Helicopter Landing At Biggin Hill Airport - Pilot's View

[@edmoorebsc]

What I reckon you need to add to these is a second camera on the avionics, or at least position the camera further back so we can see both. For mega bonus points: simultaneous split screen with a live SkyDemon screen recording synced with the whole flight, and recorded ATC :)

[@ABHelicopters]

Hi Ed, Thanks for taking the time to comment- great suggestions, I have a second camera so adding the avionics wouldn’t be an issue. What is that you would like to see from skydemon - is it more to see where the helicopter is at all times?

[@edmoorebsc]

It's seeing all the airspace in conjunction with hearing the ATC, it's such a complex area to fly around in that it's really useful for students like me to hear how the professionals deal with it! @@ABHelicopters

[@ABHelicopters]

Hi Ed, Cheers for the quick reply - ok, understood. I’ll try factor that into the next video, some of it is simple enough - adding the atc isn’t always that practical though unfortunately!

[@edmoorebsc]

@@ABHelicopters yes it can quickly become a full time job by the time you have everything wired up and then edited…

[@ABHelicopters]

Don’t I know it! But atc sometimes I am reluctant to post, some people may not want all their radio calls recorded for the world to see etc! I’ll do my best for the next one

[@TheOneTrueSpLiT]

I too would like to see some of the aircraft's flight data - particularly airspeed, altitude and vertical velocity. I will be using your videos as reference to practice landings in the various helicopters I fly in MSFS and X-Plane 11/12 in VR with the cyclic, collective and pedals that I have. I hope to be able to eventually perfectly mimic your approach and landing so I'll know I'm doing it right 😉

[@ABHelicopters]

Thanks for taking the time to reply! Yep- we can display that data for you on the next flight as it’s recorded in the camera !

[@TheOneTrueSpLiT]

@@ABHelicopters Thank you very much, I look forward to the next flight then, it will be extremely helpful to be able to see such data as I've not seen any other videos with such information being displayed alongside the video as a split-screen or overlay. I've been flying helicopters (B206, B407, B412, UH-1, MD500 and Mil Mi-24!) in my various PC flight sims for nearly 20 years but it's all been self-taught with reference to "Learning to Fly Helicopters" by R. Padfield which I bought about 15 years ago. I just treated myself to a proper collective for my 55th but I've had no practical experience other than basic instructions on flying a B206 for a bit back in 1985 as an Air Cadet, hence tuitional videos are the next best thing. If you know of any on-line training that you deem suitable I would be very grateful but appreciate it needs to be "hands-on" practical training to feel what is going on. I'd love to do an introductory helicopter lesson or a pleasure flight where I could get the chance to fly myself for a bit, do you know of any you could recommend here in Cornwall, there are quite a few from various locations through "Adventure001". Annoyingly I used to live in between Chatham and Maidstone in Kent and see there are quite a few helicopter experiences from Biggin Hill, Redhill and yourselves.

[@ABHelicopters]

I’m very sorry for the delayed response! I’m glad you found it interesting- what’s your take on the best heli sim on the market - my view is DCS is up there with flight dynamics and visuals, and the number of helicopters on the platform is increasing constantly.

[@TheOneTrueSpLiT]

@@ABHelicopters Hi there. I have the UH-1H and Mil Mi-24P in DCS and both are (as far as I am able to say) very good in terms of the flight modelling / flight dynamics and an absolute joy to fly. I just bought the VIRPIL TCS Rotor Base Plus (collective with fully working throttle, idle release and friction lock) with the VIRPIL VPC Hawk-60 Collective Grip and have been flying the DCS UH-1H more-or-less exclusively for the last two weeks as it is so much fun and enjoyable to fly, especially in VR. MSFS is beginning to get better helicopter support but those that I have are a bit "hit or miss". The 206B3/L3 and MD500E by Cowan Simulations are good but can feel a bit twitchy at times. X-Plane has always been considered as better than any of the other PC flight sims for helicopters due to its accurate flight dynamics and aerofoil model. Cowan Simulations do quite a few helicopters for X-Plane 11/12 of which I again have the 206B3/L3 and MD500E so am able to compare the same helicopters in both MSFS and X-Plane and have to say I get a different "feeling" when switching between the same helicopter in each sim. As I said, the last time I flew a helicopter was around 1985 but having an understanding of "how helicopters work" I am confident with my assessments of handling and performance across the PC flight sims I use. Also, having the correct hardware will make a huge difference in one's ability to properly fly any aircraft in a flight sim - I have the Saitek/Logitech Yoke (modded for better resolution of axes input with no deadzones), the Thrustmaster Warthog (A-10 and F-16) Grip with a custom "goose neck" extension for turning it into a cyclic, the Thrustmaster TFRP pedals and the Honeycomb Bravo Throttle system. I also use head tracking when flying with my monitor and the Oculus Quest 2 headset for flying in VR. When using all that gear the experience becomes quite breath-taking, I have been having an absolute blast flying the UH-1H around the Marianas Islands in DCS in VR the last two weeks since getting my collective, you really feel you are inside the cockpit and VR gives you much much better situational awareness and definitely makes flying "easier" - last night after shutting down the UH-1 I actually tried to physically open the pilot's door, a door that isn't actually there but after nearly 4 hours of non-stop flying in VR my brain was convinced it was there and I've nearly fallen out of my chair on numerous occasions leaning out the side of the MD500 in X-Plane in VR!

[@Zeh_ny]

Adore the content!! do you think 26 is too old to start learning and build a carreer piloting helicopters?

[@ABHelicopters]

Absolutely not too old!!

[@ABHelicopters]

I have taught many pilots much older, and commercially, you can fly single pilot till you are 60, multi pilot till 65