what are you using for controls in the Huey ?

[Slippa]

Just read through all this as I’m ‘converting’ to the Huey from vintage props.

Have to say after reading through and seeing plenty of expensive kit the one that got me was the Lego jobby. In yo ass Virpil . Some great looking peripherals in here.

I’m using the Warthog throttle and stick. I’d already swapped over to the green spring but it’s still too stiff, especially for the chopper. After a couple of hours trying to settle into a hover as well as trying to land with some vertebrae intact, I woke up this morning with my wrist killing me. 

The green spring is now sitting on the desk and I’ve plonked the stick back together for a ‘controlled plummet and crash’ in the Huey. I’ll bandage the wrist, maybe fashion something from jungle foliage or something? The stick’s sitting limp and lifeless in anticipation. I’ve got a tub of joystick grease somewhere and did plan on greasing up at some point. The stick, not myself, though it may make me feel better about my survival rate if I did grease up, maybe whack on some war paint for the mission while I’m at it? Not sure what comments I’ll get from the OC indoors but if I’m gonna simulate these things seriously I’ll have to dedicate myself and go all-in.

Never get outta the boat. Absolutely goddamn right, unless you were going all the way.

 

[Talisman_VR]

Love the Huey!  

I have a cheap but very effective collective, as you can see from the pics. 

I used a piece of bamboo and black tape to modify the Saitek throttle quadrant as a collective.    The MS FF2 stick is great and with the JetPad and SimShaker for Aviators software I can literally fly by the seat of my pants.  

Pimax 5k + VR Headset
MS FF2 Joystick
Thrustmaster VG TWCS Throttle
Saitek Pro Flight Throttle Quadrant (two of)
MFG Crosswind Rudder Pedals
Corsair HS60 haptic headset
JetPad FF seat Powered by Gametrix with SSA & SSW software

 

Edited January 22, 2024 by Talisman_VR

[LuseKofte]

 

I am to replace my stick with go force rhino as soon as I collect my Virpil stick from another house or order a new. I am in the progress of selling the Virpil stuff

I am a hardware freak it must feel right. But it cost

[Jantar]

I flew the Huey for a very long time with the HOTAS Warthog setup with a 10cm extension and the standard spring. This worked really well. Remember that real Hueys have a force centering stick when the force trim is turned on (dead stick otherwise). You should still be able to move the stick around without much effort though.

I've just recently moved to a LaserWing FFB stick so you can set the spring force and also have the stick go dead when you push the trimmer button. Going really well but the stick has a small amount of notching from the motors. As for the collective, I just use the Warthog throttle, you get used to it pretty quick. I am also using MFG Crosswind Rudder Pedals with the spring removed.

 

[Slippa]

13 hours ago, Jantar said:

also using MFG Crosswind Rudder Pedals with the spring removed.

I almost took mine off today. I’ve got the hydraulic thing attached too and with both it’s too stiff. Still experimenting. I replaced the spring in the stick as flying without one isn’t gonna work. Some better flying in it today, hovering almost steady (ish), even landed it where I was trying to a couple of times. Good bit of sport to be had.

Edited January 24, 2024 by Slippa
Fumblefingers

[Jantar]

I don't actually remove the spring, i just back off the nut all the way, as far as I can without it coming off. You can turn the damper down a little too just to give you a little bit of feel. I find thats good enough for me. That way if I want to fly fixed wing I can just lean down and tighten the nut back up.

[DCoffey]

I had an x-52, which was great, so I thought I would buy the x56 because all of the extra controls would also make flying the a-10, f18 better. But in the end the throttle was just too stiff to use as a collective so I put the x56 in my shed and went back to the x52.  I bought a usb handbrake last year to try as the collective but I have not taken the time yet to figure out a mount.

 

 

Anyone else try the handbrake?

