On Thu, 18 Sep 2003 10:35:00 +0100, "Andrew Crane"
wrote:


wrote in message
.. .
FS2004 has an R22 Beta II in it.

It does have an R22, but it flies nothing like a helicopter. Looks very much
like an R22 but that's as far as it goes.

I disagree. It's not perfect by far - anti-torque pedal input is not
really required to fly it - but it can teach some things. And wait -
it's fun!

Nobody is going to learn anything about controlling a helicopter from a home
simulator, but a much closer flight model is X-Plane. Not perfect, but light
years closer than FS2004.

Disagree again. I have the most recent version of X-Plane, and it's
sitting on the shelf. If I thought it was realistic I'd fly it a lot
more. It's certainly a lot more *unstable* than FS2004 in the
helicopters, but it sure doesn't feel like an R22 to me.

FS2004 (and probably X-Plane) can help with *some* things, like pinnacle
approaches and some of the very basic things like what the collective
does, what the cyclic does. (I sure do wish it had better anti-torque
pedal emulation.) Also, it gives an introduction to power management -
take the R22 to a high-altitude airport in FS2004 and try to hover. It's
difficult to do without pulling too much MP.

With the right digital mesh (aka digital elevation data, some of which
is freeware), it can also give a pilot a reasonable idea of what the
terrain is like in a given region before flying there. And, as someone
else said, it's an excellent IFR platform.

I get tired of people dissing FS all the time - it's certainly not
anywhere near a FlightSafety full-motion sim, but it has its uses and I
enjoy flying the helicopters (and planes) in it quite a bit.

---

BTW to the poster that likes SAR4 - I could not get my
throttle/collective to work at all in that game. Do you have a separate
throttle control, and if so is it USB or gameport?

Dave Blevins