This is the best simulator, visually speaking, to fly helicopters but all the helicopters in the sim fly wrong. I bought the Premium Deluxe version to have the H225 because it was done by HPG...what a waste of money, It doesn't even have upper modes and I saw in their Discord that they won't implement them in the SU3, only "cosmetic" changes with SU3 after almost 9 months, in a Premium Deluxe helicopter!. I would love to see a Working Title treatment to this model like they did with the CJ4 or Longitude.

@SeedyL is there any plans to improve helicopters in MSFS2024 that you can share with us?

I like the H225 but yes the lack of AP was a big letdown.  That, and they apparently had a lot of bugs which are finally going to get fixed.  Not sure why it took almost 9 months but looks like it's finally coming.

I have their H160 and it is superb.

Here's their changelog from discord

General Fixes • Fixed issue where pilot avatar loads into backseat on "Ready to Fly" screen • Resolved issue causing missing copilot • Corrected LOD rendering bug on ESC Menu • Fixed issue with helicopter losing textures and turning gray at LOD 7/7 • Addressed missing thumbnail images on Departure/Arrival screens • Fixed aggressive stuttering after entering Pause Menu or crashing in career mode Crew and Positioning • Corrected pilot and copilot positioning in SAR/Cargo configurations • Fixed cargo hold LOD issues when zooming in/out • Adjusted rescue worker spawning behavior (now spawns as actual rescue worker, not pilot) UI and Camera • Checklist cam now properly focuses on N1 • Removed debug text AIRCRAFT.UI_INSTRUMENTATION from Configure UI • Fixed display errors in the mass and balance menu; seats now show correctly and passengers spawn Flight Controls and Simulation • Gamepad mapping for collective input now functional • Collective and throttle now respond correctly to both gamepad and key binds • Fixed issue with aircraft behaving as if it were flying when on "Ready to Fly" screen • Cold and dark state now correctly disables panel functionality • Engine crank switch inputs now correctly mapped (no longer inverted) Startup & Shutdown • CTRL + E now properly triggers Auto Shut Down • Auto start now functions as intended • Aircraft no longer shuts down automatically on the "Ready to Fly" screen • Resolved issue where skipping manual engine startup rendered aircraft inoperable Checklist and Interactions • Player avatar no longer clips through the aircraft • External preflight checklist and interactables now available • Checklists are now properly localized across all supported languages LOD and Visuals • Fixed EXT LOD texture issue on Pause Menu • Addressed INT LOD clipping • Tail number from Settings now correctly displays on aircraft • Livery artwork has been updated and corrected

 

And if you're looking for a nice helo I've read that the Taog H500 is excellent!  I think its MP only though but you get the military and civilian version.

Edited July 19, 2025Jul 19 by ryanbatc

5 minutes ago, ryanbatc said:

 

I have their H160 and it is superb.

 

I have the H160 and it flies relatively well in MSFS20 but in MSFS24 the AFCS does strange things, in fact there isn't a native installer you have to copy it from MSFS20, maybe that's the problem.

47 minutes ago, ryanbatc said:

I like the H225 but yes the lack of AP was a big letdown.  That, and they apparently had a lot of bugs which are finally going to get fixed.  Not sure why it took almost 9 months but looks like it's finally coming.

I have their H160 and it is superb.

