Agree with this, Miltech and Taog are my helicopter go to’s.

Most CowanSim choppers are in the hangar, other than the S76 mostly because my local ambulance flies them.

I think my biggest issue with Helos in 2024 is that Asosbo can't get the flight dynamics of helos correct. They are treated like they're prop planes. Being forced to use the throttle as increasing rpm's and collective at the same time where in real helos the collective and engine rpm's/ throttles are separate functions.

2 hours ago, sniper31 said:

You do know that the Taog Huey from 2020, and all the rest of Taog's helos are fully compatible with 2024, right? I assume you know, but since you mention the Stanger Things Huey, I wanted to bring it up. The 2024 compatible Taog Huey is better than the Stranger Things one. Granted, for a free addon it is decent, but if you already have the 2020 version than why not fly it in 2024 instead.

@blueshark747 Besides any of the Taog heli's, based on your comments above, I would easily recommend the MilTech Ch-47 Chinook, the MH-60 Seahawk and also the Bo-105, which is the newest one of the three. All very different helo's, and not quite to Taog quality, but probably next best thing in 2024.

TBH, when I flew the 2020 Huey in 2024 it worked fine, but there was something about the FM that disagreed with me. so I hangared it.

And then shortly the OH-6 came out and I honestly stopped thinking of the Huey (esp since Taog said he had no idea even IF the Huey would be “Natified” for 2024). Given the Stranger Things version, I guess that’s still an open question AFAIK…?

My main angle on the Stranger Things recommendation is simply that it’s not only good, but free.

While I’m happy to recommend payware, I try to offer at least 1 or 2 freeware, esp to folks who aren’t (yet) helophiles. 😁

The Seahawk downright bugs me, TBH. Even with the APs off, it’s weird. I feel like it only flies “right” with the SAS off, too. And that’s coming from experience with the KA-50, Mi-8, and AH-64 AFCS’s in DCS. 🤷‍♂️

I should go back to it again as perhaps I haven’t dug into it quite enough, and otherwise it’s quite a nice addon.

In re the MilTech Chinook, my OCD just can’t get over the single rotor flight model, AND MilTech refusing to revisit it.

I mean, when they first devd it they didn’t have a choice - MSFS limitation. But once it did, I can’t help but feel it’s become a a cop out for a premium addon with a premium price.

As always, YMMV 🙏

@UrgentSiesta I don't disagree with all of your thoughts above. That is why is put them below Taog heli's. I want more from the MH-60 as well, as I said earlier in this thread. At any rate, I DO think the Taog Huey as it is now flies noticeably better than the Stranger Things Taog Huey, but you are right, it is free. And maybe it just feels different for me. But, it does have all the little Taog extras from the clipboard, which the Stranger Things one does not have.

At any rate, I think we are generally on the same page as far as what are the best helicopters currently available in MSFS 2024. 😊

42 minutes ago, Bigmack said:

I think my biggest issue with Helos in 2024 is that Asosbo can't get the flight dynamics of helos correct. They are treated like they're prop planes. Being forced to use the throttle as increasing rpm's and collective at the same time where in real helos the collective and engine rpm's/ throttles are separate functions.

I don’t think this is correct.

Originally in 2024, yes. But they’ve since worked out the throttle/gov/collective splits.

If you’re still having that issue, check that your controls are only assigned using “Helicopter” or “Rotary” bindings. They are different from the previous one-size-fits-all bindings. 🤙

2 minutes ago, sniper31 said:

@UrgentSiesta I don't disagree with all of your thoughts above. That is why is put them below Taog heli's. I want more from the MH-60 as well, as I said earlier in this thread. At any rate, I DO think the Taog Huey as it is now flies noticeably better than the Stranger Things Taog Huey, but you are right, it is free. And maybe it just feels different for me. But, it does have all the little Taog extras from the clipboard, which the Stranger Things one does not have.

At any rate, I think we are generally on the same page as far as what are the best helicopters currently available in MSFS 2024. 😊

Oh, for sure. And I’m definitely looking for contrasting perspectives! Me being Irish-Sicilian means I’m “a little” judgmental and stubborn. 🤣

If you like the 2020 Huey, I’m gonna give it another go. I genuinely hope you’re right!

‘Cause Charlie don’t surf! 🤙

Edited 23 hours ago23 hr by UrgentSiesta

3 hours ago, UrgentSiesta said:

I don’t think this is correct.

Originally in 2024, yes. But they’ve since worked out the throttle/gov/collective splits.

If you’re still having that issue, check that your controls are only assigned using “Helicopter” or “Rotary” bindings. They are different from the previous one-size-fits-all bindings. 🤙

I will check and report back. My last control bindings was I had a collective asis for one lever and one assigned for throttle. The helo only lifted off the ground when I increased throttles to full and the collective had no influence on the lift.

