Originally Posted by
TheiC
I wonder whether someone might help me with a very specific question...
I gave up rotary flying a few years ago, largely because I stopped enjoying it. Analysing why, I concluded that the large-amplitude cyclic inputs required on the 206 (which I was flying) made flying it a lot less intuitive than I would have liked (especially from my perspective as a died-in-the-wool fixed-wing pilot
Whilst you do acknowledge that you're not bashing the 206 I'm surprised that more haven't taken on board this statement. With a few thousand hours on type I would strongly suggest that you must have been flying a very poor example of the 206 since a normal one would not require 'large amplitude inputs' to achieve smooth flight. All my flying of the 206 series only required wrist movements to control the cyclic.
Obviously the BK117 and other rigid rotor types are far more responsive, but generally I'd put fixed wing control inputs to be way on the other side of 'sloppy' when compared to the 206 or other helicopter types. Indeed, when flying the Spitfire the other pilot (another helicopter driver) commented that the controls were much looser than a helicopter except for the aileron which was almost what you'd expect of a 206.
Mind you he was a Wessex driver, and an ex-Crab at that ...
If you want something more responsive then try a 105, 117, 500 or a Gazelle. Or a properly rigged JetRanger
