For the life of me, I can’t get the tablet to toggle. Would like to be able to stow it for better landing visibility. Any ideas?
@ArrantSpring97 Have you tried clicking on the hinge that connects the tablet to the console?
I have same problem on h145. I think it was hardware avionics switch on my Alpha.
It would be nice if, at the beginning of the Bindings section of the Quick Start Guide, there were clear guidance for H145 owners as to which (if any) of their current bindings they would have to change.
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hi @dagwit00001 - the H160 Quick Start bindings will all also work with H145 2.0. There are legacy bindings that you may still be using that could also work. We don’t want extra pain with switching between aircraft, so your setup may already be working without modification.
The clarity from the H160 quick start will also come to H145 in a future update (as opposed to the combined online + 1.0 pdf documentation).
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Yes, I’ve only had a couple of short flights so far, both using the legacy H145 bindings - so far I haven’t come across anything that doesn’t work.
Appreciate the prompt reply. I sort of get the sense from it that you’d rather everyone would move on to the new bindings. And I understand that. Anyway, hopefully the clarity evident in the initial H.160 list will continue - I was checking that against the spreadsheet I had to put together to make sense of your H145 bindings list.
Yes, it works on other aircraft, and when I hover on the hinge, it says “toggle tablet”, but does nothing when I click on it. No big deal as I’m having so much enjoyment from this beautiful add-on!
Hi @ArrantSpring97 - first sorry for the trouble.
I do believe you have a binding on your controller, around battery or master battery. that binding is probably set to ON and it’s forcing the tablet open (tablet is aircraft battery number 3). (Some controller send the command over and over and over…)
If you remove that binding on your controller (or switch it to the other position - but please be careful as that may create similar but different bugs) then the tablet should move freely again.
Seen a few youtube streams on this and it looks really good.
Not a rotar person by any stretch (not even bought one heli yet and had the sim since launch) but weighing up whether to make this one my first rotar purchase. I am after a different sort of challenge than is provided by my current very good winged AC.
The AC textures look great and the systems work seems to be commendably deep. Does anyone know though if the all important flight model is also accurately modelled and if the fps performance is okay? For fps performance reference I typically sim in Black Square aircraft (TBM 850, Baron, Bonanza, King Air), A2A Comanche and occasionally the PMDG 737-600.
Fps performance is ok for me at least. regarding flight model: I have not yet heard any input from a real H160 pilot. This will be all important for me. Cute graphics are nice, but being an accurate simulation of the real aircraft for me is 99% of the purchasing decision. I have already purchased it to support the devs, but I will only fly it in the long run if I receive feedback that it is an accurate representation of a real aircraft, and not a cute fantasy aircraft, Does anyone know of a real H160 pilot that has commented on the flight model, etc…?
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Thanks for the reply 
As you say, the flight model is all important. It would be great to know the thoughts of a real H160 pilot, any RL Rotar pilot or even someone with a lot more knowledge about Rotar craft than me. The flight model from the youtube streams looks at least believeable but then again who am I to say?
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Good luck finding anybody with real life experience in the H160. The model is very new and it’s not really selling well. Biggest customer is the French state. Without this support numbers would look really bad.
Just a small thing but when referring to helicopters it is Rotor
Hmm. Not sure what to think about this. I love the H145 but I think the action pack is a must have. Now with the H160 that’d be another $100 (presumably, as the action pack isn’t out yet). There doesn’t seem to be a huge difference between the H160 and H145.
I just can’t justify it. Am I missing something?
Have been flying it for the past two days and find it a really remarkable addon. I heard a youtuber say HPG is to helicopters what PMDG is to airliners. I fully second that.
Aside from it being an amazingly detailed addon, its also an amazing machine developed by Airbus. A great experience of next level technology.
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Let me share a little bit of detail on the flight model. We are super excited about the flight model quality in the H160, and we think it’s the best showcase of what the CFD flight model in MSFS is capable of. Development has been continually ongoing since SU11 released helicopter support, and the H160 flight model quality is superior to what we have today in H145 2.0.
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We are in contact with several H160 pilots. They are enthusiastic and willing to help. Some of their input can be seen on discord already, and they’ve been able to explain technical details about the aircraft and provide photos and audio recordings. We’ll use all of this to improve the aircraft. They have not checked the flight model yet but they are getting a copy of H160 to give it a go if they are able. We always work with real pilots to get definitive information about the aircraft.
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We have an extremely talented flight model developer, who is also a real life helicopter pilot with experience on very large and medium/light helicopters. He has spent hundreds of hours working on tuning the flight model based on the information available. This means that the aircraft has the expected performance on one or two engines, but also that the hands-on feeling is faithful (we believe) to the mechanical design of the aircraft. We did use the Paris air show aerobatics performance to inform the capability and agility of the aircraft. Together we have also spent a lot of time tuning the AFCS to match the flight model so the behaviors are excellent with the AFCS either off or on. I have provided extensive support for different controllers (spring, springless and we are looking at FFB, but also there is a recommended configuration for Xbox controller). There are configurable SAS sliders that let you adjust the stability for your controller (-80 for a full cyclic for example). The SAS system is authentic in function and the configurable gains enable adapting to your specific controller and ability.
In terms of the flight model and engine power, you can expect realistic performance. For a helicopter one of the most important things is going to be whether you can hover or not, and what you can do if you lose an engine. You can see on the WEIGHT & PERFORMANCE page that parameters are calculated based on the current conditions.
