MSFS - Winchester VA to Cumberland MD in a Bell 47-G2 Helicopter

[@magenius34]

Great vid, still waiting on the hind tutorials. I’m spoiled by your outstanding MI-8 series of tutorials.

[@Aero737]

The VR on this video was much more watchable than most other VR videos.

[@strangecorgi9477]

The mountain pass is the I-68 is the cut through of Sideling Hill. This is the symbolic entrance to Western MD. Also, the big hotel/golf course on the right coming into Cumberland is Rocky Gap Casino. Everything looks quite good along the I-68 corridor.

[@aaronwhite1786]

That kind of scenery for Georgia in DCS would be incredibly nice. I love the variance in the tree heights and sizes.

[@vsTerminus]

I haven't flown in Georgia yet, I'll have to check it out. Any recommendations for a 60mile / 100km trip?

[@fonesrphunny7242]

From one of the 'unmarked' airstrips west of Kutaisi to Ambrolauri, UGAM (not present in DCS) Short hop over the river and through the city, follow the road/rail towards Zestafoni for 8-9 miles, turn N towards the Tkibuli Reservoir, continue past the Shaori Reservoir and you're almost there. Using DCS as measurement tool, that's just about 40 miles, so there is room for some sightseeing. I've looked at pictures from the area before and it might be worth it. Changes in architecture, some historic landmarks and especially the lakes look awesome. It's a route I take regularly on the SAR server, although then I'd be taking supplies from Zestafoni ;)

[@aaronwhite1786]

@@vsTerminus Tblisi to Khashuri looks like it could be a pretty nice flight. You could fly along the valley that runs through that part of the area. Tblisi to Beslan would take you through the mountains separating Russia and Georgia, but that's a longer flight at around 100 miles.

[@jayhags]

Very interesting flight, I have driven that route more than a few times.

[@vsTerminus]

How does it compare to the real thing? I looked up some photos and the auto-gen buildings really don't do these places justice.

[@jayhags]

@@vsTerminus agreed the generated buildings did not do downtown Berkeley Springs justice The highways were spot on though

[@cooliobeans7034]

sweet vid

[@nath-hh2ff]

Such a cool bird! I happened to sit in one of these on display at the Omaha zoo this past weekend. Think it was the same model anyways.

[@jasons9564]

I was a jump pilot for a dropzone when I first got my commercial and watched the owner almost kill himself in one of these(N8568F). Lost the engine on the base leg and went down in a field. It's the scariest thing I've ever seen.

[@vsTerminus]

I looked up the incident report for that tail number. First time that heli had flown in four years and it had a worst-case-scenario engine-out at 50 ft :( As much as I'd love to learn to fly the real thing sometimes I'm glad that I don't have to worry about crashing for real in my sim.

[@jasons9564]

@@vsTerminus I tried it a few times with the huey and the results were never good. He was only going about 30-50 knots. The only thing that saved his life was that the seat bolts broke and he, and the seat, went through the bubble. He was pretty banged up and had 3rd degree burns on his legs, but he was alive and walking.

[@racingtheweb]

How are helicopters in MSFS? Are they as good as DCS ones?

[@vsTerminus]

This one (the Bell 47) is the only one that comes close, IMO. The freeware R-22 flies nice but is otherwise unfinished. The rest of the freeware helis are in various states of incomplete. The only other payware that I know of is the H145 and it is built on the fixed wing flight model so again, not even close. A big part of that is simply that Helicopters aren't officially supported yet, though that is finally coming in the next big update. Depending on how well Asobo implements the flight model api for rotary wing, maybe we'll see some good ones over the next year or so. Either way it's a long way out. In the meantime, the Bell 47 is really good. It's not DCS level but it's good enough that I quite enjoy flying it around.

[@racingtheweb]

@@vsTerminus Thank you for your good explanation. I won't buy MSFS -:)

[@BalticDude_DCS]

I feel that autorotations in this helicopter aren't exactly right. I crash almost every single time I try but when I look at youtube videos of people doing it, they're able to get much more lift than I am. I guess the flight model isn't exactly right yet.

[@vsTerminus]

It's definitely not perfect. It's *good*, but there's room for improvement too. I admit I haven't actually tried an auto in the 47 yet, so I'll give it a go next time I fly.

[@BalticDude_DCS]

@@vsTerminus Make sure to let me know your thoughts when you do try

[@Baltic_Dude]

@@vsTerminus No response RIP

[@vsTerminus]

I haven't flown the 47 or anything else lately honestly. Had a crazy summer and then took a break from flight sims altogether more recently. Playing some other stuff with friends for a while. I do have plans to get back to it but I don't know when at this point.

[@Baltic_Dude]

@@vsTerminus I recommend Black Shark 3 for the Igla to use against jets taking off of their airfield. It's already fun to do with R-60M they never expect how far the missile can reach, I'm basically a mobile SAM site.

[@CaptainMetalwing]

How's the flight model?

[@vsTerminus]

Overall it's very good. It feels pretty complete, models more or less everything you would expect it to. IMO it's better than the DCS Gazelle but not quite as good as the Hip/Hind/Huey etc. I feel that the Bell 47's flight model is weakest when you're just trying to drift around in a low altitude hover, it does a few strange things like losing too much altitude the moment you start to drift out of the hover, and it doesn't feel quite as responsive as I'd expect for a helicopter that small and light. Overall though it's a solid add-on and I've gotten a lot of enjoyment out of it.