This is what I wanted to hear :). I don’t expect H145 to fly like B206 but to be on the same level of realism.
I am a big fan of both the H145 and FI 206, so I hope you will not be disappointed.
HPG have a great Discord server where the main dev is very active, and the community is very helpful as well. They also have their own “operations center”, which makes it very quick and easy to install incremental updates, which are release quite frequently.
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According to the information I’ve read on their Discord site, that is not normal, the H145 is meant to be flown with the stabilization turned off only in emergency.
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Thanks for your interest 
In true Airbus fashion they put a huge amount of effort into creating an easy to use platform for pilots - this is why the H145 is so popular outside the civilian world and is regularly used for commercial and military efforts.
It’s an extremely stable platform and literally with one push of a button a pilot can engage an automatic hover. The H145 is a $10M+ helicopter while something like a R44 can be bought for less than $2M so that should help folks understand the huge differences in control and stability.
I really feel the need to stress that stable doesn’t mean there’s a lack of realism. I saw another user above state that they wanted to turn the stabilization functions off so it flies normal when this is actually the opposite of normal for the H145.
Of course every simmer is free to fly however they like, but the in the real world those systems are always on unless there’s an emergency procedure underway or unexpected failure.
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Hello everybody, just a quick question: As far as I understood the H145 got an update in the past with CFD simulation added, can somebody please confirm that?
And if they are using the CFD simulation it would be nice to know if they are also using the ‘‘New Propeller System’’ and ‘‘Softbody Simulation’’
Here is a tutorial to find out if the helicopter is using these features: CFD, NPS, SBS ?
Thanks in advance for everybody who’s helping out, I just want to correctly complete this list :
New Propeller | CFD | Soft Body Simulation - Aircraft List
I’m sure you’ll get an answer here, but you’ll get almost immediate answers on their Discord site
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We hope everyone is well!
Any questions or feature requests I can help with?
Haha, really quiet around here! I guess everybody is on the HPG Discord?
I can only say that the HPG H145 has been my favorite helicopter since I started flying it in August 2021, nearly two years now. What a journey it has been, from a great 3D model with basic systems and flight model to a fully simulated modern computer-assisted helicopter.
As far as I know, the H145 is still the only helicopter in MSFS with trim release and auto pilot.
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I’m still taking a pretty big performance hit with the H145 when running Action Pack missions on my new PC unfortunately. It really bogs it down.
I can see why my old PC just fell over and died when flying them.
Flying without a mission is actually OK - still a bit of a hit when doing it in already heavy scenery, but as soon as there is an active target and path finding calculations going on (it seems like that is the thing that makes it happen) it loses a lot and becomes not fluid to fly.
I think it is mainly the HEMS medical missions. Firefighting seemed OK but was in much lighter terrain when I did it.
It’s like there is a process constantly recalculating something when the scenes is spawned and even after collecting and going back to an hospital it doesn’t get better.
Can you list your hardware and possibly screenshots of your graphics settings in sim?
It is always surprising for us to hear performance related concerns as our lead developer himself maintains a mid spec PC intentionally to keep performance in check.
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Hey, and sorry for the delay replying. I wanted to test thoroughly before sending you on a wild goose chase but been rather busy last days.
My system is basically as good as you can get (new PC): AMD 7950X3D, RTX 4080, 64gb DDR5 @ 5200Mhz (could be faster but is unstable so I do have some optimisation I could make and waiting for a better Bios update etc), NVME 7200mb/s, liquid cooled CPU, 3440x1440 screen so not pushing 4k.
I noticed that there was an update available (beta) so I put the latest version of everything on. I also reduced my Terrain LOD (from 175 to 125) and actually got it to a playable state in the same place that was very bad before (Los Angeles). My other settings are all on Ultra with DX12 and DLSS Super Resolution + DLAA and vsync on. Glass cockpit refresh is on Medium and motion blur / lens correction off. Everything else max really.
However there is definitely something working heavier than in any other aircraft I own. This system has basically kept to frame cap (58fps x2 with frame generation = 116) with almost anything I throw at it, but with the H145 it seems to be more like 80-90. Sometimes reaches 103 maximum even in empty area. Sometimes as low as 70 (which is actually 35), but it’s not just that it’s lower reported frame-rate (and of course even 70 is GREAT) but the problem is that it ‘fluctuates’ and hitches a lot and that is what makes it harder to fly precisely.
