helicopter control

[harpo]

I want to be able to fly a heli more in the game, but when I try and fly either the bell or the Robinson I don't know how to make them hover at all or make them go forward easier.  Are things like that possible or is that just what I have to work with?  Is there an easy way to control like the foot pedals(or the rudder)?  I have a joystick, so is just moving the joystick the only real or good way to control it?  Please help!

[chrism7262]

if i understand what you're asking, to make a heli havor, it is just a matter of where you have the throttle set. maybe somewhere around the midway point ont the throttle. to make it go forward, increase the throttle and tilt the joystick forward. this will increase your airspeed, and if you have the throttle powered enough, you will gain altitude. using the rudder will turn the aircraft faster and easier, but try to avoid using the full rudder trim while you're flying, i learned the hard way that the default heli's as with most other, doing this will cause you to lose control.  ;) hope this helps

[TSC.]

Decreasing your realism settings slightly will help a lot, the FS9 heli's are notoriously diffcult to control will full realism settings.

TSC.

[dave3cu]

To fly helicopters it's a near necessity that you have some form of independant 'rudder control' to control the anti-torque (tail) rotor.  Pedals are best, though a twist grip or other rudder control on your joystick can work.

To help you learn, Hovercontrol.com offers lessons/tutorials for flying helicopters in MS Flight Simulator.

Hovercontrol-Go to the Helicopter Training Center. You can either go 'whole hog' and join the training program or go thru the training topics on your own.

Practice, Practice, Practice!!  

Dave

[akka]

Yes I have great difficulties in flying helis with full realism settings. I consider myself quite proficient in flying most fixed wings aircrafts from cessnas to jumbos to top of the line military aircraft. However, I still cannot land a copter. I crash 80% of the time and with some copter like the Eurocopter Tiger or the AH1 Super Cobra especially the Tiger, I have problem even taking off. I have read a lot of articles about flying helicopters but still not a lot of help. Setting the throttle to 75% and keep the HSI at level flight is supposed to make the helicopter hover a few feet above the ground but it keeps on flying backwards and then crash. I even try to fly the SA71 with a Vtol guage installed which is supposed to make the bird hover at a preset altitude but it still crash.

Any experience hilo pilot has any ideas?

[Fozzer]

...trust me...

Helicopters were only designed to crash and kill you...

That is why they are not fitted with "Wings", (Birds had that problem sorted at the beginning of time), and fitting a fan on the top of the device to raise it gently off the ground was never a complete success either...

Stick to flying to "Aircraft" fitted with a Wing either side, (like the Birds), and a Fan up at the "pointy end", (or even one of those modern, fancy, "Jet Engine" thingies!), to propel you forward.... ...!

I have spent may hours, at my local airfield, watching budding Helicopter Pilots desperately trying to control a funny little Robinson R22.
It's not long before a crowd gathers, points at, and laughs at the futile attempts of the Trainee Pilot

[pepper_airborne]

helicopters have a bigger gliding ratio when the engine go's down then most fixed wing planes(gliders not included). So there actually safer to fly. The only thing is that helicopters carry out task that have a bigger risk of crashes and alike.

Dont mind fozz, his old mind sometimes locks up and starts blurting out things . Helicopters are for those that love flying but have nowhere to go!

[Sean_TK]

I fly helicopters quite routinely on FS2004, and one thing you must know is that unlike a fixed wing aircraft, you cannot just let the controls go and expect the helicopter to keep doing whatever it was doing. Choppers are inherently unstable, and when hovering, they require constant, small corrections with both the cyclic and the collective, as well as the pedals, to keep them in a hover. Helicopter flying without an autopilot requires that you be on the controls at all times!
Also, when hovering, it is going to be much, much easier to hover directly into the wind, because if you have the wind at your tail, or to the sides, the helo will try to "weathervane" into the wind, thus requiring more corrections and an increased workload over what you normally need to do while hovering.