 

 

Edited January 28, 2024 by DCoffey

[Hiob]

8 minutes ago, DCoffey said:

I had an x-52, which was great, so I thought I would buy the x56 because all of the extra controls would also make flying the a-10, f18 better. But in the end the throttle was just too stiff to use as a collective so I put the x56 in my shed and went back to the x52.  I bought a usb handbrake last year to try as the collective but I have not taken the time yet to figure out a mount.

 

 

Anyone else try the handbrake?

 

 

 

Can you point me a link to that handbrake? Can it be converted to a shifter? ty

[Slippa]

On 1/27/2024 at 10:49 PM, Jantar said:

I don't actually remove the spring, i just back off the nut all the way, as far as I can without it coming off. You can turn the damper down a little too just to give you a little bit of feel. I find thats good enough for me. That way if I want to fly fixed wing I can just lean down and tighten the nut back up.

I took off the hydraulic damper, even on the loose setting it wasn’t free enough. Still have the spring on.  It’s ok for both fixed and rotary but I just remembered, I’ve another couple of cams here, I’ll see about those tomorrow too.

ETA: Loosened the spring right off, no hydraulics. They’re like butter and I can fly the Huey. - but I’m a nutter in it so WIP really.

Edited January 28, 2024 by Slippa
Loosened nutter

[Sr.]

Built a collective over the weekend.

Mostly from things laying around my shop, a Logi throttle quad, a Bodnar board and a whole lot of Macgyver brain.

Stick: VKB NXT Gladiator (springs removed), pedals VKB Mark V.

Edited January 29, 2024 by Sr.

[Hiob]

5 minutes ago, Sr. said:

Built a collective over the weekend.

Mostly from things laying around my shop, a Logi throttle quad, a Bodnar board and a whole lot of Macgyver brain.

Stick: VKB NXT Gladiator (springs removed), pedals VKB Mark V.

 

Nice! I have the same throttle quadrant collecting dust here. Might copy….. How did you convince the throttle quadrant to hold the weight of the collective?

[Sr.]

The stem/grip shaft is a length of 3/4" copper tubing. I found a bicycle grip cap that fit perfect in the end that meets the throttle quadrant and sandwiched a piece of felt, chair leg slider in between. Drill accordingly for a snug fit, then press in while bolting together. Was still a little slippery toward the bottom so I took an X-acto blade and added some light cross hatching. Now it's not as smooth travel as I'd hoped for but it works.

I've ordered an 8" 4.4 lb gas damper rod to add and possibly remove the felt pieces. Will follow up after install.

 

 

[Mike145]

Nice one, happy flying

[Hiob]

18 hours ago, Sr. said:

The stem/grip shaft is a length of 3/4" copper tubing. I found a bicycle grip cap that fit perfect in the end that meets the throttle quadrant and sandwiched a piece of felt, chair leg slider in between. Drill accordingly for a snug fit, then press in while bolting together. Was still a little slippery toward the bottom so I took an X-acto blade and added some light cross hatching. Now it's not as smooth travel as I'd hoped for but it works.

I've ordered an 8" 4.4 lb gas damper rod to add and possibly remove the felt pieces. Will follow up after install.

 

 

The damper is a good idea. 

[DCoffey]

On 1/27/2024 at 6:34 PM, Hiob said:

Can you point me a link to that handbrake? Can it be converted to a shifter? ty

I'm sorry I don't understand "shifter?"

 

Heres a video discussing it: 

 

You can get the unit on the big A website for $50

 

If you look around there is some tutorials where people have printer a box and added switches and wired them into the controller in the handbrake. I think I even saw a shady job where they taped a button box to it and plugged that in to the pc as well.

 

[Sr.]

On 1/30/2024 at 10:04 AM, Hiob said:

The damper is a good idea. 

Damper and the felt removed is an absolute game changer. Very fine, gradual control.

 

[Dogmanbird]

On 1/28/2024 at 10:25 AM, DCoffey said:

I had an x-52, which was great, so I thought I would buy the x56 because all of the extra controls would also make flying the a-10, f18 better. But in the end the throttle was just too stiff to use as a collective so I put the x56 in my shed and went back to the x52.  I bought a usb handbrake last year to try as the collective but I have not taken the time yet to figure out a mount.

