What the...

[DaveB]

Yes indeed mate. The AS350 (and later 355) sold gallons.. the darned things are everywhere though they don't look like the 130. I think the only thing that DOES look like a 130 is the Gazelle and the 130 looks like IT not the other way round Actually.. the 130 resembles the 120.. a 120 on steroids if you will Prices start from $2.1m USD if you fancy one

Anyhoo.. the Shark paint stalled a bit due to partly to my intransigence and a couple of odd bits but I picked it up again today and am reasonably happy. It's not quite finished. I think there should be chevrons on the underside (though I can't determine the exact number or colour) plus the default pilot is wearing a NICS sweatshirt and baseball cap and we can't have that now can we I've taken a shot of the 'FLY NAVY Historic Flight' logo off my polo shirt and that's what Mr Pilot will be wearing IDC



The large side numbers have been a devil.. no matter what I do they don't seem to line-up but having said that.. they look skewiff on the real thing too so I'm leaving it alone now.. I think

ATB
Dave

[DaveG]

Very smart Mr B.

[DaveB]

Why thank you Mr G

Think I'll probably drop this paint on the non-float model as the floats look a bit cumbersome. This'll be a first as I've yet to even look at the non-float versions

ATB
Dave

[rohan]

... Prices start from $2.1m USD if you fancy one ...

Oh, I do, I do, but I doubt if my pension will run quite that far.

Looking at that shot of your Sharks repaint, the red doesn't seem to match my memory of the real thing at Middle Wallop and Greenham Common. Somehow the red looks as if it needs to be a bit "brighter", but it may be that it's just that screenshot rendition or even a faulty memory on my part.

As for buying this baby, I'd not really looked at the latest ND release, despite buying the Samson followed by the Puma and CH-53E in their Christmas sale. I'd lined up the AW109 and CH47 for the next sale, but after seeing that first shot in this topic the EC130 may well jump the queue. I was browsing the product page earlier and rather like the paints in the main release. I also watched their video trailer and was surprised at the spooling up image of the main rotor, in which the blades seemed to be going backwards. Of course, this may just be the old optical illusion of wheels spinning backwards (as in old westerm TV shows with shots of stagecoaches). Anyway, perhaps you could give me some indication of your thoughts on the handling of this helo.

And I would really be interested in seeing / grabbing a copy of any of your repaints ...
Thanks in advance,
Ro

[DaveB]

Hi Ro

I quite agree on the red. Much depends on what shot you use as a reference and the shot I sampled was less than vivid. However, it has an olde worlde feel which is pretty much what I was after. Cyril's version on the old FS8 model is a nice, full red and I may change mine for something similar IDC.

I went for the 130 purely for the UK paint. Had they all been US or European.. I may have hung back.. perhaps until the Christmas sale. Anyhoo.. having dived in, I was very disappointed with the handling straight out of the box. ND say that as hardware gets better, users are demanding more realistic flight characteristics and this is reflected in the EC130. It was also reflected in the AW109 (which they later revised) and in the AS350 (which they didn't.. by and large). I won't buy the 355 unless it's in a sale as a consequence and I didn't buy the 109 until the revision. Unless your setup is helo orientated (pedals, separate throttles e t c) the 130 is IMHO pretty much unflyable as was the 350. Reducing the sensitivity in the cfg makes no difference and for some time, I was sore I'd wasted my money. With the 350, I've been able to use another models airfile and this has calmed it down. After a number of users on the Nemeth forums reported they felt the 130 'unflyable' (that's the word I used over there!).. they went back and produced what they call a 'Lite' version. To be honest, I feel they've gone a little too far backwards with the Lite version but for those of us with basic setups that have to cover everything from a helicopter to a Eurofighter.. it makes the 130 flyable.
I still doubt the validity of the release FD as being 'realistic' though I've read it flies well with a full length control stick and all the gubbins I mentioned above. They aim this statement at the 350 also but having been fortunate enough to try a real 350 sim software.. the 2 are not even close so you pays your money.. you takes your chance. I have warned them that while I appreciate their efforts for 'realism'.. they will ultimately alienate the ordinary user and that can't be good for business I love Nemeth models and I fly them more than anything else. I can't wait for their next release.. the BK117.. but I do wonder what the hell it's going to fly like given the 350/355/130 FD's

