Getting into helicopters

Throttle is always at max for normal flight 3Star, for any chopper. You are using it only for startup and if you want to perform some autorations. The rest of the time, all the way up.

1400$? What a ripoff. AFAIR I paid around 200 Deutsche Mark for a new MSFF2 (waaay) back then.

1400$ ? Where did you see that? I bought my MSFFB2 for only around 30 USD at my local online shop few years ago. Its used but still good.

And +1 for FFB joystick to fly helos in DCS. I have Hotas Warthog but always switch to MSFFB2 for flying helos.

1400$ ? Where did you see that? I bought my MSFFB2 for only around 30 USD at my local online shop few years ago. Its used but still good.

 

And +1 for FFB joystick to fly helos in DCS. I have Hotas Warthog but always switch to MSFFB2 for flying helos.

The $1400 is the price for a very high end FF joystick base from Brunner in Switzerland... I'd consider it to be likely professional level or approaching that.

Clearly a used MSFFB2 isn't gonna sell for even a fraction of that, I think I paid just $50 USD a few months ago.

Because the way you trim and fly helos. An ordinary stick with springs will always return to center. Unless you always keep it in position. An FFB stick will stay off centre when you trim it. Of course, you can mod sticks to be non centering. And some are for sale with this function possible, and that's second best. With FFB the forces are there until you click trim button, and the forces let go. So you have incredible control.

On eBay version here in Norway, I have a saved search that notifies me whenever one is for sale.

 

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Sounds good to me! :thumbup:

That's what i did to get the most out of a Logitech G940 base. It has pretty strong motors (but they need a little help from oil dampers to tackle all the weight). Best helicopter flying experience so far, but i really hope that someone comes with a new FFB base to the market sooner or later.

Oh man, where did I get myself into :)

Wasn't expecting such a deep discussion around hardware but then again... Who else plays DCS besides people who want to get as close to possible to the real deal...

I'll stick with the X56 for now and see how I enjoy the helicopters before upgrading my hardware.

I'm not good with electronics and soldering so I'll have to do with what is on the market ...

1400$ ? Where did you see that? I bought my MSFFB2 for only around 30 USD at my local online shop few years ago. Its used but still good.

I was referring to the "pro"-level FF ones that some people posted earlier.

The $1400 is the price for a very high end FF joystick base from Brunner in Switzerland... I'd consider it to be likely professional level or approaching that.

What I said earlier: ripoff.

What I said earlier: ripoff.

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The Brunner base is targeted for the custom sim professional market. It still doesn't support directinput FFB, only gets it's data from DCS's telemetry output (for motion seats and forcefeel mats). Trim force has to be emulated by it's own software.

However, DCS is telling a lot of haptics and other information to us, but very few of us have all the hardware to listen. Those haptic forcefeel mats and simshakers for aviators (software) for instance improve immersion a lot by giving info about airframe vibration directly to your body. You'll instantly know if a stall is imminent, extremely helpful in a helicopter.

Alright I made the plunge :D

Just bought the Huey and flew with it for half an hour. Did a hot start from the ground.

Basic flight is fairly straight forward but the nuances... that's something else.

Tried to hover a few time but got a warning and crashed into the ground...

When I try to land, I also seem to crash more often than not.

But boy, the first time I took the Huey to the air... It brought a smile on my face and that's been a long time for something in a game. The sound, the feeling, the cockpit. I think I'll be spending a lot of time in this cockpit. The VR immersion is so great...

Next up... doing all the training missions and the campaign...

Congrats!

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Good choice! Next steps:

1. learn about trimming a helicopter

2. repeat step 1

3. revisit step 1

:)

Your crash is probably due to VRS, you’ll learn about it in due time. But yeah, the Huey is wonderful to fly, more so in VR. My only gripe is the ridiculously underpowered armament now which makes it a purely recon/sightseeing tool (it can still be fun against ground troops with door gunners, but the AI grunts are so dumb it’s not fun).But man, just flying around in it is so awesome. Enjoy!

It is also a great time to step into helos, they are getting some love in DCS. The Syria map is exceptional for helo ops, and we have a Hind and Kiowa Warrior coming very soon.

That's what i did to get the most out of a Logitech G940 base. It has pretty strong motors (but they need a little help from oil dampers to tackle all the weight). Best helicopter flying experience so far, but i really hope that someone comes with a new FFB base to the market sooner or later.

 

 

 

Wow that is wonderful, i had the g940 in the past, i sold it because of the lack of buttons.

I tried to gather informations on how to use a different grips, but unfortunately my manual/electronics skills are not so good to do this mod...so sadly i had to get rid of it.

I wish someone could do a FFB base with common grips compatibility (cheaper that the brunner cls-e).

In any case congratulations for your awesome mod.

Thanks!

Well, there is hope. And this guy on youtube, Yachuan Yu, wrote yesterday: "It's currently manufactured for pre order only. There will be a link if it reaches mass production."

That's what i did to get the most out of a Logitech G940 base. It has pretty strong motors (but they need a little help from oil dampers to tackle all the weight). Best helicopter flying experience so far, but i really hope that someone comes with a new FFB base to the market sooner or later.

 

 

 

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Thanks!

Well, there is hope. And this guy on youtube, Yachuan Yu, wrote yesterday: "It's currently manufactured for pre order only. There will be a link if it reaches mass production."

Yup, this is the brand I posted about some post up. The video looks promising but I want an extension. 1100 is still expensive.

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He answered in the comments:

And i guess 1100,- won't be the final price once it goes into mass production.

He answered in the comments:

 

And i guess 1100,- won't be the final price once it goes into mass production.

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Thanks!

Well, there is hope. And this guy on youtube, Yachuan Yu, wrote yesterday: "It's currently manufactured for pre order only. There will be a link if it reaches mass production."

Yeah I am following him, but his thread on dcs forum seems dead.

1) Can you properly operate a helicopter with a HOTAS? It doesn't really resemble a cyclic stick so we can we properly simulate this using a HOTAS or is dedicated hardware for helis required?

Yes you can use a HOTAS, but it's recommended to remove the springs from your rudder pedals, and I wouldn't use a Warthog (not even with extension) because of its gimbal.

Proper helicopter controls are obviously ideal, but also expensive if you want decent quality (think € 1500+ including shipment).

And finally... Some good recommendations on what heli to start with?

Ka-50 is probably easiest with a HOTAS, but it doesn't really teach you how helicopter aerodynamics work in a general sense.

I'd say the Mi-8 is probably the easiest of the classic helicopters but it needs to be treated gently.

A Huey will teach you proper helicopter handling techniques, and you can toss it around a lot more than the Mi-8 without getting yourself into trouble.

Personally I'd wait with the Gazelle until Polyshop has re-visited the flight model etc after the Kiowa's release.

Also something to consider, is that the Ka-50 is thus far the only helo in DCS that fully supports PBR/DS techniques introduced with DCS 2.5, so with the other modules there will be issues with lighting and readability, especially in VR, until they get new cockpit textures and geometry.

Thanks for the info.

I went with the Huey this weekend and already have around 8 hours of flight on it. Practice goes rather well except for hovering... That still requires some practice .

Just did my first campaign mission for the Huey. Wasn't expecting such a long mission... Took me almost 90 min but used those 90 min to practice trimming the Huey. At the end she could fly almost by herself with me just a very gentle touch of the joystick :)

The KA looks great as well. Could also be a nice step stone to the jets as the weapons and systems of the KA are more complex than on the Huey and probably resembles more the complexity of the modern jets.

Oh yes, the Ka-50 is a real battle horse and great at sniping tanks from cover.