With Owen's great new Bell, I've been rediscovering copters again in MSFS and still find I haven't lost my touch when it comes to hovering, slow flight, and sideways flight. But I am curious about cruise flight vs. cruise speed in copters, whether MSFS or real. In MSFS, the only way to hit the 120kts that most copters like the Bell can reach, is to fly with a steep nose down angle--otherwise the copter climbs like there's no tomorrow.Do real copters have such a nose-down attitude when they are at similar speeds? If so, what's a more typical cruise speed that such copters should be flown at? I know we don't have many copter pilots here, so I'll patiently await a response...-John

John,I flew rotary wing for 15+ years. The bell 206 series cruise depending on weight varied between aprrox 100 - 110 knots. Any faster was in a decent. Helicopters cruise &/or accelerate with a nose down attitude. The "B" model Astars I flew were 110 - 115 knots. The Astar was a comfortable, smooth and relatively quiet machine. I spent time in others - Hughs 500 series, Gazelle - that was a beautiful machine! , Bell 204 was a piece of history and oh so stable and some others.I'd like to find a good handling machine for use in FS2004 but so far haven't much luck. Any suggestions would be welcome. There's apparently a Blackhawk coming out soon that I'm looking forward to seeing. There is a magazine that you may be able to access online - "Rotor & Wing" - good publication. Check it out. There was a pocketbook out some years ago - "Chickenhawk" - that in addition to being a good read got into the nuts and bolts of hands-on helicopter flying very well. All the best.Dave

The Bell 206B put out by Owen handles pretty well--a bit better than other copters I've tried. It seems much more stable and it allows me to hover the '206 easily over the same spot. I've noted if I substitute the .air file with other copters, they take on the traits.-John