Saw this helo-centric training ground on Matt Crawford's channel. Small island between Tasmania & Oz, replete with plenty of landing pads, ships with helo decks, racing pylons, and other stuff to make you realize what a mismatch exists between how good you THINK you are and...reality. 🤣

Check it out for yourself: Rotorland Helicopter training area - Airports for MSFS | Flightsim.to

Just downloaded the other day, also after seeing Matt's video (Which I'll link below) - he's also live right now, doing a Rotorland Fly-In (Sadly I'm stuck at work) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlZ5kMdHyTQ

I tried all the exercises in his video and was absolutely humbled lol The Box translation exercise is super helpful however, as it trains you for dealing with hovering and positioning for hoist missions. The Tight landing pads are fun practice as well, but very hard to resist 'diving' for it when you're in the last 2-3 feet. The Circle around the pylon exercise is hard too, but good for understanding how wind changes your attitude as you change orientation, like the 8s on pylons exercise in GA planes.

3 hours ago, Kristofski said:

Just downloaded the other day, also after seeing Matt's video (Which I'll link below) - he's also live right now, doing a Rotorland Fly-In (Sadly I'm stuck at work) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlZ5kMdHyTQ

I tried all the exercises in his video and was absolutely humbled lol The Box translation exercise is super helpful however, as it trains you for dealing with hovering and positioning for hoist missions. The Tight landing pads are fun practice as well, but very hard to resist 'diving' for it when you're in the last 2-3 feet. The Circle around the pylon exercise is hard too, but good for understanding how wind changes your attitude as you change orientation, like the 8s on pylons exercise in GA planes.

I was really surprised how difficult it is to weave thru the Red Bull racing cones.

And while touching down on the last ship, I got tired & lazy and went into VRS! 😮

(Thank you, Taog!)

1 hour ago, UrgentSiesta said:

touching down on the last ship

I like that he included a couple ships and an oil rig as well as the standard helipads to practice on. I did notice that landing on the ship is a bit awkward still cause the ship moves with the waves but the helicopter doesn't want to move with the ships undulations once you've touched down. Probably a limitation of the sim, I noticed it as well with the Miltech Mission hub ships.

I have been using this helo training download for about the last 6 months now, and it sure does help increase your heli simming flying skills. For me, it has helped with my patience when flying a helicopter in the sim and also helping me using my cyclic and collective in more small moves easy and carefully. Great place to practice and train in the sim!

I use this. It does humble me, I am not good at helos

My Virpil stick is so sensitive. Lately I've been using "assisted sensitivity reduction" or whatever it is within MSFS -> controls -> assistances, which seems to help.

I've always dabbled in helicopters, but the last year or two I have put more time into it. It is definitely humbling. When it comes to sim airplanes, I like to think I can fly anything with enough time to learn systems, etc. Helicopters though, I feel like I'm starting from square 1.

I would spend hours just trying to hover and put the thing back down without hitting a building. After a ton of practice, I feel like I can fly the Taog's Hanger MD500 at least halfway competently. The chances of me crashing aren't zero, but I'll probably survive the landing.

Interestingly enough, one of my first ever entries into flight simming was tha Sierra helicopter game that came with my PC back in the 80s. Back then, computers came with a bunch of software and that was in there.

For anyone interested in learning, I'd give a few quick tips to save you time:

-Start with one helicopter and stick with it. Don't jump around, and don't rush out to buy some expensive addon. I tried flying 10 helicopters at once and it set me back.

-Spend time on Youtube learning how a helicopter flies. I tried to just go up and get a feel for it, but I didn't understand why things were happening. You need to understand why things happen so you can control it. There's a ton of free real world and sim related stuff on Youtube.

-Properly set up helicopter specific controls. There's lots of guides on how to do it.

-Practice and be ready to be humbled, but also rewarded if you stick with it. Don't expect to land on some tiny elevated pad in a strong wind anytime soon. Every helicopter is different and has its own feel.

1 minute ago, kerosene31 said:

-Start with one helicopter and stick with it. Don't jump around, and don't rush out to buy some expensive addon. I tried flying 10 helicopters at once and it set me back.

My current issue for sure - I mainly use the H125 in career mode and now the HH-65 Dolphin and try to avoid the others.

Switching is a major pain when the blades rotate in different directions, as the muscle memory for the pedals is backwards, that really messes me up. As much as I want to fly the R66, all my muscle memory is for the other direction lol. They all have different translating tendencies too.

And even after saying all that, I still am thinking of getting the OH6 finally this weekend, been putting that off while I learn the HH-65 :D

Lol....and here I am flying both the Taog's HH-65 Dolphin and switching back and forth with the Digital Aeronautics Mi-2 Hoplite. You would be hard pressed to find two more different helos. But, they are both such fun in the sim and I am enjoying getting better at both of these more complex simmed helicopters. The likes of the Huey, Bo-105 and OH-6 are easier for me now as I have been flying helicopters in the sim for a few years now. But the Dolphin and Mi-2 are another kettle of fish, albeit a fun and challenging kettle. 😊

2 hours ago, Kristofski said:

Probably a limitation of the sim, I noticed it as well with the Miltech Mission hub ships.

