Had my neighbour over a few weeks ago to try out the Cabri in MSFS 2020. James was a training instructor on the Cabri here at Leicester airport , now flies the Agusta as a HEMS pilot, brilliant young man and neighbour. Within a few minutes of taking the sim controls he was flying the Cabri and doing auto rotates with ease, he was really impressed with MSFS saying it was pretty accurate. He did however, say, it was easier to fly the real thing !
@@cgaviator I think you are right Chris, James said it was easier in the real aircraft due to the visibility plus I don't have a proper collective or cyclic which probably took some getting used to with the Thrustmaster HOTAS .
@@WhiteHawk77 I've flown 2 helicopters before, a Robinson R22 and a Bell 206 L4, I can tell you that from my own experience that it's much easier flying the real helicopter than the one in the sim. I use a thrustmaster HOTAS without any assists. Yes helicopters are extremely difficult to master and fly well, especially the R22 since it does not have hydraulics but the sim was harder.
@@thrishanvangraan9815 I’ve deleted my comment, looks like I misread the last bit of the original post, I thought it said it was easier to fly than the real thing. 🤦🏻
I work at Banner hospital in security and I constantly see these helicopters land. it's really cool to see Banner Air inside the game! Thanks for the Start up man!!! Solid!
Great video and I think I'm definitely going to have to put the H125 on my wishlist, looks like you really get your moneys worth. Also hadn't realised how extensive Manilla Bay scenery pack was, it looks great. Downloading now but has a lot of depencies 😂
Cannot wait for this in the marketplace looks amazing the thing in real life has some amazing blade slap sounds but nothing can beat the chinook blade slap hopefully we get one in the sim one day!
Love the Chinook. As a member of Tac Comms Wing in the RAF in the 80s our unit worked alongside 7 and 33 Sqn at RAF Odiham providing field comms for the Chinooks , often managed to grab a front left seat ride , it never got boring !! As you say, very distinctive sound from the rotor blades as well.
@cgaviator I hope someone releases a Blackhawk or Chinook for the Xbox version I mention these as these are utility Helos and market place doesn't allow the display of any weapons which is odd to me but as these 2 helps are utility they won't look as odd as perhaps an Apache with no weaponry displayed 🤔 I would love a coast guard version of the Blackhawk and yo be able to ride the rough seas simming air sea rescue of the coast of Massachusetts 😅
I’d be making it up as I have no real world helo experience. I tend to keep my tutorials to stuff I’ve done in real life (well, almost, I’ve never landed in an aircraft carrier!!) 😅
I'm in two minds about how Cowan does optional gear - it's a very clunky interface but it's quite clever how he's reused core functionality there. The problem with adding seperate versions of the helicopter would be liveries - the amount of liveries I've ended up with for the EC145 without having that much selection is a bit nuts at this point. An EFB ( or a clipboard! more people need to use clipboards ) with config presets as well as options would be ideal I think. The model looks like it has less rough edges than the 500, some of the dash textures look a bit rough though, is that youtube or are they actually that way? French/Soviet rotor direction, so right skid low is good. Overtorquing like that should probably set all sorts of maintenance flags off :) I do hope you bind your collective to a reversed throttle so you pull to go up! VRS is not that big a deal in a real helicopter I've always been assured ( I have a couple of flights in a Jetranger of some sort from a couple of decades ago, I don't count - heli lessons are absurdly expensive ), for some reason sim pilots have latched onto it... you'd need to be descending vertically with some power in, and real helicopter flight profiles don't actually go fully vertical much anyway. I get the feeling your quick stop turn might have put you more at risk than the vertical descent! If you think night flight is bad, try night formation flight :S Does this one want to roll left in cruise like his other aircraft want to roll right? ( rotor goes the opposite way in France, so forward side is on the left ) - that's actually made me put the 500 away.
