How do you...

[ryancz]

Fly helicopters?

I have tried in all default ones, but I cannot get them to: Take off without spinning

Hover

Land without starting to go backward

For taking off,I ease back the collective VERY slowly, and try to keep everything still in all degrees of movement.

I have collective set to a point where it doesn't move very much vertically, but the pitch makes large movements fore and aft.

When I flare to land, it always seems to slow down, then rapidly climb backwards.

Addtl info: CH products Yoke and Pedals

I'll try to record a video later to show what I mean.

Any advice? Do I just need practice?

[ryancz]

Oh, and also, how does the Bk117 compare in handling to the default helis?

[Kaphias]

I started with the Chinook to get the hang of basic helicopter controls, then moved on to helicopters with the tail rotor. The Sea King (S-61 I believe) is fairly forgiving in that regard. I found Bell 206 and R-22 to be pretty difficult and I'd recommend leaving them alone for a while. The Chinook will allow you to forget about the issue of spinning while focusing on landing and hover practice.

[ryancz]

Where is there a chinook for download?

[Kaphias]

http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=9519

[ryancz]

Thanks!

[ryancz]

That really does help a lot, and I do still need practice.

Thank you!

[Nicola_M]

I firmly believe that what joystick you use makes a lot of difference when you're trying to fly a helicopter. A twist grip joystick gives you the advantage of using rudders, but twisting a joystick to keep it straight is far from natural.

If it helps, I use an rc controller - similar to what they use to fly rc helicopters - and it is far simpler. You have two mini joysticks, the left one gives you collective and yaw and the right one does your cyclic. It is much much much easier to fly helicopters with one of those than with a conventional joystick.

http://www.modelhelicopters.co.uk/fms-simulator-transmitter-mode-2-usb.html

http://www.sussex-model-centre.co.uk/shopexd.asp?id=24700

[Nicola_M]

As for flying the BK117, it's slightly easier than the stock helis, but that could also be down to using a setup that works for me. On all helis you have to give a load of yaw once you lift off, and the BK is realistic in that way.