Imo with all the above said I would say go like this :
good selection of helicopters from difrent devs ( Huey in the works, in the meantime Bell412 from X-Trident will do great job )
+
whole world scenery
'=
X-Plane
Most of P3D helos are lacking in the basic flight dynamics regimes.
Btw regarding DCS Huey. First I was litle bit confused not to say disapointed.
Then I visited helisimer page to see what these guys said about it and I was like ’ exactly my thoughts ’
When I first downloaded and installed DCS UH-1H last year, I was very disappointed in it. I had heard just how good it was, and had just purchased a set of Pro-flight trainer Black Lynx flight controls for my PC. To me, the flight dynamics didn’t represent the forgiving pilot friendly flight characteristics I had always heard the Huey family was famous for. Instead, it flew like a Robinson R22 on a half a tank of gas with a 2 to 3 second delay control response in gusty winds.
He then continues that PC upgrade made a diference in his initial feelings but with my 60fps in Insta Action mision I dont know if hw upgrade will cut it for me also.
Not necessarily unrealistic, and its fun, but not what I was expecting.
There is also this thread on P3D’s forums where the author of HTR is asking some questions about it…so not sure if there might someday be a P3D specific version coming down the pipe or if it just works as is. I’m going to give it a shot this morning though…
Interesting - having never flown a real helicopter, i wouldn’t know whether the “R-22 with half a tank of gas and delay in control” is true or not - some of it could be lack of throw in the sim cyclic but I can’t evaluate that.
From my simmer’s point of view, the Huey feels ‘real’, things like pendulum effect in hover etc. feel right to my layman’s senses…and a bit of curve sorted out most of the jittery feel.
As to the delay, you do need to anticipate a fair amount but the Huey is a pretty big helicopter really so an element of inertia seems natural. But then again, this is all just circular justification from someone who hasn’t flown the real thing.
I would say it is prety subjective mater. After all it is simulation on desktop computers so everything what is close enough to the real thing counts. DCS and XPLANE are definitely there.
And as I already mentioned DCS Huey is fun and chalenging helo and that is important
Hope soon enough I will take it for a ride on Blue Flag server.
I wish I had bought XP when it was ofered as XP10 with free XP11 key. I mean there are still more helos for XP10 than XP11.
Only two pure XP11 versions I know about are DF 407 and VSKYLABS Cabri.
The rest are pure XP10 versions or XP10 versions made compatible with XP11.
That said I still fly that DF206. But I think flight dynamics needs some treatment when I compare it to XP11 407.
So I do it like this. I load up 206 cold n dark, start it up and then switch to runing 407 and fly. Once I land the 407 I switch to runing 206 and do the shutdown… fun
XP introduced control curves only with v11.30 so we can try it now. I did, but realized that my joystick refuses to respond to my inputs corectly - plastic gimbal wear out. I need replacement first.
Imo XP helos are as good as DCS. Like the X-Trident Bell412 is as good as DCS UH-1.
@Hangar200 what are you actualy questioning in here
My understanding is that the FSX engine can just not handle it. Recall that FSX was at the end of a long evolutionary process - each new version was in some way backwards compatible with previous versions. I don’t think helos were added until FS 2000 or 2002, and not well integrated.
But as you mentioned, there are definitely some developers and helos for FSX which are not that bad. Like Milviz MD530
Here below reviewed by real MD530 pilot. So I guess it is more the decision of the devs how far and deep they will go with their simulation. Its obvious from below text that Milviz, without using external tools, managed to replicate helo flight quite well.
But usualy the ’ shalow ’ simulation we see delivered from many FSX devs.
On the other hand XP devs have simpler position as the XP internal helo flight model is beter. So without much aditional efort they can deliver beter experience. Maybe thats why we see so many helo XP devs.
Yes, I totally agree with your assessment. I had thought Milviz had gone beyond the FSX model/engine because of how it handles. Amazing they were able to do what they did without doing that.
I had researched the Dodosim B206 and had read that they had gone beyond the FSX limitations. I was very pleased with their model. Only wish that they had done more helos.
The other company I like is CeraSim. I am pretty sure that, like Milviz, they have just tweaked the FSX model. Still, they have nice cockpits that seem to have some systems logic built in…albeit probably just skin deep.
I have a handful of Nemeth Design helos and like them for casual flying. They have OK flight models and systems…some of the “systems” appear to be “click the switch and the proper light goes out” rather than really do something, but that is sometimes enough.
We needs to be clear here that I am not that kind of guy like @smokinhole I mean that test pilot type of flight simer who strive for every detail in simulated flight envelope. I am more like @BeachAV8R , I realized. I mean that type of guy who appreciate simulated model if it represents enough good the real deal.
I have to say that 412 is one of my 2 favorite helos simulations on PC. The other one is DCS Mi-8.
So for me it is DCS Mi-8 for combat stuff ( more people shooting at you ) and XP Bell412 for civi stuff ( no people shooting at you ).
For me XTrident Bell412 is the best representation of XP helo flight. I am comparing here with e.g. DreamFoil Bell407. It behaves exactly like I would expect this simulated helo should.
The same applies to Belsimtek Mi-8 in DCS. Fits my expectations.
But Belsimtek UH-1 … has some added challenging behavior which I dont expect. As you named it ‘pendulum behavior’. This added challenge in controlling this bird is not bad thing actually imo but not my cup of tea. Developer maybe wanted to make clear distinction between heavy Mi-8 and medium ( in regards to weight ) helo like UH-1 ( wondering how they would simulate helo in normal category like Gazelle ).
And I like UH-1 for what it is, challenging and thus fun. But I like to fly Mi-8 in DCS more. Its not like Mi-8 isnt challenging, simulated VRS is enough fun when you need quickly land and drop some cargo
Other thing to consider here also are controlers we use and PCs itself. I am flying these things on low end PC with center mounted self centering stick without extension ( my diy floor mounted no-centering cyclic is disassembled atm but the UH-1 was almost the same challenge with it ).
And I dont own every simulated helo released for PC sims so my ability to compare is small. So take my opinions with grain of salt oc
Last I have to mention that there is UH-1H commin to XPlane11 from Nimbus developer. So in ‘two weeks’ we will be able to compare these two simulations, DCS and XP, head to head.
Two more notes ( I think we can go on and on adding notes here, so much ‘content [flight modeling, equipment, etc.] and fun’ )
I fly these things with AP off, SAS off, ATT hold off. Only thing I use commonly in XP and DCS is Force Trim. This system heavily reduces the strain in hand with self centering joystick.
XTrident Bell412 is rich in regards to IFR equipment. All the NAV radios, AP, SAS, ATT hold … Didnt use it much. But considering to fly next Annual Flight in it and get good use of it.
Not at all. I dont consider your module opinions/reviews as besmirching. Just you are going into great details ( thats the test pilot analogy ) what is great about them.
no way I will not repost this
