Transitioning flights

[Captain Coffee 2,030]

Several changes afoot around my various Airhauler operations.

 

It all started with a trial of ORBx based products via Misha Cajic's "NA-Airstrips-Vol1" airstrips which was on sale 1/2 off recently. It's a wonderful product, and made me realize how much I missed trees and buildings...autogen and such that is missing in MSE scenery. I really hope he is working hard on Vol.2 as I will definitely be a customer. Kudos again.

 

I decided that the perfect airplane for hauling cargos to those challenging fields was not actually an airplane...

My Virtavia Ch-47 at the 98TE Glide/Hilltop field. Note the rather obviously brighter MSE Oregon scenery in the background...the NA scenery is def not intended to blend with MSE.

 

I always found helicopters incredibly hard to get my head around...finding balance on them wise. It feels like trying to balance a top-heavy object on the tip of a nail while having to coordinate all three direction axis with one lever, as well as power and rotor pitch on a second lever for the up and down (thankfully combined in FSX or I still would not be able to fly them still...i do not have a drummer's coordination). Me hovering a helicopter was best accompanied by "Yakety Sax" as heard on Benny Hill's raunchy comedy skit show (the Yakety Sax ending skit bit being the best part of the show imo...in part because it announced the end of the show. lol).

 

So...unlike Airplanes...i discovered ironically that the larger the helicopter the easier it is to fly...like balancing on the "head" of the nail instead of the "tip"...the Big Airplane delay works in a new copter pilot's favor unlike the way it kills new pilots of airplanes...a bit counter intuitive but sensible once you are in the seat.

 

It still took a week of flying the Ch-47 to make me learn to love it and it's utility, landings were squirlley or figity at best, but I was getting cargos down safe...so I tried out a few more heavies and midsize copters thanks to the recent 50% Virtavia sale...Sea Stallion, Sea King, Blackhawk...all chosen for airspeed and cargo capacity. They are all fantastic, but I think I love the Sea King the best...it is a very stable flier and has a hover gauge that my mind wraps around easily.

 

Unfortunately (for copter flying...not in general cuz it's a great product) I am MSE heavy in the scenery...flirting with the occasional red and white pole is about as fun as it gets in MSE land...and landings are very plain as far as immersion goes as the textures go to fuzz at ground level and nearby.

 

Encouraged by my NA airstrips experience, I installed ORBx PNW scenery...and am sold on it...gorgeous for low level, and even for flying high above. I will miss the accuracy of MSE over the part of California I'm very familiar with once I get the NorCal scenery...soon as I feel flu$h or a $ale happen$.

 

But...I don't know these Oregon mountains...Hellll...I don't know my local California mountains! This looks fabulous to me. You know...if MSE just had some darn trees show up at lower levels...it would look nearly exactly like this.

 

Ch-47 View of PNW/ORBx: Sweet.

 

One of the Vertols stopping over at Annacortes, Wa: The airfields make helicopter flying fun...well the landings anyhow

 

Speaking of which...who the #&(@ left this pickup parked this close to the helicopter pad...wtf? I should swing my tail out and leave it over the taxiway. Don't blame me if a your paint got a bit "whacked" by debris...hehe...I hovered as long as i could could to sandblast the finish to a dull shine...dumbass. ( jk... Love that challenge parked there...hehe )

 

So...after getting my chops down on a regular basis (without banging them up, and without Benny Hilling into structures and badly parked trucks...)...it was time for a Helicopter Start-up in Airhauler, which means...gulp...Robinsons R1 22's. Now, back to that Nail Tip metaphor, the tiny little Robinson is more like flying on top of a Pin Tip...a very sharp and tipsy pin tip...definitely this was going to be a challenge for some plucky pilot.

One of my Main Companies is called Eureka We Haul it...I haven't ever posted much regarding it as it is mostly heavy aircraft that afford me the ability to test out new planes with a fat wallet. AI's do all the work, I am chief test pilot for a fleet of A319, BAe146 QT, MD 81/81... and a small fleet of toys for me to fly wherever I like...my Fun Fleet company). One of Eureka's pilot's Hellen Kopp, really shined in the CH-47 while conducting AI tests in it. She is a whirley natural and I felt she was ready for taking on a Robinson and trying to get the rep necessary to attract more heli-pilots to her Oregon based startup RotoCargo. I bankrolled her with a recent model C-172 to fly her and $100K up to Oregon to open a few bases in some challenging terrain in need of some plucky chopper pilots. Now, the very very nice thing about the Robinson is that you don't have to sell your C172 to buy one outright. New price is less than 100 thousand USD...keep the Cessna as a back up, or sell it to bankroll a few more bases and have some capital on hand for emergencies. A rather pleasant surprise actually.

 

This is Helen's first landing, full to the brim with cargo at near MTOW (short a quart of fuel or so from it's MTOW...it is Very economical to fly)  at the helipad at Myrtle Creek Municiple/16S. I'm not sure how she captured this sequence from inside and outside the copter, but she says it was her first "straight in and land" with "zero fussing about/"Benny Hill action"...and in a Robinson no less. I'm pretty proud of my investment thus far:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for flying along on another windy post folks.

