This section is for folks having just a bit of trouble getting started
What you need to fly our birds:
First off, you MUST have Microsoft Flight Simulator 98 or 2000.
Everything on this site will work just fine in both. Not a single one of these things will
work in any other flight simulation. A possible exception is Microsoft Combat
Simulator, which shares some commonality with the regular flavour. I don't
specifically design for CFS (yet), so if you want to use the designs appearing here,
you'll have to work out your own Damage Profiles for now.
Next, you need a joystick. It ought to have a throttle. Doesn't have
to, but if you don't have one, you'll wish you did.
Now, I go into some detail on this further down this page, but right now, you need to
give some thought to tail rotor control. You can use the keyboard to simulate the pedals,
but your vocabulary will just go downhill from cursing.
Now let's continue.
How do you fly these things?
Well, the answer depends on you, the ah, virtual pilot. You may have noticed that flying
fixed wing in MS Flight Simulator is relatively straightforward, but the default Bell 206B
that ships with the product can be a cast-iron pig to fly. Don't throw up your hands and
give up! Ok, throw up your hands and yell, but after you feel better, we're here to help.
I've never flown even fixed wing aircraft in MS Flight Simulator
Ok. Let's be realistic. Go fly at least a little fixed wing with the simulator. We suggest
taking the lessons offered in Flight Sim using the Cessna. You're not even paying for the
fuel here, so get some fixed wing stick time first. Just the basics, at least. Give me
something to work with here.
I can fly any fixed wing aircraft, but haven't got a rotary wing clue
Fine. Go read our Training page to find links to Ron Clark's instruction pages. Learn how
helicopters work and differ from fixed wing. We'll meet you back here.
I've done all that, but STILL can't fly!
Right. Here's where we get down to business. Flying rotary wing is busier than fixed wing.
Before anything else, you need the right equipment. That means a good joystick, preferably
one with a throttle. Next, you should have some way to control that tailboom. If you're
trying to fly a conventional helo, there's a main rotor whirling above your head. Turning
that thing generates torque within the airframe as a whole. Just a Newtonian fact. The
only thing keeping you from spinning opposite to the main rotor rotation is your contact
with the Earth. Once airborne, the bird will want to rotate in opposition to the main
rotor rotation. To counteract this, you've got a tail rotor. Real helos have pedals to
control its effect. You need much the same thing. While it is possible to control a helo
tail rotor in Flight Simulator using the keyboard, I don't recommend it. If you do it this
way, you won't get much from your sim experience. Get (or build) pedals, or try the
Microsoft Sidewinder joystick. This isn't a plug for Microsoft, but I use their Sidewinder
3D Pro Force Feedback model, and it works for me.
OK, but now I'm crashing 206s all over Miegs Field! What's wrong?
Simple. You're (probably) not doing anything wrong. Now you have to tune your frame rate.
Start out anywhere in the Flight Simulator world. Miegs Field is fine for this
illustration. From the Cockpit View, hold down the left Shift key, and hit "z"
three times. This will display your global position, and more importantly, your frame
rate. If it's much less than 15, you'll be chasing the aircraft. Every input you give will
be at least one move behind the bird. You won't notice this with fixed wing (I told you
rotary was harder, didn't I?). You need to improve that rate.
How do you get the frame rate up?
If you have the latest/best/fastest PC with tons of RAM, and a GREAT video card, you're
laughing here. If you're like the rest of us, some sacrifice will be required. Click on
Options, Preferences, Display to open the correct dialog. Select "Low/Fast" for
Image Quality & Speed. Then click on "Display Options" to open that dialog.
De-select "See own aircraft from cockpit". Click on "Hardware
Acceleration". Make sure "Enable Hardware Acceleration" selected. Click on
"Scenery". De-select "Textured Sky", "Gradient Horizon:,
"Textured Water", and "Image Smoothing". Each of these options
adversely affects our precious frame rate. Go back to the main screen, and select Weather
Areas. De-select "Clouds" and "Winds". You're here to train, remember?
Then select "Weather", and specify "Clear" and "none" for
the wind. Unless you're using a wood-burning 386, these settings should work for everybody
to get the frame rate up to something you can fly with. After trying this, you may find
that you can get more appealing scenery while maintaining a good frame rate by
experimentation with these settings. Personally, I don't like the super smooth simulation
that all of these settings yield. Though I'm not a helo-rated pilot, I've spent some time
in Kiowas (military Jet Rangers), and I like a little "chop". Remember what you
changed when you want to fly fixed wing. Now, let's pick a field to practice at.
But why is this still tough?
Well, for one thing, it's a helo, plain and simple. But (some good news), while the
default Bell 206B is a great helicopter in its own right, it perhaps isn't the best first
bird to learn with. Check out our Airframes Page for something more suited to fledgling
rotorheads. Now, you need a good training field. The more scenery in the immediate
vicinity will affect frame rate, so we need a good practice location. I use several,
depending on what I want to practice.
For now, let's pick one location to bend that first airframe. My suggestion is a flat,
empty place with no surrounding scenery other than the ground. I don't know, pick anything
in Nebraska, anywhere without buildings or mountains. Oh yes, it ought to have a runway to
provide you with some ground references. Read the Bell 206B JetRanger III operating
handbook in the Help section to get an overview on basic operation. Then, select the 206B,
take it up to Flight Idle (having the help files open in the background will help if you
don't know how), and slowly increase the collective pitch using the throttle. Add tail
rotor input as you increase collective. Now you're on your way under the best possible
conditions. Since you're probably in the middle of nowhere, nobody will see the uh,
gyrations. Now go practice. Did I mention that this will be harder than fixed-wing? Did
you just get on a bike and pedal away the first time as a child? This will be easier than
that, but you should expect to spend some time at it. When it gets to be a pain, switch to
fixed-wing for a while.
Need something to fly? See our Airframes page.
Need someplace to fly it? See our Scenery Page.