3 hours ago, Bigmack said:

I will check and report back. My last control bindings was I had a collective asis for one lever and one assigned for throttle. The helo only lifted off the ground when I increased throttles to full and the collective had no influence on the lift.

Cool🤙

IIRC, what you’re describing is a binding problem from back in the days before Asobo got their helo controls figured out.

And I think you already know this, so i just want to clarify so we’re on the same page:

except for old school helicopters, the engine throttle should always be static at 100%, and that should drive your rotor rpm’s to 100 pct also.

If the bindings are correct, bringing the rotors and engines fully up to speed should leave you firmly planted on the ground

Once those are spinning at 100, all the collective does is change the AoA of the blades so you can lift off. 🤙

So while I fully expected the Dolphin to be my first marketplace purchase, on the weekend, I noticed the MH-60 and the Mission Hub were both on sale, the bundle being 30% off, came to 50$ CAD.

WHAT A VALUE

I cannot understate how blown away I am by the mission hub; I'm actually shocked this isn't talked about more. Its so well done, you can make missions for any aircraft, not just helicopters, and it takes about 5 mins to set up a brand new SAR mission anywhere you want. No more waiting and praying for the Career Mode to give me something fun, or dealing with a bugged out search area, or losing rep for taking just a little too long to find the guy (I swear you rescue some guys from -35C in the Australian Outback in the dead of winter and still get an A rating and lose rep, there's no pleasing some people). For what this cost, there's easily another 200 hours or more of stuff to do if not more.

Seriously, I've been making Coast Guard rescue missions off Nova Scotia similar to this channel:

https://youtu.be/C_GtMI_FWog?si=3G9S7UjkOj7l5rQR

The MH-60 is also really fun, first helo in the Sim with the AFCS and auto-hover modes, takes a bit of learning and set up but the hoist missions feel so satisfying now, being able to actually hover and control the distances properly, there's even direction call outs from the rear operator (although only when picking up cargo, not for the hoist). After watching the stream with the Dolphin, it appears to be the little daddy to the MH-60 big daddy AFCS, which is a welcome difference, and I think it will be a great fit for Career Mode. The MH-60 SAS is really automatic, and makes it almost too easy.

One of the key differences seems to be the MH-60 has the more robust hover control, really letting you dial in where you want to be without touching the cyclic thanks to the knobs on the center console. There is however, no NAV control, no GPS AP on the MH-60, you can dial in VOR and LOC for references, but nothing to autopilot or landing assist with G/S or anything. The Dolphin is the opposite, with a full Autopilot FD with all the standard V/S, HDG, etc for easier navigation, but from what I read in the manual, the Hover assist modes are less adjustable, its more of an on/off thing (get to where you want to be with manual control, then press button to hold there).

I'm looking forward to experimenting with the two!

6 hours ago, Kristofski said:

One of the key differences seems to be the MH-60 has the more robust hover control, really letting you dial in where you want to be without touching the cyclic thanks to the knobs on the center console. There is however, no NAV control, no GPS AP on the MH-60, you can dial in VOR and LOC for references, but nothing to autopilot or landing assist with G/S or anything. The Dolphin is the opposite, with a full Autopilot FD with all the standard V/S, HDG, etc for easier navigation, but from what I read in the manual, the Hover assist modes are less adjustable, its more of an on/off thing (get to where you want to be with manual control, then press button to hold there).

In the HH65 you have the following SAR modes:

• IAS-VS: Combined — pitch holds IAS, collective holds VS. Automatically arms T-HOV (automatic transition to hover to 50 ft AGL).

• T-HOV: Transition to Hover — captures the current radar altitude and decelerates to zero airspeed.

• HOV AUG: Hover Augmentation — active stabilization in hover using OADS and the radar altimeter.

And you can control them with the cyclic and collective:

• FD Slew switch (4-way) (cyclic): In IAS and IAS-VS modes: adjusts the airspeed reference. In T-HOV: adjusts lateral/longitudinal hover velocity. Inactive in HOV AUG.

• C-SYNC: Collective Sync — updates the VS reference in IAS-VS; adjusts the hover height reference in T-HOV / HOV AUG.

• Hover Beep Control (2-way) (collective): changes hover height reference by 3 ft per beep in T-HOV / HOV AUG.

All this from the manual.

18 hours ago, UrgentSiesta said:

Me being Irish-Sicilian

Oh wow. So to you "Our friend needs to go away" could mean something else!! ha ha

6 hours ago, Kristofski said:

I cannot understate how blown away I am by the mission hub; I'm actually shocked this isn't talked about more. Its so well done, you can make missions for any aircraft, not just helicopters,

That's neat, (and a surprise to me), I will have to look into this.