ATB
DaveB

[rohan]

DaveB,
thanks very much for that insight. The thing that made me interested in the EC130 was not just the repaint in your screenshot, but the pose of the helo as well - its overall shape and size making it have the same "rightness" of design look that characterises a Spitfire, Lancaster, VC-10 and Gazelle (and even the Samson, Optica and bubbleship). Having looked at the Wikipedia entry, I also noticed several very good looking paint schemes that I'd like to try flying in the sim - in particular, a gorgeous South American camouflaged example. There's a hint for you ...

I must have another look for that red repaint of Cyril's model later. I'm sure you're aware of it, but in case not, there's an FSX "conversion" of Cyril's Gazelle by the somewhat notorious Danny Garnier at SimViation. There's also a private GB repaint of that conversion as well, but that seems to have the rather blotchy large red area problem that afflicts some model repaints.

It sounds like I'm going to have to register at the ND forum (if I haven't already done so, but I don't remember that event at this time). I know I downloaded the files on their "support" page(s) for the ones I bought. Anyway, I have several months to ponder on an EC130 purchase, and there are a couple of Carenado twins at the top of my most wanted list. Just a shame that one man's authentic FDE is another man's unflyable FDE ... so many designers seem to think they know it all these days. Time will tell ...

Thanks again,
Ro

[DaveB]

You're welcome Ro

I'd tried the Danny Garnier conversion but since moving to FSX, I've become a little more discerning with what I keep and what gets binned.. if that's possible It's kicking about on a HD somewhere but not on my current install

Regarding FD's.. I read up quickly on the Alabeo R66 Turbine before buying it. The reviews were very favourable and it's a lovely looking model (as lovely as an R66 can be) so I took the plunge. As soon as I took off for the first time, I thought how 'lively' it felt. Are these really 'realistic'/'authentic' FD's?? I then read the user reviews at FSPS. Everyone said how good the FD was and just how they expected. Reading on, I stumbled over one from an R66 Turbine pilot. What Rubbish he said.. it's nothing like the real thing

BTW.. with the standard airfile and using standard hardware (eg, 3 axis stick.. MS Sidewinder in my case).. the model displays a pronounced nose down attitude on takeoff. Trying to correct this even a little brings the nose up.. above the horizontal.. which in turn requires nose down input. THIS is how it flies.. you're in a constant state of up/down on the stick. If you have the Cera Bell222 (without the Hovercontrol FD update) .. the 103 is similar but much worse.. IMHO and I would only give MHO.. for what it's worth. The Bell isn't rock steady with the Hovercontrol update but it's a lot more manageable and a lot more fun to fly. I'm no pilot and I've never flown in a real helicopter but no matter how real (or not) developers make FD's.. if the average user can't fly it on average equipment, there's no point buying it. You may as well throw your dosh down the drain and do without

ATB
Dave

[rohan]

Dave,
understood - I've just been browsing the ND / Ozx forum for the EC130 FDE thread, from which I downloaded the hilariously named Lite FDE and its fix. I also noted with some "humour" that this FDE was derived from an FS9 FDE instead of an FSXacc FDE - ye gods ...

When I've a little more time (and patience) I'll go through their forum looking for useful topics for my present and future ND product purchases. In the meantime, I've an FSXacc / P3D PC to buy and build since the one I was intending to use had to be reassigned at fairly short notice.

Oh yeah, the Cera 222 is also on my most wanted list.

Thanks again for your input - perhaps I should look into buying AirWrench and start fiddling with FDEs ...

[DaveB]

I'm starting to chase my tail now and it's getting frustrating. Very nearly time to leave it and walk away..





The red is too bright.. the red is too dark. This is sampled from another shot so who the hell knows At the end of the day, it's supposed to be an RN Sharks-esque paint on an EC130, not a facsimile of the real thing

What I thought were chevrons on the underside aren't chevrons at all, it's 'FLY NAVY'. This has been added although you can't see it from the shots above

ATB
DaveB

[TSR2]

Very nice Dave. I'm a big fan of this on the Gazelle and it looks very nice on this little tinker too.