Posts by Overloaded

  • R22: hurt ego

    Quote from J van E

    I sometimes react before I think!

    That is how you ride a bicycle ! ! Try to think a few seconds ahead and have the correction ready for where you want to be after getting on top of the current divergence.

    Before you know it you will be following a straight path and your cyclic movements will reduce to almost nothing.

    Try a larger circuit on an airfield following taxiways and a runway.

    Use the normal control menu to set up rudder, aileron and elevator trim on your keyboard or joystick buttons. On my number keypad I have 8 and 2 for elevator down and up, 4 and 6 for rudder left and right and 1 and 3 for aileron. Having no constant force on the joystick is much easier.

    Well done and keep practising.

  • R22: hurt ego

    A professional instructor makes all the difference. Jan there must be some helicopter schools around Stuttgart, you could phone up and arrange a trial lesson, it would only cost you 20 to 30 minutes ........ unless you get hooked. Try getting past the joy of slowly drifting past trees to land in an ordinary field.

  • R22: hurt ego

    from Collier: How to Fly Hellicopters 2nd edition c1986 !

    Slight lean to the left at low speed makes sense. It is a bit like a few degrees of bank into the live engine with asymetric flight in a multi engine plane with wing mounted engines. The big side force from the rudder deflection needs a ballancing side component of lift to avoid a draggy side-slip.

  • Learning how to fly the R22

    Profi mode assumed.

    With normal sim trimming the R-22 cyclic lever moves, torque pedal trim needs to be tried and fine tuned.

    Here is the default seat position view of the trimmed out cyclic lever. Look at the 'L' on the horizontal cyclic bar aligned with the centre of the CDI needle of the VOR gauge and also the bottom of that part of the cyclic aligned with the 'ten to two o'clock' postition of the VOR compass dial (actually 5 degrees on the compass above the 01:50/ten to two). The compass card rotates but here it aligns with 305 degrees and 055 degrees.

    There is no trim display shown in this aircraft cockpit but this is trimming the sim-hardware interaction not the R-22. In the same theme the rudder force can be trimmed out (zero any yaw with a high but less than take-off power set) so that the R-22 becomes as docile as a lamb when lifted off. The trim needs minor adjustment with speed and power changes but it does tame much of the profi mode liveliness.

    With the HUD displayed the pitch and roll can be kept within very tight limits and providing the rudder force is neutralised a good hover is surprisingly easy.

    Here is the 'proof of the pudding' ...... sorry just 'displayed proof' Tübingen 8)

    Using the HUD shows the effect of very small attitude changes.

  • R22: hurt ego

    Have you turned wind off?

    Try the H.U.D. and enable joystick trim for trimming forward if the calibration does not help. It is hard to hold attitude with a big plain windscreen (with no dead flies).

    (It needs a lot of forward trim to tip forward when light on its skids but only a small amount to tip backwards)

  • Learning how to fly the R22

    Easy mode Jan!=O It is very easy. I'll change my post to say profi assumed and so MUCH less relevant to beginners!

    People seem really hit by the tendency to spin wildly. I'll try to get my old pedals working in the future but trim makes twist grip rudders enormously more controllable and I find trimming a thought free operation. It is a sim-hardware interaction, wrists tire easily, legs are many times stronger.

    The Enstrom F28 had a two axis coolie hat trim on the cyclic and the R-22 has a spring assist lateral cyclic trim so it is a natural enough helicopter function. I have easy coolie trim on my joystick.

    There is no easy button on the R-22 either :) I didn't use easy once I tracked down the profi button.

    Later on if people persevere with the realistic mode they will achieve something quite meaningful. You are 100% right, of course about easy being good/essential for beginners but look at how many people who were suffering, already in easy mode ...or were they? Perhaps the default profi 'rudder' centre could be made to correspond to the flying-power start of the yellow arc on the manifold pressure gauge? ... it is almost there in easy mode.