Edited 4 hours ago4 hr by Mace

1 hour ago, Soul Rebel said:

In the HH65 you have the following SAR modes:

• IAS-VS: Combined — pitch holds IAS, collective holds VS. Automatically arms T-HOV (automatic transition to hover to 50 ft AGL).

• T-HOV: Transition to Hover — captures the current radar altitude and decelerates to zero airspeed.

• HOV AUG: Hover Augmentation — active stabilization in hover using OADS and the radar altimeter.

And you can control them with the cyclic and collective:

• FD Slew switch (4-way) (cyclic): In IAS and IAS-VS modes: adjusts the airspeed reference. In T-HOV: adjusts lateral/longitudinal hover velocity. Inactive in HOV AUG.

• C-SYNC: Collective Sync — updates the VS reference in IAS-VS; adjusts the hover height reference in T-HOV / HOV AUG.

• Hover Beep Control (2-way) (collective): changes hover height reference by 3 ft per beep in T-HOV / HOV AUG.

All this from the manual.

Sounds like I’m gonna need ALL the buttons on my Warthog HOTAS! 🤣

(I can hardly wait!)

7 hours ago, Kristofski said:

I cannot understate how blown away I am by the mission hub; I'm actually shocked this isn't talked about more. Its so well done, you can make missions for any aircraft, not just helicopters, and it takes about 5 mins to set up a brand new SAR mission anywhere you want.

When they said the mission hub was open to ANY aircraft, I was quite pleasantly surprised.

The main thing I don’t like about it is my own lack of imagination - I’ve no idea what these flight plans look like, other than some SAR tracks on flightaware (and tbh im never gonna “mow the grass” in a simulator session like that).

I haven’t looked in awhile - is there a library of flight plans yet? That was the killer feature for me.

//

In re the Seahawk, yeah - I was quite disappointed that it doesn’t have “the basics” for typical navigation and/or precision approaches and such.

But that’s the way it is with many IRL .mil tactical aircraft, too. Kinda makes sense given their operations being so different, but still… 🤷‍♂️

In any case, the Dolphin seems like we can have our cake and eat it too? If so, could be the “Goldilocks” helo for flight sim. 👍

1 hour ago, Soul Rebel said:

FD Slew switch (4-way) (cyclic): In IAS and IAS-VS modes: adjusts the airspeed reference. In T-HOV: adjusts lateral/longitudinal hover velocity. Inactive in HOV AUG.

1 hour ago, Soul Rebel said:

Hover Beep Control (2-way) (collective): changes hover height reference by 3 ft per beep in T-HOV / HOV AUG.

Just comparing this to the MI-60, the Lateral and Longitudinal movement can be controlled in Hover and Crew Hover modes, with some key differences - the Hover mode has 5kt increments up to IIRC 20kts while the crew mode moves at 1kt to a maximum of 5kts in any direction. The Hover radar altitude reference is in 20ft increments.

From my reading of the Dolphin manual, the HOV AUG mode does not allow for movement, as the FD Slew only works in T-HOV which is similar to the Approach Hover mode on the MI-60. I'm assuming once you are close to the target in HOV AUG mode, you can fine tune your position with the cyclic as opposed to using a Crew Hover mode with hotkeys. I could be wrong, won't know until its released. I think its a nice touch that one of the pilot positions you can cycle through on the MI-60 is the hoist operator at the door - so you can enter Crew Hover, switch to the hoist pilot position, open the door and look out to where you are trying to hover over instead of switching to a 3rd person camera or relying on feel. Hoping to see a similar vibe from the Dolphin.

I am happy to see the Hover Altitude is adjustable in 3ft steps however. The 20ft steps on the MI-60 seem too far apart to me, 10ft steps would give you more control I would think.

22 minutes ago, UrgentSiesta said:

I haven’t looked in awhile - is there a library of flight plans yet?

If there's not, give me some time brother, and I'll make one!

The default mission pack of 30 is definitely geared toward the MI-60 but the editor is very robust, no coding required at all.

In about 5-10 mins I was able to place a Cruise ship and landing trigger, set up a simple "Rescue sick passenger" objective that triggers the "Fly patient to nearest hospital" landing trigger, select a spawn location and boom - a simple, effective training scenario for landing on a cruise ship and hospital roof. Set it to Live Time and Weather and its now repeatable with variety (can you do the same mission in the rain? at night? High Winds? etc). You can do this in any aircraft, heck you can set up missions for Hot Air Balloon races if you wanted, using area triggers and timers.

I'll probably make a whole thread in the coming days, I feel like this is a very slept on tool