CNET Editors' note: The "Download Now" link directs you to the iTunes App Store, where you must continue the download process. You must have iTunes installed in order to open the link, and you must have an active iTunes account to download the application. This download may not be available in some countries.
A quick note: Most of the negative reviews seem to come from people that do not READ the instructions, despite them being displayed every single time the app is launched... so read the instructions! They are only about 4 sentences. Here's what you need to know:->The throttle is automatically controlled for you.->You drag the collective DOWN to INCREASE pitch... a situation that is ergonomically the same as real helos.REMEMBER: IN THE REAL HELO, YOU PULL THE COLLECTIVE HANDLE >TOWARDSTOWARDS< YOU TO INCREASE COLLECTIVE, A SITUATION WITH THE CLOSEST ERGONOMIC SIMILARITY TO THE REAL MACHINE! This does mean that you drag the little slider TOWARDS you, or DOWN, to INCREASE collective.And now, on with the show! X-Plane Helicopter is a new version of X-Plane that lets you realistically fly Helicopters!You get some very interesting birds to fly, including:The Robinson R-22: The lightweight, efficient trainer.The Bell-206: The turbine-powered mainstay of the helicopter fleet.The BlackHawk: The massive military cargo and troop mover.The Sea King: The huge land/sea rescue helicopter.The Sikorsky S-76, an amazing luxurious executive-transport.These fascinating and varied machines are modeled very realistically, so the flight you get on the iPhone is actually almost as realistic as the full FAA-Certified flight-model used in X-Plane for desktop... You get almost all the flight-model realism of this certified sim: On your phone.As well, the default flight-area is the Grand Canyon, giving you amazing views as you fly your helos across (and into!) the various canyons and valleys, giving the you most visually-stunning simulation we have yet released, with the most challenging and realistic flight-models we have produced for iPhone so far. As well, X-Plane Helicopter comes with a number of other flying areas to keep things varied and interesting!Now, a quick lesson: The COLLECTIVE control is on the LEFT of the iPhone screen... drag it DOWN GENTLY to INCREASE the pitch of the main rotor, thus causing the helo to lift. As you drag this collective down, you will notice that the throttle AUTOMATICALLY increases on the right side of the screen. This is because the throttle governor automatically increases the engine power to maintain the desired rotor RPM as you increase the load on the rotor by increasing the rotor pitch. This is how the real helicopters work, and how we simulate them on the iPhone.The tail-rotor is controlled with a horizontal slider on the bottom of the screen. Flying a helicopter in reality is well known to be one of the more challenging and rewarding facets of aviation... the most difficult to do, but the most rewarding when you manage to do it all properly.If you are ready for the best scenery and most fascinating and challenging flight model available on the iPhone, then you are ready for X-Plane-Helicopter.
What's new in this version: When flying helicopters, the engine failures are now more accurate.In a twin helicopter after a SINGLE engine failure, you may be able to limp along at half power!And, if you lose BOTH engines in a twin, or the only engine in a single, you should now be able to do complete auto-rotations!Now, the sound DOES come back after getting a phone call, which was a problem in recent releases.Some autopilot improvements to track heading better when in heading mode, which is useful for the longer flights.T... See all new features