 

Happy hauling

Matt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[brett 2,284]

Didn't even know you could use heli's in AH.   Welcome to the PNW, I agree that it looks a lot more lush than photoscenery. I think we will be seeing a lot more companies coming out with autogen specific products to use over products like MSE, it just makes sense.

 

Good luck with the new company and happy flying.

[Captain Coffee 2,030]

Thanks Brett. I'm loving the utility and the speed of helis...in regards to take offs especially. No taxi time required, unless you talk to that moron in the tower that thinks you need to take off from 30R...pfft.

To add Helis to AH, at the "import window" you have to browse to the Rotorcraft folder in Sim Objects. Navigate to the aircraft.cfg file (it is called "sim.cfg" in the Robinson folder...relic of an ancient FS version???...but it imports just fine with the "sim" name). Then it is import as usual. You can ofc jigger the aircraft.cfg files as usual...I "removed the seats" and plugged up half the fuel tanks in the stock Bell Jet Ranger and the Robinson R1-22. Robinson hauls a bit over 500lbs that way, and the stock Ranger can carry aprox 1300lbs after a bit of mild jiggering.

 

FYI...The extra window in the Robinson landing sequence is a freeware addon autopilot that can be used with any helicopter (so far so good...works in all of mine anyhow). The panel in "standby" mode was included a couple shots to prove I didn't autopilot in to the landing. The AP has a nice "hover" command that will lock you over the spot you activate it...violently if you haven't gotten into at least a very near semi hover before hitting the button It's a nice way to take screenies hovering over a pretty spot without pausing. And ofc it makes 200 mile flights bearable, or else you have to shove the stick forward the whole way...why don't helicopters have an "elevator trim" (or do they have a separate pitch trim function that I need to assign a hot key to?! Just now realized I need to search the commands lists to check that out...hehe. )

 

Update...i can't find a trim for pitch on a helicopter...oy.

 

Also...I should mention that I had to add a cargo station to every copter thus far. Many came with multiple crew stations, and armament stations. I kept those and assign crew weights to them and add the bulk of the cargo to the New station.

 

 

For examples:

 

 

Blackhawk only had a pilot and crew position...so it was easy to add one station:

station_load.0 = 170,   10,   0,   0
station_load.1 = 0,     6,    0,   0
station_load.2 = 0,     0,    0,   0

station_name.0 = "Pilot"
station_name.1 = "crew"
station_name.2 = "Cargo"

 

 

Modified Sea King:

 

max_number_of_stations = 5

station_load.0 = 210,  10.05, 2.11, 1.08
station_load.1 = 0,  10.63, -2.11, 1.08
station_load.2 = 0, -1.28, -2.13, -0.14
station_load.3 = 0, -7.91, 1.30, -1.65
station_load.4 = 0, 0, 0, 0

station_name.0 = "Pilot"
station_name.1 = "Copilot"
station_name.2 = "Crew1"            //"Sonar Operator"
station_name.3 = "Crew2"        //"Hoist Payload Station"
station_name.4 = "Cargo"

 

 

Cheers.

 

 

 

[Captain Coffee 2,030]

Not making a new thread for this...but I found a terrific AH starter helicopter at Simviation.com: Sikorsky S-51, H-5, HO3S-1 Dragonfly for FSX, also a 2004/2 version on the same page if you search for Dragonfly.

 

 

Hauls about 900lbs with "seats removed', great range with 90 gallon gas tanks, purchasable outright after selling the stock c-172 and only puts you slightly in The Red after insurance and first tank of gas.

Cruise: 90kts and empty top speed is around 120kts if you really push it.

 

****IT HAS NO FUEL CUTOFF. So I had to add the Bell 206 stock fuel cutoff switch to the panel:

 

//--------------------------------------------------------
[Window00]
file=s51main.bmp
file_1024=s51main.bmp
size_mm=600
window_size_ratio=.7   
position=7
visible=1
ident=0
window_size= 1.000, 1.000
window_pos= 0.000, 0.000

gauge00=S-51!radio compass,  111,325,70,70
gauge01=S-51!VOR1_Indicator,  423,325,70,70
gauge02=S-51!turn,  345,325,70,70
gauge03=S-51!ADI,  267,247,70,70
gauge04=S-51!VS,  423,247,70,70
gauge05=S-51!ATTITUDE,  267,325,70,70
gauge06=S-51!ATC,  282,405,10,10
gauge07=S-51!Map,  292,405,10,10
gauge08=S-51!Compass,  281,99,40,40
gauge09=S-51!airspeed,  189,325,70,70
gauge10=Bell_206B!Rotor,  189,247,70,70
gauge11=S-51!Radio,  302,405,10,10
gauge12=S-51!GPS,  312,405,10,10
gauge13=S-51!Altimeter,  345,247,70,70
gauge14=Bell_206B!Torque,  111,247,70,70
gauge15=Bell_206B!Fuel Valve,    85,315,30,30  //This line added puts a fuel cut off on the 2D panel.

