My "fleet" of aircraft is nearly complete, and all I feel like I want now (other than the PMDG 777) is a more or less realistic helicopter and who would be out there that makes a good one? I want one that is a challenge to fly.

Realistic and difficult: Dodosim 206.

 

Agreed, the Dodosim 206 is the best, most challenging FSX helicopter right now.  Slightly aged graphics but that doesn't matter much - you don't spend a lot of time looking inside the cockpit.  A nice feature - realism is scalable across five levels, so you can let yourself into the challenge slowly.  The upcoming Milviz Bell 407 may give it some competition, but at least until it arrives, the Dodo gets my top vote.

What kind of hardware do you guys use for helos?  I flew one of the default FSX ones a while back and just mapped the throttle and collective to two throttle levers.  Seemed to work.

When I first got seriously into helo flying about a year and a half ago, I used a Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS setup with the throttle axis reversed (so you pull back the throttle to increase collective - that gives you the patting-your-head-while-rubbing-your-stomach feeling you get with helicopter controls). I think it was the precision of the Warthog that gave me the courage to start on helos. However, the more I worked with it, the more I found out it's not the best choice - while it's precise, it's also very stiff, with a strong centering force, and that makes it hard to apply the very subtle control inputs necessary in helicopters.

 

A lot of the helo pilots over at Hovercontrol (great resource, by the way) prefer the Saitek X-52, which isn't as heavy and needs lighter forces.

 

I'm not the best example to follow because I got so heavily into helo flying that I spring for a Rainman helisim - similar to the one pictured, but it has aircraft-style pedals with toe brakes, so you can use it for LSA-type aircraft as well. Very expensive (about the price of a top-line FSX computer, though it'll last longer). But professional grade. There are other, similar full-size units. The advantage of a full-size rig is that the long throw of the stick makes it possible to make tiny, finger-pressure adjustments, which is the right way to do it.

 

If you can't or don't want to spring for something like that, it's also possible to modify a standard joystick like the X-52 by lengthening the stick. There's a dedicated forum on Hovercontrol where people are working on projects like this. A thread near the top right now shows work in progress to modify the Warthog. Very helpful crowd over there, by the way. The helo community is a nice niche-within-a-niche group.

 

BTW, I've become sort of a controls junkie over the years - I've worked with several of the major controllers. Last year was my year for lifetime investments - in addition to the Rainman rig, I also set up a PFC yoke and throttle for fixed-wing. The rudder pedals on the Rainman serve for both.

 

Oh, one more thing - the DCS Huey (standalone product for the DCS combat simulator) has just gone into beta release. Really impressive, even in beta form - it meets or exceeds the Dodo. I mention it on the merits but also because there's a good forum on the DCS site where some discussion about helo controls is currently underway. Maybe worth a visit.

 

Hope this helps.

Does the DoDo Siim start you off without the difficulty level?  Can you start simply and work yourself up to the more difficult levels.  I'd like to buy it, but I'd like to start off learning it!

 

Stan

I just use a Logitech 3D Pro Extreme, does fine.

 

Once upon a time I had access to ALL the toys, learned from that that simplest is often best, as is often the case.

 

You can start the Dodosim in easy mode and work your way up, Stan, but it won't teach you how to turn BOLD TYPE off in the forum, unfortunately.....

 

Realistic helos in FSX ?  None that I know about... :-/

 

 

You can start the Dodosim in easy mode and work your way up

 

Yes, at Level 1 it's pretty much like the default 206, and then you can go from there.

 

 

Realistic helos in FSX ?  None that I know about... :-/

 

The Dodo, the Dodo... I believe it even works in P3D if that's the current only-sim-you'll-ever-use...  :wink:  Give it a try!

 

BTW... if I recall correctly, you're a DCS fan.  Tried the Huey yet?  If not, you should.  Flight model has just been revised and it's really shaping up well.  Definitely worth a look.