Here's their changelog from discord

General Fixes • Fixed issue where pilot avatar loads into backseat on "Ready to Fly" screen • Resolved issue causing missing copilot • Corrected LOD rendering bug on ESC Menu • Fixed issue with helicopter losing textures and turning gray at LOD 7/7 • Addressed missing thumbnail images on Departure/Arrival screens • Fixed aggressive stuttering after entering Pause Menu or crashing in career mode Crew and Positioning • Corrected pilot and copilot positioning in SAR/Cargo configurations • Fixed cargo hold LOD issues when zooming in/out • Adjusted rescue worker spawning behavior (now spawns as actual rescue worker, not pilot) UI and Camera • Checklist cam now properly focuses on N1 • Removed debug text AIRCRAFT.UI_INSTRUMENTATION from Configure UI • Fixed display errors in the mass and balance menu; seats now show correctly and passengers spawn Flight Controls and Simulation • Gamepad mapping for collective input now functional • Collective and throttle now respond correctly to both gamepad and key binds • Fixed issue with aircraft behaving as if it were flying when on "Ready to Fly" screen • Cold and dark state now correctly disables panel functionality • Engine crank switch inputs now correctly mapped (no longer inverted) Startup & Shutdown • CTRL + E now properly triggers Auto Shut Down • Auto start now functions as intended • Aircraft no longer shuts down automatically on the "Ready to Fly" screen • Resolved issue where skipping manual engine startup rendered aircraft inoperable Checklist and Interactions • Player avatar no longer clips through the aircraft • External preflight checklist and interactables now available • Checklists are now properly localized across all supported languages LOD and Visuals • Fixed EXT LOD texture issue on Pause Menu • Addressed INT LOD clipping • Tail number from Settings now correctly displays on aircraft • Livery artwork has been updated and corrected

 

And if you're looking for a nice helo I've read that the Taog H500 is excellent!  I think its MP only though but you get the military and civilian version.

I was hoping Asobo would implement a separate collective and engine control like the real thing. I hate having to adjust my engine RPM"s to gain lift or descend. There's a collective key binding in the settings menu, but it has no effect for lift. You still have to spin the RPM's up to get off the ground. Not very realistic.

12 minutes ago, Bigmack said:

I was hoping Asobo would implement a separate collective and engine control like the real thing. I hate having to adjust my engine RPM"s to gain lift or descend. There's a collective key binding in the settings menu, but it has no effect for lift. You still have to spin the RPM's up to get off the ground. Not very realistic.

That's the problem basically, they treat helicopters like airplanes, the reaction that you see when you raise or lower your collective is more similar to an airplane than a helicopter, the same happens with the cyclic.

The behaviour of the engines are a joke too, in both helicopters with FLI (H125 and H225) you can see how it goes up and down without doing any changes in your collective, even in the H125 after landing when you lower your collective completelly sometimes the FLI indicator goes all the way up.

Starnge? I never noticed that, the need for "PROP" settings / axis to control the helis?

Not saying they're absolutely realistic, although they did get better IMO in FS 2024, but all I set is Collective and Throttle and at most a correlator or governor ON / OFF button, but I never saw the need for prop? Doesn't make sense anyway... It's the job of the collective itself to change the rotor blade angles.

I've had no problems mapping helicopter controls to work properly? There's actual helicopter controls to map.  The problem is always MSFS 2020 and 24 is always a little "twitchy", and that makes helis that much harder.

The default helicopters feel pretty bad.  Some of the default planes are decent, but the helicopters... pass.  

Taog's hanger just released an MD500 (plus the military variant) and it is the first (I think?) native non-default heli in 2024.  Taog's others port over from 2020 just fine.  I'm having a blast with the MD500.  It is touchy but rewarding once you get the hang of it.  

The Cowansim helis are not 2024 yet, but are all compatible and seem to fly well.  

2 hours ago, kerosene31 said:

I've had no problems mapping helicopter controls to work properly? There's actual helicopter controls to map.  The problem is always MSFS 2020 and 24 is always a little "twitchy", and that makes helis that much harder.

The default helicopters feel pretty bad.  Some of the default planes are decent, but the helicopters... pass.  

Taog's hanger just released an MD500 (plus the military variant) and it is the first (I think?) native non-default heli in 2024.  Taog's others port over from 2020 just fine.  I'm having a blast with the MD500.  It is touchy but rewarding once you get the hang of it.  

The Cowansim helis are not 2024 yet, but are all compatible and seem to fly well.  

No one implied that the 2024 control mapping didn't exist, the fact that there should be a separate control to throttle engines to 100% and a separate axis for collective controls. Not combined as one. That's not realistic. But it's not modelled in 2020 or 2024, but it's come a long way since FSX days.

9 hours ago, Bigmack said:

I was hoping Asobo would implement a separate collective and engine control like the real thing. I hate having to adjust my engine RPM"s to gain lift or descend. There's a collective key binding in the settings menu, but it has no effect for lift. You still have to spin the RPM's up to get off the ground. Not very realistic.