 

 

 

It is a nice external model, although a bit disconcerting as it has no pilot in the seat

 

But the reinforced fish bowl view is so worth the price...oh wait...it's Free!

 

Cheers,

Coff.

 

[Captain Coffee 2,030]

Haven't reported in from Helen Kopp's company, Roto Cargo for quite some time.

The company is doing very well. I have expanded it from serving small bases in the Oregon/Washingon State area, extending now up into the pan handle of Alaska.

 

In addition to Tacoma, Wa, our new Northern bases are: PAGS-Gustavas, and PAPG-Petersburg....with CYPR-Prince Rupert as a Connector between the Nothern and Not so Northern operations.

 

We have 5 Ch-47s at this time, along with a very mixed fleet of whatever good cargo copter deals came in front of Helen...including: 3 Seakings, 2 Kamov KA-32a1, and a smattering of smaller copters still in the fleet from early expansion... 2-206 Jet Rangers, 1 R-66, and an Aerospatiale/Sud Aloutette SA-316B.

 

Hauling an actual 42,000 lb load in one of the CH-47s. With the Acceleration update, and increasing the horsepower in the aircraft.cfg file, I was able to get the Sim Vertol to carry as much as a real Ch-47 is rated to haul.

 

They don't  climb very fast with this kind of load, nor do they haul ass at 90kts fully loaded...but they get there.

 

(Edit: I just rechecked Wiki...I am a cheating MF'r....they ONLY carry 26,000 lbs...hahaha. Not sure where I got the 40K figure from...but Looks like I need to down rate these babys just a bit. OOPs)

[brett 2,284]

 

They don't  climb very fast with this kind of load, nor do they haul ass at 90kts fully loaded...but they get there.

 

(Edit: I just rechecked Wiki...I am a cheating MF'r....they ONLY carry 26,000 lbs...hahaha. Not sure where I got the 40K figure from...but Looks like I need to down rate these babys just a bit. OOPs)

 

No wonder it was a bit slowwwww.

[Captain Coffee 2,030]

Somewhere up on the tip of that white topped peak , 2nd range back...someone is asking "Where's the beef?"...its on it's way...and it is Chopped Beef too.

 

 

Helen is hauling a load of 750 lbs of beef from W16, Monroe, Oregon to restock the larder of Fire Watch Tower XTFH, Three Fingers, Oregon.

It's on the white peak, second range back and up at 6900 feet. With a full load of Chopped Beef this is a bit of a hill climb slow slog up to the tower. Due to the hill

climb and the treacherous destination, this load waited for a clear and calm day.

 

Cleared the first range:

 

I can just barely make out a plume of smoke coming from the right peak...we are almost there.

 

That tiny and terribly remote bit of heaven is Home Sweet Home to a hardy soul.

 

 

Gulp..that pad could be a bit smaller ya think??? Or does it just look smaller cuz of the drop below it?

 

This is much harder than landing an oil rig...even with calm winds updrafts and downdrafts were swilrling all around this place,...it took 4 missed approaches and a near miss with the shack before I got this close...

 

[OMFG...down and safe...sphincter, you can relax now...NO! not that much] "YO..Come out here and get your damned beef...I'll be damned if I'm gonna set foot on that

tiny pad without a chopper under me"

 

The return trip was a very fast downhill scoot back to W16...and the restrooms for a change of trousers.

[Corsaire31 419]

Great job !   Should have enough beef for a while...

[ddavid 149]

That's an achievement, Matt! AH with helicopters - I tried some time ago, but had to give up, but you seem to have cracked it. And the auto-pilot certainly takes a load off your hands, particularly when navigating. Kudos for landing on that pile of logs - PNW has some great places to (attempt to) land, eh?!?

Cheers - Dai.

[Captain Coffee 2,030]

The autopilot makes hauling in a copter possible for longer than 10 miles. Shoving a stick forward for an hour is not my idea of fun .

I found the autopilot on one of the freeware sites...it works brilliantly except for some quirks that are more pronounced in some helis than others.

-Returning from Pause while on autopilot is often accompanied by a horrible pitch up that the AP can't cope with...always turn off the AP just before hitting Puase, reset it an instant after unPausing and it works great.

-Accidentally tapping the differential brakes will turn the AP completely off...a problem for my CH pedals as it's spring always lets one pedal droop/activate a brake (Every screen shot I do I have to step on the pedals to get that red notice off of the screen...im considering buying some saitek pedals and yoke soon, not just cuz of that though. I fixed it by filling a sock with loose change and placing one over each pedal...low tech technician at your service.

 

But ya, once I worked around those issues it is really nice to be able to load the Chinook up with 20k lbs of cargo, enter FSX, open the Flight Planer, set a GPS route with lots of waypoints following the water around Alaskan mountain ranges. I get her into the air and set the autopilot, the crank up the laptop and binge watch Netlflix TV episodes while glancing over at the gauges occasionally on the FSX machine.

 

Also much easier to get a beer enroute without pausing.

 

 

[brett 2,284]

Filling a sock with change, ha, great fix.