Free Robinson R44 Just Released For A Merry Christmas

[btacon 1,772]

 

[blueshark747 1,843]

Here let's make this thread more useful...

New R44 Updated Version 

https://flightsim.to/file/45703/robinson-r44-raven-ii-helicopter-40th-anniversary-edition

 

[bvdboomen 256]

I'm glad he's mentioning that he has some hours on a real R44 and that this one comes close to the real thing.
So, what's up then with all those very, very twitchy flying helicopters (sim independent) of which a lot of people say, they fly like the real counterpart?
I've got the idea that many people think, if it's difficult to fly, than it must be real. I saw a post the other day about the Bell 206 in which was written that the FM was super real with the word 'difficult' between parentheses. What exactly is difficult? Difficult for people who are just starting with flying helicopters or difficult because it flies twitchy?

Are helicopters like this R44 and the Cabri G2 easy to fly IRL, like they are in the sim? Also Asobo claims the G2 is close to a real G2. I'm very curios about this because I might say that I pretty much can handle the R44 and G2 very well and I wonder if I'm being fooled or not by a too easy FM. 🙂

Just some thoughts and questions.

 

[wim123 758]

i think it boils down to your expereince with them, if they fly really easy when you have no expereince, i bet something is not

so real or helpers are on.

besides that we have had real pilots saying this is real and just a real pilots saying it is not real.

for me, not  a pilot, if it behaves believable in my opinion , its ok.

[peloto 213]

Is there a file that you can tell to the Sim what aircraft is taken to represent your current aircraft in online if other online user don´t have it in their library? and take the Cabri e.g. and not a general aviation or a doble aisle commercial passenger aircraft for the R44?

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

5 hours ago, peloto said:

Is there a file that you can tell to the Sim what aircraft is taken to represent your current aircraft in online if other online user don´t have it in their library? and take the Cabri e.g. and not a general aviation or a doble aisle commercial passenger aircraft for the R44?

I wish... 😉

[OverTheEDJ 266]

9 hours ago, bvdboomen said:

I'm glad he's mentioning that he has some hours on a real R44 and that this one comes close to the real thing.
So, what's up then with all those very, very twitchy flying helicopters (sim independent) of which a lot of people say, they fly like the real counterpart?
I've got the idea that many people think, if it's difficult to fly, than it must be real. I saw a post the other day about the Bell 206 in which was written that the FM was super real with the word 'difficult' between parentheses. What exactly is difficult? Difficult for people who are just starting with flying helicopters or difficult because it flies twitchy?

Are helicopters like this R44 and the Cabri G2 easy to fly IRL, like they are in the sim? Also Asobo claims the G2 is close to a real G2. I'm very curios about this because I might say that I pretty much can handle the R44 and G2 very well and I wonder if I'm being fooled or not by a too easy FM. 🙂

Just some thoughts and questions.

 

Great points.

I always felt like DCS (especially the Huey) & XP Helis were too twitchy with an "exaggerated" pendulum effect. I saw a vid were a RL pilot made the same statement about flight sims exaggerations and twitchy behavior.

The MSFS 407 and Cabri G2 do not seem to have this issue. They are a bit more stable while still having to perform the inputs to counter their inherit forces, drifts, rotations etc.

A few things to note...

1) The sensitivity has to set for the specific Heli. I have a separate controller profile for each Heli as I find that each has their own sensitivity level for my controller.

2) Now about the controller. I have the Virpil flight stick with the 200mm extension for more leverage. At least for me, the typical stick sitting directly on top of the base does not cut it. I need the extension and leverage like the real thing.

Even with the additional leverage, I still find myself dampening the sensitivity for the R44 in MSFS. This bird is very twitchy. I want to like it, but I find myself going back to the 407.

Here is a vid that helps me get centered with my controls, and the expected movement of the stick vs Heli movement for setting up my sensitivity levels... I practice this slow "walk" flying / taxiing around the airport.

https://www.helicoptertrainingvideos.com/2014/03/hovering/

 

[Pastaiolo 1,686]

There was already a topic

 

[Ron Attwood 3,464]

51 minutes ago, Pastaiolo said:

There was already a topic

 

Can't have too much of a good thing eh?