I haven’t flown it much but I honestly can’t remember that at all…

9 hours ago, Soul Rebel said:

That's the problem basically, they treat helicopters like airplanes, the reaction that you see when you raise or lower your collective is more similar to an airplane than a helicopter, the same happens with the cyclic.

This simply isn’t true. 

3 hours ago, kerosene31 said:

The default helicopters feel pretty bad.  Some of the default planes are decent, but the helicopters... pass.  

The only one I think is “bad” is (sadly) the B407. Maybe it got patched for 2024, I’ll have to check it out again. 
 

The Taogs OH6/H500C is definitely one of the most satisfying choppers in the game. Already a favorite and in the running for The Favorite. 

1 hour ago, Bigmack said:

No one implied that the 2024 control mapping didn't exist, the fact that there should be a separate control to throttle engines to 100% and a separate axis for collective controls. Not combined as one. That's not realistic. But it's not modelled in 2020 or 2024, but it's come a long way since FSX days.

In which helo are you experiencing this issue…? I have yet to run into it. 

11 hours ago, Soul Rebel said:

but all the helicopters in the sim fly wrong. I bought the Premium Deluxe version to have the H225 because it was done by HPG

They do NOT “all fly wrong”. 

in re the the 225, sounds like you have an issue with avionics…?

and you’re definitely misinterpreting Premium Deluxe. That moniker doesn’t apply to the addons themselves, it applies to how many extra addons are included with the game. The fidelity level, which tbh ain’t too bad, is “above average”  

If the addons were “Premium Deluxe”, for e.g., there’d be no need for Fenix, PMDG, or FSL. 

sounds like you thought you were getting a study lever chopper for $0 extra. Never a good bet.

Edited July 20, 2025Jul 20 by UrgentSiesta

4 hours ago, UrgentSiesta said:

They do NOT “all fly wrong”. 

How is possible that a helicopter with a main rotor tilted forward and the cyclic centered when you apply colective moves backward?

How is possible that a helicopter flying at 120kt when you lower slightly your colective maintaining your ADI on 0 degrees, or even 1 or 2  positive degrees almost don't loose speed and you have to lover your colective a lot to loose it?, and if you don't keep your ADI at 0 degrees lowering a little your collective sudenly you have a minus VSI of 1.500ft or more?

How is possible that a helicopter flying at 30/40kt doing a final approach when you have to reduce your VSI increasing a little your collective sudenly have a positive VSI of 1.000 ft/min?

4 hours ago, UrgentSiesta said:

in re the the 225, sounds like you have an issue with avionics…?

What makes you think that?

4 hours ago, UrgentSiesta said:

and you’re definitely misinterpreting Premium Deluxe. That moniker doesn’t apply to the addons themselves, it applies to how many extra addons are included with the game. The fidelity level, which tbh ain’t too bad, is “above average”  

If the addons were “Premium Deluxe”, for e.g., there’d be no need for Fenix, PMDG, or FSL. 

sounds like you thought you were getting a study lever chopper for $0 extra. Never a good bet.

No, I wasn't expecting to get a study level helicopter, if you fly airplanes you have plenty of them in all MSFS24 versions but if you want to get some helicopters you have to buy the Premium Deluxe so I was expecting to get a finished product with upper modes that flies like a helicopter. If you check all the airplanes that come with Premium Deluxe that should have an autopilot with upper modes...they have it and work, why not the helicopter?, can you imagine an A320 or B737 without autopilot in MSFS24 even if it is a default one?

7 hours ago, Bigmack said:

No one implied that the 2024 control mapping didn't exist, the fact that there should be a separate control to throttle engines to 100% and a separate axis for collective controls. Not combined as one. That's not realistic. But it's not modelled in 2020 or 2024, but it's come a long way since FSX days.

But at least in some of my helis you can disengage the correlator / governor, and separately control throttle and collective.

It's been a while since i last used helis in MSFS, and that's because I almost never used them in FS 2024, and I've uninstalled FS 2020 for good so so long ago I honestly don't recall, but I will try to find an example.