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Screen shots by Nemeth Designs |
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Sikorsky's CH-54 Tarhe is a twin-turbine-engine heavy-lift helicopter designed for lifting heavy bulk loads internally or externally. Designed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, it can lift objects as heavy as a small house and carry them many miles away. Routinely used by the military for carrying troops and equipment inside containers called "pods," it was named after an 18th Century Native American leader whose nickname was "Crane."
The civilian version, called the S-64 Skycrane, is used for carrying materials for construction and water for firefighting. A common use is by the Erickson Air Crane company, which now manufactures these helicopters and is the world's largest user.
MILVIZ Military Visualizations and Nemeth Designs have created four models of this utilitarian helicopter.
These are among the features of the Sikorsky helicopter cranes heralded by the developers:
MILVIZ is a artist team that makes 3D models of airplanes. Nemeth makes 3D models as well and implements some of the models into Flight Simulator. "We work together with MILVIZ on some projects where they are responsible for the 3D models and texture maps and we transform," explains Tamas Nemeth, "or try to transform the model into Flight Simulator aircraft."
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AVAILABLE MODELS |
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S-64 Erickson Hoist
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S-64 Erickson Water Tank
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CH-54 Hoist
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CH-54 With Pod
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| Screen shots by Bill Stack | |||
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PURCHASE FEATURES |
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Instant download from the Pilot Shop |
YES | |
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Installation program |
YES | |
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License key required |
YES | |
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Copyright acknowledgment required |
YES | |
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Manual included |
YES | |
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Checklists & reference included |
NO | |
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Uninstall program included |
NO | |
The detail, clarity, and accuracy of these aircraft are outstanding. They clearly resemble all the photographs of real-world Sikorsky CH-54s and S-64s I found on the Internet. Furthermore, the details of equipment and surfaces on these aircraft show noteworthy attention to detail and accuracy. Fixed-wing aircraft generally have smooth surfaces for aerodynamics, but these helicopters have numerous exposed parts and engines, all of which are rendered accurately in 3D.
The Erickson paint scheme is remarkably realistic compared to the real-world photos I found.
Cockpits and panels for all four aircraft are the same. Most of the gauges, switches, and controls are workable. Instruments are clear and readable, but labels for gauges, switches, and similar controls are illegible.
There is no 2D instrument panel. Some flight simmers like them, and others don't care for them.
| SIKORSKY CH-54 & S-64 COCKPITS | ||
Left Seat
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Right Seat
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Aft Seat
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| Screen shots by Bill Stack | ||
| SIKORSKY CH-54 & S-64 PANELS | ||
Main Flight Instruments
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Engine & Utility Instruments
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Overhead Panel
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Center Console
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Center Console, Housefly View
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Hoist Controls
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| Screen shots by Bill Stack | ||
An installation program is downloaded quickly from the Pilot Shop.
That installation program installs all needed files into the correct FSX folders:
This announcement appears in the installation program:
"MILVIZ/Nemeth Designs Sikorsky CH-54A & Erickson Air-Crane S-64E requires Service Pack 2 for Flight Simulator X installed. If you haven't upgraded Flight Simulator X with Service Pack 2 please install it before running this setup program."
"Acceleration Expansion Pack for Flight Simulator X is recommended for full functionality."
This announcement goes on to recommend that users visit the Microsoft Flight Simulator X® website.
Important consumer information such as this should be provided to potential buyers in the product description, not in the installation program when it might be too late for flight simmers without Service Pack 2 or Acceleration. (Service Pack 2 is a wise upgrade for FSX, and Acceleration is a worthy addition.)
The installation program says 696 MB of disk space is needed.
Frame rates are good. They were in the teens and 20s most of the time.
Tech support is through an internet forum.
| CH-54 & S-64 IN FLIGHT | ||
Sky Crane
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Sky Crane From Below
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With Pod From Below
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Water Tank Liftoff
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Air Crane Water Tank
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Air Crane From Below
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| Screen shots by Bill Stack | ||
I flew my test flights from Otis Air National Guard Base (KFMH) in Falmouth, Massachusettes, U.S.A., which is 138 feet above mean sea level, and I used clear weather and standard atmosphere.