As I say, my TLoD with lower setting makes it much better but it’s still not really smooth - there are constant mini-slow-downs / stutters and the terrain isn’t moving by fluidly like with all other situations and aircraft so I don’t really know what else I can do or try as it is really only this that does it.
If I run the SAME area, but without starting a mission (HEMS) then it maybe is a LITTLE better but my assumption before was wrong that the missions are causing it - it could be a compound effect but it’s just the aircraft. I have tried turning off the left-hand MFD but makes no tangible difference.
Last thing I tried now was turing down the glass cockpit refresh to LOW and that really does seem to help so my guess is it’s the way the info on the screens is being calculated is the tipping point? Overall it’s just hitting the CPU relatively hard for me where usually I could run 200 or 175 Terrain LoD and it would be OK. Any ideas?
We do know that it is quite heavy, attributable to many textures, a detailed model, very detailed avionics and systems code. Our lead developer still has frames comparable to the default A320 however, so if you have absolutely terrible frames, you may need to look into it.
Removing or upgrading the GTN750 can sometimes help, it can also be paused with the FMS1 and FMS2 buttons to the left of the engine control panel for troubleshooting purposes.
It should however still run smoothly even though it is using a lot of main thread time on the CPU.
Today we released our biggest update ever for the HPG H145! With this 2.0 update our H145 is now a native helicopter with many new features and refinements.
You can download the updated HPG H145 right now at the following link and also read documentation to help you get started with the updated flight model and new features: Introduction to HPG H145 | HPG Documentation
We’d like to take this time to announce that the current HPG H145 Early Access pricing will end next Sunday. The Early Access price of $42.99 USD will be ended and the HPG H145 will be sold at the normal price of $50 USD.
We are happy to announce that due to overwhelming community support that the HPG H145 Action Pack will remain at the current sale price of $35 USD until further notice.
For those of you who are already HPG H145 supporters, THANK YOU! For those of you who are still on the fence, now is a perfect time to jump in and grab the H145 before the sale ends next Sunday the 21st!
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Congratulations on reaching the 2.0 milestone! The transition to the native flight model has really improved the handling. The helicopter feels alive, but still easy to control thanks to the stability augmentation system.
I think it’s been nearly two years now since the start of the H145 project, and it has been an amazing journey. At the beginning I had no idea about helicopter flying, just tried the HPG H135 and found it kind of interesting. Now I have a full set of helicopter controls and hardly fly anything else.
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I just purchased the action pack… I’m using the latest build (406) for the H145 and can’t activate the any of the new aircraft that you get with the action pack in MSFS. The other aircraft are working fine. Will there be an update to the action pack soon? The current one I have for the action pack is the (340 build)
Love your work btw… excellent product.
Cheers
All variants should be up to date - running on build 406. If they don’t update properly I would just click on “Remove installed packages” in the Operations Center app, and then reinstall with the same app.
Edit: Also, you should be running Operations Center v1032.
If that fails you, I recommend hopping on their discord (I know, I hate discord too) and asking there. The HPG discord is the exception to any rule about discord being a useless mess. The main developer is almost always on there and gives pretty much instant answers/help/customer service (time zones permitting). The H145 is one of the best addons for msfs, and this very much extends to their customer service.
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Thanks mate:grin:
that worked a treat.
Thanks for your very informative response.
Cheers and happy flying
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Overall a great experience, my helo of choice. I am no pilot in RL, so i got some questions. The cyclic is not like an airbus stick i guess. Pressing forward until the desired nose down pitch is established then releasing the stick isn’t what the real thing is like, i guess. In RL you have to hold the stick forward just like one would in a normal helicopter. Beep trim does the airbus magic i guess. When i disable both engines mid flight (covered switches) the helicopter starts a wild dance (loopings/crazy rolls and whatnot). A controlled glide followed by an autorotaion landing is not yet supported, right? If i were to simulate an autorotation with all engine power lost (not even idle power) what would i do? Just let it run out of fuel?
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Thanks for the kind words!
In real life the pilot will hold “trim release” while manipulating the cyclic and the H145 will be automatically trimmed to the final position. Note that in the real helicopter you also don’t have springs on the cyclic as most flight sim hardware has which also makes holding position easier.
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What’s this like compared to the Cowan b206b3? I found that a bit disappointing compared to the stock bell didn’t seem worth paying out for over the base one.
Hope this is a better one 