Helicopters a real challenge... but with new hardware....

I'm experiencing some bitter sweet realizations after upgrading my ram and installing a new graphics card which GREATLY improves the performance of FS2004 on my marginal computer.

I love it in almost all ways. However....

.... when it comes to helicopters the improvements have brought about an amuzing story that I wish to share.

In FS 98 I was able to "fly" the Bell 206 Jet Ranger... sorta. Jerk it up high and while its flailing all over the place with the feeling I'm standing on a beach ball in the middle of a lake, I would occasionally get high enough and lucky enough that as I fell uncontrollably to earth I gained some forward momentum and was able to fly it like a fixed wing until it got time to land and I never had good results as I slowed down below about 40 knots.

My first attempts in FS2004 were much the same. But as I was determined to master (to at least some degree) every aircraft in the default livery, I practiced for several hours getting it to tip up on the front of the skids, getting to hold that position, then slowly get it to slide forward so balanced and eventually made a controlled take off. I even, again after an hour of trying to hover with control was able to land at mid field in the Oakland Raider football stadium.

And I was able to fly other choppers I'd downloaded as well.

This was without a doubt one of the VERY MOST rewarding experiences I'd ever had in flight simming. And I was pretty impressed with myself and was proud to write about with a great deal of pride in various forums and in verbal discussions with friends and family.

NOW..... hmmmmmmm...... its been a month or more since my new hardware installations. I'd not flown the choppers since then.

My 6 year old grandson was visiting and he asked if he could fly. (He'd done quite well landing a Ford Trimotor at San Francisco International with the old software... so naturally as a proud grandpa I thought this kid was a flying genius in the rough.

On this last visit he said he wanted to fly a helicopter. So I put one I'd just downloaded on the end of the runway at Half Moon Bay and let him have at it... waiting for the inevitable wild flailing and firey crash.

But.... he pushed the stick forward, tipping the chopper a bit into a forward angle and made a smooth take off and was soon flying about rather well as long as he didn't pull back on the sick and get the thing down to zero speed or even reverse which did produce some out of control moments. But as I showed him to always keep the chopper leaning into the point of attack he did very well.

I was beside myself with how he could have possibly done so well.

So after he left, I took a recess from my current flight project and spent some time on the same chopper. It was EASY. Had my skills sharpened THAT much????

So I had my son come and give it a try.... (he doesn't fly at all). I even let him fly a P-38 first so that he would be preconditioned for fixed wing handling).... then smiling within I put him at the controls of the chopper... and he also flew it with no real problem.

So it is that I wish everyone who read my previous posts patting myself on the back, to realize that it really was hard before the improvements to my hardware and is easy now. If 10 is the hardest, I'd say its now about a 3 or 4.... maybe 5 when landing.

So there is a good example of how hardware relates to the sim. I'd like to hear if others have had the same experiences with choppers or other hard to fly aircraft.