No, this is not my opinion of the game, but that of one Michael Charge.

Yesterday I came across this article that he'd written on the game, and I was quite astonished at his thoughts on the flight model, amongst other things.

http://hntdaab.co.uk/blog/wp-conten...-cache/1/thoughts-on-janes-longbow-2.pdf

Just now I sent him an e-mail giving him a bit of an insight into why I think his opinions are wrong.

I don't know what 'modern' helo sims he's played, but I can honestly say that all the ones I've personally played are very arcade-y. Note that I haven't played DCS so can't possibly comment on that.

If he isn't a "REAL LIFE" Apache pilot, he has no basis for declaring the Flight Model Rubbish.......

I am not one of those either, so I cannot comment on the "Correctness" of the Flight Model. All I can say is that it was consistent with the Flight Models of Helo Sims I played from the original GUNSHIP to GUNSHIP 2000 to Janes Apache Longbow to Longbow 2 and EECH. EECH did model Vortex RIng states/settling with power that made quick descents problematic. LB2 on faster machines displayed this behavior accidentally with the dreaded "ROTOR RPM LOW" state. A brief encounter with the ARMA addon "TAKE ON HELICOPTERS" seemed like helicopters were indeed as hard to fly as I had always heard. I consoled myself that civilian helos didn't have fancy bells and whistles like 20th century computerized attack helos... but I could concede the point that maybe my comfortable LB2 flight model might actually be a tad bit SIMPLIFIED. I never tried the DCS Black Shark, or more modern Helo addons, so I cannot say what their flight models are like, but I BET they are more challenging than LB2's.

The LB2 flight model is in my heart as the TRUE HELO FLIGHT MODEL (SIMULATED) and I guess as long as nobody asks me to strap on a real Apache anytime in the near future it doesn't matter if it is REAL(tm)..

All I know is that I remember real Apache pilots tested the game during development of LB2 and you can see from the options menu the extensive list of things that it models. Even if the guy was a real helicopter pilot, it doesn't necessarily mean much when talking about a multi-million dollar, somewhat digital, military attack helicopter, with state-of-the-art systems in place to make it 'easy' to fly. I mean rotorhead gamers slated Comanche Gold for having a 'simplified' flight model, even though they didn't realize that it's actually more accurate than most people even know.