I've been a flightsimmer since this all started many years ago. 

I normally fly GA twins ( blacksquare,  A2A etc ) and love the sim.

Recently,  I decided to have a change and bought the TAOG H500C.

What a revelation. It's been a learning curve,  but I think I've got a handle on it now. This helicopter has been a great challenge,  but so worthwhile. This is not auto pilot flying, but hands on all the time, with short hops between landings. 

Flying in the south Island in Unzud with the NZA simulations airports and scenery,  discovering all the huts and remote strips ,has really given me a new experience and be become so addictive. Low level flying is where ms2024 really excells,  and helicopter flying takes advantage of all that.

So, if you find yourself getting a bit bored,  then try the Hughes 500.

I just  can't stop myself.... I'm even dreaming about it.. help me !

 

 

 

Edited January 24Jan 24 by petejohno1

Sounds tempting. What controllers do you use to simulate collective?

Edited January 24Jan 24 by Rimshot

Fantastic.

FWIW his UH-1H (the Taog original, not the Stranger Things version which is very different) is also excellent in MS 2024. You really do feel the wight of the heavier Huey. While it is not yet native MS 2024 it is still a great way to explore rotary wing flight in the sim. And yes, the little MD is a real gem and utterly satisfying to fly.

good one - I dedicate a couple of nights a week to flying the 500C (have flown them in R/L as well) - now let me just remind you of what my helicopter instructor told me - you fly above 500'AGL & ya get nose bleed!!

I bind one of the throttles to the collective - but have ordered the Virpil collective & grip - on back order - supposed to get them in March - can't wait

I also have the huey & it is also fun - got the Cowan 500D but never liked it much - 500C is the better one IMHO

Edited January 24Jan 24 by Rattso
more info

1 hour ago, Rimshot said:

Sounds tempting. What controllers do you use to simulate collective?

I pulled out my old hotas X.

Works good, but it took a bit to get the sensitivities right.

I think you need a hotas type controller of some sort to fly a heli. It's so different from my honeycombed A and B.

4 minutes ago, Rattso said:

good one - I dedicate a couple of nights a week to flying the 500C (have flown them in R/L as well) - now let me just remind you of what my helicopter instructor told me - you fly above 500'AGL & ya get nose bleed!!

I bind one of the throttles to the collective - but have ordered the Virpil collective & grip - on back order - supposed to get them in March - can't wait

I also have the huey & it is also fun - got the Cowan 500D but never liked it much - 500C is the better one IMHO

I'm tempted mate!

1 hour ago, lupedelupe said:

Fantastic.

FWIW his UH-1H (the Taog original, not the Stranger Things version which is very different) is also excellent in MS 2024. You really do feel the wight of the heavier Huey. While it is not yet native MS 2024 it is still a great way to explore rotary wing flight in the sim. And yes, the little MD is a real gem and utterly satisfying to fly.

Ah! that's ggod to know, that the "original" Taog's Hangar UH-1H is better. Have to give that one a try.

I have the UH-1H in 3 platforms (used to be for but I completely dropped P3D 😕 ) - DCS World (my preferred simulation of helis), Xp12 (my 2nd choice for helis) and MSFS 2024 which is still very convincing, I guess (this is all sh%t thoughts because I never flew an heli IRL, other than for a couple minutes in an H300...)

But I will surely put the Taog's UH in my to buy list.

Is it best to start with some of the assists on or have them all of from the start? 

1 hour ago, bailout said:

Is it best to start with some of the assists on or have them all of from the start? 

You definitely need a rudder, especially for good models like the TAOG H500. I personally need VR to fly helicopters, I can't land them without the added situational awareness. But with VR I totally love the experience. Until recently, I used my (good quality) yoke and throttle quadrant to control helis, and that was sufficient. Recently, I got a high quality (Thrustmaster) joystick, which is better than the yoke, but not by a huge margin. With the joystick, I map the collective to my spare (low quality) throttle quadrant, which works OK.

3 hours ago, petejohno1 said:

I think you need a hotas type controller of some sort to fly a heli.

This is what has always stopped me.  I know a realistic experience will require at least somewhat proper controls, and I've not been able to justify getting appropriate controls not knowing how much I'll really get into it.

It does look like a lot of fun, though.

Too many hobbies - not enough time or money!

