Newbie Controls Question for Helicopter Sim Experts

[1Wolf]

Hello!

 

Never flown a helicopter simulation in my life.  Completely new to helicopter sims.  Flown all sorts of real life general aviation aircraft, lots of jets in simulations, never a helicopter in simulation or otherwise.

 

For fixed wing aircraft I usually use a Thrustmaster Warthog setup with Saitek Combat Pedals and I've got a Virpil Mongoose base for when I fly aircraft with a center stick and extension.  I recently purchased a "Blackbird Chair" from MonsterTech for controls mounting of my stick &  throttle and noticed that they had a "Collective" mount for the chair as well.  So then I went over to the Virpil and noticed they had, what appeared to be, pretty nifty Helicopter Collective "VPC Rotor TCS Plus Base" and Grip.

 

Is the Virpil Collective and Grip good?  Or is that not a good choice?  What would you recommend?  I was interested in flying the UH-1, the SA342, and any upcoming apache.  The price is about right and what I can afford and I've heard good things about Virpil products.  There is also mounting hardware for the VPC controls to my MonsterTech chair which is important.

 

Also, what about Rudder Pedals?  My limited helicopter understanding is that traditional "Jet" rudder pedals do not work so well for helicopters?  What would you recommend?

 

I tend to prefer to buy once and cry once so I'd rather not get something "inexpensive" to try it out and see if I like it.  Otherwise I always end up purchasing things twice.  Its always cheapest for me to get the right thing the first time.

 

Thanks for the help and advice!

 

 

[Munkwolf]

There might not be many reviews for the Rotor TCS Plus yet - the first batch of them just started shipping this week. I've read some good things and some bad about the non-Plus (ie, odd how the base rotates, some reports that the axis isn't totally linear). I ordered the Plus with the SharKa-50 grip. It's due to arrive within the week. The other option I had considered is something from https://komodosimulations.co.uk/collections/collective ... but have heard lots of good things about Virpil so decided to go that route.

 

I use the thrustmaster pendular rudder for both planes and helis. I think with helis you'd ideally want to have pedals setup with zero spring, and some dampening, so they don't center. I don't feel like switching my pedals around whenever I switch, so I have light springs going, and just roll with it using the rudder trim option in DCS (where when you push the trim button, it affects the rudder position as well).

 

edit to add that virpil also has a UH-60 grip coming (hopefully) end of this year:

Edited August 3, 2021 by Munkwolf

[admiki]

You are already set for the cyclic. For the collective, if you do not want to go DIY route, least expensive option is K51 collective from a guy in these forums under name K51 (about 250€). Then you have Virpil. Everything else is same price or more expensive. OE-XAM, Komodo (wayyyyy over what I could afford). Disclaimer: I have K51 and I am happy with it. 

For the pedals, what Munkolf said. Ideally, you want no spring and some damping. Options are VKB, Virpil, Slav, MFG, TM TPR (on my wishlist). I have MFG with no spring and dampener mod (you can order it with dampener mod direct from manufacturer now.