[bvdboomen 256]

12 hours ago, OverTheEDJ said:

Now about the controller. I have the Virpil flight stick with the 200mm extension for more leverage. At least for me, the typical stick sitting directly on top of the base does not cut it. I need the extension and leverage like the real thing.

Yes, that's an important one, together with the removal of an eventual spring.
I don't have the guts to do that with my rather expensive TM Warthog stick. 🙂

The video indeed shows very well how to control the cyclic. While my TM stick is quiet heavy, I do control it from the wrist and fingers when flying helicopters. I practice a lot like shown in the video and I'll be following taxiing FSLTL planes then to make it less boring.

 

 

Edited December 14, 2022 by bvdboomen

[lupedelupe 315]

13 hours ago, OverTheEDJ said:

Great points.

I always felt like DCS (especially the Huey) & XP Helis were too twitchy with an "exaggerated" pendulum effect. I saw a vid were a RL pilot made the same statement about flight sims exaggerations and twitchy behavior.

The MSFS 407 and Cabri G2 do not seem to have this issue. They are a bit more stable while still having to perform the inputs to counter their inherit forces, drifts, rotations etc.

A few things to note...

1) The sensitivity has to set for the specific Heli. I have a separate controller profile for each Heli as I find that each has their own sensitivity level for my controller.

2) Now about the controller. I have the Virpil flight stick with the 200mm extension for more leverage. At least for me, the typical stick sitting directly on top of the base does not cut it. I need the extension and leverage like the real thing.

Even with the additional leverage, I still find myself dampening the sensitivity for the R44 in MSFS. This bird is very twitchy. I want to like it, but I find myself going back to the 407.

Here is a vid that helps me get centered with my controls, and the expected movement of the stick vs Heli movement for setting up my sensitivity levels... I practice this slow "walk" flying / taxiing around the airport.

https://www.helicoptertrainingvideos.com/2014/03/hovering/

 

And in addition to these valid points a real helicopter has one more trick up its sleeve: movement. You literally can sense by the seat of your pants what the helicopter is doing long before your eye will tell you. This alone makes a HUGE difference (it's like maintaining altitude in a real-world fixed wing plane: you can feel you are, no need to watch the VSI all the time). 

[The Moose 1,177]

There's one thing that will instantly make flying a Heli 10x easier.   VR.  With VR you have all the visual cues needed... the difference switching from 2D heli flying to VR was immediate and massive. It was almost like a cheat code 🙂

[Ron Attwood 3,464]

I was prompted to get my Rift S out of the wardrobe yesterday. Whada-mistakea-to-make! Meta? A maze to find a way through. Oculus? They put out an update that made it impossible to look straight ahead. After 4 hours of pushin' brooms sorry, fighting, I retired hurt. Rift S is now back in it's box where I'm sure it is happiest.

Anyway, I'm now getting better at landing where I want to land, not where it wants to land.

Bell 47 👍

Latest R44 👍

HCG Cabri 👍

H145 👍

H135 Can't say. Only have it to see others in it rather than an Asobo Bonanza lookalike

 

[bvdboomen 256]

3 hours ago, Ron Attwood said:

where I want to land, not where it wants to land

😄 soooo recognizable...

[OverTheEDJ 266]

7 hours ago, The Moose said:

There's one thing that will instantly make flying a Heli 10x easier.   VR.  With VR you have all the visual cues needed... the difference switching from 2D heli flying to VR was immediate and massive. It was almost like a cheat code 🙂

 

5 hours ago, Ron Attwood said:

They put out an update that made it impossible to look straight ahead. After 4 hours of pushin' brooms sorry, fighting, I retired hurt. Rift S is now back in it's box where I'm sure it is happiest.

Anyway, I'm now getting better at landing where I want to land, not where it wants to land.

Interesting...

I use Trackir, and have to both center and lock my view forward (key assignment) for take offs and landings. Without the "seat of the pants feel" mentioned by @lupedelupe above, slight Trackir head movement can be mistaken for Heli pitch movement and cause me to make inputs that are not necessary at times (T/O & landings) when those small movements are crucial.