The Dreaded Helicopter Ground Effect Bug is Back in the Needles Challenge

Bug Reporting Hub Aircraft & Systems
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ISSUE DESCRIPTION

Description of the issue:
The helicopter ground effect bug (Helicopters jump in and out of ground effect when near raised platforms, the CFD is not calculating the drop) where the helicopter is shot up in the air hundreds of feet when crossing the edge of an elevated platform, is back in the Needles landing challenge.

It is not experienced in career mode or in free flight, not even at the Needles under the same conditions as in the challenge.

But it is still very, very concerning that this malicious code obviously still exists somewhere in the game, so helicopter pilots are not safe, it seems like it can raise it’s ugly head any time, just like in the 2024 regression when it appeared.

Did you experience this issue before you joined the Beta?
No

If applicable, which aircraft is experiencing this issue:
Airbus H125

[PC Only] Did you remove all your community mods/add-ons? If yes, are you still experiencing the issue?
yes

FREQUENCY OF ISSUE

Always

How often does this occur for you (Example: Just once, every time on sim load, intermittently)?

REPRODUCTION STEPS

Please list clear steps you took in order to help our test team reproduce the same issue:

  1. Start the Needles landing challenge
  2. Slowly approach the helipad towards ENE just above the helipad level
  3. Enjoy the lift shooting you up to FL410 when crossing the edge of the helipad

YOUR SETTINGS

If the issue still occurs with no mods and add-ons, please continue to report your issue. If not, please move this post to the User Support Hub.

What peripherals are you using, if relevant:

[PC Only] Are you using Developer Mode or have you made any changes to it?

[PC Only] What GPU (Graphics Card) do you use?

[PC Only] What other relevant PC specs can you share?

MEDIA

Please add a screenshot or video of the issue occurring.

[END OF FIRST USER REPORT]

:loudspeaker: For anyone who wants to contribute on this issue, Click on the button below to use this template:

Do you have the same issue if you follow the OP’s steps to reproduce it?
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Provide extra information to complete the original description of the issue:
•

If relevant, provide additional screenshots/video:
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1 Like
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Do you have the same issue if you follow the OP’s steps to reproduce it?

Yes, But I disagree that it is not in Career mode. It is quite obvious in any offshore cargo missions. Especially so with the Chinook.
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Provide extra information to complete the original description of the issue:

From a thread I started that was flagged for not being properly formatted as a Bug Report…

Ground Effect, as imagined by Asobo, is laughably implemented. Real life pilots don’t observe more than the absolute mildest control changes as they fly onto platforms. What they do note is less power is needed to do the same job. Flying the Chinook with a slung load and dropping it off on the ship is the best place to witness how wrongly the physics of ground effect are coded into sim. The MSFS24 would be more accurate if the creators just nixed ground effects from objects altogether until a more nuanced solution is found.

Having said this, obvious improvements came with SU2. The filling from the raised spray trucks in ag missions is now a pleasant challenge.

If relevant, provide additional screenshots/video:
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1 Like
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SU3 1.5.3 mentions our issue and after a few runs, I’d conclude it has improved.
The insane vertical uplift seems to be gone at The Needles challenge.

2 Likes
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This definitely is NOT fixed. Exact same behavior.

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I’m still seeing this at some helipads with 1.5.3.0.

One free flight example is RJ4NF in Tokyo. It’s on a low rooftop. Bizarrely after experiencing the vertical push and finally getting down on to the helipad I then need much more collective than usual to lift off again and, once clear of the pad, with no change to collective, the rate of climb goes into rocket mode confirming that excessive collective was necessary.

I’ve been using Taog’s Lama but I’ve also experienced this bug in the default Bell 407.

2 Likes
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i have this bug still in the needles challenge.
Also new visual things that annoy when coming close.

20250524234005_1
20250524234005_11920Ă—1080 132 KB

20250524234115_1
20250524234115_11920Ă—1080 135 KB

20250524234446_1
20250524234446_11920Ă—1080 58.5 KB

20250524234615_1
20250524234615_11920Ă—1080 175 KB

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Pvaiko1203, it never was truly fixed. There were some changes in SU2 when we talked about it, the downwash, GE handling and all about the raised platform bahaviors. And yes, compared to the release version it was day and night. But, lets call it “ground proximity errors” could be detected all the way through SU2 beta and release. Not to mention the just wrong behavior when transitioning between hover and touching the ground, especially with wind/crosswind present.

Please, all of you interested in getting a good helicopter simulation, keep stiring these topics up! All of my posts were closed and marked “solved” by the forum admins when in fact nothing is resolved. MSFS helicopter ground effect, ground proximity behavior, rotor aerodynamics and stock helicopter autorotations are basically just broken and they are trying to wipe it under the carpet.

1 Like
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The pilot outside the aircraft is hilarious. My Guy sits behind my spitfire like a barefoot waterskier. Oddest of “features”

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It’s ridiculous how bad the ground effect is in the last beta. It’s not the same problem as problem as before for me. I can get it to ground effect then in hover it shoots up in the air without touching the collective. Then in many places the helicopter gets stuck in the ground and it will not left the ground with the normal collective input. I need to apply almost max to get in the air. This is not happening everywhere.
I almost wounder if it has to do with the weight changing!? Feels like the helicopter are to heavy.

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I experienced exakt the same thing. But not on all landing pads. I even experienced it on the ground in some places. When taking off in the Asobo r66 I can’t left the ground without high torque warning beep. As if the wieght has been changed after landing.

1 Like
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Im still on 2020. Helicopter physics are so stupid with the bopping up and down on set power. Sad to see that 2024 is not really improving this hot garbage of a “flight model”.

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SU3 beta 1.5.21 “the needles” landing challenge is up again
and the H125 is rocketing upwards at the platform

1 Like
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the thing is that whole helicopter feels like it has no mass, a small change in pitch and it climbs like a flower. The new Taogs Hangar 500C feels VERY good compared to the H125. But you are right, they fix a problem and another old problem which was fixed 25 fixes before starts to strike again…

2 Likes
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Just went out of SU3 beta once again due to the dreadful performance of 1.5.21

Made the same landing challenge in SU2, and the handling is just fine.
So the messup of ground effect is obviously still related to SU3

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Asobo? MS? feedback-logged ? bug-logged ?

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@pvaiko1203

As noted in the tags, this issue is feedback-logged
The issue is logged into the bug database, and our test team is working to reproduce the issue. If the feedback is verified as a bug, the thread’s tag will be changed for bug-logged

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SU3 1.5.26.0: Flying an oil rig cargo mission with some wind, the H125 is catapulted into the sky when approaching the ship. Yes, with the cargo attached, that is, more than 50 ft over the helipad on the ship, the effect is still very strong, lifting you up like a hundred feet with no collective change.

Haven’t seen the same bug at the rig, only the ship.

Can’t believe this is such a hard problem to solve.

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Bug is still present in SU3. Anyone surprised?