Hello Karl,
when you are interested in flying helicopzters, first Thing to learn is that they work different than fixedwingend airplanes. NOt only the aerodynamis do, also the Input devices they are contolled with….cyclic Control (role), collective control (pitch) and pedals (yaw). You Need them all to master a helo.
A good source for starting into helicopters is helisimmer.com.
They offer a nice guide explaining the helicopter control devices on their Website.
In the past hovercontrol was helosimmer`s heaven, but that site doesn`t exist since some time anymore.
So for starting with helos in the sim you should have a Joystick as cyclic Control.
A throttle device used as the collective Control,
and ideally some pedals for yaw Control. Some Joystick have a Twist grip which allows acting as pedal Control, but controling the pedlas this way can be painful for your wrist. So, I do not recommend this.
I personally have helo designed pedals which don`t have a selfcentering springsystem. Most fixedwinged pedals are selfcentering I think.
When you are flying in P3dv4 and 5 I´ll try the default LM UH60M Battle Hawk or the Robinson R22 for testing. They are easy to fly and you can check if you like helo flying.
There are certain Payware products for P3D you can get. The helo`s I like most of These are:
Milviz:
- Bell UH-1 Huey (nice and stable flying)
- Bell 407 (fast and maneuverable)
- MD530F (fast and maneuverable)
Cerasim:
- Sikorsky UH60L Blackhawk (The one I fly most, fast, strong, maneuverable and versatile, There are also a few Freeware modes released,,as the Firehawk I fly, see at simouthouse)
- Bell 412
- Bell 212
- Bell 222
- Aerospatiale AS365
Nemeth Designs:
- Boeing CH47D Chinook (coop Project with Milviz, You can also buy it on their Website)
- AS 350
- AW 109 (coop Project with Milviz, You can also buy it on their Website)
I should Mention that all MS based Simulators, so does P3D, do have certain limitations simulating helicopter aerodynamics. P3D has other advanteges like huge addon`s libraries and combatability with FSX based Content.
For FSX and P3D there`s a helicopter free addon out there called HTR (helicopter total realism mod), which you can also get from helisimmer.com. This tool Cures a lot of the lacking helicopter aerodynamics in FSX and P3D.......