by Christian » Tue Dec 12, 2006 12:25 pm
Rather than getting a twist joystick (clumsy) or pedals ($$$), get a racing wheel. The pedals aren't the same, but work like a treat (that's what I do). You should be able to pickup a racing wheel quite cheaply.
The reason that your joystick won't do is because for choppers you really need to control yaw independently, especially when you're hovering (which you need to do for takeoff and landing). Hovering is REALLY difficult - I haven't managed to master it. Unlike airplanes, choppers are unstable. Once you're in the air and flying they are as simple to fly as an aircraft, but the hovering business is enough to make a grown man cry...
There used to be an exellent ground school on the net, but I think the site is defunct now. The basic message was practice, practice, practice the hovering until you drop dead. Here's what you do: slowly increase the throttle (called collective in choppers). At some point you feel how the chopper starts to lift off and becomes responsive. Slowly increase throttle. At some point the chopper will turn left or right. Apply rudder to keep chopper straight. When you have a twist action joystick you tend to apply sidewards or forward/backward pressure, which you then need to compensate, so twist action joysticks are more difficult. Even with rudders your chopper will tilt in one direction, which you need to compensate. As you increase the throttle the chopper will become more and more unstable. The key is to keep balancing the beast so it's straight and level. Easier said then done, I usually loose control at some point and getting back into control is even more difficult - so get used to crashing a lot. I find the R22 is a lot easier, the Bell just has too much grunt and it seems the sheer amount of power (and maybe weight) makes it less stable. Or maybe it's bad aerodynamics in MSFS, not sure if choppers are really this impossible to fly in real life. (Usually, I manage a quick hover in the R22, then loose control a bit, but still somehow get airborne.) Ok, once you're in a stable hover, you should gain some altitude. Then apply some slight forward pressure so you start picking up some forward speed. Once you have some speed flying becomes easy - basically the same as aircraft. To land you do the reverse. Pull back until your speed is zero (ie hover) and then slowly reduce throttle so the chopper sinks. And once again - balance, balance, balance. I have yet to manage a clean landing...
To really train the hover, you can do this excercise: go into hover, then slowly fly to predetermined points on the runway/airport while staying close to the ground (ie taxiing). Once you reach the point, go back into hover, then on to next point, etc... master that and you've mastered flying choppers.
Cheers,
Christian
haha... Yeah give me a PM or MSN and ill give ya hand 
