Hi. I have a few sceneries which include AI helicopters & their flight plans. In some (e.g. Easter Island) the helicopters take off properly, i.e.vertically, and look great. In others, they taxi along to the runways, like a/c. How do I get these latter to behave properly and take off realistically (if that is possible - I assume so, given, as I say, that I do have some that can in my FS9 setup)?I tried a search here first but didn't come up with any answers..Thanks,Martin

Hi. I have a few sceneries which include AI helicopters & their flight plans. In some (e.g. Easter Island) the helicopters take off properly, i.e.vertically, and look great. In others, they taxi along to the runways, like a/c. How do I get these latter to behave properly and take off realistically (if that is possible - I assume so, given, as I say, that I do have some that can in my FS9 setup)?I tried a search here first but didn't come up with any answers..Thanks,Martin

AI Choppers in FS2004 are treated as "regular" aircraft - they cannot take off or land vertically. Some have been tweaked to minimize the take off and landing rolls but that is about as good as they get.That being said, check out the payware Heli Traffic 2009 from Flight1. It uses unique programing and the choppers (any which you have installed) to make them take off and land properly. Truly amazing!You can check it out here - be sure to watch the demo video.http://www.flight1.com/products.asp?product=helitrafficI just love it.

Hi David,Yes, I did take a brief look at that some time ago, but didn't do anything about it (the consensus here is that I spend too much on FS already, but what do the family know, or understand?!). Since you enthuse so much, I'll have another look though.I suppose that the sceneries I have where the AI helicopters take off vertically must use slew mode somehow??Martin

Hi David,Yes, I did take a brief look at that some time ago, but didn't do anything about it (the consensus here is that I spend too much on FS already, but what do the family know, or understand?!). Since you enthuse so much, I'll have another look though.I suppose that the sceneries I have where the AI helicopters take off vertically must use slew mode somehow??Martin

Nope - That program uses it's own AI engine with some remarkable programming. It does not use the AI engine in FS2004 or FSX (the program works in both versions)You can set Helipads anywhere or it will use the default ones already present. I have choppers taking off and landing on rooftops and on ships - all take off and land vertically - no runway required at all.Learning to make flightplans with the program takes a little bit of practice but once you get the hang of it, it is quite easy - and great fun to watch them in action.

Hi - I think we're at crossed purposes. I am referring to sceneries I have installed into FS9 which have AI helicopters taking off vertically (one is an Easter Island scenery, easteris.zip), not the Flight1 programme you recommend. It can be done apparently, but as I said, maybe the AI helos are in slew mode(?).Martin.

Hi - I think we're at crossed purposes. I am referring to sceneries I have installed into FS9 which have AI helicopters taking off vertically (one is an Easter Island scenery, easteris.zip), not the Flight1 programme you recommend. It can be done apparently, but as I said, maybe the AI helos are in slew mode(?).Martin.

Well all I can tell you is that the Easteris.zip is a package I put together and there is no vertical action designed into it.I used a very small chopper (the Schweizer 300C) and special afcads with short taxiways etc. but they still require a short roll out etc. so am not sure what you are seeing.In any case slew mode only affects the aircraft you are flying.

snip----In any case slew mode only affects the aircraft you are flying.

DavidAll planes including AI can be placed in slew mode regardless of who is flying them. This is part of the Traffic Toolbox and the principle that AI Smooth / AI Seperation uses. Once the AI Plane is placed in slew mode many of the 3rd party FDE's do not allow a proper recover back to flying mode. If you manually place the AI plane in slew and then manually release it many will go bizerk. Any 3rd party AI Plane seperation utility code using slew mode causes additional issues not seen by many. When a poorly designed FDE is released out of slew the plane can be seen, diving to the ground, rolling toward a runway, flying off into never never land, disappearing from the explorer data list and popping up at the stand, losing the slotted approach position per ATC, etc.By default FS does not use slew mode for plane seperation but uses a change in heading for better spacing (when on the approach). The default FS seperation ATC system code was not designed for all the AI Plane FP's that many add for realism. By default FS also has many curved approaches called LDA's, VOR's, Ndb's . These are used for AI (no ILS present) when the weather engine has coded the airport to IMC. Using any of the 3rd party AI seperation utility's (they use slew mode) causes the AI plane to disconnect from the ATC engine. If by chance the AI plane goes missed on the curve approach then ATC cannot vector the AI plane back to the curve approach on the 2nd try. This is because any seperation utility disconnects from ATC after the missed approach. ATC can no longer vector the 30 degree offset to the curved offset to final/proper missed altitude and on the 2nd attempt planes fly through mountains if in the way.hope this is helpful

I haven't run the Easter Island scenery for a while, but the TO roll must be so short that the visual effect is of vertical takeoff - it certainly looked good as far as I recall..Yes, I too use AI separation which slews the AI a/c out of the way, in effect..M.

DavidAll planes including AI can be placed in slew mode regardless of who is flying them. This is part of the Traffic Toolbox and the principle that AI Smooth / AI Seperation uses.

Yes Jim - I do understand that concept - I probably should have added a line saying "unless you use a third party utility such as Traffic Toolbox, AI Seperation or AISmooth".The Heli Traffic 2009 program does not appear to use this concept at all - and this is what we were discussing.I have been told they developed a different "AI Engine" which controls the choppers and which runs independently of the FS2004/FSX AI engine.