Do pilots have to hold joystick or whatever they use to steer under specific angle like helicopter sim players have to? It seems horribly tiresome and imprecise.

Helicopter Cyclics have "force trim", by pressing a button on the stick you create a new "center" for the stick, making holding the cyclic in a given position for prolonged periods much easier.

Not all helicopters. Robinson R22 and R44 doesn`t have such a system.

I'll be gessing here but I imagine that those cyclics on those choppers are not spring loaded and have some dampening on the cyclic insteaf then. Is that correct?

I see. Is it used often? Do helicopter cyclics automatically return to central position like joysticks?

One of the reasons why I have spent much more time playing Gunship than modern sims is that while it tries to be as realistic as possible, I don't have to keep a joystick in an uncomfortable position for a long time and steering is generally more precise.

I would say that R22s cyclic is directly connected to the control rods. Don`t know if it have dampening at all. It have a trim knop which you can use i.e. for cruise flights. That knop will reduce the forces you have to apply to hold the cyclic forward. It will not help for hovering.

In DCS helicopters (Huey, Black Shark, Mi8) you can also trim youre helicopter and therefore you don`t have to hold the joystick in a uncomfortable position for a long time.

I had a pleasure flight in a helicopter many years ago and once up to a few thousand feet the pilot let me take control as I had been talking to him about Longbow 2 and how flying sims must give you some idea of flying IRL.
After getting the feel of the controls I was amazed how easily I managed to adjust to a full-sized helicopter finding it quite easy to bring the machine into a hover, turn using the pedals etc. Of course all of this was at height and with the pilot ready to take control again if I screwed up, but even so I loved the experience though I wouldn't have liked to attempt a landing

Some helicopters employ forced trim via motors activated on a 'trim hat' on the cyclic (r22,r44,md500,enstrom,300 etc). These motors overcome the force the pilot would normally feel from direct connection of the controls to the swashplate. They in no way relieve the pilot of holding the cyclic in position, it just helps counter the forces the feels.

Other helicopters (Hueys) use spring trim for much the same purpose along with hydraulics (all bell, eurocopter etc products) to ease the pilots workload. The Hydraulics eliminate the backforce while the forced bunjie trim (bell huey but not other bells) maintain a central point for the cyclic. Again the pilot cannot 'let go' and sit back. a gust of wind will throw the aircraft out of trim.

Only a functioning autopilot will allow the pilot to not maintain control of the aircraft.