Helicopters are TOUGH!!

[Pips]

Not normally my thing but I found a really nice Huey port over (the sound is superb) that works like a treat in FSX and have been trying these past few days to master the 'black art' of flying without wings. :)

But it's all just so alien.

I crab around the sky, climb when I should be lowering, lowering when I should be climbing and level fight?? What's that?:isadizzy:

My take-off's would scare the living daylights outta any sensible person and my landings are, well ....... I just arrive - very heavily!! Achieving that final flare is bloody tough.

Fixed wing is sooooo much easier.

[warbird861]

I firmly believe that helicopters fly because they are so ugly that earth repels them from it's gravity. I just haven't found how to make them pretty for landing. :costumes:

[Dimus]

A good link for helo sim flight is here:

http://www.hovercontrol.com/

It is mainly for FS9 but I found that the sensitivity control options for the joystick and pedals suggested by these guys help a lot in controlling those beasts. I do however agree with Pips. Fixed is better.

[Shylock]

Ah well keep on flying the bird and once you get the hang of it there's nothing really like a good river run through a valley low and fast.

[michael davies]

Try the recent freeware S-55 from Alphasim, thats about as stable as they get, if you cannot fly that acceptably after 15mins then I'll be very suprised. Grab the updated FDE from here for extra stabiulity and level hovering http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mickoo/files/Aircraft.zip

Best

Michael

[Boomer]

Ahhh you have been missing one of the true joys of FS aviation.

Helo's are my #1 love followed closely by naval aviation.

You have to learn to love to hover. Once you master that (no small feat) it will change the way you fly. I take no small measure of pride in my ability to maneuver a helo with a great deal of finesse.

Make the commitment & take the challenge to master a helo. It will change your FS habits forever.

[IanP]

I have just been sent (unsolicitied, I think they're fishing for a review ;)) a copy of Abacus Military Helicopters 2, repackaged and rebranded by First Class Simulations in the UK. Being a normal Abacus detractor, I was slightly surprised by this one that all the models included are FSX native, rather than ports and they're actually not bad (for the price). I've flown them all for a while now apart from the VH-3D and wouldn't be massively unhappy if I'd paid for them.

The reason I mention them is because the developers appear to have simplified the flight dynamics on them. For those of us used to more realistic "twitchy" helicopters, it can be a bit irritating as they take an eternity to slow down, but for someone who is just learning, it might be a reasonable set to look at. They didn't tip on takeoff, I could hover them (too) easily and land them spot perfect where I wanted them. The set has 7 helos, with a variety of model variants for most and the panels are useable, but not good. Some of them (the Huey and the Gazelle) have limited VC click spots, most have none and need to be ctrl-e + alt-f4 started or a visit to the 2d panel, but there are probably about ten or twelve models in there for £25, or about £2 to £2.50 a model, which isn't bad.

For most people around here, they won't cut the mustard. They're similar in functionality to the old Alphasim sub £10 models (i.e. some custom gauges but not many, no clickable VC, passable external models with few to no "gimmicks"). For a beginner, however, they might be worth looking at.

http://www.abacuspub.com or www.firstclass-simulations.com for more info.

[Navy Chief]

I still think that helos aren't really flying. It's all mass hypnotism to make everyone THINK they are.

I think the saying in the USN Rotarywing community was, "If it doesn't hover, it sucks!"

NC

[navyjake]

Navy Chief, you are correct among others that can't be repeated in a public forum.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

[cheezyflier]

A good link for helo sim flight is here:

http://www.hovercontrol.com/

It is mainly for FS9 but I found that the sensitivity control options for the joystick and pedals suggested by these guys help a lot in controlling those beasts. I do however agree with Pips. Fixed is better.


good advice.

***on a related note, you guys know they call us "plankers", right?

:costumes:

[Cirrus N210MS]

helicopters are not hard they are true fun :woot:


6RX6HXnWmlE

[mustang51]

To fly an airplane is like riding a unicycle, To fly a slingwing is to ride a unicycle on top of a big beach ball. Flew in a couple choppers while having fun in good old VN. Scared the hell out of me, safer on the ground. It was a H-21. :faint:
Bob

[Shylock]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC3LQoDOH_c&feature=channel_page

Or flying in a Apache in real life http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIdJDfMrtsQ&feature=channel_page
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dn7t1cCbSXU&feature=related

The best payware Helos that to me are worth the money are the ones by Alphasim. The Blackhawk is a real challenge to fly. When we get board at night me and a few buddies wi;; jump in to a session on FSX and do some river runs or hide and seek depending on how the scenery is we are flying in. Looks good when you have 3-4 choppers low and fast. Ask some Vietnam vets what they thought of Helicopters.

[SkippyBing]

Have to say I find helicopters much easier in real life than in flight sims. The lack of peripheral vision makes it almost impossible to apply all the proper techniques, not that my instructors ever thought I did anyway.....

[Marvin Carter]

Being a total Roter head, it's the only way to go, definitely a challenge to learn it, you have to keep your input suttle, try not to over correct. You definitely want to have your sensitivity and null zones tuned in, And practice, practice, practice!!!

Marvin Carter

[IanP]

That Huey in the YouTube video is the FS9 version of the one in the pack I posted about, Shylock... The FSX version doesn't suffer from the same ground shadow problem (fat blades) and is one of the better aircraft in the pack, alongside the Gazelles.

I've put together a quick review of the pack for simFlight, which I'll send to them later this evening.

[jhefner]

It is even harder to design one; I have not seen any documentation or tools on doing so. Have been looking at other's models to learn.

It helps to move your sliders all the way to easy; I think there is a helicopter setting in the aircraft.cfg file that kicks in when you do. In the example I am working on; I don't think it moved in roll, just yaw and pitch. I am hoping it will be easier to fly.

