Howto:Fly a helicopter: Difference between revisions

Since the release of version FlightGear 0.9.10, important improvements have been made to the [[helicopter]] flight model. For this reason, version 1.0.0 or later should be used. With these improvements the helicopter flight model of FlightGear should be quite realistic. A notable exception is “vortex ring conditions”. These occur if you descend too fast and perpendicularly (without forward speed). The heli can get into its own rotor downwash causing the lift to be substantially reduced. Recovering from this condition is possible only at higher altitudes. On the Internet you can find a video of a SeaKing helicopter which got into this condition during a flight demonstration and touched down so hard afterwards that it was completely destroyed.

The parameters for FlightGear helicopters are not completely optimized and thus the performance between model and original may deviate. On the hardware side I recommend the use of a “good” [[joystick]]. A joystick without centering springs is recommended for cyclic control. You can achieve this with a normal joystick by by removing or disabling the centering spring(s) or you could use a force feedback joystick with a disconnected voltage supply. Further, the joystick should have a “thrust controller” (throttle). For controlling the tail rotor you should have pedals or at least a twistable joystick; flying helicopters by keyboard is very difficult. ('''hint:''' Flightgear supports more than one joystick attached at the same time.)

If using a mouse it's recommended to turn off the Auto-coordination in the [[FlightGear Wizard]].

The number of available helicopters in FlightGear is increasing rather quick. In my opinion the [[Eurocopter Bo105|Bo105]] is the easiest to fly, since it reacts substantially more directly than other helicopters. As [[helicopter]]s have become more popular in FlightGear, many others have been developed. Each of them have their unique flight behaviour.

The helicopter is controlled by four functions. The stick (joystick) controls two of them, the inclination of the rotor disc (and thus the inclination of the helicopter) to the right/ left and forwards/back. Together these functions are called “cyclic blade control”. Next there is the “collective blade control”, which is controlled by the thrust controller. This causes a change of the thrust produced by the rotor. Since the powering of the main rotor transfers torque (as a twisting or turning force) to the fuselage, this must be compensated by the tail rotor. Since the torque is dependent on the collective and on the flight condition as well as wind can add additional torque on the fuselage, the [[tail rotor]] is also controlled by the pilot using the the pedals. If you push the right pedal, the helicopter turns to the right (!). The pedals are not a steering wheel. Using the pedals you can yaw helicopter around the vertical axis. The number of revolutions of the rotor is kept constant (if possible) by the aircraft.