What is your favorite helicopter?

[CaptainMal]

Hi Douglas

A good place for a newbie to look would be here.. http://www.hovercontrol.com/

As you'd imagine by the name, everything there is helicopter related If I remember right, you'll find some tutorials there as well as helicopters and paints to download plus a whole pile of other stuff.
ATB
DaveB

Thanks for the tip Dave. Just went and had a quick look at the site. Think I'll be spending many hours there.

And, in keeping with the topic, my favourite helicopter to crash is the Virtavia EH-101 Merlin.

Douglas

[Dimus]

I second that Yo-Yo! I never liked helicopters and I kinda avoid them in real life too. Never trusted the things, too much of a forced way to be airborne. However. after having the pleasure to beta test the Milviz 530 I grew much fond of it and now fly it very often in FSX and P3D.

[DaveB]

Hum, not a helo flyer myself, but I'm looking forward to euroastar's Bell 222 models since I've been following their progress.

Eurostar's Jet Rangers are nice if you fancy something not default. You get long legs, short legs and floats in the pack too

Re the Cera 212.. I like the model but prefer the 412 flight model.

Remembered the Alabeo R66Turbine and Area51 Apache lurking on my HD too. The R66 is a great model to look at but unremarkable to fly and unrealistic according to one RW pilot who reviewed it. The Area51 Apache flies well but has a horrible main rotor effect and the maps make it look like it was made in 1810 (over done panel lines). Both still get flown infrequently.

Re the 300i.. I find trying to hover it accurately akin to trying to balance a marble perfectly still in the bottom of a glass bowl while riding a monocycle

The Simshed Wessex has a fair flight model but being FS9.. it suffers slightly odd glass and see-thru rotors in FSX. It's one I always have installed though.

Oooh.. so many models.. so little time to fly them all!!
ATB
DaveB

[WarHorse47]

I tend to enjoy those local to my area..

[Anthin]

Huey hands down.

Anthin.

[JimmyRFR]

I used to think either the Dodo 206 or the Cera 212, perhaps followed by the MV 407 or the Virtavia Sea King. However, as far as helicopters go nowadays, I'm squarely a XP convert, were the Dreamfoil R22 is easily my favorite.

[patful]

My earliest memory is sitting in the back of my dad's HH-43 when I was three. No others come close. Not sure if one's been built for FSX.

[Blackbird686]

I only have a few installed but of all of them... I'd have to say that the Nemeth Designs Mil-24 "Hind" is my favorite. It has a very immersive cockpit and is a stunning visual model. Took me forever to learn the switching procedure to get the engines lit. It's an interesting bird, with a face only it's mother could love. Besides, the Mil-24 really can't fly, just that it's so ugly the earth repels it.

BB686

[ST0RM]

Is that HH-60G flyable or AI only?

-Jeff

[ejoiner]

Have to say the Virtavia Sea King is my favorite. NC

Yup!



Eric

[griphos]

I've tried a LOT of FSX choppers. I haven't tried the Milviz 407 or M500, but I've tried lots of others. There's only one good FSX chopper....Dodo's Jet Ranger. The Aerosoft Huey is a distant second. The rest are kind of a joke. FSX has terrible helicopter flight dynamics.

My favorite chopper is the DCS Huey.

[falcon409]

I also really like Piglets (Tim Conrad) Loach!
Cheers, Mark

Same here Mark. I found a book called "low Level Hell" by Capt. Hugh Mills. He flew the Little Bird for several tours in Nam and wrote the book on tactics, as up to that point there was none. Amazing read and Tim's Chopper is a blast to fly "Low Level".

[trucker17]

UH1 for me

[b52bob]

K-max but no one has made one yet. Wip I think.

[Ferry_vO]

A very nice but underrated helicopter is this good old Virtavia Kaman Seasprite:

[sketchy]

Virtavia Sea King....

...if only I could get it to fly... the protection software did something strange on my rig and it constantly "pauses" the sim for me in FSX and P3D

[Tranquil]

Mine too is the Virtavia Seaking Its also my Favorite in the non-sim world!







Much thanks!

[DaveSHQ]

Area51's AH-1F

[Wizard]

The SH-2F. There was one for FS-9 and then someone (I can't recall who) did a RNZN (Royal New Zealand Navy) repaint (both are freeware). I combined the two and tweaked the .air and .cfg files and it is the most nimble sweetest little helicopter capable of carrying two MK-46 torpedoes and 25 sonobuoys. While the SH-60 is the one I fly most often (in FSX) I love the SH-2F both in real life and in FSX. So much capability in such a small aircraft.

[DaveSHQ]

I believe the OP referred to FSX helicopters. List company and a screenshot people!!!

[DaveB]

One I'd love to recommend would be the FSHeliCh Alouette II. I've always liked the real thing and the model isn't bad though I've seen better freeware (now especially). Soundset is ok too. What really lets it down is the crew.. very FS8 if not before



ATB
DaveB

[roger-wilco-66]

Same here Mark. I found a book called "low Level Hell" by Capt. Hugh Mills. He flew the Little Bird for several tours in Nam and wrote the book on tactics, as up to that point there was none. Amazing read and Tim's Chopper is a blast to fly "Low Level".

[...]

That's a very good read, Ed. I think I consumed it three times. Another very stunning book about loach operations is Tom Smith's "Easy Target".


Cheers (also to Tim Conrad for giving us his fine artwork),
Mark

[Sundog]

FOR FSX, I've always enjoyed the Alphasim Seasprite. I would like a newer AH-1, will definitely need an S-97, and wish someone would make us a Mojave.

I don't fly them as often as I would like due to my flight controls, Saitek X45, but the helo-trim function makes them much more enjoyable to fly.

[Penz]

I like the stock Robinson, it's nice and easy to fly.

[PRB]

Besides the Virtavia Seasprite, this is one of my favorites. Piasecki H-21C, by Mick Posch. Freeware, came out in 2007, so it's "old" but has a great VC. And it looks cool.