This is a Gyrodyne QH-50C unmanned helicopter built for the U.S. Navy. I started out building it as a CFS2 aircraft, but will also include a FS8/FS9 version as well. The FS8/FS9 version will have working lights and fixed weapons; the CFS2 will not have lights, but have working weapons.

Here are some older shots in FS8:

http://inlinethumb53.webshots.com/41716/2579352910079522983S600x600Q85.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2579352910079522983JCuXYb)

http://inlinethumb64.webshots.com/29567/2429496930079522983S600x600Q85.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2429496930079522983wKCSEq)

And here it is in CFS2. The too-long torpedoes are Mark 14s from a Swordfish model:

http://inlinethumb18.webshots.com/43473/2728238800079522983S600x600Q85.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2728238800079522983fyXbun)

http://inlinethumb62.webshots.com/42877/2992431660079522983S600x600Q85.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2992431660079522983DedaRq)

I have since added details to the rotor head and some more "black boxes"; the antenna rotates down now with the gear command. I then need to model the weapons, and refine the damage boxes. EDIT: Oh, and both of my brothers are helio pilots; one says MSFS helicopter models are terrible; he prefers X-plane.

-James

[Shylock]

Somebody had taken the Huey Ian once before and put it up on simviation for download and it was up for a few weeks. I was able to get it before they took it down. Its fun to fly and sounds great as well as looks great.

[empeck]

Helicopters are cool :D

I'm trying to master it's systems :173go1: :help:

http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r362/empeck/BlackShark/ScreenShot_009.jpg

http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r362/empeck/BlackShark/ScreenShot_011.jpg

[mjrhealth]

Hey pis its like tis. NAd mind you i am no expert but had plenty of chopper rides. When you start taking off, increase your throttle slowly, the engine torque will start to make the chopper rotate so add a little rudder ( cyclic ??) ( whatever they call it ), to keep the chopper straight, then comes the funny part, the engine need to provide lift and speed / forward motion, so whenever you do one it takes from the other. So as you go forward you need to add throttle to maintain lift, then if you wish to climb you need to add throttle to maintain your speed, requires a lot of instrument looking. Of course the inverse happens, if you level off from a climb you speed will increase because you have more power then before and if you nose up to slow down you will climb for same reason. Takes a little coordonation, to remove a little and add a little when needed but that is the basics.

[SolarEagle]

I found the Nemeth EC-135 to be the most stable helo I've tried, though my favorites to fly are the default R-22 and Alphasim Seasprite.

One way to help with helo practice is to find a scenery area with very high resolution ground textures, such as FlyTampas Kai Tak. That way you can practice hovering and moving around in the hover and with the super high res ground you will get a much higher fidelity sense of movement.

I taught my self choppers with the EC-135 and Kai Tak, and now I can do nearly anything I want with them. One training thing I did was just to practice a take off on one end of the field, shoot down the to other as fast as I possibly could, and then set her down, again as fast as possible. That gave me an excellent sense of what was needed for acceleration and deceleration, and once you have that you have a sense of where she is going so you plan accordingly and put it where you want.

[Pips]

Hovering is indeed a tough task to master; the 'copter dances left, right and every which way. You think your hovering nicely and then realise that your drifting backwards! :)

Someone mentioned a gentle hand on the controls goes a long way, and it does.

But I find landing even more difficult than hovering. If I start to lose it hovering I just advance the collective and rise up outta danger. But landing!? :isadizzy: I'm finding it damn hard to avoid dropping the last 10-15 feet with any sort of control.

[cheezyflier]

Hovering is indeed a tough task to master; the 'copter dances left, right and every which way. You think your hovering nicely and then realise that your drifting backwards! :)

Someone mentioned a gentle hand on the controls goes a long way, and it does.

But I find landing even more difficult than hovering. If I start to lose it hovering I just advance the collective and rise up outta danger. But landing!? :isadizzy: I'm finding it damn hard to avoid dropping the last 10-15 feet with any sort of control.

the 101 that comes with acceleration is impossible for me. i have yet to complete a single mission with it. great looking model, but i cannot control it well enough to sling a load.

[Boomer]

Helo practice is something that I do to unwind or if I only have a little time to fly.

I have 2 basic routines.

1) I fly over to the tower & establish a firm hover in front of one of the windows. Once established I start to skid left as I rotate 90deg until I am in front of the next window of the tower & then reestablish a firm hover. Repeat around the tower.

2) I start in the centerline of the runway & establish a firm hover about 5ft up. Then I start to fly forward at 5ft & 10kts. While flying forward I pivot 90deg so I am flying sideways at 5ft alt & 10kts, hold that for a 10 count while maintianing the centerline. Then I rotate 90deg so I am flying in reverse at 5ft alt & 10kts while maintaining the centerline hold that for a 10 count. Then another 90deg pivot so I am once again sidways & at 5ft & 10kts and another 10 count while maintaining the centerline. Laslty another 90deg pivot so I am back to forward flight. This is the most fun & most challenging exercise. The transition to flying in reverse is very difficult.

[EMatheson]

....all it takes is a ham-handed approach to the rudder and the willingness to accept a "crash" as a landing, so long as it is in approximately the right place, attitude, and airspeed....:faint:

[EgoR64]

:wavey:

Heli's are my number one Fav, Nap of the earth over water and super fun in a Big City Such as San Fran, Ca. Also do some practice landings on thw Rock, Alcatraz !! :iidea:

:ernae:

[cheezyflier]

:wavey:

Heli's are my number one Fav, Nap of the earth over water and super fun in a Big City Such as San Fran, Ca. Also do some practice landings on thw Rock, Alcatraz !! :iidea:

:ernae:

i was using some add on scenery for the rock a while back, and it was unlandable. i can't remember if i still have it or not, but it was better looking than default