Good points all around! I can never convince my brain to understand pull back to 'power up!' I've flown some real helo sims and every time I came in to land I took off again! lol The video quality should be 2K but I didn't notice anything too rough. And I find there's still a lot of tilt in the cruise, perhaps not as much as the 500E. Night formation in a helo would scare me too much! Night formation in a fighter I've done plenty... and also not a fan! 😅
@@cgaviator Get your brain to ignore forwards & back, and concentrate on towards you & away from you, doesn't really matter which direction your arm is pointing. It makes for some hilarious times if you try and fly a harrier afterwards, but it's quite natural - or at least I find it quite natural, but my mental picture of what's going on is pretty radically different for a helicopter anyway - it's always all about up-down, it's just sometimes up is a bit off the vertical :). Mind you you pull to go up in a fixed-wing aircraft and push the power to go faster, just the same in a helicopter if you reverse your hands... I have done night AAR in sim, and that was plenty enough for me. You can keep your real aeroplane at a distance, thanks :D
Great episode and nice heli. Thanks as always great infotainment! I wonder if the lacking precision on ground is partially caused by time effects we all are experiencing in the sim. When dealing with virtual instruments in sim you need way more time for handling (panning camera, looking for the (smaller then real) item, non-haptic inputs, tricky clickspots)... then you would in reality. "Less time" for doing things especially in critical multitasking situations - less precision. When playing around with the time feature in sim i found that a slowing down of around 10-15% in these situations should improve the perceived realism quite a bit. Unfortunately the feature doesnt allow for gradual speed adjustments and starts with -25% which is way too slow. And of course no one wants to run the sim the whole time slower then real time... yet a feature that adjust the time in e.g. landing situations smoothly with no noticable transitions would improve the perceived precision quite a bit. In some console games this feature exists for the exact same reason.Thanks again! 💙
Best ever video ! At least for me. I’m new in MSFS. I got RTX 4090 but never seen such smooth graphic like yours, not even close. Could you please share with us your graphic setting. I would be really appreciate.
I have to chuckle when hearing/reading how things could be done a little better…I just think back to…. Flight Simulator 95! 😂 That is like comparing stick men drawings to Picasso artwork!😂
I get the privilege to fly an as350 at work and this model is nothing like the real thing. The design is great just like in xplane but the flight models are both very inaccurate.
If you mention why or submit it on his website he’ll probably work towards getting it better. Sadly I think MSFS still has limitations in which parameters are adjustable without negatively impacting something else.
scale of cowan people to ms is off. Wish it would allow the tactical co pilot to show for PD use. Could not get rid of hems after bringing it in, even when I set weight to 0. Thanks for this. oh, yeah, how are the outside panels opened?
@@cgaviator I believe I saw an image of the open storage on each side. At any rate. you got me started properly. Had a short maiden flight from Van Nuys to my LA district, Sunland. Cheers!
Why thanks! I use Thrustmaster warthog with MFG rudder pedals but I also have a 10cm extension tube on my stick to make the spring force less. I trim when I’m cruising
Are you a professional pilot with experience on the H125? If yes, is that an issue or real that on acceleration and climbing the copter dives sometimes?
Sadly I have 0 experience with helos other than the sim. I noticed at high speed the helo will do some crazy pitch things but that was at the extremes. I'm not sure otherwise
I'm not a fan of using the MSFS weight & balance menu to toggle features on and off. Definitely needs to be on an iPad, clipboard, or pop-up menu like the CowanSim X-Plane version has. I don't want separate thumbnails for each variant in the MSFS aircraft selection menu though. Not a CowanSim issue, but I wish Asobo would update their aircraft selection menu so there is only ONE thumbnail box for each aircraft. That box could have click spots for "Configure", "Favorites", "Last flown". Click on "Configure" and a menu opens to select the developer, variant, options, and liveries. Click "Favorites" to open a list of your pre-configured favorite set-ups. "Last flown" loads whatever configuration was last flown. While I like multiple variants and liveries for aircraft, I hate having to scroll through a bunch of options and liveries I never use. A search/sort function for liveries would be nice too. You could put in "Police" + "CA" and it would show you all the Police liveries from CA, or "UK" + "Medical" for all the medical liveries with UK registrations, instead of scrolling through 100 thumbnails trying to find a desired livery.
I’m not sure, force trim being that it takes the current stick position as neutral? Would need MSFS to enable it as an option or a workaround by developers.
@@cgaviator Thank you. I have got the very simple Extreme 3D Pro joystick. Not sure if that could be altered with. I am also a bit unsure if I got the best helicopter in Cowans fleet. Is there a more fun / better choice? Still able to get a refund.
There are lots but sadly the sim environment is not very supportive of complex fighter jets. PMDG and Blackbird Sim do good stuff. Also Just Flight as well as a few other smaller developers are doing great work.
Does anyone here have a custom camera method they prefer? I’m familiar with the “experimental” replay tool, but I don’t know how to get those angles removed from the aircraft itself
It looks amazing, but to be honest I am bit tired of buying $35 add-ons that are all to be finished! I have all the offerings form this dev and all are not finished. I understand the thinking behind it and I am not saying its a scam or not worth it, but I am not sure I want 3 unfinished products with no doubt more to come.
