Lesson: Stationary hover in a helicopter

This lesson describes the recommended procedure to perform a stationary hover in a helicopter with FS(X)Pilot.

GENERALLY for helos:

Please set the general realism slider (FS2004 or FSX realism menu) to left position (easy) and AUTORUDDER OFF.

Start the FS at your favourite airport, select your favourite helicopter.

(1) Perform a takeoff as described in this lession.
(2) To enter a stationary hover, stepwise reduce the speed of the helicopter to about 30-50 knts.
(3) press the Hover button (the one with the arrow down) on the AP-panel.

The helicopter will now enter a stationary hover procedure at the given position of the helicopter. FS(X)Pilot will adjust the hover not by bringing IAS to zero but by bringing forward and lateral ground speed to near zero. This makes the procedure independent of the wind speed at the given altitude. You can enter this procedure at any altitude.

When hover is stable, you are free to either

(1) press HDG after defining a target heading (helicopter will simply turn it's nose into this heading). Do this carefully, not using heading deltas > 30 degrees, othewise the helicopter may become unstable during the turn.
or
(2) define altitude to near zero and define a negative V/S of -200 to -300 ft/min to perform a landing at the current hover position.
or
(3) Disable the hover button, define a IAS again, press 'SPD' button to accelerate and exit the hover procedure. Always increase IAS stepwise in a helicopter.

Happy hovering !