Friday of Helicopters

Flying helicopters is fun as Fridays. In this short entry, what's going on in the rotary wing of my computer.

DCS World got updated and with many additions, fixes and tweaks came the possibility to carry sling loads. These loads can be only be hooked into the helicopter while in-mission. In the image above, I'm using one of the methods (load from a landed helicopter). One needs to land very near to the load so the ground crew can hook you up. The other method is hovering over the sling load. Pass!

The sling load hooked to my helicopter.

Strange things happen to the unaware pilot once he has a 1,000 lbs sling load hooked into his bird's belly. For once, I never seen the Huey struggle as much to take off. Heck! I had to momentarily use the governor rpm switch to rev up the engine. It is recommended to watch out for how much of that heavy helicopter fuel is filling your tank.

Flying around with the sling loaded is easier than taking off and landing, but one needs to be careful with trying to brake or accelerate the Huey too suddenly.

Dreamfoil Creations has set new standards in helicopter flying with its Bell 407 for X-Plane 10. Realistic, good looking and featuring exquisite in-flight handling characteristics, the 407 has to be in your virtual hangar if you are a novice or expert rotorhead.

One wishes the weather in the real Montogomery County MD would be this great at this moment ... But that's why we fly a foreign aircraft.

The instruments panel is nimble in this civilian aircraft.

An external view of the 407, with one of the few liveries included.

The comms tower is realistic and works within the possibilities of X-Plane 10.

Inbound for landing. A critical moment in any helicopter, doesn't feel as ominous in the Bell 407 because it handles so well. Here I am reducing my forward airspeed and slowly descending.

Although I have never crashed the Bell 407 on a landing, I reckon I have to work on those flare angles.

Cheers,