When I fly helis, I turn all the realism sliders down to easy, and usually activate autorudder. You still have to use the torque pedals, but I find helicopters quite manageable when they are operated like this. Other than this all I do is invert the throttle axis and pull back on the X52 throttle for the collective.
Anyway, http://www.fspilotshop.com/index.php?ref=372 has all Area 51 helis for $9.98 each. This is half off the regular price of $19.95.
I have the UH-1Y Venom (Super Huey) and the M-47G Chinook. I like both these models, and I enjoy flying them. They are not "new" models, both have been around for a while, and there are a few repaints available for either.
Both look great from the outside:



True to Area51 form they have pretty simple VCs. They look great, don't get me wrong. THere just are not a lot of clickable switches, and fairly basic flight and nav instruments. Start up? Autostart. No complex start/shutdowns here. Some people like it, some find it lacking.
Neither helicopter comes with an autopilot, but both work ok with the AFCP heli autopilots.
The following are from the MH-47G as it flies cover over a training "village" near the MHTB, a fictional joint forces training facility for high altitude heli training:
Visibility from the VC is good as we arrive on scene.

And slow to an AP controlled hover

The view out the right side door

I use Ray Nunweiler's "no seats" mod on some of my repaints. This is a fictional US Navy livery depicting a Chinook from the USS Enterprise:


Whereas the repaint depicting a bird from the USS Ronald Reagan still has the seats

Parked on the Abacus Flight Deck 5 USS Ronald Reagan off the west coast of the US.

Headed out on patrol:

The UH-1Y on the roof of a main building at the US Embassy, Saigon.

If the VC looks familiar, its because all the Area 51 heli vc's I've seen have nearly indentical instrumentation, and similar lack of clickable switches. They still don't look bad at all, and for the price........


THE UH-1Y comes with several loadout depictions. This is "FULL LOAD" which depicts a five man squad of infantrymen.

When the doors are closed, the door gunner sits back, and the minigun is rotated and pinned to a foward firing position. I haven't set up a smoke 'gun' or '2.75" rocket' effect, but either would be easy to do.

Arriving at a training excercise at a Florida training facility

Flying and landing from the VC is pretty easy in these helis.


Also there is a "SNIPER TEAM" loadout, where your passengers are a bolt-rifle toting sharpshooter and his DMR carrying spotter.


And a "TACTICAL TEAM" loadout, where you have four guys sitting "Littlebird" style in the floorboard.


From a camp in Afghanistan, I pull the collective and let her climb vertically.





I give it the first bump forward on the cyclic


And its easy to climb out with just a little forward pressure on the cyclic.




There is also a "CLEAN" model that has no passsengers or door crew, and also has no external weapons.
