This reminds me of “Take on Helicopters” lol… Flights above Seattle accompanied with their jazz music.
1 Like
I thank the whole ASOBO and MSFS2020 team for their New Year wishes.
I had kept a little hope that Santa Claus would give us on this occasion a gift announcing the launch of work on the Helicopters project, but nothing in sight … (yet I have passed the age of believe in).
I am starting to tire of airplane flights and I spend less and less time on the simulator! too bad, it’s hopeless (I spend more time downloading and installing updates than stealing!)
2 Likes
I take this opportunity to wish all my best wishes to all the pilots who like me come to take a look every day on this forum while waiting for a ray of hope …
2 Likes
Thank you FourHaddock2427 for your answer.
Considering the success that MSFS20 has achieved (according to ASOBO themselves), not to mention its upcoming release on XBOX, I don’t think I am wrong in saying that ASOBO could afford to recruit a small team of 2 or 3 people who would be in charge of the helicopter project. It is really disappointing to see that they do not have so much consideration in this area!
Of course each of us would like to see our dreams come true and I understand very well that they cannot answer them, but in the world of aeronautics, the helicopter still holds a significant and not insignificant part! I’m really shocked that ASOBO doesn’t take this into account (that’s a shame for a FLIGHT simulator!)
4 Likes
They do take it into account. They have actually done so from the start. From day one. Actually, even before day one. Almost a year before release, Microsoft and Asobo approached me to talk about helicopters and say what their plans were.
I have already mentioned that quite a few times. Microsoft and Asobo planned on doing helicopters from the beginning. But they need to work, fix and improve other areas before doing so.
Hiring a team to work on something that does not have a stable base could be disastrous. In the end, they would either have to throw their work to the garbage bin or we could risking be stuck with terrible flight dynamics, patched up to resemble something half-decent.
I risk repeating myself constantly, but I explain all that here: https://youtu.be/4mpks4nv5Y4
Helicopters are planned for 2022. Microsoft is not thinking about releasing them earlier than that and they have good reasons to do so. Let’s give them the room to bring the sim up to speed and start working on them.
2 Likes
I am confident that there will be a helicopter in 2021. Outsourcers will be working on the solution because helicopters are needed. The community does not wait 2 years to take matters into their own hands.
It will be very interesting to see what the community can bring, I believe the Helo flight model in FSX was not much modified from the fixed wing physics so it could be interesting to see what a ported aircraft would be like.
It is encouraging that Asobo want to develop the helicopter physics as a discrete activity, the trick is going to be keeping it simple enough to be accessible to many vs realistic enough to meet the needs of more advanced sim pilots.
I still remember the fear (and the adrenaline) the first time I was hands on in an R22… if that was the default modelling in the sim then it would be heavily criticised.
in any case if a third party editor could provide us with a solution, he would be assured of my gratitude.
Whether it is to support him or to acquire their product.
All my simulation equipment is suitable for rotary airfoils (Joysticks and panel).
Since Fly Simulator allowed it, I only fly helicopters and today it is very frustrating not to be able to benefit from it in this superb new environment.
2 Likes
There are about 100 people working on the simulator. In my opinion, the developer could appoint a small team to develop helicopters, physics. There is nothing to wait for. Obviously, not 100 people will work on helicopter development. 
A working group of 2-5 people could be entrusted with the task. Even tomorrow … There is a lot of talk … The problem is that Asobo is also working on several game developments … The simulator is not getting enough attention … There are some bugs that have not been fixed after more than half a year … For example, a flight log …
The love of helicopters connects us
Hughes / MD helicopter family
Hughes 500 C, Hughes 500 D, Hughes / MD 500 E, Hughes / MD 530 F
3 Likes
The developers I have talked with all said that helicopters are pretty impossible to add at this stage, mostly because the SDK has issues. All of them indicated that if they manage to do something outside of the regular development for MSFS, they could not make any promises timewise.
2 Likes
There is absolutely no point in anybody trying to make a helicopter work in FS until Asobo and MS have got the sim ready for them. Flying a helicopter involves to some degree developing muscle memory so you could practice your hover and slow manoeuvres for many hours on a rushed helicopter model bodged to work in the sim as it stands only to find that when the sim is actually ready for hells and decent models come along you have to learn all over again because the new model with decent flight characteristics doesnt behave the same way the rushed version did.
Patients folks, it needs to be done properly.
2 Likes
Yes, we can practise with other simulators until FS2020 is ready. We do not get FS2020 sceneries but we can wait. I can recommend DCS Huey, then there is X-Plane 11 (maybe with OrbX sceneries) etc…
We have plenty of options. Still I hope it would be sooner than later. They said 2022 but it can be year or almost two year now.
Edit: I fly FS2020 with GA planes like XCub, C172 and Baron, they are pretty good.
1 Like
Did developers tell that there wont be helicopters before 2021( which month ?!) in MSFS before pre-ordering ?!?
Anyway this MSFS is so far away from SIMULATION , yet !
No. They didn’t tell when helicopters would come out at all. I don’t know why people feel deceived when Microsoft never mentioned a date before.
Regarding the simulation part, you may want to take a look at this: Feature Discovery Series: Aerodynamics Part 2 - YouTube (and the episode before that).
It’s precisely because the flight dynamics and other systems need work that helicopters are not being worked on. I am repeating myself here, but they need to get the basics done and stable first.
There are other sims in the market, and they didn’t stop working. I am using those sims for all my helicopter flying.
Unfortunately, helicopters are all I fly so I really only open MSFS to keep it updated or check any new features or flight dynamics changes.
I’m OK with waiting, though, as long as MS and Asobo hit the nail in the head.
5 Likes
Quit the complaining everyone! MS/ASOOBO creates the timelines, end of story. They could not be more clear. Helicopters coming in 2022. The simulator is ready, its modular… piece by piece.
1 Like
That would not make sense from a development, resource management standpoint or even to us as clients. I don’t see how having terrible helicopters, that the team would then have to redo and fix and force third-party developers to go back and get them compatible would be a positive thing.
My suggestion is to be patient and let Asobo and Microsoft do their thing. It’s their product and they have a plan that they are following.
All we can (and should) do is wait and help them when the time comes.
And, please, stop giving people hope and saying Nemeth may bring a helicopter to the sim this year. The probability of that happening is astonishing low and some people may hold it against them.
1 Like
I beg you not to educate me. You are also the same user as anyone here on the forum. The fact that the developer has previously invited you to the simulator presentation does not entitle you to anything. Respect each other’s comments. Thanks
I continue to trust the development of the Nemeth brothers.
3 Likes
I am not trying to educate you. In fact, none of the comments I am adding here are for you exclusively. They are for the community in general.
I am doing that as a professional software developer and project manager. That doesn’t entitle me to anything either but gives me some perspective which may help others understand Microsoft and Asobo’s decisions and the steps they are taking.
Of course, I am also speculating because I am not involved in the development of the sim. But I am doing so using my best, educated guesses based on the input I got from the team and my experience in the field.
3 Likes