Yep - it’s a sim-ism. Also happens with Seafront Simulations ships.

2 hours ago, kerosene31 said:

-Start with one helicopter and stick with it. Don't jump around, and don't rush out to buy some expensive addon. I tried flying 10 helicopters at once and it set me back.

Yep - 💯

I was test flying the Default Guimbal Cabri the other day and it’s actually rather good. 👍 Being Asobo’s Reference Model for sim aerodynamics, it gets extra attention that many other helo addons don’t.

I also like the free Stranger Things UH-1. Does all the right stuff, and I’ve got good/great UH-1’s in literally every other sim I have, so the switchology is easy to keep up with (Tho, tbh, I’m only really flying helos in FS24 & DCS these days…)

2 hours ago, Kristofski said:

And even after saying all that, I still am thinking of getting the OH6 finally this weekend, been putting that off while I learn the HH-65 :D

OH6 is really great! I tend to fly the H500 variant as it has more power and better nav than the 6.

Between that and the Dauphin, I’m kinda set for happy helo-ing. The others are just for occasional test flights.

I do which Taog would bring his SA315 forward from FS20 as that’s really the best combo of handling and visibility, IMHO. But afaik it’s not in the plans (Sea King is next, IIRC).

For me, I def have to think about the power pedal for that first hover check each flight, but after that it seems to click in for the rest of the flight. 🤙

Edited August 27Aug 27 by UrgentSiesta

2 hours ago, sniper31 said:

Lol....and here I am flying both the Taog's HH-65 Dolphin and switching back and forth with the Digital Aeronautics Mi-2 Hoplite. You would be hard pressed to find two more different helos. But, they are both such fun in the sim and I am enjoying getting better at both of these more complex simmed helicopters. The likes of the Huey, Bo-105 and OH-6 are easier for me now as I have been flying helicopters in the sim for a few years now. But the Dolphin and Mi-2 are another kettle of fish, albeit a fun and challenging kettle. 😊

How’s the Hoplite doing? It’s gotten good reviews and getting enhancements, right?

Funny thing is that it’s inspired me to knock the rust off the DCS Mi-8 instead of buying it here. And doing THAT has reminded me what a fantastic addon the Mi-8 is, even relative to the other great helos. TBH, it’d Be nice if they refreshed the graphics, but flying it is so satisfying that it doesn’t really bother me.

5 minutes ago, UrgentSiesta said:

How’s the Hoplite doing? It’s gotten good reviews and getting enhancements, right?

The Hoplite is coming along. The cockpit detail is amazing and just has character. Overall, the graphics are really good. But, the real magic is the flight dynamics. She looks and flies like fat pig, especially compared to more modern choppers. But that is part of the allure...to tame that fat pig and learn how to control it. Once that starts to happen, it is fun to fly, and you start to "get it". It lacks all the modern amenities (no GPS of any kind, no autopilot or SAS...not even the ability to tune in a VOR). The startup process though is very immersive, and I actually look forward to going through it. In its current state, it is great for VFR flying. The developers are planning to add a basic GPS of some kind and also a custom EFB, but we do not yet know what that exactly will look like. It does now have the default Asobo EFB mounted in the cockpit and also the pilot and passengers can be seen and added. Oh, and the bird can now be configured without the two side fuel tanks, just one of them or both. So, it's getting there. Bottom line is, every time I fire up MSFS I want to take it out for a spin, even when I have planned to fly something else. That should tell you something.

7 minutes ago, sniper31 said:

The Hoplite is coming along. The cockpit detail is amazing and just has character. Overall, the graphics are really good. But, the real magic is the flight dynamics. She looks and flies like fat pig, especially compared to more modern choppers. But that is part of the allure...to tame that fat pig and learn how to control it. Once that starts to happen, it is fun to fly, and you start to "get it". It lacks all the modern amenities (no GPS of any kind, no autopilot or SAS...not even the ability to tune in a VOR). The startup process though is very immersive, and I actually look forward to going through it. In its current state, it is great for VFR flying. The developers are planning to add a basic GPS of some kind and also a custom EFB, but we do not yet know what that exactly will look like. It does now have the default Asobo EFB mounted in the cockpit and also the pilot and passengers can be seen and added. Oh, and the bird can now be configured without the two side fuel tanks, just one of them or both. So, it's getting there. Bottom line is, every time I fire up MSFS I want to take it out for a spin, even when I have planned to fly something else. That should tell you something.

Ha - great to hear! Glad they’re representing the Mil character so well 👍

And yes, a “fat pig” can have an allure all its own! 😁

I mean, those cute little French helos can get boring after awhile 😉