Many third-party helos crash immediately on the runway when I set up a flight in FS9 - EXTREMELY frustrating.I have checked and they all list being for use FS9.As soon as the sim starts the helo appears suspended several feetabpve the runway, (almost as if it has wrong elevation data for the airports) it then sinks below the runway (often vanishing into the runway completely) and crashes. I start with the throttle at normal idle - sometimes I can firewall it and stop the crash but not a good way to takeoff.Once the situation resets it just does the same thing again.This happens whether I start on the runway with a fixed wing or any other aircraft and switch to the helos, or if I try starting with thehelos. Makes no difference and the only solution I find is to disablecrashes to take off and then stop the sim and re-enable.I remember this was also a problem with FS 2002 0r 2000 but can't find any help in the MS knowledgebase on how it was solved.I am using FS Genesis mesh so maybe it changed the runway elevationbut then it would be a pretty common problem and I find no reference to it.Help greatly appreciated!!!!

Hi oceans777,Yes that is strange, and definitely not normal behavior for most add-on helicopters. Though I'm sure a few out there have strange contact-point information that could possibly cause a problem like this.If you start your sim using the default cessna flight (not a large heavy like the 777), and then simply Aircraft->Select Aircraft over to the default Jet Ranger, do you get the same behavior? Or is this only with add-on helicopters?If you do, try this same test at an airfield that you know is default and without mesh. Although, I will add that I have several meshes covering several areas, and have never had this problem. Occassionally I get "bouncies" on taxiways and runways...but this happens whether I am in a fixed wing or helicopter.If I had to guess, I would say that it is possible that you are starting with an aircraft that has a pilot viewpoint that sits many feet off the ground. When you switch to a helicopter, it isn't "spun up" to proper rotor RPM and you fall to the ground. This is usually the result of variables being left over from the last aircraft used before the switch. This is why I recommend a test using the default cessna flight to get things figured out.jordan

Thanks for the info Jordan - I tried your suggestion and switching from the Cessna to the Jet Ranger at LAX - no problem. I then changed the airport to 17th Of November (FNBG) Benguela, Angola and had a good laugh at the Jet Rangers position - see attached screen shot...As you see it is 99% below ground with only the rotors and top of the tail showing - BUT, it didn't crash and I was able to actually takeofffrom "burial" position with no problem. Which is even funnier.After enjoying this for awhile I switched to other airports not affected by add-on mesh and found the Jet Ranger sometimes above ground, sometimes below. Other helos though - the ones I had problems with - still started out a few feet above the runway and dropped to crash. I know the airports I tried have no add-on mesh installed.Could my changing the defaults for :TERRAIN_DEFAULT_RADIUS=9.500000TERRAIN_EXTENDED_RADIUS=4.50000be screwing up the planet somehow? The mystery deepens...