MSFS2020 - zero rotorcraft?

[Slayer 190]

Wondering why helicopters are totally absent from MSFS2020.  Even if you get the premium edition not one to be found in all 30 vehicles you get....bummer. 

[Adrian123 1,015]

Cause they are Ugly? 😉

[WestAir 2,522]

2 minutes ago, Adrian123 said:

Cause they are Ugly? 😉

But that's what makes them fly. 😂

[chapstick 2,757]

The same reason there's no trackIR support currently... they're out of time, and they're pushing out whatever they have.

[goates 576]

They said a while ago that helicopters wouldn't be in the initial release. A big factor is probably getting the new flight modelling correct for fixed wing aircraft first, along with everything else, before tackling rotorcraft.

[Paraffin 2,197]

10,000 parts flying in close formation.

If they can't do it right -- and that's a heavy lift for a brand new sim if they want to compete with the helo models in XPlane and DCS -- then I think it's a smart move not to release an incomplete model out of the gate.

If the MSFS doesn't include the following bullet points, it will get trashed by helicopter nuts (like me) online:

Realistic transition in and out of ground effect.
Realistic autorotation
Retreating blade stall at speed
Mast bump damage at negative G for "teetering" rotor heads
Each blade in a multi-rotor helicopter modeled separately (XP does this, and I think DCS does too)
Vortex Ring State
Force trim release for cyclic
3-axis and 4-axis autopilots for medium twin and larger helicopters

Probably more, but that's just of the top of my head for what other current sims model with helicopters. I will only spend part of my time with MSFS until there are great helicopter models, but I think they're doing a smart thing in not releasing a very basic model right away. This is a very different flight regime than fixed wing.

 

[Chock 17,769]

2 hours ago, Adrian123 said:

Cause they are Ugly? 😉

Some choppers admittedly can be a bit ungainly in appearance, but a lot of them are aesthetically quite pleasing. The Bell UH-1D and H variants of the Huey definitely look 'right'. The Bell JetRanger similarly looks good, and the Aerospatiale Gazelle is another very pretty-looking chopper too. Where things get really interesting however, are with attack choppers. Most of these look fairly badass, but none moreso than the Mil-24/35, and especially this one with what must be one of the coolest paint jobs ever put on a helicopter:

 

[michal 44]

3 hours ago, Slayer said:

Wondering why helicopters are totally absent from MSFS2020.  Even if you get the premium edition not one to be found in all 30 vehicles you get....bummer. 

Cost versus benefit analysis.

[WestAir 2,522]

1 hour ago, Chock said:

Some choppers admittedly can be a bit ungainly in appearance, but a lot of them are aesthetically quite pleasing. 

 

Adrian was making a joke. There's an older than life joke that goes: "Do you know how helicopters fly? They're so ugly the Earth repels them."

[ludekbrno 302]

5 hours ago, Chapstick said:

The same reason there's no trackIR support currently... they're out of time, and they're pushing out whatever they have.

They say from the beginning of development that TrackIR and helicopters will not be there on release date. So they're may not be out of time.

[Chock 17,769]

'Run! Ged do de joppar!'

'Vod do you mean, vee doned have von?!'

[FlyingBubbles 15]

Rotocraft.... Gliders.... Montgolfiere and Zeppellins.... Jetpacks attached to butt.... SpaceX... Ultralights... yes indeed there is a lot missing!

Edited July 16, 2020 by FlyingBubbles

[Rimshot 1,142]

Then again, we get some microlights out of the box. Very pleased about that! Choppers will come I hope. Also in MSFS I would like to keep practicing landing without hitting anything. In more than thirty years of simming I have never ever succeeded to make a full flight in a chopper without causing serious hazards to my virtual surrounding 😄

[Will Fly For Cheese 1,710]

One of my first jobs will be to drag the Bell into MSFS and get cracking of the .cfg (or whatever it is)

and I will not stop until I get it in the hover.

[Dominique_K 10,149]

18 minutes ago, Rimshot said:

Then again, we get some microlights out of the box. Very pleased about that! Choppers will come I hope. Also in MSFS I would like to keep practicing landing without hitting anything. In more than thirty years of simming I have never ever succeeded to make a full flight in a chopper without causing serious hazards to my virtual surrounding 😄

You made my day ! So I am not alone in being a flying disaster in a chopper. Takeoff and flying are OK, landing is generally a  catastrophy.  Also glad to see microlights in the new sim.