ojiito Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 So I am not a rotorwing guy, I've done a couple of the intro missions in FSX just to try it. But seeing people's screenshots and videos with them has me interested in it as a new challenge (I really want to land on Misty Moorings' power-line platform and the fire tower pads in PNW). My question is, for the real world rotorwing pilots, how does FSX/P3D do with simulating rotor flying? What are the big differences compared to reality, and is it just a totally different beast or is it fairly good? Tips, thoughts, etc.? Cheers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabs79 Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 I´m not a RW helicopter pilot, but from what I understand FSX/P3D is terrible at rendering helicopter aerodynamics realistically. As far as I know there is only one acceptably realistic rendition of a rotorcraft for FSX, that is the Dodosim Bell 206, which calculates aerodynamic effect outside the FSX engine and then gives the results back to FSX. It´s the only payware helicopter I own, so maybe some people here can tell you if there are other ones that work well. Bear in mind that you`d also need good hardware to simulate heli-flying realistically, a standard spring-centered joystick won´t be enough, you at least need some pedals to simulate the anti-torque pedals used in RW helicopters. Personally I use this solution here: http://www.shop.aerosoft.com/eshop.php?action=article_detail&s_supplier_aid=13408&s_design=DEFAULT&shopfilter_category=Flight%20Simulation&s_language=german Unfortunately the price for it has gone up quite significantly, I got it for about 200 Euros less. But it made me enjoy flying helicopters in the sim for the first time! Cheers, Fabian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpreou Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 Personally, and I've only been at the controls of a real heli three times, the lack of peripheral vision and seat-of-the-pants feel is what makes the heli in P3D so much less than real life, regardless of the flight dynamics (which I don't have enough experience to comment on). When I hovered the real heli it was with a focus point in the far distance (the club house) and the overall 'feel' and peripheral vision, what was 'moving' around me. I can't get that in the sime. Fwd flight, etc is fine, but I struggle a little in the hover to be accurate. Just my 2c ... or 10c here in NZ, since that is the smallest coin we have now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ojiito Posted June 14, 2015 Author Share Posted June 14, 2015 These things are what makes a sim harder in some ways (peripheral, feel, etc), and I would think doubly so for helis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpreou Posted June 14, 2015 Share Posted June 14, 2015 Exactly my point; I don't find it a problem for planes, even small GA which I fly IRL every few weeks. But helis: different story! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ojiito Posted June 14, 2015 Author Share Posted June 14, 2015 Thanks for your 10c Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpreou Posted June 14, 2015 Share Posted June 14, 2015 I'm hoping some real-life heli pilots will chip in with thoughts around this. I'm interested too. One of these days, long into the future when kids are gone and I get an office space back, I plan to buy some proper heli controls and 'transition' to rotary wing flight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickey Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Im not an real life RW pilot but spent lots of hours flying choppers in FS since Microsoft introduced the B206 III in FS98 Now in August i will go for a real flight in a Schweizer S300 for the first time. I hope i can have an comparison between real chopper and FS chopper flying. Generally to say is that FS world as well as the real world full flight sim is harder to fly than the real world plane. I can only compare the sim aircraft with real life F-33A B-58 CRJ and E190. I would asume that this counts for rotorwings too. I will report back after my first RW lesson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt McGee Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Personally, and I've only been at the controls of a real heli three times, the lack of peripheral vision and seat-of-the-pants feel is what makes the heli in P3D so much less than real life, regardless of the flight dynamics (which I don't have enough experience to comment on). When I hovered the real heli it was with a focus point in the far distance (the club house) and the overall 'feel' and peripheral vision, what was 'moving' around me. I can't get that in the sime. Fwd flight, etc is fine, but I struggle a little in the hover to be accurate. Just my 2c ... or 10c here in NZ, since that is the smallest coin we have now! jpreou, You hit the nail on the head IMHO. Lack of peripheral vision and seat-of-the-pants feel, tend to make computer flight simulator helos more difficult to fly than fixed wing sim aircraft. Real helicopters take a bit more "monkey skills" (eye, hands, feet coordination) than a fixed wing aircraft, but in FSX, helos are a lot harder to fly with finesse. The flight modeling in FSX is indeed lacking. Real helicopters have a lot going on aerodynamically. For instance, in a hover, if you want to climb, you increase the collective. That increases the torque on the rotor system, so you need to add pedal to counter the yaw. Adding pedal increases the trust from the tail rotor, which induces a lateral drift force. The lateral drift needs to be countered with lateral cyclic movement. Countering the lateral drift actually takes a small amount to vertical lift away to use for lateral motion, so you need a tiny bit more power to maintain your altitude. That tiny bit more power causes a tiny bit more torque ...... and the cycle continues (Many helos have mechanical "mixing units" to automatically make the other inputs when a pilot makes one control input.) I don't mind the simplified sim helo aerodynamics as much as I dislike the lack of a trim system. Having to constantly hold the joystick forward in order to maintain forward flight is annoying. The default helos, the Aerosoft Seahawk, & Virtavia Sea King are terrible in this regard. Realistic aerodynamics don't make the sim helos easier to fly though. I have the Huey UH-1 for DCS, which models more aerodynamically. It also has force trim. It is still a challenge to fly due to the lack of peripheral vision and seat-of-the-pants feel. Real helicopters are harder to fly than real airplanes, but sim helicopters are much harder to fly than sim airplanes. Just my opinion as a former helo pilot I've got about 2,500 hours in USN helos. Mostly SH-60B and UH-3H, but also TH-57 B & C in flight school, and a couple flights each in the SH-2F, MH-60S, and one in the MH-53E. Ironically the one requiring the most monkey skills is the first one you fly in training, the TH-57B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caaront Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 I didn't like flying helis in FSX at first but they became my favorite, enjoy them for what they are. Don't be the guy who picks apart a film like San Andreas, or Jurrassic World etc, sitting there saying "Thats not very realistic, I don't think that would happen that way." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpreou Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 I love flying the helis in the sim and accept the lack of realism at this point until we get full holodecks! I'd love to fly a heli IRL but here in NZ, last time I flew which was some ten years ago, a Hughes 300 / Schweizer 369 was in the region of $460 (NZ) / hr. Just not really feasible for me, back then or now. I briefly looked at building a Rotorway Exec, back then, but eventually decided it was too expensive, too slow, no real baggage capacity, etc. Unless I win Lotto (which is unlikely since I don't buy tickets!), then I guess I'll be a sim pilot only Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.