Initial impressions
By Metro Helicopter's Jim Davey
It was with great excitement that I found Antti Pankkonen's AS365N3 Dauphin available for download. With all of the features listed, I thought it was a dream come true! When I went to download it, one of the first things I noticed was the file size! My experience so far with add-on aircraft is that the larger the download, the more it affects my frame rates. I was hoping this would be an exception to the rule.
After downloading, the first thing you notice is that you cannot simply "drop and play" with the Dauphin. You actually have to set it up for your flight simulator. For some people, this seems to be simpler than others, but from what I've read in the forums, Antti is more than happy to help individuals with their setup so they can begin flying this helicopter.
Once I had set up my joystick, I loaded Flight Simulator to see if I could get this helicopter to fly! I launched flight sim at Meigs field, pulled up the Dauphin, and took off manually. The first thing I noticed was that my frame rate was still acceptably high! What a pleasant surprise!
James Webb adds...
Loading the helicopter for the first time brought shivers to the spine. It felt rather like the first time I had loaded the PSS 747. So many buttons to be pushed! As the manual provides only minimal written guidance, flying the helicopter was pretty much a trial and error process. At first, the Dauphin.cfg took some tweaking of the configuration file to correctly interface with my Sidewinder joystick and CH Pedals.
If there is any downside to this aircraft, it would be the installation procedure and manual. Unzipping the file creates what appears to be an automatic installation program. After installing, however, there is still much to be done. First and foremost, printing the limited documentation must be done. No sounds are included with the aircraft. The gauge file is still located within the panel folder and must be moved to the main gauges folder. The dauphin.cfg, an essential part of the add-on, must be moved to the main FS2002 folder, along with the waypoints.txt.
The manual is ten pages long and gives you a general idea of what all the buttons do. Installation can be completed using the manual's instructions alone. However, many have disregarded the manual, started up FS and expected to be able to fly. This doesn't work. Therefore, I believe the helicopter has not received as much recognition as it deserves. A properly set up Dauphin.cfg file is essential for the manual and automatic controls that interface with the helicopter. Being a configuration file, it is difficult to set up, and must be customized to each user's control setup.
The Aircraft
Jim Davey
The visual details on the model are exceptional. I have since downloaded the second version of the helicopter which incorporates a pilot figure, and that only adds to the visual appeal of the model. One thing I did notice is that unless you have "aircraft reflections" and "multi texturing" turned on, it's difficult to notice these details. As I normally fly with these off to improve my frame rates, I would have to do without most of the time.
I raised the landing gear, and was pleased that I didn't have to actually pause the flight simulator for the gear to go up. Antti has managed to do this already as a default for the landing gear motions. [Editor's note: a quick 'P' followed with 'G' does the trick; the un-pause is automatic so the operation is seemingly immediate.] This is another pleasant surprise.
James Webb comments:
The model is designed using the new design program Gmax. The helicopter is painted in the colors of Heli-Link, an executive style dark blue exterior with twin white stripes. Rotor animation is done very well and is visually pleasing. At full speed, the rotor disk tilts, but is viewable only in the Virtual Cockpit. Gear struts are fully animated. They extend on liftoff and compress nicely on landing. Small items such as the pitot sensors and antennas are modeled and textured. Since this is an executive transport, doors would have been a nice addition, but steps that extend from the aircraft are substituted and are activated from a switch within the cockpit.
Panel/Virtual Cockpit
James Webb
Unless you have a 21" or larger monitor, the gauges in the cockpit will appear rather small. There are many pop-up panels, but no click spots for opening them. The pop-up panels in the helicopter are also small, but they can easily be resized for better viewing. It takes a while to get acquainted with the button and gauge positions, but after some experience, their locations become second nature. Opening the first pop-up gives you a pedestal view that has controls for the fuel pumps, hydraulics, autopilot, and radios. The Collins radio stack is rendered very accurately with standby frequencies and databanks for frequently used frequencies. The autopilot portion of this pop-up partially resembles an airplane autopilot with a few similar buttons. The rest are all helicopter specific. Electrical systems are contained within the second pop-up located on a panel left of the captain's seat. Lights and other system switches are on the overhead panel. A twin-engine throttle quadrant is a separate pop-up. Located on the throttles are the engine start switches. By turning on the RNAV switches on the overhead, a GPS system is available on the final pop-up for en route navigation.
