I'm tired of flying that Bell around - are there any sweet payware helicopters out there? I mean, the plane side of the game has the B-25, PSS Dash-8, All of the FSD and Dreamfleet planes...how about nice payware helicopters?

want some NICE helicopters? Check out www.thelz.com they have some great helicopters and are very well priced. I have 6 helicopters from them and unfortunately can't fly them all at the same time.They are a breeze to fly, well made and have animations as well (working winches, opening door/doors etc).They also have "special deals" like special prices for buying a package of 4 or more (you choose which helicopters you want in the package). Payment method is by PayPal.and NO, I am not affiliated in anyway with www.thelz.com , just an EXTREMELY HAPPY customer, and one that will be going back for more purchases soon.David

rgr that.. thelz has some nice helicopters. I picked up a 4 pack about a month ago and am also very happy with them.cheersmanta

It may not be time to spend money yet - there are three great freeware helos that come to my mind. Give them a shot before you warm up your credit card:- the first is Jean-Marie Mermaz's Bell 47. This is a great-looking and flying aircraft with fairly amazing animation and external detail. http://library.avsim.net/sendfile.php?DLID=22802 is one version; there are several others as well as some repaints.- the second is Antti Pankkonen's amazing Aerospatiale/Eurocopter Dauphin A365. Note, however, that this is not just a jump-in-and-go aircraft; you have to spend some time getting it configured correctly, particularly w.r.t. your joystick setup. The Dauphin's autopilot (yes it has one!) is very sophisticated, but Antti had to essentially write his own joystick interface routines to accomplish it. Also, some time must be spent with the documentation to understand how to start the engines, etc. It has a nice implementation of a Trimble GPS unit - which is *not* a re-masked version of the stock FS GPS the way some add-on GPSs are. You can enter a flight plan into the GPS and then have the autopilot fly it automagically. (Note: you do need to enter the lat/long coordinates of airports/navaids for the area that you want to fly in, in order to use them as waypoints in the Trimble... these coordinates can be found at http://www.airnav.com.)The resulting flying experience is well worth the effort - IMO this aircraft could easily be payware. Lots of beautiful repaints are available too. http://library.avsim.net/sendfile.php?DLID=25152 is the one I downloaded; there is at least one more that is the latest 1.2* version. (Make sure to get either 1.2 or 1.21 - the latter is essentially just a repaint - and also grab the Trimble GPS patch: http://library.avsim.net/sendfile.php?DLID=25370 )- the third is not strictly a separate helicopter from the stock JetRanger, and also (to my knowledge) is not available here on Avsim. The '206 has been highly tweaked, and has much better sounds and a more realistic flight model at least in terms of autorotation. I have done more autos with this model than I've done in all my other FS helos combined - it just feels right (although I must admit I haven't auto'd a real '206 - my experience is in piston helos so far). One thing I really like about the sound-set is that when you pull a little bit of collective, the blade sound changes just as it should, as the blades start to grab more air. It also features a different VC which you may or may not like; it puts the panel in the center of the VC so that all instruments can be easily seen when you're "facing" forward. Finally, it has the Heli-HUD mod by Steve Hanley. This aircraft can be downloaded from the digital-flight site: http://www.digital-flight.com/free_download/bell206bDF.zip- One other freeware helo that I just remembered is the Sikorsky S-51. A nice old bird from the 40s/50s; I think there are only a very few of these (if any) still flying. http://library.avsim.net/sendfile.php?DLID=13975Enjoy! (Writing this makes me want to go spool up one of these ships, but I'm on a business trip with nary a joystick or collective or pedal in sight...)Dave Blevins

Didn't know about the 206 Dave, thanks for the link.There are quite a few great 'freeware' helio's out there. I have a good collection of both 'payware' and 'freeware' helicopters but unfortunately I only have one pair of hands. Guess I can only be described as a 'real rotorhead!!! Anything rotary is welcome in my hangar, lol.Maybe others might post some thoughts on thier fav helicopter or point to a few good links.David

Hmmmm, not too sure about payware chops, but I have some SWEET freeware chops.Here's my favourite 2:1. Hughes 500D2. Sikorsky S-52The Sikorsky is very heavy-handed, and requires much power to get it off the ground, and is a good challenge to fly. A couple of months ago it used to be my favourite, but then I started flying smaller chops, like the Hughes, and couldn't get used to it again. The Hughes is very 'light', and a very welcome change to the sluggish Bell.There are some great, and some not so great freeware chops out there. Both of the above can be downloaded wither from Avsim, or Simviation.Simviation also have a huge chop section :) :-cool

I've always liked the Sikorsky S-92 "Blake Media" http://www.simviation.com/fs2002heli12.htm

I got the sikorsy - it's pretty nice, although I'd like to try my hand at a repaint :)I still wish some of the payware people out there would get some helicopter stuff going. To have a helicopter modelled like the PSS A3XX - would be simply amazing. I like thelz.com helo's, but I hate paypal and I don't want to have files emailed to me - I'd rather have a download area after paying so I'm not buying anything from them.I guess the limitations of the FS Engine and general limited knowledge on helicopter flight dynamics is causing this short-coming. MS should make a helicopter simulator and plane simulator instead of trying to come up with one engine that does it all.

I personaly (and it is purely a personal opinion) don't like paying for add-on, and as stated above, there are some excellent freeware helis out there. One you might want to try is the new Gazelle, available at www.hovercontrol.com CheersAlun

It has been stated by the big names in payware that the reason they don't do a good quality helicopter is the time and effort put into the project isn't worth it considering the small group it would cater to. It is documented that a majority of simmers fly the big iron, oh well, to each his own!Luckily we have dedicated guys that are willing to spend the long hours producing the great freeware additions for us. I would gladly pay for an AS355 as detailed as Al Devins Alouette, with the Eye candy (animations) of Cyril's Gazelle and the FDE and avionics of the Dauphin, I would be in heaven! LOLIf anyone is good with GMAX and the animation process, please contact Al, he is working on a new A109 and it would be such a shame to not have all the eye candy on it!! LOLRegards, Michaelhttp://mysite.verizon.net/res052cd/mybannercva1.jpg

Dont worry the 109s got doors and I think the complicated landing gear is going to be enough eye candy :)Ive got exams coming up so ill have to slow down on the modelling but Im hoping to release it for 2004 (the game not the year) (hopefully no more pause for gear) and a interactive VC.It will also be available for 2002 though.If anyones good at gauges I could use some made for the panel. just a question.SeeyaAlan

A place for freeware helis and valuable info is Hovercontrol.com