Flying the hellicopter - some information.

[Guest Jimbofly]

Here's some information I'd like to share based on my experience flying the elusive hellicopter (fs helos are no exception).The secret to flying any helicopter is to forget that it's fixed wing, and get into the right frame of mind.As long as you practise find control with the rudder and realise that the helicopter will essentially move in the direction of tilt (ie if you are tilted forward the helo will start moving forward, if you're tilted to the side the helo will start moving to the side, etc).Rudder is key. The rudder control actually controls the tailrotor, which is used for directional control of the helo. When the helo is moving fairly quickly, you can essentially control it like a fixed wing aircraft, and lean into the turn. To get into a hover, you turn so that the helo is essentially pointing in the direction of the wind. You then maintain that heading with the rudder while you drop the power and slowly point the nose upward. What this does is two-fold:1. Dropping the power (not cutting it, mind you) reduces the lift coming from the main rotor. This is necessary when you want to pitch upwards without gaining too much altitude.2. As you slowly pitch up, the helo starts to slow down and as it slows down the additional lift is reduced and so the helo starts to descend. You counter this by pitching up even more.Eventually the helo is moving fairly slowly. It's important that throughout this entire process the nose is kept pointing towards direction of the wind. From here you need to control the collective (throttle on the joystick), the pitch, and the rudder all at the same time. You keep a watchful eye on your airspeed (to practise it's best to hit Shift+Z for an accurate display of your airspeed on the top of the screen) and wait until it drops to only a few knots. Push the stick forward, but not too much. Keep in mind that if you hold the rotor of the helo parallel with the ground, the helo should hold steady.Once the airspeed reaches zero, the helo becomes quite fiddly but as long as you concentrate on keeping the nose pointed in the right direction and you keep the helo upright, the helo should remain stable.When I started flying the FS Bell way back in 98 I thought I'd never get the hang of the thing, and I was all over the place. It took me weeks before I got my first landing without stacking it (I didn't have a rudder control)!Nowadays its like second nature, but that is because I've flown helos for a long time and like anything, mastering the technique requires buttloads of practise. Keep practising and you'll astonish yourself with how quickly you can learn to tame the beast that is the helicopter.I hope the above information helps some budding helo pilots out there!Cheers,James

[Guest A321]

>Here's some information I'd like to share based on my>experience flying the elusive hellicopter (fs helos are no>exception).>>The secret to flying any helicopter is to forget that it's>fixed wing, and get into the right frame of mind.>>As long as you practise find control with the rudder and>realise that the helicopter will essentially move in the>direction of tilt (ie if you are tilted forward the helo will>start moving forward, if you're tilted to the side the helo>will start moving to the side, etc).>>Rudder is key. The rudder control actually controls the>tailrotor, which is used for directional control of the helo.>When the helo is moving fairly quickly, you can essentially>control it like a fixed wing aircraft, and lean into the turn.>To get into a hover, you turn so that the helo is essentially>pointing in the direction of the wind. You then maintain that>heading with the rudder while you drop the power and slowly>point the nose upward. What this does is two-fold:>>1. Dropping the power (not cutting it, mind you) reduces the>lift coming from the main rotor. This is necessary when you>want to pitch upwards without gaining too much altitude.>>2. As you slowly pitch up, the helo starts to slow down and as>it slows down the additional lift is reduced and so the helo>starts to descend. You counter this by pitching up even more.>>Eventually the helo is moving fairly slowly. It's important>that throughout this entire process the nose is kept pointing>towards direction of the wind. From here you need to control>the collective (throttle on the joystick), the pitch, and the>rudder all at the same time. You keep a watchful eye on your>airspeed (to practise it's best to hit Shift+Z for an accurate>display of your airspeed on the top of the screen) and wait>until it drops to only a few knots. Push the stick forward,>but not too much. Keep in mind that if you hold the rotor of>the helo parallel with the ground, the helo should hold>steady.>>Once the airspeed reaches zero, the helo becomes quite fiddly>but as long as you concentrate on keeping the nose pointed in>the right direction and you keep the helo upright, the helo>should remain stable.>>When I started flying the FS Bell way back in 98 I thought I'd>never get the hang of the thing, and I was all over the place.>It took me weeks before I got my first landing without>stacking it (I didn't have a rudder control)!>>Nowadays its like second nature, but that is because I've>flown helos for a long time and like anything, mastering the>technique requires buttloads of practise. Keep practising and>you'll astonish yourself with how quickly you can learn to>tame the beast that is the helicopter.>>I hope the above information helps some budding helo pilots>out there!>>Cheers,>>JamesThanks James, Im starting to get in to Helos, and Im loving them, Your Words of wisdom, are a wonderful bost, and are of much help.Thank you KindlyJason

[RobertVA 0]

Being near a building, tree or a high resolution ground texture helps low altitude hovering A LOT. I discovered this in one of the earlier versions of Flight Simulator when my ability to hover improved significantly when I moved from the relatively blurry taxiway & apron areas of Meigs to the higher resolution runway.

[Guest Jimbofly]

Very true. It's best to practise hovering near a detailed object or over detailed terrain because you get a very good feel for how fast you're moving, where you're moving and your height above the ground.James

[Sonar5 3]

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