Chinook's likelihood of VRS is pretty high

[Ddg1500]

i the past, i though hind was pretty awful in VRS,  now my view has changed, chinook is a more VRS likely aircraft than hind, i VRS 5 times already.

and the throttle resposne is pretty wizardry too, when i was trying to approach and slow down, i feel that the aircraft is descending a little too much, so i add collective, but to my surprise, those "ought to be" sufficient add is "insuifficent" to reduce descent, it keeps droping down with some insidious shake, and then, i get into VRS and crashed.

Some of those VRS was happen with clean load and 60 percent fuel.

From what i see, this aircraft should be flown whith great care, that needs to reduce speed, and altitude pretty early on, and land with low altitude and short window of decent, otherwise, it would VRS.

Edited November 10 by Ddg1500

[RogueTalons]

I totally understand what you're saying, but based on my experience, I find the Mi-8 is much more prone to entering VRS compared to the CH-47.

With the Mi-8, I’ve encountered VRS much more frequently, even with relatively moderate descent rates. In contrast, I find that the Chinook is far more forgiving in this regard. As long as I keep the descent rate below 700 feet per minute, I’ve never had any major issues with VRS. I personally stick to a 1000 feet per minute limit, and as long as I stay within that, I can avoid the dreaded vortex ring state.

On the other hand, the Mi-8 seems to enter VRS much more easily, even at lower descent rates. It requires a lot more attention to manage speed and altitude carefully, as it seems to be much less forgiving.

[LuseKofte]

7 hours ago, RogueTalons said:

I find the Mi-8 is much more prone to entering VRS compared to the CH-47.

Might be the case , but I flown MI 8 so much that I recognise the early signs. I never go into that .But I flown CH 47 not that much and when I enter VRS state I have very little time to counter it.

[Av8tr]

The primary recovery method for a developing VRS in a Chinook is to apply lateral cyclic to fly out of the turbulent air, rather than forward cyclic, which can aggravate the issue by increasing the angle of incidence of the aft rotor system.

There is a phenomenon where the aft rotor head can enter a vortex ring state during rapid decelerations. This results in an abrupt nose-up attitude and a sinking feeling, which can lead to a hard landing if not quickly recovered. 

 

[rmakowsky]

If helicopters in the real world were prone to VRS as they are in DCS there would be no helicopters.  I assume it is over modeled because otherwise it would be subtle enough to mostly not be noticed and then there would be complaints that there is not VRS modeling.

For the CH-47 (and all DCS Helicopters) when you get under 40 knots, make sure that you keep 500 fpm or less descent to avoid the VRS as modeled.  

[LuseKofte]

On 11/19/2025 at 4:10 PM, rmakowsky said:

If helicopters in the real world were prone to VRS as they are in DCS there would be no helicopters. 

Well, I bet a trained chopperpilot knows how to not go into that state at all , both in this sim and RL

[Av8tr]

On 11/19/2025 at 9:10 AM, rmakowsky said:

If helicopters in the real world were prone to VRS as they are in DCS there would be no helicopters.  I assume it is over modeled because otherwise it would be subtle enough to mostly not be noticed and then there would be complaints that there is not VRS modeling.

For the CH-47 (and all DCS Helicopters) when you get under 40 knots, make sure that you keep 500 fpm or less descent to avoid the VRS as modeled.  

In the helicopter I fly IRL, I was taught not to exceed 200 to 300 feet per minute on approach so not enter a VRS state. In training, I had moments of briefly exceeding that and promptly correcting, but I've never exceeded 500 feet per minute on approach. The only time I've ever entered VRS in real life was when having to deliberately induce it and practicing recovering for it while in training.

Every helicopter has different disc loadings which impact the speed and rates of descent you would encounter VRS at.

Here is a diagram of predicted VRS onset boundaries for various rotorcraft. Rotorcraft with high disc loadings, like the Sikorsky CH-53E and Bell Boeing MV-22B, encounter VRS at higher forward speeds and rates of descent than helicopters with lower disc loadings.