Flying Choppers in Flight Simulator 98 or FS2000

This tutorial was written for FS98 - but can be applied to FS2000

Page 1 Essential Preparations(updated December 6, 1999)

MD520N in Bahamas - ( add-on scenery)

Now anyone with a bit of patience can fly the Helicopters in Flight Simulator 2000 or 98 with these easy instructions & just a couple of weeks practice. I will teach you how to hover, land, fly straight & level & land on the World Trade Center, NYC!

I am Pete Daly & I am the webmaster at simviation.com.
I've tried to put together a simple tutorial on flying the 'copters in FS.
Just few weeks from writing this article, I never bothered with the helicopters - the result of my experience trying & failing to fly the default FS98 Bell 206. My opinion is that this machine is not easy or even realistic to fly. It is intrinsically unstable, flies all over the place & responsible for making thousands of flyers give up trying to fly helicopters in FS98.

But - there is a solution. Many improved helicopters have been developed, making flying much easier & more realistic. We have chosen one great example of a MD520N for the trainer.

The FS2000 default Bell 206 is much improved & is easily flyable. I even adjust the Realism Settings as I find it too easy!

To see how I personally learned to fly in less than 2 weeks view 'simvny' video, about 3 minutes flying from pad to pad in NYC.

Unless you do these essential things these lesson will be useless.

1. Get the right helicopter. I recommend Ian Standfast's brilliant MD 520 (Pictured) download now!(321k). The default FS2000 Bell 206 is quite adequate for these lessons.
2. Joystick. It is essential to have a joystick that includes
¨ Twist Grip handle (used as the essential 'Yaw Pedals)
¨ Throttle lever (used as the Collective Lever)
3. Joystick settings (FS98) are different from the default fixed wing settings. Set your joystick to these settings

Note: In FS2000 the default settings only need to be slightly adjusted - mainly the rudder. I suggest you adjust it bit by bit to suit your particular stick.

4. Framerates: You will need a framerate of 10fps minimum. Try reading Kevin Ryan's tutorial for tips on improving framerates. Full screen view & a 3d card will both improve framerates. Clear sky & scenery set to normal will also help. You can view Frame Rates when using FS by hitting Shift Z Z.

5. Download the Demo Videos. Unzip & place them in the PILOTS directory in FS98/2000.

To view Video, 1st Select the 520N or FS2K 206, 2nd choose view : Go to SPOT view (hit 's' 3 times), Go to View Options & select +40 feet above, then 'OK', then in spot view zoom out one time & press keypad 1 or 3 for 'rear -side' view. Next go to Options - Flight Video & select your choice.

OK, Let's walk out to the Chopper > Go to Heli Lessons page 2