My setup is, essentially identical to what you see in the image other than I custom made some mounts for my Bravo to get it much higher and significantly further forward for ergonomic reasons. I have the same yoke, pedals and have my keyboard on the left, too.
I really want to start flying helicopters with proper peripherals. I wanted the Puma setup, but unfortunately it doesn’t appear that any of their gear is available as separate components that can be bolted to a rig like this.
I know the TPR pedals that I have can/will work with helicopters per the information gleaned in this article:
Nothing wrong with having the stick on your right hand side though I’d say. If it doesn’t clash with your ergonomics.
I have my eye on a Moza FFB so that you could use a profile with zero centering force for helis. That base is CHUNKY but maybe would fit into your frame? Expensive though!
Yes, there is a seat cutout and an easily swapped in/out center post for use with a flight stick. If I go with a Virpil stick, do I want to shoot for as tall of an extension as possible to get that correct helicopter “feel”? I can fabricate a different mount, if needed, to get the base to sit low enough to allow for that extra throw.
No worries!
Yeah as long throw as possible with the base on the floor would give you more precision over the whole range without having to resort to reducing sensitivity curves for gaining precision around the centre.
Virpil gear would be my recommendation as well. However, when I looked at that NLR cockpit I could not see how the centre mount could be attached low enough to using a extension. On a similar note I think you may need to lash something together to mount the collective.
There’s only two choices in my book. The virpil route or the Pro Flight Trainer Puma. @belatu42 has swayed me, when I make the jump to PC the Puma will be my choice. Not sure if it will be the best ergonomics for your setup, but it could work.
It’s sold as a unit, but the individual components can be taken off, upgraded, replaced, etc.
Right now I have the PFT cyclic removed from my setup and I mounted a MOZA AB9 in it’s place. I just unplugged the 3-pin connectors from the PCB for the 2-axes and buttons I’m no longer using.
So it would be possible to remove the cyclic and collective as separate units and mount them to my rig via custom-made mounts? I might need to fab up some longer cables, too?
Nice! You got it up and running?
One of my friends that we fly with has bought one but Moza seem to be sending it to her in dribs and drabs to extend the frustration of waiting lol.
She has the base, and the desk clamp now, but still waiting for the grip to arrive! (2 weeks apparently).
Are you going to be doing a “review” of it with a particular focus of how it is for rotorcraft? I’d be VERY interested to read/see that
Does the Moza ab9 allow simulating a magnetic clutch, I.e. you press and hold the trim release button, move the cyclic around and the moza will hold it in that orientation where you release the trim release switch? Does it allow to make fine inputs around the selected trim orientation?
Yep, I plan to review it after a bit more time with it. It was a purchase, not a promotion, so I won’t have to flag the video.
…and the shipping was pretty frustrating but not entirely MOZA’s fault. They shipped the AB9 & MH16 together but DHL misplaced the base for a week. I ordered the Z-axis extension the same day, but an hour later and it arrived about 2 weeks after the base.
So far it’s been great. The software isn’t finished, yet its very capable even in its’ current state.
Flying the R66 with it in MSFS is feeling really natural and fluid. The telemetry options are easy to adjust and the effects feel pretty good. It’s sublime in DCS with “integrated” FFB (both direct from the sim, and using telemetry). XP12 is still not working with the last release.
FFB is going to open up a whole other giant can of worms for sim heli realism.
On one hand it’s producing movements & vibrations that give you clues to what’s happening that you wouldn’t normally get from the sim. So it’s easier to know when VRS is starting to develop, or feel the ETL shakes. On the other hand, you don’t feel those effects through the cyclic so much in a real helicopter. It’s more airframe and seat. So it’s not exactly “realistic”. Either way it adds a whole new layer of immersion. On the same level as VR & seat haptic devices.
Yes. In DCS.
Force & beep trim are not yet working in MSFS. The sim isn’t pushing the cyclic aft when you are cruising, so you still don’t need to trim.
Those are areas MOZA is working on and they discuss their progress pretty openly on discord.
In which case I am sure you will find a way to attach a Virpil collective. As for a centre mounted stick with an extension I would suspect that will be more a case of working around the design of the NLR cockpit you have.
Probably worth having a good look at that aspect before committing yourself to an expensive purchase.
Hmmm, it might even be worth seeing if there is a way you could utilise the Virpil desk mount (or parts of one) and fabricate a bracket to mount the stick lower on your cockpit.
Check out the CM3 base, and desk mount brackets to see what ideas you come up with.
