Hellicopter Controller

[rocky289]

Any advice on a reasonably priced controller for rotorcraft. I have been using a Logitech Wingman Force 3D & don't find it very adequate. In contast I tried my trusty Ch Products flight yoke & found by remaping I could fly the FSX Bell & Robie much better but it's not very practical.
I realise a set of rudder pedals would make things easier & I see most rotorcraft type controllers have them.
It would be also be a bonus to get a set of those that would be compatable with the flight yoke for flying fixed wing.

[Ian Warren]

Directly , Get some rudder pedals , for Helicopter flying you want a very good flightsim joystick , i kept to a yoke , reason , i do fly fixed wing more but gives you a good control and lateral reason , specific if your looking around - required with copters .

[rocky289]

OK I'll just get a set of rudder pedals & carry on using the flight yoke.
The Saitek ones seem to be more common, would you know if they are compatable with my Ch Products yoke.

[Bandit]

I fly rotors probably 90% of the time. To get a more natural feel I'd recommend a HOTAS setup of some sort.
Keep an eye out for an old Saitek x45. Creator did an article a while back on modifying one of these.

I use my car controller foot pedals. Not as good obviously as built for purpose aircraft ones but if you're on a budget they do the trick.

[rocky289]

Just borrowed a Saitek Cyborg 3G Gold from a friend & what a difference, very controllable.

[Zacchaeus]

I've taken a different approach for pedals, as I am either on a budget or closer to some Scotish ancestors that I am not aware of and slapped a bar of wood to an old sidewinder joystick that was gathering dust. I remapped the stick so that it was only reading one axis - and hey presto, one very ugly, very cheap, set of rudders.

Even such a silly approach as this makes flying helicopters so much easier

[Ian Warren]

ZAC s Bloody Innovative , It works .. Superb , I could try and teach , but you , the perfect example of thinking outside the PC screen amd shown it can be done !

[Syncop8r]

Sorry to link to another forum (again).... but check these out!
http://dev.kiwisim.net.nz/phpBB3/viewtopic...ls&start=60

[IslandBoy77]

I used to sell the FlightLink stuff from the US. It's expensive, and seems to break with moderate wear. It looks the part (cyclic, collective, pedals), but the only thing that seems not to break easily is the collective (least moving parts I guess). The hydraulic pedals were a nice touch, but they seem to leak fairly easily. It could be that the 1 set I did sell in NZ went to a guy who's rough on his gear - but the fact that he was so quickly and easily able to "break" both the pedals and the cyclic did not bode well... I think the pedals last 6 months before leaking, and the cyclic 3-4 weeks. I haven't heard from him in a while, but last I heard he hadn't managed to break the 2nd cyclic, but the right pedal was still leaking.