Help flying helos!

I'm cross posting this over from the official DCS forums to tap into the simhq knowledge well.

OK...so I know helicopters are very difficult to fly, but really, it CAN'T possibly be this hard! I can barely get them off the ground and its extremely frustrating to go through the start procedure only to crash and burn before even being able to break 10 feet.

I suspect the problem is one with my control settings. I have an X55 Rhino system. I have the throttle set for collective and the stick set for cyclic pitch and control with the RZ axis set to rudders. What else is there that could be screwy? Trim settings? What is causing my helicopter to totally spin out of control? I've tried applying collective slowly and quickly and none of it makes much difference. I try applying rudder to counteract the turn, but nothing works. Fixed wing aircraft function fine more or less, so I know its not a hardware problem.

I put the control overlay up and everything appears to be functioning as intended. Still, whenever I apply enough collective to get off of the ground, the helo begins spinning uncontrollably and my efforts to correct it only seem to make it worse.

What am I doing wrong? The problem is extremely severe with the Gazelle and pretty bad with the Huey too. Last time I tried, I was able to get the MI-8 off the ground and fly around, but I was pretty much like a barely controlled brick.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

EDIT: I just tried out the Huey in 1.5.3 again and I was able to take off, manage a circuit around the airport and land again safely on the runway. It wasn't pretty, but I did it and caused no damage to the airframe. I need a lot of practice, but I didn't feel anything was "off". The issue I'm having appears to be related solely to the Gazelle in the alpha.

The first thing that comes to my mind is to get rudder pedals, and stop using the RZ axis. I'm not saying that anti-torque HAS to be on pedals in order to work, but you are asking a lot of yourself to attempt to learn to control anti-torque via stick twist. It's an added degree of difficulty to keep your twisting action from affecting your cyclic input, and vice versa.

When you are getting that spinning that you describe, it is symptomatic of either insufficient anti-torque input, or input in the wrong direction.

Second, until you get the takeoff mastered, it would probably be wise to save yourself some frustration by skipping the startup procedure and going directly to a running chopper sitting on the ground. After you get the takeoffs mastered, then you can go back to doing the whole startup procedure without getting frustrated by an immediate crash each time. (Besides... who knows, maybe you're missing something you need in your startup procedure).

I find the Gazelle VERY sensitive, I's suggest looking at editing the input curves for all axes. Over controlling on one axis will have knock on effects in the others.

Nate

I consider myself a good stick in the Huey (and I can even fly the Ka-50 without the autopilot channels enabled), but trying to fly the Gazelle is like learning the Huey all over again. I'm happy if I can hover and keep the helo pointing in the same direction.

So don't feel too bad.

Is there a decent, yet affordable set of rudder pedals you guys recommend? I really only see the CH and Saitek ones as viable options.

I don't know how decent they are, but Thrustmaster is coming out with this:
TFRP "S.M.A.R.T." pedals. $89.99

After taking a good while to master the Huey, I'm back to a lawn dart with landings in the Gazelle.