Helicopter Flight Sims

[Puddle Jumper]

I am planning on buying Microsoft Flight Simulator with plans on using it to get in a little simulated flight time. I know this won''t account for real experience however I feel that this may at least keep me on my toes with memorizing flight manuals, procedures etc. I noticed that a student had a setup in the helicopters magazine where he had a collective, pedals and cyclic. I was wondering if anyone knows where I can buy these and how hard is it to hook them all up and make them work. I am not concerned with finding a cyclic or pedals but am more interested in where he found the collective. The article was in the March 2000 issue of Helicopters magazine. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[100ft]

Have a look at this setup. Just needs a drink holder.

http://www.flightlink.com/hardware/rotorwing/index.html

100''

 

[Puddle Jumper]

100''
Yes that is a nice setup...but for that price I will just go and log a few real hours.

 

[T5limit]

PJ - if you''re in the Toronto area check out Silverline''s FLYIT flight sim. It is certified so if you want an IFR rating some time down the road the time counts. It works really well, is based on flight sim, and is considerably cheaper than the real deal.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Thanks for the help guys. So the pro pedals should work well and I have a good joystick but what about the collective? Pushing a button to increase pitch doesn''t seem right...I want this to be somewhat realistic. Its too bad that microsoft hasn''t started making controls that are realistic to the applications. So do these controls work off USB or do they need a game port?

 

[Kyle]

I was actually invited to be a BETA tester for the new Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004. It is quite the step up from the previous versions. A really awesome weather model. It was a neat thing working with the staff of MS over the last six months.

They have included the Robinson 22 in this version (with two paint schemes). Now, I have only flown a helicopter on a few short stints, more of a fam flight thing, but from what others are saying on the team, is a few tweaks of the config file for the Robbie and it flies quite realistically. I havemade these tweaks and it has now made the job of flying it a whole lot more difficult for me - so they are probably right.

PFC has just released pedals for the helicopters:
http://www.flypfc.com/new%20products/new%2...cts%20page.html
http://www.flypfc.com/entertainment%20products/pedals.html

I use regular CHproducts pedals for now and find simming that much more enjoyable.
http://www.chproducts.com/retail/usb_pro_pedals.html

If you have any questions, just shout.

 

[Kyle]

I am not sure about PFC but CH offers theirs in USB. It is recommended that you go with the USB since the regular gameport connection can cause other problems. I am also using the CH Products joy stick which as a throttle on it''s base - which I use as the collective. Not the truest of set-ups but I find it works well.

 

[reddog]

Boys, boys, boys. You obviously missed the thunderous groan from the peanut gallery. Save your money and buy some real flight time or a course that will help you get hired.

You will not learn to fly a helicopter sitting in front of a computer, period!!!

Lesson number one; hovering. Hovering is performed using your peripheral vision and the finely tuned seat of your pants. Both things missing from the computer sim. Etc, etc, etc.

 

[Bruised Armpit]

Puddles,
If you are handy, buy a Joystick with a throttle and take it apart. extend the stick(cyclic) and attach the throttle to a stick(collective).

 

[MagSeal]

I couldn't agree with you more RedDog.

Imagine the young kids out there feeling they can drive daddies car since they've been playing Need For Speed for a few years, or someone who figures that since they mastered a Nascar game on their nintendo, that they are reading for a race at Darlington.

Now, they might give you some basic guage reading skills, but motion feeling has alot to do with everything. And I have yet to see Microsoft offer up a full motion seat.

In the end, you get what you paid for, the game, plus joystick, pedals (assuming you already have a computer) might set you back $500 total. I dread the day that TC has a special spot on the licence or logbook for "MS Flight Simulator Training"

 

[Bladestrike]

I use the MS Force Feedback Sidewinder, with a twisting "cyclic" that acts as your yaw control. While the force feedback is more expensive, the centering mechanism is disabled while flying the helos. You'll find if doing any dial work, you'll have to hold the 206 about 5 degrees nose down in cruise and this gets tiring and is difficult with a centering joystick. There's also a "paddle" throttle that if you reverse could almost be mistaken for a collective. We use MS Flight Sim at the base for IFR procedures training, and everyone is required to log some time every year prior to going off in the REAL simulator.