Mini 500 versus the MD 500E, which helicopter would you recommend?

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Dear all,

I was looking at the MD 500E of Cowan Sim and the Mini 500 of Got Friends.

I would like to use it for sightseeing, thus I want good visibility from the cockpit, which these helicopters have.

But I also would like good graphics + sounds, good handling and good system depth.

Which of the 2 choppers would you recommend and why? Or if you cannot give a recommendations what are the pro’s and con’s of these choppers in MSFS, if compared with each other?

Looking forward to any information or opinions you might have.

Greetings,

Boudewijn Nijssen

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They both have great views.

There are very few fully featured helicopters in sim. I wouldn’t count either of these among them. The Mini comes closest to having all things working inside.

The Cowan 500 is likely a bit easier to fly (YMMV) because of its size and weight. The Mini is mini.

For systems depth I would look into the FlyInside choppers. Nothing yet in sim gives me the impression of movement or speed like their Bell 206. At least no other helicopter. And the views are as good as you would hope.

Every chopper in sim comes with at least one downside. Very few are as deep as comparably priced planes. They all have issues with handling in certain scenarios.

I have tried to avoid Cowan helicopters because like Carenado they mostly focus on the models and use the MSFS helicopter flight model. So they look great but any systems depth not provided by Asobo (and their helicopter SDK is severely lacking) does not get programmed into their helicopters. So even if the 125 has an autopilot, Asobo hasn’t programmed their APs to work with helos and Cowan isn’t about to do that work himself. So you have a bunch of inop AP buttons. And they rarely update.

Taog’s helicopters are quite good (again not as deep as comparably priced planes) but they feel weighty and are easy to trim for level flight with minimal input.

TLDR: I would get the Mini and look to spend more for your next helicopter. But for now there is no perfect helicopter in sim. Several good ones though.

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WellREDBarron,

Thanks for your extensive reply.

I will think about it.

2 more questions:

  1. Do the MD 500E and Mini 500 have a working A/P?

  2. How about TCAS, does any of these 2 choppers have TCAS? Or does any chopper in MSFS or real life have TCAS? Because I would like to use FSLTL too.

Again, thanks for you information, highly appreciated.

Greetings,

Boudewijn

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  1. No. To the best of my knowledge the only working APs in helicopters are the HPG A145 and 160 and the Miltech Chinook. The HPGs can fly IFR. The Chinook’s AP is simpler but it has barometric altitude hold (where you hold at say 10,000 feet) and a radio altitude hold (where if you are 700 feet above ground you maintain that distance above ground as you travel over hills and valleys, which is really cool). Sadly these helicopters with AP all have various forms of assistance or FBW, so hand flying never feels as organic as it does in a manual helicopter.
  2. I don’t think so. I could be wrong. Would LOVE to be wrong.
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Buy the mini 500 without a doubt.
Or the R22 from cowan, its the chopper from them that feels and behaves the most realistic I think, but the 500 they have is good too, but the mini is top 3 chopper in the game.

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Get the 500E. No reason from me other than personal preference. I don’t like mini versions. Also it’s fun to use the LAPD livery

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I have them both and fly mini 500 quite often. Almost never 500E. Personal preference of course but I’d get Mini 500 over 500E any day

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Agreed. It’s in my top 3 too. Maybe it would be in top 4 if I had a Lama :wink:.
BTW, no Cowans in my top helicopter list

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My personal preference between the two is he mini. I never fell in love with the flight model and sounds of the 500E. The mini on the other hand, was a big surprise for me. It is actually very fun to fly. I would recommend the Taog Llama as well. That is an outstanding module.

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I have both. MD500 better systems and handling, great view. Mini 500 even better view. I prefer the Cowan MD500, but note that there’s more to do to get this from cold and dark so it takes a bit longer. The mini is just jump in and go. I prefer the R22 to the mini.

That’s interesting given that the rotor clutch doesn’t even work! Not GF’s fault I understand, some sim limitation (although other helis with turbines got it working).

@NL40Pilot if you want the most complex systems then HPG. I personally love the HPG H145, systems are excellent, there’s many variants with the action pack, complex autopilot (but still flies great manually just with the lower stability modes active). HPG has working weather radar and terrain warning system HTAWS. Not sure about TCAS.

I don’t have the FlyInside Bell but it seems that’s about as good as it gets for MSFS at the moment, but it’s a simpler machine than the 145 or 160.

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I prefere the MINI or the FlyInside Bell 47g. The 47g has the best view, and flys right. More fun.

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Thank you all guys for the information.

I see more preference for the Mini then for the 500 E.

I will think about it some more based on you input also.

Thanks again!

Greetings,

Boudewijn

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Thanks again for you information.

I will think about it some more.

Greetings,

Boudewijn

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Also, although I want to be clear that it doesn’t happen to everyone, The Cowansim 500 can have an odd rotor effect, where the blurred rotor blade can look like it is frozen or choppy.

I haven’t seen this in any other MSFS helo, and there seems to be no fix for it that I’m aware of.

BTW, the Huey is a very nice performer in MSFS if you ever consider other helos.

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Best I can tell, every helo in sim has limitations. But the Mini has fewer Inop buttons than the 500E.

Kinda crazy how expensive the average helicopter addons are compared to airplanes. And how much is missing from a typical helicopter compared to a typical airplane addon.

But helos are just so fun to fly!

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Miltech MV-22 Osprey also has AP but a different beast. Still like the helo function and that you have to pay attention.

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Yes. It has a full AP in airplane mode and some limited AP functionality when in helicopter mode.

Really great bird. I am a fan of Militech’s stuff, but I don’t much like their custom flight models for helicopters. Feels a bit GTA. Still love their stuff and they really do give you a nice package of goodies with their birds.

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I have most helicopters including both of these. As been said in lengthy reply they have different characteristics because of weight.

IMHO because of that the 500e is more stable, easier to fly while still being a challenge and a twitchy bird. Agree about the Cowan ones rarely getting updated/stock flight model but the 500e is still my go-to helo when I have the itch to hand fly a helicopter - and it never fails to provide a good experience.

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I think it’s sales volume. You can see through the various threads that rotary flyers are very much a minority, so these are not selling in big numbers and the cost of development has to be spread across fewer purchasers.

Either that or these heli devs like fast expensive cars. :wink:

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The sale has been great except I bought a couple full price too.