    Trim free use of rudder pedals seems like a good idea -unless a typical cruise power means clicking either side of a central detent.

  • R22: hurt ego

    See my post about helicopters for beginners, try to use rudder trim as it tames the wild behaviour.

    For hover practice use the H.U.D. for attitude assistance, it helps put you in charge. I like to practice hovering over airfield taxiways or along roads. Make tiny attitude adjustments and only for as long as it takes to get the desired change.

    (Profi mode assumed, I see you used profi, perhaps you could try trimming the cyclic/joystick forward if you keep sweeping backwards. Note Jan didn't like me advocating trim).

  • Learning how to fly the R22

    ( Jan pointed out that I assumed use of profi mode so this is MUCH less relevant to beginners who should start in default easy mode. Jan doesn't like me suggesting rudder trim)

    Some study of helicopter principles of flight is needed, people are jumping in at the deep end without realising that a helicopter is very different from an aeroplane and specialised techniques are required to cope with unfamiliar effects.

    The biggest misconception is that the helicopter is expected to be stable and that something is wrong with the simulation if it twists and pitches all over the sky. It is our job to not let it get into that state and we have to stabilise the machine even before it lifts off the ground.

    We have to get the cyclic and torque controls ready for the first few seconds of climb and this means holding the helicopter light on its skids and - with almost the power needed to become airborne applied - having the machine free from any tendency to pitch, roll and yaw. To avoid having to hold strong and tiring inputs zero out any forces with simulator trim especially if a twist grip rudder is used. Assign trim keys or buttons in the control menu if needed. Avoid non linear or output curve control-software rudder adjustment.

    There is no neutral 'rudder' position, there are some comments about joysticks or pedals not being properly centred in the sim' as if the hardware or the simulation is letting people down. With an understanding of the principles of flight grasped the 'rudder' force applied can be seen as countering the effect of the power delivered to the rotor during the various stages of flight, as power is varied so the drag of the rotor varies and corresponding continuous adjustment of the 'rudder'/torque pedals is needed.

    If the machine is held light on its skids, just short of take off power and the 'rudder' trim is adjusted to cancel any yaw the effect of applying extra power can be anticipated. The trim in this condition approximates to that in a descent as not enough power is applied to sustain flight. If power is added extra left 'rudder' is needed, a significant amount to maintain altitude and a much greater amount for a climb. As the helicopter is lifted off the ground extra left rudder is added to prevent yaw and this extra force needs to be trimmed out as quickly as possible. Any reduction in power will need more right 'rudder' and right re-trimming. With anticipation there will be no crazy spinning of the machine, it will do what you want and you will not be chasing what it is doing.

    There is much more to study in principles of flight. Yaw will affect lift according to direction, torque pedal operation will affect delivered rotor power and of course rotor power affects yaw. These effects increase and decrease engine load according to direction though rapid return to normal rpm will be applied by the govenor.

    Low speed control will be improved by applying pitch or bank in small blips returning to a hover like attitude to sustain the movement. The H.U.D. is helpful in holding an attitude and seeing the effect of power change.

    Helicopter study will be rewarding and well worthwhile.

  • Aerofly FS 2 Screenshot Thread

    Quote from ryansumei

    Early morning flight around Sydney, Australia. Crashed when trying to land. So hard more practice needed!!!!

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    Enable and use rudder trim even if it is not used in a real R-22. A twist grip has less leverage and weaker more tireable muscles driving it than real feet pedals. The force needed also changes greatly with power adjustment, trim makes it less of a dread.

  • Aerofly FS 2 Robinson R22 Helicopter Released!

    Does Ninobaumann's pedals come with software to put in a 'reverse S' curve to make the centre movement less sensitive, a bit like a shielded horn ballance on a real rudder (like in the Cessna 172) where the rudder only gets horn ballance assistance after a hard initial pedal movement which moves it out of the airflow shadow. Control device software often comes with curve adjustment, not appropriate here as there is no fixed central and neutral position for the torque pedals.