JoeDiamond

If you are not adding power in a turn you are trading airspeed for altitude. It does not matter if you are flying an airplane or helicopter. It's physics plain and simple. When you bank an aircraft you are tilting the lift vector , decreasing the vertical component and increasing the horizontal component. If you don't increase power to replace the lost vertical component of lift you will sink if you maintain airspeed, you will slow down if you maintain altitude. To maintain both altitude and airspeed you have to add power, which in a helicopter is done by adding collective. And before you ask, yes, I have 27 years of real world experience to back this up.

They are similar in that they are both aircraft and they both fly, and that's where the similarity ends.

Place a friendly unit alongside the farp. A single Humvee will do.

You can do it from a hover close to the ground, where the rotor has enough inertia to land safely. You can do it from a hover at a high enough altitude where you can convert your altitude into forward airspeed. You can't do it from a hover in between those extremes. That is where the height/velocity chart comes into play. Flying in the prohibited areas of the H/V chart puts you in a position where a successful autorotation is unlikely.

In the latest version the sprague clutch does not seem to disengage, at least not the RPM indication anyway. See this thread: http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=109497 The autorotation seems normal so I'm guessing it's a RPM indication problem.

In previous versions the engine and rotor RPM needles would correctly split when the throttle is rolled back to idle with the rotors at operating speed. The latest version does not do this, at least not for me. See the attached track. Initially sitting on the runway with the rotor up to speed the throttle is rolled to idle, notice the needles don't split like they should. The same behavior occurs during the autorotation and landing. In the final example sitting on the runway the main fuel valve is closed, shutting off the engine. That time the needles split properly. The throttle and collective axis mapping was confirmed to be correct, no duplicate control mapping on the throttle channel. The controls indicator confirms the throttle channel is correct. Can anyone else duplicate this? rpm.trk

The correct technique would be to release the idle stop and close the throttle completely. You can't do this at the moment as the idle stop release is not functional.

And I could shut down the engines of the jet I fly at the end of a flight by pulling the fire handles, but I don't. The idle stop button isn't a deal breaker for me, not even close. However, throttle management is an important part of operating a helicopter. It's not so much that the starter isn't mapped to the trigger under the collective than that they chose to disable the idle stop function. There isn't any reason why the idle stop can't be functional and the starter mapped to something else. Having to shut down the engine with the fuel valve detracts from an otherwise excellent simulation.

A switch that's used at least once every flight if you are shutting down the engine correctly.

Even FSX does not meet the definition of a flight simulator. A flight simulator would need to replicate the actual controls and feel of a particular aircraft. FSX is a procedures trainer.

But it was still a simulator he landed, not an actual aircraft. No matter how realistic a simulator is your brain still knows deep down that it's a simulator, not an aircraft. Your brain knows that whatever happens you are in no real danger. Put that same person in an actual aircraft without an instructor sitting next to him and the results will likely be different.

I agree with Outlaw 100%. I am a check airman for an airline. I regularly fly with pilots on their first flight in the actual aircraft after several weeks of intense training in a multimillion dollar, full motion level D simulator that replicates every aspect of the actual aircraft. Almost all, with the occasional exception, are pretty frazzled on the first few flights by the change in environment from the simulator to the actual aircraft. I have seen more than one case where a pilot simply cannot make the transition and will wash out when they get to the actual aircraft. And we are talking about professional pilots here, not the casual sim user. An experienced DCS user would certainly be able to get a Huey running but an attempt to actually fly it based on DCS experience alone would certainly end with a twisted ball of metal that was once a helicopter. DCS is what we would refer to as a procedures trainer, not a flight simulator. We use them and they are a valuable learning tool but it itself is not enough to get you flying.

You could quite easily prove your case and rule out error on your part by posting a track, but you seem to be reluctant to do so.

If this is happening to you every time I would consider the element that is common to all your approaches, the pilot. You need to post a track of this happening to you to rule out your technique as the cause.

Forgot the track! droptanks.trk

The drop tanks do not seem to feed correctly. With two drop tanks loaded and full internal fuel switching to either drop tank results in the fuel pressure dropping and the engine quitting. Additionally, dropping either drop tank results in the internal wing fuel dropping to zero on that side, see the attached track. Note the wing fuel levels before and after dropping the external tanks. I realize the beta is a work in progress. I didn't see any mention of this on the status list so I'm mentioning it here

First trip around the pattern at Batumi. first.trk

It does point to the gun and CCIP reticle. From the manual, pg. 398 "Select HUD SPI submode – If the HUD is selected as the SOI (default) and this function is selected, the GUN and CCIP pippers act as the SPI (depending on the HUD Mode – if NAV or AIR-to-AIR mode this makes the steerpoint the SPI as well). TMS Aft Short."

The Concorde was able to use it's inboard thrust reversers in flight, with the inboard engines at idle thrust only.