I am looking for a high fidelity helicopter simulation,with "autorotation" capability.

 

Any advice/opinions, would be greatly appreciated.

Best one is without a doubt the DodoSim Bell 206 JetRanger, which is what you might justifiably call the A2A of choppers, since it has failures, maintenance and all that stuff as well as being very realistic, i.e. it does stuff like retreating blade stalls, VRS, flap back, asymmetric disc lift, etc, etc, and it can get hot starts on the turbine and all that crap as well. On fully realistic settings, it will take a while to master it, but there are actually five difficulty settings for it, so if you are struggling, you can tame it with those, but of course if you want realism, then it will give you that in spades. You can buy it from Flight 1 too, which means you could return it if you were unhappy, although I doubt you would be inclined to take them up on that offer, since it is a stunner.

 

If the 206 doesn't float your boat, here's some other ideas...

 

A close second would be the Twin Hueys from CERA, i.e. the Bell 412 and Bell 212 aka the UH-1N. They are really very good, and although there are some things that don't work on them, you'd have to be a bit picky to find fault with them, especially for the money. I really rate their 212, that's great fun, but it isn't as realistic as the Dodo 206. He's me faffing about in the Cera Bell 212 and the Nemeth UH-1:

 

 

The best classic UH-1D/H/C Hueys are the Nemeth ones. Texturing is a bit lacklustre, but the 3D model, and the flight model is excellent, and better than the Aerosoft Huey incidentally, which has its fans, but I'm not hugely impressed with it myself. Dodo were making a Huey too, but progress is stalled, which is a shame because it probably would have been as good as the Dodo 206.

 

Nemeth are getting better with every release, and their more recent efforts are taking realism to ever higher levels, so they are worth a look, notably their CH-47, although if you want to try one of theirs for not much money, look on Flight Sim Deal of the Day, and you will find their CH-53 Sea Stallion on there for 16 bucks at the moment. If you want a good fun chopper from them incidentally, check out their MD-500, which is excellent, being very easy to fly. Here's a vid of me chucking that one about:

 

 

Al

Kudos Al, for your more than thorough reply!

The 206, you mention sounds just the ticket for me.

I will give the "Dodo" a shot, as per you recommendation.

 

Thanks, for the very educational video!

 

Cheers.

Oh, forgot to mention, the standalone 1C simulation Whirlwind of Vietnam is a truly excellent simulation of the UH-1C Huey, but it is a combat flight sim, and one set in Vietnam, so that might put you off. Nevertheless, if you want a pretty damn realistic chopper and are prepared to step outside FSX, then that is worth a look. As indeed is Bohemia Interactive's Take on Helicopters, which is also a really good chopper simulation, being mainly based around civilian missions in various fictional choppers that are based on real world types, but are fictional to get around the need for licensing. There is also a Mil-24 Hind combat expansion available for it. It is unusual in being one where you also play in first person mode, here's a vid of me faffing about in it when it was in beta:

 

 

Also worth a look, and currently discounted to just ten quid if you look on the Just Flight website, is 1C's Apache Air Assault, which is as you might imagine, an AH-64 chopper simulation. It is somewhat arcadish where the weaponry is concerned, but don't let that put you off, it's actually an excellent chopper flight sim and bloody good fun, especially on multiplayer with one of you laser designating targets and the other one engaging them, since it uses the same mechanics as the one for WoV, and has been praised by real Apache pilots for its flight model accuracy.

 

Al

I will also take a look at these other options that you mention.

 

Thank you very much Al !!

As indeed is Bohemia Interactive's Take on Helicopters

 

I am downloading the "Take on Helicopters" demo.

Looks very nice indeed!!

 

Cheers!!

There isn't too much to add to Chock's words but there is interesting utility for FSX named Helicopter Total Realism (HTR). This free software is improving FSX's helicopter flight model. If you expect your machine flying more realistic way you should check HTR. Look for it at Hovercontrol.com forum and file library.

agree, htr package upgrades flight dynamics for any helicopter. vrs, ground effect, autorotation, and other effects can be experienced. another big plus is afcs-like stability augmentation can be enabled like the real helicopter, if so equipped.

 

this said, couple htr with free/payware helicopters and good set of controls (stick, thrust lever--collective, and pedals and trackir), it's a blast to do some noe flying over orbx scenery.

 

freeware at hovercontrol.com

alphasim super cobra (very good model, just did some repaints)

h21-c (chinook before they got turbines)

 

payware

cera 412 (details are amazing)

cera 222 (same)

 

just waiting on cera to release their blackhawk.

+1 for the DoDo B206. It is the most realistic sim heli out at the moment. Put it on setting 5 and you will need to have some close to real life heli skills to fly it. The auto capability is very good.

Everyone recommends the Dodo I'm sure it's good but I like to go a little faster. I'd try the Cerasim B222 or Nemeth A109 (funky fde but better after the latest revision)

 

Neither autorotates as far I can tell but they're fun for basic helo needs.

 

http://cerasimaircraft.com/bell_222_fsx.html

http://www.nemethdesigns.com/payware/44-agustawestland-aw109-fsx.html

Thank you very much gentlemen for your advice/opinions!

 

Cheers!

I like most of the nemeth copters. I don't like the aw109and chinook tho.Go to their site and look around. Good stuff.