In order to fit all the gauges on the panel at a realistic size and keep a reasonable outside viewing area, the gauges in the cockpit were made smaller than average. This affords a realistic perspective, however unlike in the real thing, leaning forward to look closer at the gauges is not an option. Thankfully, Pankkonen included a virtual cockpit that is as sharp as any. Gauges can be easily read by simply zooming in on them, making the aircraft easy to hand fly on instruments. Everything inside appears to be scaled correctly. Rotor disk movement is easily perceived from the virtual cockpit when doing a control check. All the gauges, including pop-ups, appear in the virtual cockpit, which can reduce frame rates. However, the cockpit affords reasonable flying frame rates even on a 500Mhz PIII.
Flying the Dauphin
Jim Davey
During the flight, I found that the aircraft responded smoothly to control inputs, and was very stable during the entire flight. Frame rates remained high throughout the flight, and I found the aircraft very easy to land.
After landing the helicopter, I switched off the joystick to see how I could do with the autopilot. Once I brought up the pedestal, I noticed that the rotor rpm's were dropping, and the engine sounds were decreasing. Here is where I started to have problems. While looking over the "Read Me" document included, it mentioned the "starter buttons" on the throttles. However, I couldn't figure out where they were! A brief reading of the AVSIM helicopter forum, and I was quickly able to determine their position. (This has been corrected in the second version of the helicopter, the "Read Me" text has included some fixes for the early problems people had with the helicopter.)
So now I had full engine power again, and it was time to fly! I engaged the autopilot, and switched it into hover mode; it lifted me off into a hover, and held it perfectly, even with the 10 kt wind that was blowing that day! I just sat there for a few minutes mesmerized by this perfect hover hold. By pressing the "heading" button on the autopilot control panel, I was able to have the helicopter pivot to any heading desired.
Once I was over the initial shock, I decided to actually go somewhere. I noticed another helicopter pilot online at a different airport in the area, so I thought this would be the perfect test of the autopilot. Engaging the cruise mode, the Dauphin flew effortlessly over the 30-mile trip to the other airport. Heading and airspeed were easily adjusted through the beep trim on my joystick hat.
The helicopter did have a tendency to climb if I adjusted the airspeed down too quickly though. Rate of climb can be adjusted manually on the VSI. I found 500 -1000 fpm to give me the best performance, but it will climb faster if you really want it to.
After arriving at the airport, I selected the "hover" mode to see if it would bring me to a stop. While it did stop the aircraft, it again produced a climb of about 200-300 ft while slowing the aircraft. The dauphin will lower itself to the selected hover height though, so unless you're online with some strict ATC, this shouldn't be a problem. By lowering the airspeed before coming into a hover, you should be able to avoid most of this climbing tendency. The helicopter hovered for over ten minutes while I chatted with this other helicopter pilot about the Dauphin and its various aspects. Then, simply reducing the hover height to zero brought the Dauphin in for a perfect landing.
While my experience was a positive overall, I understand many other people have had problems with the helicopter, or have just given up altogether, stating that this helicopter is too hard to learn. My advice is to stick with it, ask lots of questions, and eventually you will be flying.
James Webb adds:
Starting the twin turbine engines requires the batteries, inverters, and generators to be flipped on in sequence. Fuel pumps must be activated and a final cockpit check done. The throttles are slowly advanced out of the shutdown detent and left just under ground idle. Pressing the engine start buttons trigger the auto-start routine. All that is left to do is bring the throttles to ground idle, and finally, to flight setting.