What puts me off re Cowan Sim helicopters is the horrible rotor animation fitted to the otherwise nice models. The rotors are animated as seen in cheap smartphone videos, not what the human eye would see. The individual blades need to be a LOT more blurred making it more like a rotor disc than individual blades turning when at high RPM. For the Bell 206 is sort of bearable because it's only 2 blades, but for the MD500 and also this H125 it just looks awful. The sim is capable of having much more realistic animations for rotors, as is evident with some of the competitors. I really wish Cowan would make this part more realistic. Until then I'm afraid I have to avoid getting any of his stuff.
@@cgaviator I really wish we could demo helicopters. I bought the H-145 but although it’s a fantastic aircraft I find it clunky, robotic, overly complicated and ultimately dull to fly.
@@AdminVortex762 I have to agree a little, and I mentioned it to the developers that it just wasn’t as fun or involving to fly. Have to remember though, it’s a modern chopper and they designed it to be stable with the computers doing a lot of the work. I’m impressed by the complexity, but will fly the 500E or H125 for the fun of throwing it around
Watched it!!! ❤❤❤ Awesome review. Thank you!! For others reading... I hear you!! Anything that can make the helicopter a better experience is on the table for further development. Thanks for all the feedback!!!
It looks very good, although I’m hesitant buying it in early access, while they have 2 other helicopters in EA as well. Did they already improve the 500E? But I’ll definitely get that scenery, it looks amazing! (You should also check the Victoria falls scenery, which’s amazing)
I didn’t want to call it early access but it does appear to have been released with more bugs than would be usual. The 500 got an update a while back. I will check Victoria falls, thanks
I too have been starting to wonder about updates for the md500 so emailed the dev and he replied saying we should hopefully see an update in April! So I was happy to hear that. The h125 is just such a notorious chopper, I’ll prob be buying it soon.
I find the heli’s from Cowan very difficult to fly with no assists! Especially rudder pedal input is all over the place. Even the DCS Apache is easier to fly!
I have to say, unless it’s changed recently, the DCS Apache was crazy difficult. Though I used to enjoy the Gazelle and that was all over the place til I got used to it! 😅
Stumbled across this fantastic video while checking out FS2020….been flying in FS for years…but the graphical detail of the H125 and the scenery has renewed my hunger in FS….have now subscribed and can’t wait for more vids 🎉
It has a few problems - the big one is rolling & turning into the forward side of the rotor - which he acknowledged & said he'd be fixing after su12 dropped, so given how slow market updates are I'd advise some patience. Hopefully he'll add a force trim pushbutton too.
@@cgaviator For a *fan animation.* Such as Super Mario Broz Z (remastered) episode 6 and the Castle Calamity type animations. _That_ kind of purpose. There's no way that's piracy or EULA violation. But I can't extract it to Blender if it's only obtainable via real cash.
The looks of the H125 have always appealed to me. Even over the newer Generation of Helicopters. Think i'll give this a month, then add it to my fleet that includes their 206B and 500E already. The H125 body style, with upgraded avionics would be my dream...Nice aviating for a fixed wing pilot 😄.
@@cgaviator Yeah steam gauges are cool. I definitely enjoy the older aircraft. My problem with them was reading the gauges on a small monitor. Now that I have an LG42" C2 not so much a problem. I think the biggest thing for me with modern avionics is the fact I'm not a real pilot and I appreciate a big screen containing a GPS for navigating, lol.
Love the Cowan products for MSFS on Xbox X this one is my favorite for role-playing Air Rescue in Los Angeles with the hospital landing pad add on and I Installed the emergency light add on so I had a reference points for where to land during my simmed rescue 😂 I love the H125 with the Hems pack, plus so many liveries a staggering amount out the box ❤ cool video mate 😊👍🏻
I think he converted everything from xplane. It’s has a crazy amount of liveries. In short, I don’t know, but there are lots available from freeware sites
@@cgaviator copy that. And thank you for the reply. I’m looking for the Phoenix PD liveries, I know there are several for the Xplane version, but I haven’t found any for the MSFS version. Thanks again!!
@@Kiwi_Dave ah, gotcha. Well that makes sense. Military sims have banks and banks of computers even for fixed wing simulation. So impossible to expect the home sim to do as well.
