Robinson R22 Beta for X-Plane v8.20 by Brett Sumpter (aircraft/panel/textures) & Heinz Dzuirowitz (3d cockpit.obj & texture)
3/4/06 updated for v8.40b3 - flight model tweaks, removed some of the cheats

I learned to fly helicopters in the R22, but I haven't flown one since 1989 when I took my PPL checkride - so I'm going off memory here. Most of the panel is there & functional, within the limitations of X-Plane anyways. For non-helicopter pilots, read the comments at the bottom on flying it. Also note that the mixture knob isn't used for leaning on this helicopter - try it in flight & you'll probably figure out why, a little too far & engine quits. No prop to act as a flywheel means it stops rapidly with little warning :)

Here's some of the important aircraft limitations:

Vne: 102 kts
Max level speed (at 1370 lbs): 97kts
Normal cruise: 80-90 kts
Max gross weight: 1370 lbs
Max power: 124hp continuous, 131hp 5 minute takeoff rating @104% rpm (24.2"/25.2" manifold pressure, varies based on temp & altitude - see enclosed photo of placard)
Fuel capacity (useable): 19.2 gal main, 10.5 aux tank
Fuel consumption: 8-10gph


Flight comments in X-Plane:

The R22 is a very responsive aircraft - it's also unstable, like any other helicopter that's not equipped with artificial stability systems. You'll constantly be making small corrections - and moving any single control will require adjusting the others to compensate. For example: you're hovering & start to descend a bit, so you add some collective. The increased torque causes the nose to start spinning to the right, so you add left pedal to compensate - that in turn causes the helicopter to drift to the right (from the added tail rotor thrust), so you add a bit of left cyclic to stop the drift...

The trick is to make all these corrections subconsiously - if you've got to think about it, you're behind the aircraft & start overcontrolling because there is a delay in the aircraft responding to cyclic inputs that are made. It takes a few hours of training then one day it "clicks", you just start doing it. The key is smoothness - you don't have to make large corrections, just a bunch of small ones all the time. If you think it's hard to fly at first - you are correct. Anybody off the street that trys to fly a real helicopter without proper training will crash - repeatedly :)
 
This aircraft has a teetering rotor system - one thing that'll kill very quickly is low g forces. If the rotor system is unloaded, it can move beyond the normal travel limits & do very bad things - like have the blades contact the cabin or tail boom, or the rotor head contacts the mast & departs. Because the tail rotor is above the cg of the helicopter, unloading the rotor will cause a roll due to tail rotor thrust - if this happens, the proper technique is to apply aft cyclic to load the rotor before trying to correct the roll. The moral of the story is don't make large forward cyclic movements while at high speeds.

The R22 has a low inertia rotor system - means that autorotations require good technique, no second chances here. Maintain 65 kts flying into the wind while descending until 40' agl, then start flaring - start leveling at 10', then start pulling collective to cushion your landing. In no-wind conditions you'll probably have a short ground slide. Hovering auto's are pretty quick - you'll be on the ground within a couple seconds unless you're very light. See the enclosed height/velocity diagram for the recommended takeoff profile.

Questions, comments to: sumpterb@alltel.net
Commercial use allowed by Austin Meyer for official X-Plane releases

