Is there either some setting on the joystick, or some app that can be applied to this situation, so that the sim automatically compensates on the tail rotor for increased power settings on a helicopter - and you don't have to sit holding a permanent twist on the joystick that entire time?

Thanks.

[roger-wilco-66]

Maybe pedals would help, so you don't need to twist the stick?

[jeansy]

Mate i hear your pain i suffer similar problems

I have them in both shoulders as a result from repeated nerve damage from several shoulder reconstructions

With helos i kinda cheat ive added a auto pilot to all of my helos

It works a treat maybe an idea for flying

[PhantomTweak]

There is a small gauge that may help you out a little.
It's a trim gauge that allows you to trim the helicopter just like you would any aircraft, in pitch, roll, and, just what you need, YAW. As you speed up you can rim out the force you need to stay straight and level. Same when you slow down. I put it in every bird I fly. You can have a visual indication of the ammount of tim you currently have in as you go, although I just want ti to do the job. The only time I use the visual display is when I'm fine tuning the gauge for a particular helicopter. It can take a little trial-ane error to get it perfect for a certain bird, but it works fine for most with the default settings.
I just like to tweak things :D
It can be found here: https://library.avsim.net/search.php?SearchTerm=helitrim.zip&CatID=root

Hope this helps a little. Antti Pakonen's autopilot works well too, but I so enjoy trying to hand fly a helicopter...
Pat☺

[SSI01]

Maybe pedals would help, so you don't need to twist the stick?

I thank you for that suggestion, however, I was trying to avoid any further investment of that size, being on a fixed income.

[harrybasset]

I hope you find work rounds to help you with this affliction. I am pleased that Flight Simulation makes my favourite aircraft available to me as I have stopped making plastic model aircraft due to my hands doing their own thing when painting. I have also moved my railway modelling up from OO/HO to O scale as I find the larger models easier to see and handle. The effects of getting older are not always pleasant but they beat the alternative.

[vortex]

I haven't tried it myself but Dirk Fassbender's helicopter autopilot seems popular:

http://www.dirkfassbender.de/autopilot.html
http://www.dirkfassbender.de/AFCP/index.html
http://www.dirkfassbender.de/install.html

[mal998]

Me and some of the boys used to do lots of helo ops in Nam on multiplayer. Best recommendation is to turn down the rudder slider to full left. That should make the rudder less effective. As a side note we used to turn all control sliders down for a more enjoyable helo experience. Give it a go and see if that helps.

[Bjoern]

If you can find a used one for little money or a shop with a good offer, you can also go for a Thrustmaster T16000M. It's a stick that can be used both left and right handed.

[SSI01]

I hope you find work rounds to help you with this affliction. I am pleased that Flight Simulation makes my favourite aircraft available to me as I have stopped making plastic model aircraft due to my hands doing their own thing when painting. I have also moved my railway modelling up from OO/HO to O scale as I find the larger models easier to see and handle. The effects of getting older are not always pleasant but they beat the alternative.

I'm hip, quit modeling for the same reason. Makes it difficult to drink coffee, tie shoes, I can't even fill out forms any more, either the help does it for me and I sign (barely), or the darling wife and scribe will take care of it.

One interesting thing, though - I believe I type faster with this affliction than I used to in the past.