With rotor blades turning, there are two options for the takeoff: the pilot or the helicopter. Wanting to try the new autopilot system, I chose the automated takeoff. This is where the operations start to get complicated. Automatic takeoff is as follows. The stability augmentation system must be engaged. Both hydraulic lanes must be switched on. A hover altitude must be set (between 40 feet AGL and 300 feet AGL). Once these things are complete, the autopilot's axes must be switched on (collective and cyclic) along with their associated flight directors. Pressing the Height Hover button will raise the helicopter to the selected altitude, however heading will not be held. The Hover button will hold a stable hover, holding the heading selected on the bug. Use caution because if the heading bug is set to a heading other than the one on the ground, the autopilot will swing rapidly to that heading selected once airborne, which, on my first flight was a bit unsettling.
On my first test flight, the winds were ten knots, gusting to fifteen. Watching helicopter's stable hover with wind and gust corrections is an amazing sight from the external view. After establishing an initial hover, the helicopter can be moved around horizontally with the G SPD button. Adjustments to the helicopter's position can be accomplished with this mode and commanded using the arrow pop-up (<shift><6>). When a takeoff to forward flight is required, an altitude, speed and vertical speed must be set and the T UP button pushed. The helicopter will slowly accelerate to forward flight, maintaining the speed and vertical speed as selected.
In-flight autopilot selections are very similar to fixed wing aircraft. The T DWN button will accomplish the converse of the T UP button, bringing the helicopter from forward flight into a stable hover. If operated correctly, the autopilot system adds a whole new dimension to helicopter flight. Single pilot IFR in actual instrument conditions is possible. Operating the helicopter manually can be equally as enjoyable as using the autopilot. It requires a smooth and light touch, but the feel is accurate, handling like a larger helicopter at hover. Remember, the helicopter is equipped with retractable gear (an uncommon memory item in helicopters), so it is very easy to land this helicopter gear up. To initiate the sequence with the <G> button first press <P>; this action invokes a script which pauses the simulator briefly while the gear retracts and then quickly un-pauses the simulator. (The actual pause is required to overcome the aforementioned lack of support of retractable gear helicopters in FS2002.)
A large instrument panel decreases the visibility making tight hovering operations difficult. Autorotations are done by reducing both throttles to ground idle. If the nose is prevented from dropping at entry speed can be easily maintained in the descent. A well-timed flare and collective pull will result in a smooth touchdown. Quite a bit of left rudder is required on touchdown to keep the helicopter pointed forward. Rotor RPM at the end was less that I had imagined with a high-inertia rotor system such as this. A mis-timed flare or collective pull will result in a harder touchdown, but the large landing gear struts mask this.
Hovering autorotations are hard to do. The simulator should be paused and the throttles reduced in order to start one. From eight feet, be ready to lower the collective when unpausing. The helicopter settles quickly so a quick drop pull maneuver is required. Directional control must also be maintained with the pedals. This is hard to manage while dealing with the split second manipulations required on the collective.
One of the things mentioned earlier was Pankkonen's spectacular twin engine modeling. An engine failure is annunciated appropriately. If using more than seventy percent collective, the RPM will begin to decrease and the helicopter settles. Reducing collective below that level restored the RPM. Hovers and low power takeoffs and climbs can be completed normally. The reduced power is ever present while flying single engine. The remaining engine will run well above its redline, and most likely an inspection will be required after running an engine at those power settings. However, it is a small price to pay for an engine that can bring you back to shore after an at-sea engine failure.
Summary
Jim Davey:
This is not a typical flight simulator aircraft; instead it is truly "as real as it gets", complete with real world procedures to follow to get this helicopter flying. I would recommend this helicopter to anyone who has the patience to set it up and take time to learn to fly it. Combine these realistic procedures with the wonderful graphics—which don't adversely affect frame rates—and you have a wonderful helicopter for flight simulator.
James Webb:
Before this package, the helicopter world was limited. Pankkonen set the bar for designers that will inspire the development of future complex helicopters in 2002. Few add-ons in the recent past have done as much to advance a segment of Flight Simulator as this package. Everything that was included in the package is done with accuracy, care, and detail. This package certainly refines the word "possible."
You can download this dauph2k2_102881.zip Dauphin Version 1.1 from the Avsim's Library.
