I HATE HELICOPTERS!!!

you just need some chopper advice once you know how to treat one respectfully then you find they are alot of fun.

there is one thing i can say give me the name of your joystick and try to recalibrate it 😉

I have a SAITEK ST290 PRO its new and when I fly airplanes I have no problems just with helicopters they are to hard to fly

Flight Simulator should include lessons to learn how to fly helicopters the right way, even with the better joystick in the world, helicopters wont be easy to use 🙄

I find the included helicopter articles very handy actually, once you give them a good read.

I'll add another necessity for flying helicopters successfully in the sims....some sort of rudder control (i.e. twisting joystick/pedals). Everything from pitch, rudders, throttle, you name it will affect your flight. You can't simply fly by pitch and hope to hover, that involves making careful adjustments to your throttle, careful counter adjustments with your rudder (you'll see what it means in the articles), and a careful eye on your instruments.

I've found that the most successful flights are where you make very slow movements and adjustments, even on takeoff. Give it time and you'll have it!

The biggest hate I used to have was slowing and landing helicopters. Sometimes they would start yawing left and right and go out of control.

Helicopters are not as easy as planes and take a lot of practice. One person suggested several hundred practice landings before you start to get the hang of it!! I find slowing down in plenty of time is best. It's hard to replicate a true life landing where you could race in and bring it to a stop and hover in a matter of seconds.

I find very small quick sharp inputs are best, as a helicopter will always take longer to respond than a plane, but seems to remember what you asked it to do and will keep pitching if you put too much input into the joystick.

Stick with it, as the rewards are definitley more challenging than planes, especially when taking off and landing on oil rigs!!

Rich

humm looks like someone is not happy with the HELICOPTERS..

it dose take some to land them i found that. but keep trying. and you will see what fun they can be.

another hilarious thing with choppers, is in the traffic 2005 program, the AI ones actually land on the main runway and they come in the exact same way as a plane does and then bounce along the runway, so funny to watch. Slightly off topic i know but....

Micah 😉

i have alot of fun with helecopters now that i brought a joystick. however landings a little rough 😉

When I fly a helicopter in FS9 I do a perfect flight, if that's what you want to call it, then when I descend to land on the top of the building, as I fly near the Seatle region, it just goes so high, when I have no thrust at all and goes out of control. I think it's a FS9 problem, if I'm not wrong.

no helicopters are very snceitive it takes alot of time to be able to land smoothly.

if i were you i would go to hovercontrol and go to their forum and post this....they know a good bit about helicopters. PRACTICE

Siateks controlers are not very good for helicopters ive got a second joystick for when i get the urge to just fly helicopters for a while.

and try to ajdust the sencitivity to be very low.

but again if you need more in depth details and tips PM me by all means

i find that a chinook is easier to fly in fs9 cause they are less sensitive. plus they are bigger and more stable. also they have wheels so if you have a lot of forward momentum on landing they roll along the ground instead of filpping upside down.

as everyone else says practice and a twist joystick/pedals are needed.

i like to flyin the himalayas in the jet ranger pushing the ceiling as much as possible. there comes to a point where you are at full revs and still unable to climb.
i also like to land one skid of the heli on the side of a mountain whilst the other is in midair (mountain can't be much steeper than 45degress otherwise rotors hit the hillside)

yes Chinooks are the best for training on helicopters.

Micah wrote:

another hilarious thing with choppers, is in the traffic 2005 program, the AI ones actually land on the main runway and they come in the exact same way as a plane does and then bounce along the runway, so funny to watch. Slightly off topic i know but....

Micah 😉

In a way its kind of how they land on a runway in the real world... as far as I know.

One one of my flying lessons there was a chopper that was cleared to land before us and it followed the same entry procedured and what looked like a similar glideslope but it never actually touched down, just hovered a few feet in the air over to the parking.

FS9 doesnt have very good ATC options for choppers

In real life, helicopters can make several approaches to land. Some approach the runway and then hover taxi to parking. They can also make an approach directly to a helipad on the airport, it depends on the traffic situation. Some helicopter with wheels have to make a running landing similar to airplanes(but much shorter) if heavily loaded and landing at a high altitude airport. A skidding landing with a helicopter without wheel would be an emergency landing. The wheeled helicopter have a choice of rolling taxi or hover taxi. 🙂

Doyley wrote:

One one of my flying lessons there was a chopper that was cleared to land before us and it followed the same entry procedured and what looked like a similar glideslope but it never actually touched down, just hovered a few feet in the air over to the parking.

I've seen the same thing. They follow the glideslope in and then "hover-taxi" to parking following the taxiways. I'm guessing that's so it's easier for ATC and Ground control to keep track of them. I used to drive through Ft.Stewart, GA where the Army trains helicopter pilots. Those guys were obviously not worrying with ATC. They's come roaring in at treetop level and then drop into a clearing long enough to disgorge troops and roar off again. First time I rode my bike, Suzuki GS750 not bicycle, next to the howitzer range at night I nearly dropped it when they opened up next to me.

Program in an autopilot and an auto-hover. Beats fightin the damn things.

Jim
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