Any simmer who has attempted helicopter flight knows how demanding it is. Any change affects all other flight conditions. Flying straight and level requires a precise balance between pitch down and throttle. There is no autopilot to hold the aircraft. Consequently, real and simulation pilots alike must pay close attention to everything they and their aircraft are doing. These four aircraft are no different in that regard.
All four of these aircraft have separate modeling files, yet they all fly much like the Bell Jet Ranger and like one another. If there were any differences among them, however, I did not notice any. They all climbed, moved forward, turned, descended, and landed the same way.
The Fuel and Payload menus on all four aircraft show different payload weights. The CH-54 carrying a pod weighs 2,800 pounds more than the CH-54 without a pod. The S-64 carrying water weighs 809 pounds more than the S-64 carrying nothing. Nonetheless, all four aircraft seem to perform the same. If there were any handling differences, I didn't notice them.
I climbed up to 13,000 feet before the aircraft "stalled" and began behaving erratically. I found no cavitation during any hovering.
The sound files are unique to these aircraft, and they sound like a large helicopter should sound like.
There are no performance data for any of the models, such as cruising speeds, service ceilings, or ranges. There are no checklists or reference sheets, and the manual says nothing about these items. As a result, sim pilots are on their own to experiment with flight controls and learn the aircraft's performance by trial and error. The developer said: "Aircraft performance data might be a subject of a further update of the user manual."
Labels on the annotated screen shots are legible whereas labels on the 3D panels are illegible. Zooming in on the screen shots enables clear reading of labels for switches, knobs, and other controls. If 2D popup panels were as legible as the manual screen shots, they would be a useful addition. Mouse-over balloons would be helpful too.
A multi-position knob in the lower right of the overhead panel is not identified in the manual. After fiddling with it, I found the windshield wipers wiping.
| CH-54 and S-64 AT NIGHT | ||
Air Crane Hoist
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Air Crane Water
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Sky Crane Hoist
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Cockpit Dusk
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Cockpit Night
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Cockpit Dawn
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| Screen shots by Bill Stack | ||
The 36-page manual in Adobe Acrobat provides considerable textual information about the aircraft and its systems, then it provides several annotated screen shots explaining the various instrument panels. It is deposited by the installation program in this folder: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\Nemeth Designs.
The annotated screen shot of the center console in the manual shows the controls that operates the hoist and water systems, which are identified as working items in the product description, but my search of the manual revealed no other instructions about these items. Being unable to get them to work, I was unable to make any screen shots of them in operation. The developer said instructions were being added to the user manual in Patch 1.01.
The manual's technical and background information about these aircraft and their operations are interesting, but performance data and operating instructions would be more useful. The developer said this information might be added to the manual later.
| THE MANUAL | ||
Cover
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Page 19
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Page 26
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| Screen shot by Bill Stack | ||
Information about the real Sikorsky CH-54 and S-64 can be found at these websites, among others:
These four aircraft are visually stunning inside and out. The attention to detail on the numerous 3D components on both aircraft and the accurate painting of the Erickson aircraft are extraordinary. Flight modeling and sounds seem realistic, although performances seem the same regardless of weight and drag factors. Operations are challenging without adequate instructions. If labels on instrument were be more legible, simmers would be better able to use functions on these aircraft. I can appreciate developers wanting to avoid being deluged with tech-support questions via email, but support through internet forums falls short of what users need, and adequate instructions would reduce the number of tech-support questions in the first place. From a visual point of view alone, however, these aircraft are worth having.
Learn More About Nemeth Designs' Ch-54 Sky Crane and S-64 Air Crane
Bill Stack is author of several books about flight simulation, a regular author in flight-sim magazines, and a contributor to Flight Sim Com. His website is www.topskills.com
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