Flight Models

I understand that the general consensus is that P3D doesn’t have good helicopter flight models. HTR helps, but still requires the right numbers. I contend that many helicopter models do not even reach a level of what is possible within P3D, without HTR. I’ve been doing a lot of research lately, which I’m sure someone has already done, so I’m probably reinventing the wheel. With Hovercontrol no longer around, I think we need to pool resources here and openly share information. It’s a small community. I’m working on a couple of flight models right now and this is what I’ve found.

Some air files have the old 1400 sections for helicopters and some do not. If those sections are present in the air file, the helicopter stuff in the config is ignored, so things like mast tilt etc, don’t work. I mean, none of it works. If the helicopter sections are removed from the air file, the config will work. This is backwards from aircraft, where the config will override the air file. Still, the numbers have to be right in the config to have a flyable model. It’s very easy to get an unflyable model, if control scalars are too high or if moments of inertia are too low or if torque scalars are high or pitch and yaw stability coefficients are too high or too low, etc…it’s fun, really…

If anyone has tinkered with some flight models, what did you change? Should there be a thread for every helicopter model out there? There’s not much action on these forums, so lets plug it up with information!