AEO HIGE: Hover in ground effect with two engines operative
AEO HOGE: Hover out of ground effect with two engines operative (more power)
CAT A VTOL: Safe rearward or vertical takeoff with power margin to return to the starting position within the OEI 30 second rating
OEI 2 mins: Single engine hover with the 2minute OEI rating
OEI 20 second: Single engine hover with the 30 second rating.
These values are calculated for you based on conditions and will be accurate and match the power available by the FLI. We’ll provide some form of charts in the manual for flight planning but this isn’t available today.
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Yes, that was it! Set battery master to off, and now it works perfectly. Enjoying the H160 so much!! Thank you!
H160 to H145 is like A330 to A320.
It is similar, but bigger and heavier.
If you need both, is up to you.
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Really enjoying the H160 looks and fly’s fantastic. I am getting use to the take off mods which are really cool. But I was wondering what’s the best or official way to land the H160.Just manually fly it in or Come to a Auto Hover at or near landing site then manually take over ? Just Curious
Also I cant find the full manual I found the Quick start in the folder but thats it.
Thanks!
hi @DDGD82 - I wrote up a little bit below about the philosophy behind the automation and how you might use it on a flight. Also there is only a quick-start today. I wrote a rather detailed manual for H145 but it is somewhat overkill and information-overload. The landing checklists in the quick-start will also help but there lack narrative.
The automation available in the aircraft are tools available to you as a pilot to select depending on the context of your mission. Even though they are available, you may not need them for what you are doing. You’re still the pilot and the helicopter is a very hands-on machine. A good example of when a pilot might use hover mode is if there is suddenly blowing dust or snow and visual references are degraded. Remember, pilots on these aircraft will have had lots of training on un-assisted helicopters and thus not need to rely on HOVER mode to attain a great hover.
A simple flight might look like the below. Note that the scenario is in LA airspace which makes it a little ridiculous (and the US Bank Tower is not rated for this heavy of a helicopter) but it illustrates some use of automation on a flight which is confusing to a lot of people.
We start on the ramp at KHHR in Los Angeles. The flight today is to the US bank tower which is only a short distance away.
We power up the aircraft and load passengers. The airport is suitable for a clear area CAT A takeoff so we can ground taxi or air taxi to the hold short point.
Should we choose to air taxi, we have an option to use the automation or not. We can leave the aircraft in “basic” autopilot (also known as ATT or attitude hold mode), or we can choose more automation if we feel it appropriate. In this case we can choose GTC for lateral and longitudinal control and we can choose HEIGHT for vertical control. We can do the air taxi manually, and perhaps most pilots would, but should the workload necessitate it, you can quickly switch to GTC and maintain ground trajectory. If there are some wind gusts and some chatter with ATC you as a pilot might choose to do this. Once we got to the hold short point we could use HOVER (previously known as GTC.H). But it is important to understand that you can skip any automation here if you don’t feel the need for it.
Once we receive clearance to enter the runway, we can execute a clear area takeoff. Should we have an engine failure before the TDP, we just land on the runway. Takeoff would be with trim release held down, and then shortly after using basic autopilot and beep trim. GO AROUND mode is available on H160 from 4ft and can be used to maintain 1000fpm VS and will increase airspeed to VY. At the same time it will engage HDG or TRK to maintain your lateral trajectory (note/bug: be careful with TRK today you may enter a spin).
After the takeoff you’ll get to your cruise level which in this case for a short flight may be 1500ft. At that point you would almost definitely engage ALT/HDG and IAS modes. The automation is popularly used for the cruise portion of the flight by regular and sim pilots alike.
Conducting an approach to the helipad would be into the wind, and from above. It’s recommended (and in the checklist) to start at 50kt, and you’ll want to maintain 30kt as long as you can due to the safety of being in translational lift and the increased power demand needed to hover. Most pilots would probably not want to use anything except basic autopilot during the final approach. Once you are over the helipad you would enter a hover, and then land. Using GTC.H before landing might be useful if you need to maneuver to a parking spot, or should you need to put eyes outside and also maintain the aircraft position (perhaps during marshaling).
Depending on the helipad, it may be uncommon to shut down. Passengers may unload and the helicopter immediately leave. Regardless, a rearward takeoff from the US Bank tower would allow returning to the pad in case of an engine failure, and also there are no obstructions such as there may be should we have conducted an offsite landing and can only enter and exit through one direction.
The rearward CAT A is a procedure that is assisted by the system. You as a pilot may still choose to fly it manually, or you may leverage the system. Even Airbus themselves mention that this is not as big a deal during the day, but at night it makes a big difference in terms of safety enhancement. Either way you are attentive during the automatic procedure if you choose to use it.
After the takeoff we would end up in GO AROUND mode again, and then would set upper modes like ALT/HDG/IAS for cruise. We may be sequenced on the ILS when going back to KHHR (this is not that common for helicopters but being able to sequence with traffic makes it an option in some places). Should we fly the ILS we’d do it at least 60kt and fly down the localizer to 100ft. The AFCS will only go down to RA 65 over the runway, and then switch over to altitude hold. At this point you would take control, slow the aircraft into a hover and then begin air/ground taxi to your parking location. Again you have the option of using GTC in air taxi, and then possibly HOVER at your landing site.
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