tricks to flying choppers?

[deuce]

i put the realism on max and now my huey is somewhat difficult to pilot. are there any additional controls i need to use outside of the throttle/joystick for basic flight?

[Lethal.Ambition]

Rudder to control the tail.

[torquestripe]

Gotta have those rudder pedals to get good at flying the egg beaters.
Just be sure to input rudder from the keyboard (in small increments) to counter act the torque from the main rotor blades.
Its also alot easier to fly helicopters on a regular joystick if you download a CH-46 SeaKnight or a CH-47 Chinook.
HAPPY AUTOROTATION!!!

[Lethal.Ambition]

One of the MS Sidewinder joysticks has a twistable stick to control rudder.

[OTTOL]

I'm a fixed wing guy, but I found that the standard JetRanger on FS2002 is harder to fly than the some of the ones I have downloaded from Simviation. I had the best results with the Hughes/McDonnel Douglas 500. Try the MD500 SNOW file on SimViation. Also try forward flight before you attempt to hover.

[visitor]

Do a search for a S-51 It works in Fs2002
and is easy to fly, but not too easy, If you
get my drift, you still have to learn to control
the dang thing, then the others aren't too hard!!
You need a twist stick to fly them with realism!!

X

[ozzy72]

Cam, best advice is go to the Hoversafe Academy and download their tutorials (they also have some really great guys there who can help you and give you advice, several of them also hang around here). After working through these you'll be able to lob a Huey around the skys like you'd been in the First Air Cav since birth
Just click on the flying school button, and scroll down to find the lessons. Its all here at http://members.shaw.ca/hoversafe/Hoversafe.htm
And the best bit is that its free! What lovely people

Ozzy

[BFMF]

what's the difference between Hoversafe and Hovercontroll

[ozzy72]

I think they both do the same sort of thing Andrew, I've never used HoverControl personally, but my understanding is they do the same.
Personally I learnt a lot from Hoversafe (big [glb]THANKS[/glb]to Cal), and consider myself a pretty good virtual helo pilot these days.

Ozzy

[torquestripe]

Once I felt I could control the helicopters about 25' off the ground, I downloaded some of the oil drilling rigs and practiced for HOURS landing on those small helo pads. Lots of fun after you get the hang of it. Night time is the best for doing this.

[MattNW]

Do what Ozzy says and download the tutorials from Hoversafe. That's about the best place to learn from. One thing I found that works for myself is to pilot from the VC when flying a helo. I usually fly from the 2D panel in fixed wings but for helos the ability to look left, right, up and down is essential.

[deuce]

thanks for the excellent suggestions.

im wondering what sort of pedals i should get?

[Iroquois]

You'll want to get yourself a good, easy to fly heli. I find that the Bell 206 is very difficult to fly and even harder to land. Gmaxflight's Gazel is a good one. It's the only one I've successfully hovered (other than the Eurocopter, cheating with autohover). I use an R/C airplane style joystick. Left had throttle and rudder and right hand pitch and roll really take the key work out of flying helis on the sim.