I am not normally a fan of helicopters. as I find them difficult to master as far as technique goes.I would like some opinions on Nemeth's offerings regarding best modelling, handling,glass cockpit,and best value for the money.Any suggestions appreciated.Cheers Ron

Nemeth's MD500 Defender is one of the best choppers you can get for FSX, you can land it on a sixpence and it is really easy to hold it in a hover, yet despite that easy handling it still feels convincing. You won't be sorry if you buy that one, I actually think it is one of the best FSX add-ons there is (either fixed wing or choppers) and so it is well worth the full price, which means if you can get it cheap then I'd say go for it. It's pretty smooth on FPS too in spite of having a glass avionics cockpit.Nemeth's Huey is a bit of a frame rate burner, but it's still worth having if you like Vietnam-era choppers as the models are nicely done (you get the gunship C and the slick H variants), although it has to be said the paint jobs are a bit lacklustre, nothing a repaint can't sort out though and the VC very nice.Al

Nemeth's MD500 Defender is one of the best choppers you can get for FSX, you can land it on a sixpence and it is really easy to hold it in a hover, yet despite that easy handling it still feels convincing. You won't be sorry if you buy that one, I actually think it is one of the best FSX add-ons there is (either fixed wing or choppers) and so it is well worth the full price, which means if you can get it cheap then I'd say go for it. It's pretty smooth on FPS too in spite of having a glass avionics cockpit.Nemeth's Huey is a bit of a frame rate burner, but it's still worth having if you like Vietnam-era choppers as the models are nicely done (you get the gunship C and the slick H variants), although it has to be said the paint jobs are a bit lacklustre, nothing a repaint can't sort out though and the VC very nice.Al

Thanks Al,I bought the Defender,Any tips about flying?I only have a joystickand constantly have to force the stick forward which is quite fatiguing.I know they suggest separate throttle and rudder peddles,but thats not in my budget right now. I wanted a helicopter to appreciate the scenery of PNW,guess I'll have to persevereCheersRon

Ease up on the throttle a bit. It's tempting to try and fly choppers in FS purely off the stick pitch, but you'll find you can use the throttle on lower settings to get a lot of the control, especially at low level where the chopper is in ground effect and riding on a cushion of air reflected off the surface. Also note that when you get moving, the translational lift of your forward motion will mean there is less power required to stay in the air. Less power means less torque correction with the tail rotor too, which also helps to reduce the strain on your wrist if you are using a stick with a twist rudder function.You could also try what I did with my Saitek Stick, (which might seem a bit drastic but did reduce the wrist strain), what I did was to snip about one and a half coils of the centering spring out of it so that there is barely any centering strength on it. That makes life a lot easier.Al

Ease up on the throttle a bit. It's tempting to try and fly choppers in FS purely off the stick pitch, but you'll find you can use the throttle on lower settings to get a lot of the control, especially at low level where the chopper is in ground effect and riding on a cushion of air reflected off the surface. Also note that when you get moving, the translational lift of your forward motion will mean there is less power required to stay in the air. Less power means less torque correction with the tail rotor too, which also helps to reduce the strain on your wrist if you are using a stick with a twist rudder function.You could also try what I did with my Saitek Stick, (which might seem a bit drastic but did reduce the wrist strain), what I did was to snip about one and a half coils of the centering spring out of it so that there is barely any centering strength on it. That makes life a lot easier.Al

I guess I could try that.I have a Logitech stick.I mostly have flown the big iron on autopilot,so I'll have to learn a different techniqueSo much to loin,so little time to loin it in LOL.On another note,I just got Ship simulator extremes to work by downloading the latest Nvidia drivers,They have some fantastic sea graphics!!Thanks again Al for your adviceCheers, Ron