I got to pilot (sort of) a Helicopter!

So my surprise birthday present was one of those helicopter tours. But this one had the option to take over the controls for a short time. My girlfriend knows what a flying geek I am, what with all the crazy hardware and time I spend on sims so she thought (correctly!) that I would enjoy it.

It was a Robinson R22 and had a Tee stick which was sort of weird, talking to the pilot he said that he preferred a stick but the Tee is good for training.

One thing that struck me was the way I could actually feel the ground effect when we hit it - and I can see why it's difficult to model it in a game. And transnational lift - although the way sims like DCS Huey have the wobble effect does a pretty good job of that.

Anyway my thought was that their idea of letting me take the controls is my hand on the stick while they really do everything. Yes and no - once we got up a decent height he asked if I was ready and said "Its all yours". And it was. Mostly, I could tell he still controlled the collective and rudder but I really did have the stick. He would say things like "See that red building over there? Head towards that". He let me do that for quite a while as we headed back to the airfield and while we were descending he wasnt saying anything like "I got it" so I sort of panciked and blurted out "You are going to land this thing, right?!" :noexpression: He laughed and took over but for a while there, with the runway in sight and getting closer I thought the guy might be crazy or something.

All in all it was a fantastic experience and I highly recommend it to anyone with the means and interest in this hobby.

An awesome experience indeed, the question is are you going to modify your SIM controls? :D

An awesome experience indeed, the question is are you going to modify your SIM controls? :D

:smilewink: I wouldnt even know where to start! Having the stick in the center did feel more natural but without some sort of rig my only option is on my desk off to the side. I have thought about some sort of platform to hold the cyclic which should not be too complicated.

I forgot to mention, before we took off the pilot explained the range of motion is about the size of a quarter. And that is what I found, its tiny! Nothing at all what a huey must be like.

"I forgot to mention, before we took off the pilot explained the range of motion is about the size of a quarter. And that is what I found, its tiny! Nothing at all what a huey must be like."

I imagine it wouldn't be that far off either. My friend is a helicopter pilot, and he recently was telling me about flying the JetRanger for the first time. He explained how much different it was going from the Robson R44 to the Jet Ranger, and how little, apparently even compared to the Robson, you have to move the controls. I also read in a book a long time ago about a pilot who complete Army helicopter training and transitioned into the H34 and was having problems over controlling that as well, and that even the tiniest movement of the cyclic would move the aircraft out of it's "hover cushion". Apparently helicopters are very, VERY light on the controls lol....

I have had some experience in R44 and yes small movements, which is why I asked the question in the post. In DCS prior to my first flight I had the cyclic (at that time just a joystick on desk) with saturation at around 28, after that flight I worked on removing saturation until I got it back to 100% It took a bit to get used to especially in the Gazelle but made a huge difference for the next flight in R44.

It also started a process of building a V-SIM with cyclic between my legs and a collective beside me, loosely based on the R44.

And that process is continuing. :thumbup:

That must have been a great experience! :thumbup:

I once got a helicopter ride as a birthday present, but it was just a sightseeing flight. They were legally required to remove the controls from the passenger seat, or no one could sit there. Anyway, I got to sit in the left front seat in a Jet Ranger and had a good look at the pilot in the right seat. He didn't seem to move the cyclic at all, those were really tiny movements, just like the others described.

:smilewink: I wouldnt even know where to start! Having the stick in the center did feel more natural but without some sort of rig my only option is on my desk off to the side. I have thought about some sort of platform to hold the cyclic which should not be too complicated.

 

I forgot to mention, before we took off the pilot explained the range of motion is about the size of a quarter. And that is what I found, its tiny! Nothing at all what a huey must be like.

This is what I did. A platform to mount Komodo or Warthog, takes 30 seconds to screw/unscrew three bolts.

And a $3 part for folding shelf for the collective. Tucks away nice when I don't need it

All in all, about an hour of work, scrap wood, stain etc. I wasn't going for great, just practical.

This is what I did. A platform to mount Komodo or Warthog, takes 30 seconds to screw/unscrew three bolts.

 

 

 

All in all, about an hour of work, scrap wood, stain etc. I wasn't going for great, just practical.

That's pretty sweet! Looks like a fun project. :thumbup: