AI helicopters

Does anyone have any experience with this addon? http://www.flight1.com/products.asp?product=helitraffic

I'm wondering if I can just set it and go without having to create flight plans for airports even though the option is there.

MAIW has some excellent AI helicopters, as does Hovercontrol. All freeware.

You may want to give them a glance...

Pat☺

I bought this program a few years ago:

http://secure.simmarket.com/utt-ai-traffic-eurocopter-ec120b-colibri-(ai-helicopter)-fs2004.phtml

It worked not too bad, in the past I experimented with ai choppers, in the early days the only way was to make them fly like a plane by tweaking the cfg.

But now they have advanced a lot, and as Phantom says above the guys at MIAW have some great stuff including Ospreys as well.

Col.

Helitraffic 2009 is fantastic, in my local flying region I have lots of custom chopper traffic flying around (air sea rescue, police chopper, local airport traing flights, etc.). Its very customizable, I even have a Retro file only with RAF choppers from 1982 for my 1982 RAF FSX scenery.

Cool!

So do the MAIW helicopters use the helipad like this module would do? Or do they land on the runway?

Depends on the type. The birds with wheels land on the runway and taxi to parking, like the CH-53, or the Osprey. The birds with skids either come down to the runway and hover-taxi to parking, or just hover down to parking.

So, helpful though it's not, the answer to your question is: YES. :D

Pat☺

Depends on the type. The birds with wheels land on the runway and taxi to parking, like the CH-53, or the Osprey. The birds with skids either come down to the runway and hover-taxi to parking, or just hover down to parking.

 

So, helpful though it's not, the answer to your question is: YES. :D

 

Pat☺

Then that's not what I'm looking for. When I do buy this module I'll see what type of helicopters MAIW has and use those as well for this add-on. I want them to land on the landing pad like they should.

Every base I was ever at, including AF, Navy, and, of course, Marine Corps, That was how it worked. Choppers landed and took off from the runway. The birds with wheels taxi'd there on the ground, and the skidded ones hover-taxi'd to it. They held short, the whole nine yards.

The only time I ever saw an exception to that, sort of, was when I was on the end of the flight-line at VMFAT-401, working on top of a Kfir. The SAR bird, a Huey, was pulled out of it's hangar in a big hurry, fired up and came down the taxi-way right beside me, at a very fast pace. Nose low, the blade tips looked, looked I say, about 5 feet off the ground. I was 10 feet up on the Kfir. I thought I was a dead man, jumped down, rolled under the plane. I honestly thought I was going to loose my head if I didn't, seriously.

I saw the chopper turn hard right at the cross taxi-way to the end of the main runway, and keep on from there, still accelerating, but gaining altitude. Turned out a hot-dog F/A-18 pilot pulled up off a bombing target, and turned into his wingman. He said later he thought it would look "really cool". His wingtip went through his wingman's canopy. Head too. When he landed and taxi's back to their parking, you could actually see bits in the what was left of his wingtip. He lost his wings for that stunt...

BUT, that was the only time I ever saw a helicopter NOT take-off or land using the main runway. It may have been different at a dedicated helicopter base, like Tustin, but that was the way it worked when helicopters utilized any fixed-wing base I was ever at.

I'll wager MAIW is accurate in that regard...

Pat☺

Well, that may be true, but for the most part, they use a landing pad and FS has landing pads. I even have Area 51 and it too has a few landing pads and I'd like my choppers to use them. I don't want to see a chopper float down the taxiway taking up the precious line of other AI and taxi to the runway along with fixed wing aircraft. I'd like to have my choppers and fixed wing separate.

My question still stands. Do I need to create flight plans for each and every airport with this add-on, or can I set it and go and see AI choppers?

Well, that may be true, but for the most part, they use a landing pad and FS has landing pads. I even have Area 51 and it too has a few landing pads and I'd like my choppers to use them. I don't want to see a chopper float down the taxiway taking up the precious line of other AI and taxi to the runway along with fixed wing aircraft. I'd like to have my choppers and fixed wing separate.

 

 

My question still stands. Do I need to create flight plans for each and every airport with this add-on, or can I set it and go and see AI choppers?

Yes, exactly as for every other AI aircraft. But I would strongly suggest to create separate ADE for your choppers. They just need a runway of 300 ft. lenght.

Heli2009 is indeed a nice tool. But you can't follow choopers as you might do it with AI aircraft.