Of the helicopters available for MS2020 (PC), is any one of them flyable and reasonable to learn on? Thanks…
Steve in Kansas
Some are good but far away to be consider realistic.
Without a heli physic in FS it’s impossible to develop a good dlc
Hype Performace Group H135.
Then follow Rotar Sim pilot Effects of Controls | Lesson 1 | Learn to Fly Helicopters | Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 |How to - YouTube and learn from him as he is a real life heli pilot
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I‘ve tried the Bell47 and the H135 and both are really good if you keep in mind that the sim doesn‘t support them natively. The biggest problem in the sim, just with fixed wing aircraft, too, is that we don‘t feel anything and can only rely on our eyes. I‘ve been taken on a flight with a Schweizer 300 and a couple of years later with an R22 and both were much more predictable than in the sim. I didn‘t hover (hey, just one flight each) but I flew at around 50-60 knots and it was really simple to keep them straight and stable. Not so in the sim, I always wobble around.
It‘s a matter of taste I think, the Airbus is more stable due to its fiberglass controls (FBW) and the Bell47 must basically be flown in easy settings. I do that once in a while and I love it but I would not consider it to be a realistic simulation. The best helicopter simulation available is the DCS Huey and possibly the other helis there. At least that‘s what a former Luftwaffe Huey pilot told me.
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They Bell47 gas the advantage of not relying on the internal flight model, so I woukd suspect it’s the most realistic. But also it’s by far the hardest to fly.
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My only one is the Bell47G because I can only download from the marketplace.
Am happy and satisfied, although it is certainly not easy to fly. It is an older model with all its quirks. Once used to it with easy configuration, I recommend successively increasing it to the “Realistic” setting. It will become much more agile. ( with full control or full loss of control 
)
I bought H145 instead of freeware H135 (same developer) and I’m very happy with that. My most flown aircraft (for city landmarks exploration). Feels good, but I cannot confirm if it’s realistic or not. But it’s certainly not drone camera flight model or something. Developers are very active and releasing new versions at fast pace.
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+1 on the h145 like it alot
Try the Rotor Sim Pilot R44! It’s free and uses the equally free AirlandFS external flight model.
I spend most of my time in MSFS flying helicopters, either the R44 or the H145, and I think both are really excellent.
I’ll qualify my advice by stating that I’ve been flying helicopters for the military, the police and some training and corporate for 30 years.
In my opinion, none of the offerings is particularly accurate as regards performance and flight model. They are all nicely presented graphically with regard to cockpit and external details, with pretty good interaction if you’ve got the right controller set up, ie… centrally mounted full length cyclic stick and a collective lever, pedals, and VR.
Most non military trained pilots will start with something such as the Robinson r22, so I would suggest learning in FS2 with the included r22 in VR, then moving on to the EC135. When MSFS gets its helicopter flight model along with a default helicopter sometime next year you’ll be ahead of the game (excuse the pun).
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Provided they do it better than FSX =) The biggest issue in previous versions, P3D too (I haven’t tried XP and FS2), was the total lack of ground effect. Flying at speed is one thing, but hovering 5ft above the ground is something else and I can’t remember any sim except DCS that at least touched the basics. Let’s keep the fingers crossed but not expect too much. They will make it flyable with an xbox controller after all.
The H135 is excellent and gets better with each release. Landing is still a bit tricky and take practice.
Pat
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