Like many of you, I'm a Helicopter Instructor. There are lots of nice looking helicopters that can be down loaded. I can not find one that is realistic in most of the effects needed to teach Ab initio students; ietorque effect on yawtranslational liftflap back ( and fwd )inflow rolltail rotor roll ( causing Left or Right skid low in hover )autorotationetccan anybody help me ?

Hi,There's most likely going to be some debate on this one, but I'll put my word in on this. . .If you're looking in MSFS for an accurate all around helicopter, I don't believe you're going to find one. Sure, some helicopters mimic certain helicopter characteristics, but I haven't found a one that correctly models all phases of flight, as I see you haven't either.The solution: X-PlaneThis simulator hasn't seen the recognition it deserves. Brett Sumpter has an R22 available for download at www.X-Plane.org for Xplane 6. This is a great model. I'm not an expert, but I understand that Xplane models flight in a completely different manner than FS. Somthing with fluid dynamics. Anyways, the resulting realism is great. I can personally compare a hovering autorotation in the simulator to one in a real R22, and know it will teach the proper control movement (or no movements for that matter) that can taken over to the real helicopter. Forward speed autorotations are also fairly realistic, with RPM being far more flexible than in FS. You can even do low RPM recoveries (lower and roll. . .) However the right control setup is paramount. You'll need at least a stick with slider and pedals. I think there are also places that offer USB collectives for the simulator.Overall, all of the aspects of flight you mention you need for teaching are covered. . . You are going to have to hold left cyclic agianst tail rotor translating tendancy, etc. It would be hard introducing students with the simulator without dual controls, or the ability to let the student master one control at a time. I do think, however, if you can hover in X, learning to hover in the real helicopter will be far easyer, take less time, and cost less money.The Xplane demo can be downloaded at www.x-plane.com and additions to the sim can be downloaded at www.x-plane.org. Good luck, and enjoy!Regards,James WebbLibrary ManagerAVSIM! Online

Couldn't disagree more James, couldn't disagree more.

Hi!I'm not a helicopter pilot so I cannot give an informed opinion about the realism of Fly! II in modeling a helicopter, but to me it seems pretty good.So far there's only the default Bell 407 fully modeled but a Sikorsky S-76 and a Dauphin are on the works!Alejandro AmigorenaCheshire, CTFly! II Beta Team MemberAthlon XP 1800ABIT KR7A-RAID768Mb RAMMSI GeForce 3 Ti 500 64MBSB Audigy GamerCH Flight Yoke USBCH Pro Pedals USB

No generic flight simulator program is going to provide realistic flight dynamics and ergonomic feel for several reasons:1. The generic flight controls, i.e., joysticks, yokes, pedals, do not provide the proper forces or movements of any aircraft simulated in the program. Because of the infinite variations of flight controls there is no attempt to match actual aircraft data to the flight controls nor would most generic flight controls be capabile of providing the proper forces or movements.2. The screen environment, while providing the cockpit layout and gauges, doesn't provide the actual cockpit situational awareness.3. The lack of motion queues and forces doesn't provide a realistic environment, especially for helicopter flying in the slow regime or hover.4. Poor aerodynamic model quality can provide negative results that leads to overcontrol or under control, if one tries to replicate those actions in a real aircraft.Flight simulators designed and built for one particular aircraft generally have compromises due to, engineering limitations, lack of actual aircraft data (out of the envelope regimes, spins, spirals), g-force limitations, visual presentation limitations, cost.This is not to say one cannot enjoy these generic flight simulators; gain some knowledge about the actual aircraft; learn and practice navigation skills; learn the basics of different gauges and switches.The ability to simulate a helicopter is more of a challenge than simulating a fixed wing aircraft because of its unique flying regimes. The vary essence of translating to forward flight from a hover is an experience everyone should experience. My first experience was in November 1964 in a Sikorsky S-61 (SH-3A), as a flight crewman.