Flying helicopters in FS is also very challenging because unlike real life, you do not have your peripheral vision and other minor visual and physical cues to help you along in slow helicopter flight.
Mastering helicopters in FS is possible though, but just remember that it takes a lot of practice!

I would also ask around on the www.hovercontrol.com forums as well for pointers from their experts.

[crusader59]

i usually practice on the runway or where ever. i start out gently easing on the throttle till i get it to hover. it takes a little practice. in time i think you will get it.

[Fozzer]

i usually practice on the runway or where ever. i start out gently easing on the throttle till i get it to hover. it takes a little practice. in time i think you will get it.

Hovering is fairly easy with practice....

...getting the bleedin' thing to go in the direction you want it to go is a different kettle of fish, altogether...

I find they resemble the Oozlum Bird...

They go round and round in circles, and finally disappear (where the Sun dont shine)... ...!

Paul...my word...It's dark in here!.... ... ...!

[akka]

Well I don't know about gliding ratios of hilos but once I managed to glide a concorde to land in Newfoundland when I tried to fly a trans-Atlantic trip from London to New York only to find out that it ran out of fuel over Newfoundland Don't know whether it is the model or just me who managed to do that But it was fun. Just broke the front gear during landing!!!

In any case, the best hilos I can fly so far that has over 80% success rate of flying and landing is the Chinook. Manged to fly and land it most of the time. May be it is just the model and that heavy hilos are more stable. The Apache and Black Ghost is quite good too. In any case, I have do everything by the book adjusting the anti-torque pedals all the time but.......

Well keep on trying is all I can say or I can take the path of what Fozzer suggest and just stick to things with wings 8-)

[DaveSims]

Helicopters and bumble bees...two things science and physics say shouldn't be able to fly.  All I know about helicopter safety is that its safer to be in the helicopter in a crash than out.

As for flying one in FS, turn the realism down.  I claim to be fairly proficient in the helo's but even I can't manage to control them with the realism turned up.  

[Gringo6]

Dear Harpo - To fly helicopters  successfully in FS9, or any other FS for that matter, there are several things that you must do first.

1. Go into settings and set your flight control for maximum sensitivity and NO - emphasis NO dead zone. This is very important because helicopters require very slight - almost imperceptable movements of the flight control, especially when hovering.

2. Since you are new to helicopters, even though you are an accomplished fixed wing pilot you probably will benefit from some training aids. Go to  "hovercontrol.com" and look at their downloads and until you find 'TrainingHud". Download and instll this according to the instructions.

3. Start with the default Bell 206. Some people think this isn't a good helicopter but I think they are wrong. I would recommend that you steer clear of the Robinson - it is based on a different flight model and was only introduceed in FS9, and frankly is for me much harder to fly.

4. When you load up the Bell 206 so to the realism settings.  Start with all the sliders set all the way to the right except the "General" one. Set this about 3/4 to the right. I don't know of anyone who can control a helicopter in FS9 with the General tab set all the way to the right.

5. You didn't mention what kind of flight controller you have - I assume is has some form of rudder control by twisting the stick etc.
If not you have a more serious problem. In the dim past I flew helicopters with "AutoRudder" engaged but it wasn't too satisfactory, especially when hovering in the wind. I think you will soon want to acquire a set of rudder pedals.

6. Then go fly and fly and fly.  

Hope this will help you get started in helicopters. They are a challenge but after a short while you will become more profecient. Just don't give up too soon.

Billa (aka Gringo6)

[KC Jones]

I too was interested in flying them.

I downloaded a tutorial from here, I think, way back in some earlier days of FS.

The point that stuck in my mind was, that you have to set up a different stick profile for helocoptors with lots of null zone on all the axises (sp) so that your stick don't react as quickly as it does for flying fixed-wing aircraft.

I never really got that deep into it, but it makes sense.

Now that I know how to program my stick (remember I was totally new to flight sims) I may give it a whirl (pun).

For now I just turn down realism and I can float like a bumble-bee and sting like the bird or something like that

[pepper_airborne]

No, your stick should be as sensitive as possible, because you need to be able to direct the smallest input to the chopper.