 

 

Anyone else try the handbrake?

 

 

 

Yes   I've made several from that handbrake and still using one for myself. 

can I suggest - if you want to keep modifications minimal, turn the brake 90 degrees clockwise to how it is in the pic, so that gravity is pulling all the moving parts downwards and keeps the parts together (minimises slop)

 

[Daemoc]

On 1/22/2024 at 12:05 PM, Talisman_VR said:

Love the Huey!  

I have a cheap but very effective collective, as you can see from the pics. 

I used a piece of bamboo and black tape to modify the Saitek throttle quadrant as a collective.    The MS FF2 stick is great and with the JetPad and SimShaker for Aviators software I can literally fly by the seat of my pants.  

Pimax 5k + VR Headset
MS FF2 Joystick
Thrustmaster VG TWCS Throttle
Saitek Pro Flight Throttle Quadrant (two of)
MFG Crosswind Rudder Pedals
Corsair HS60 haptic headset
JetPad FF seat Powered by Gametrix with SSA & SSW software

 

 

I have been using this exact setup for quite a while. It works great.

I am about 80% done with a 3D printed scale Huey collective. I still need to model the control plate and the additional box on the top of the head, but it is getting there.

It is strictly cosmetic at the moment, but it does have a wire channel in the center if I ever get around to building a custom input device for the head.

 

 

[Hiob]

Nice! 

[Talisman_VR]

Looking very good Daemoc.  

I have improved mine too and now use two of the throttle levers with a thicker, longer metal tube similar to yours.  But your set up is very much better than mine.  Well done!  

Happy landings,

Talisman

[EdwardC]

I have converted my racing sim rig into a heli rig. Cyclic is a VKB Gladiator with a long extension and with the weakest springs. I fly with my fingertips with very little pressure and fine movements, very much like the rl cyclic. The springs are just able to re-center slowly lol

The collective I modified the Thrustmaster TWCS throttle, first with the slider bearing mod (eliminates the sticktion) then made it function more like a collective and moved the "head" of it by extending the wires. To hold the collective in place I copied an idea from someone else using self adhesive cork and large washers with a bolt through them.

I also use the VKB anti-torque pedals.

Now just waiting for nicer weather so I can paint it.

Flying vr is very immersive this way

[Zentaos]

Wow! There are a lot of great setups here! Some really innovative solutions! 

I personally use a Pro-Flight Trainer Puma and I am really happy with it. It has been rock solid with available upgrades for the past seven years.

One thing I have noticed on some of the setups, is that the stick grip seems to be mounted very high for helicopters. It seems to be okay for fixed wing/fighter jets, but for helicopters you need to be able to rest your arm on your leg and move the stick with fingertip control. Having to use your whole arm to move the stick will make fine control harder and introduce more fatigue. Helicopter pilots call resting your arm on your leg "the weld" and it is necessary for the fine control required to fly helis.

[TopoSolitario]

I created this cyclic mod for the X-56 to fly the  UH1 and actually any helo:

 

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6660045

It really does the trick for keeping the stick in position. For the Uh1 it's a bless, and now I'm getting used to it for fixed wing too... and it actually is a pleaser to fly with.

[Rifter]

17 minutes ago, TopoSolitario said:

I created this cyclic mod for the X-56 to fly the  UH1 and actually any helo:

 

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6660045

It really does the trick for keeping the stick in position. For the Uh1 it's a bless, and now I'm getting used to it for fixed wing too... and it actually is a pleaser to fly with.

I just love those mods, which create a huge step forward with the simplest hardware addition to an already existing input device.

[TopoSolitario]

On 7/14/2024 at 11:37 AM, Rifter said:

I just love those mods, which create a huge step forward with the simplest hardware addition to an already existing input device.

Well, it's not a Virpil... but it gives some life to the old X-56 which I like and hate both equally