I’ve never flown a helo on msfs and only a couple on FSX. The Cowan H125 showed up so I bought it…🤔… I’m HOOKED! Between fsx and msfs I have close to 3000hrs fixed wing time…that has come to a complete FULL STOP! I am addicted! Now I’m drooling over HYPE H160 with my fingers hovering precariously over the BUY NOW button🤣. But I will stick to the H125 to get completely in tune with flying helicopters. I got caught flying from Calgary to Kamloops, winter night time VFR in IMC conditions…through the Rockies…Almost made it by watching ground proximity radar and nose to the windscreen visual flying. Then low fuel warning…then sweating…pushing it just a little more as I knew I was only 15 miles from the comfort of Revelstoke….thats when I changed profession from helicopter pilot to tree trimming…and ROCK scaling!🤣 The first time I was ever exposed to helicopter gaming was at a game arcade back in the early 1960’s when I was about 5. It was a 4’ diameter acrylic dome with a helicopter mounted on an articulating arm and two joysticks to control speed and elevation! I’ve never forgotten that feeling!
Thank you for this excellent video, it really helped me to find some of the hidden click spots and features. Initially I was not impressed with the Cowansim H125, but it is growing on me. A manual would really help, but so far none of the Cowansim helis for MSFS had anything but a checklist. I am surprised how well you managed to keep the H125 stable, had lots of twitchiness with lateral steering. But a nice gentleman on the MSFS forums suggested some slight corrections to the flight model config that really improved the handling. To sum it up, all three Cowansim helis for MSFS feel like they still need quite some work. In the current state I think they are overpriced, but let's hope they all get updated after this quick release sequence (B206, MD500, H125).
Yes, it would be good if they now got some finishing touches! The startup bug and water interaction are the biggest issues but everything has been reported and I’m sure it’ll be fixed soon. I really enjoy the 500, that’s my favourite still but the looks on the 125 are excellent.
100 liveries ! i'm always pissed when an addon comes with like 4 liveries. every details counts, i certainly do not enjoy spending hours looking for liveries for every single aircraft in my simulators
What controller are you using? Any stick with a light spring force would work. I use warthog stick with 10cm extension which achieves the same thing. But in any case it’s just about practice and anticipate the required inputs.
Hopefully with freeware coming to the Xbox we’ll start to get some of the RAF bases especially for ex-RAF personnel like myself (is there really such people?)
@@mathius-hc4yu so you’ve put them into the community folder, and you have them all including Cli4D’s scenery? Are you in the right place (gotta ask! 😅). Have you extracted the correct folders with sub folders similar to other sceneries?
At 24:40 I think it's called a 'Hammer Head', but don't quote me. Done plenty in the DCS Huey and Gazelle. You weren't quite 90° at the turn but I'll give you it 😉 Nice wee whirly with plenty going on. Does is model ground effect though? I feel that you can't have a helo in a sim if it doesn't have ground effect implemented. That's one of the main challenges of helo flying for myself. As for the vid, excellent as always and very informative. Nice one Sir. Thank you 👍🏻
I haven't found a MSFS heli with as noticeable g-e as DCS ( or DCS-bar-Gazelle, anyway ) - I think the 500 has a little so this one probably might, but Cowan seems to need to develop his rotor setups a bit anyway.
@@Karibanu i have noticed that when moving over a roof top landing site that i need to reduce collective due to a noticeable increase in lift above the solid surface
Hi Chris Great video as always, Thanks I know you like your fixed wings there is a great little freeware from Jonx and the team at got friends its the Cessna T37 usaf Trainer thought you might like to check it out. Its great fun.
Thanks! And yes, I tried it last night. Something was up with the power as the rpm kept pulsing. Maybe a conflict with other addons but not currently useable for me.
Well after a bit of a traumatic week after the update with stutters and all sorts finally got things all a bit smoother and looking better. found this last night and flew your Leeming to bristol low level flightplan manually without a hitch. and have beenpracticing mi aerobatics today at Faro and akritori with it and as a novice its quite forgiving but a good step towards getting better .I love it. I Know there was a problem with fsuipc that has caused some issues and rectifying thathas seemed to work for me. and I installed the game ready driver which has never worked for me and all seems much better. keep up the great work🙂
@@cgaviator Never tried p3d but I have been having a go with DCs If I can get my head around the weaponslol. I have also founda freeware of theHawker Hunter so am going supersonic old school .
