Grogshop

Before I caved and bought my pedals I used the top rotary on my X55 throttle for my rudder movements, trying to hold the stick twisted was seriously hard on my wrists, as I love my choppers, I kinda gave up on DCS for a while before using this method. After a while it got second nature to adjust collective and then rudder with the thumb. That said, if you can afford it and like flying choppers (I have Gazelle, Huey, & Hip). Get Pedals. For choppers, it makes all the difference.

Pedals. Pedals. Pedals. I bought some pedals yesterday and have witnessed the single biggest improvement in my helo piloting skills to date. Logitech 3D Pro - I don't crash ALL the time, X55 Rhino - I only crash sometimes. X55 + pedals - I'm going to land on the top of the control tower. Because I can. If you can afford them, then PEDALS. I've even managed to use the opposite cyclic & rudder technique to successfully get my Hip out of VRS, which I've never quite managed before. But yeah, practise also helps!

Very much liking the FM updates, I was actually able to "sprint" from cover position to cover position and engage autohover without too much difficulty, and I definitely wasn't fighting the helo to do it. I also managed to roll it successfully and recover multiple times, until I got cocky and tried to loop and promptly severed my tailboom.

I have an X55, I swapped to the lightest spring, given the small movements this chopper needs, its a lot nicer not fighting the spring tension. I'm running 15 curve & 80 Y saturation on the cyclic, and I'm happy with that. Linear collective. 20 Curve on the rudder, I use the top throttle rotary, trying to use the cyclic with the twist rudder is painful to me, both literally & figuratively. I need to tweak the rudder settings, she is pretty damn sensitive still, oh well, back to Nellis I go!

Just adding to the multitude... Well done to all at Polychop! This was always going to be a Day 1 purchase and I am loving so far. 20-1 succesful takeoff to landing ratio, but still, I'm having a blast!

I think the thing that really helped is that controlling rudder this way, every time you move the collective, you adjust the yaw. I don't have any curves or saturation on the collective, but I do on the cyclic. I just couldn't seem to hover with a linear setup, but with some curves and saturation, I can now do it.

I found it hard to fly initially (hint: VRS...) but at the same time utterly compelling. The amount of times I went from cold start, took off, and crashed on my first landing attempt, and then hit 'restart' to do it all again.... Frustrating? absolutely. But totally worth the money.

I've had a massive improvement in my landings over the last week, having done over an hours worth of level flight to vertical landing transitions without crashing. This can only work if you have a stick/throttle with an easy access rotary. I dont have rudder pedals (yet) and so tried a bit of an experiment - I now use the top rotary on my X-55 throttle for my yaw control. Pretty much all the issues I was having was caused by trying to use the twist function of the stick, while attempting to use it as the cyclic as well. Now, my right hand is free to control the cyclic, left adjusts collective and left thumb adjusts the rudder. Its becoming second nature now - adjust collective with throttle, then yaw to suit with rotary. It's like a new machine, and its so satisfying from having transitioned from level flight to hover, and then landing, WITHOUT VRS!

I love my X55. The mode switch is awesome, I usually have 'combat mode' 'normal flying' and 'takeoff/landing' commands (mostly) set up, really helps with a 'switch' plane like the mig21. I find it a bit hard to use the stick twist, so pedals are a future purchase, need TrackIR first! Cost was the biggest thing for me, I got a full HOTAS with the X55 for $300AUD. Sure the Warthog might be better, it would want to be for $500+. Recently started trying the different springs, my god, the helos got so much easier with the small springs, so much more control!

Thanks for the advice, I just need to convince the girlfriend I need TrackIR!

Hi all, Novice pilot here, anyone have any advice on what is best to have bound to an X55 HOTAS for Mi8? I only have Trimmer & Trimmer Reset so far.

Having set up my Xmas present - X55 Rhino - very understanding girlfriend! I took to the skies, and managed not to break the gear, or ground loop, or bust the tyres, or stall and land short in a fireball, land too long and overshoot.... What a sense of accomplishment, this is one difficult plane to land, but having read through some of these tips, I can now do it semi-regularly. Now to land an Mi-8 without crashing and burning due to VRS....