 

Scott

7 hours ago, petejohno1 said:

Low level flying is where ms2024 really excells,  and helicopter flying takes advantage of all that.

Since ORBX' Jurassic Archipelago debuted I decided to take up helicopter flight.  I am glued to airliner flying and have been for many years and my approach to offsetting boredom per se is flying for score using Self Loading Cargo's lovely per flight scoring routine.  This adds some consequences that don't exist unless you find some way to make a 'game' out of this activity, of striving for perfection in flight and flight crew management, ala SLC.  But now what I'm adding is after arrival I open Dev Mode and change aircraft to the Bell 407 and do some regional sightseeing.  As well when flying into new areas worldwide I will open Wiki in midflight and learn about the region, city, airport etc I'm flying into.   Not a hint of...boredom...😉

I use FStarter24 to jumpstart to any of MSFS's HeliPad for a helicopter ride with a mouse click.

 

https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/update-fstarter24-v2-1-is-released-rksoftware/579764/17

12 hours ago, petejohno1 said:

I've been a flightsimmer since this all started many years ago. 

I normally fly GA twins ( blacksquare,  A2A etc ) and love the sim.

Recently,  I decided to have a change and bought the TAOG H500C.

What a revelation. It's been a learning curve,  but I think I've got a handle on it now. This helicopter has been a great challenge,  but so worthwhile. This is not auto pilot flying, but hands on all the time, with short hops between landings. 

Flying in the south Island in Unzud with the NZA simulations airports and scenery,  discovering all the huts and remote strips ,has really given me a new experience and be become so addictive. Low level flying is where ms2024 really excells,  and helicopter flying takes advantage of all that.

So, if you find yourself getting a bit bored,  then try the Hughes 500.

I just  can't stop myself.... I'm even dreaming about it.. help me !

 

 

 

Welcome to the Dark Side....lol...actually, flying helicopters in MSFS2024 is a wonderful experience. The sim does seem to excel at it when it comes to low level heli flying and scenery. And, I concur the Taogs 500C is probably the very best helo in MSFS2024. ALL of the Taogs helos are great though, and they ALL work well in MSFS 2024 without any tweaking. The 500C is the only true MSFS2024 native one. I also really enjoy the MH-60 and Chinook helos from Miltech, as they are done really well also. 

9 hours ago, Rattso said:

good one - I dedicate a couple of nights a week to flying the 500C (have flown them in R/L as well) - now let me just remind you of what my helicopter instructor told me - you fly above 500'AGL & ya get nose bleed!!

I bind one of the throttles to the collective - but have ordered the Virpil collective & grip - on back order - supposed to get them in March - can't wait

I also have the huey & it is also fun - got the Cowan 500D but never liked it much - 500C is the better one IMHO

Good heli controls do make a heck of a difference in the sim. I have the Virpil collective and grip (I too had to wait several months to get mine, as they seem to always be on back order) and it has really bumped up my heli flying ability to a new level. Good rudder pedals are very important as well as a really good stick. I use TM TPR pedals and the TM HOTAS (F-18 stick) and love the entire combo for my heli simming. With over 17 years in the 101st Airborne (Air Assault) division, I have hundreds upon hundreds of hours sitting and riding in the back of Blackhawks and Chinooks. Starting up the engines from cold and dark in the Miltech MH-60 and watching the heli shake back and forth takes me right back to my real life experiences. The real heli shakes just like that as it spools up. Love it!

12 hours ago, tttocs said:

This is what has always stopped me.  I know a realistic experience will require at least somewhat proper controls, and I've not been able to justify getting appropriate controls not knowing how much I'll really get into it.

It does look like a lot of fun, though.

Too many hobbies - not enough time or money!

 

Scott

No need for helo specific hardware. of course the closer to IRL, the easier, but…

I fly everything, including helos, with the ThrustMaster Warthog HOTAS. 👍

11 hours ago, UrgentSiesta said:

I fly everything, including helos, with the ThrustMaster Warthog HOTAS. 👍

Well, I did say "...at least somewhat proper...".  While I do have rudder pedals (a must for me to enjoy sim "flight", heli or fixed wing), my other primary flight controls consist of yoke and throttle quadrant.  For me, the addition of a stick would be a minimum requirement and, well...  not this week anyway.  I understand that I could kludge together something that would "work" with what I have, but I just don't enjoy simming that way.

But again, I do see the appeal!

 

Scott