Simviation Forums

Does anyone know of a decent helicopter w/ autopilot? I'd like to try and fly around and see the FSX world via chopper but for the life of me I can't control the darn things! The "easy" mode isn't easy enough and I keep diving, swooping, spinning and flying backwards like a picnic table in a high wind!

Any help or input would be appreciated.

Are you using a joystick, or the keyboard for control?

Joystick. Logitech Extreme 3D Pro (12 programm. buttons, hat, trigger)

Helicoptors take a bit of practice to control. Turn the realism settings down if you need to

I don't know of any heli's with autopilot, and I'm not sure any actually do have autopilot in the real world.  But I'm most likely wrong on that.

Flying heli's with a joystick should be relatively easy.  The only time I lose it is when I don't pay attention and start going backwards too fast when I'm trying to land "straight down".  That and the default Bell, if that's what you're using, is a bear at low speeds.  

Yeah I can't seem to maintain a steady altitude, speed, or keep it from spinning. Oh well....

Need to use some ruddering... A joystick with twist or indeed rudder pedals are good for that.


I just go on flights to practise landing and controlling helicopters. Try to avoid slamming it into full throttle too... it will cause a lot of movement, spin and can make it a bit uncontrolable. Easy up on the collective to about 70% (Default Bell 206) to get enough lift for movement and around enough for hovering then ease up a bit more until you start going somewhere.

Try the tutorials too.

I have the realism turned down as far as will go. How pathetic is that! LOL

OK, will try your suggestions and hope I can stay aloft.

Thanks again.

Yeah I can't seem to maintain a steady altitude, speed, or keep it from spinning. Oh well....

As said above - twist grip is essential in FS helo flying.

Basically :

Throttle = up & down (known as 'collective' in helos)
Joystick = direction as well as accelerating, slowing (pull back to slow down & using  Throttle (collective) to control altitude)
Twist grip = to torque pedals (or rudder in fixed wing). This is mainly to control yaw. The rotor blades are revolving one way & naturally the body wants to revolve the other way.

Understand the basics, practice & helo flying becomes one of the best by far ways to have fun with FS

I about gave up on helos, years ago...

I was going to suggest using the FS9 Hokum, and installing it into FSX, but virtually none of thegauges work, so you'd end up clicking through a lot of "Created for FS98 or earlier" warnings, and the effects for the rockets are wayyy off (like about twenty feet to the right and back 15 or so..)

But if you don't mind adding the thumb (Just copy the small pic next to the download, then paste it into the texture folder(s) and then rename it "thumbnail), and install in rotocraft.

The KA50 and Ka58 both have counter-rotating roters, so the torque effect isn't bad at all.

Another alternative, though it also needs a thumbnail added to it's texture file, is the Solotrek XFV at the top of the page:

http://www.simviation.com/members/fs2004misc7.htm

Flies like a helicopter, but no tail roter to send you into a spin at low speeds.  

Now Boikat, just because the model has the contra-rotating rotors..does not mean FS is actually simulating contra-rotating rotors.

I concur with Brett, rudder pedals will make a HUGE difference to your flying experience, not just for helicopters, but they will add a big level of fidelity, and also make it easier to fly a fixed wing airplane, allowing more precise control over yaw.

Amazing to turn and burn through the Grand Canyon in an Mi-28 with those pedals. Just my $0.02 US.

Maybe not, but it seems more stable to me.