Helicopter Rotor Slap Sounds

**flewpastu** · November 14th, 2012, 16:38

Just a heads up becouse i had not seen it posted yet, But for any rotor heads here should check out a new effect for rotor Blade slapping when turning rt or left or descending . Its at Hovercontrol.com in the FSX sound downloads. Check the forum for details . Its pretty cool, some might like its realistic sounds. Pretty Impressive

Bill

**Dain Arns** · November 14th, 2012, 16:49

I've been using it tonight. It's something that's been needed for years, IMHO.

It's an easy edit to do to a helicopter's panel.cfg file, however do **** that the nice person took the time to write, and be sure and make a backup of your particular panel.cfg file first, just in case.
Also, this is a gauge, so the blade slapping sound only works from inside the VC, not external views.
This is real similar to the effect the DodoSim 206 has, BTW, for those folks that may own that addon.

Multiple types of helicopters are supported, such as 2 bladed, 4 bladed, etc.

HC Forum post here:
http://www.hovercontrol.com/cgi-bin/...T;f=1;t=21892;

File Here:
http://www.hovercontrol.com/cgi-bin/...ip&img=&tt=zip

Video showing the effect here:

<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qUntpERtEkQ?rel=0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>

**jetstreamsky** · November 14th, 2012, 17:41

Wow that really adds to the experience, just a shame that Dodosim or others haven't carried on developing real helicopter simulation.

**ST0RM** · November 14th, 2012, 18:13

Wow, what a great add-on. I installed the Bell4xx sounds into the Virtavia H-60 and it really worked well. A little less deep than I'd want, but nice anyway. Now to install it into the Nemeth MH-6 Little Birds.

Thanks for the tip!

-Jeff

**Dain Arns** · November 14th, 2012, 18:40

Only one that doesn't sound well to me, personally, is the Huey Blade slap.
I'm using the Sonic Solutions sound pack for the Huey, and the Blade slap doesn't seem to sync up really well, the slap sounds a bit too fast to my ears.
Maybe I can tinker with it, slow it down a bit at home here.

But since I fly the MD 500's and Explorers again, mostly these days, I'm in heaven with this gauge add-on.
The Bell 412, EC-135, and AS 350 series sound really great too.

**OleBoy** · November 14th, 2012, 18:47

Nice effects! It does state for FSX. I thought I would give it a test in Prepar3D. Upon loading everything in the appropriate locals, dsd_fsx_xml_sound causes Prepar3D to lock up. Darn it!

**Lionheart** · November 14th, 2012, 21:25

Pretty awesome. Thanks for the heads up, Bill!

**Tartuffe** · November 15th, 2012, 00:39

Wow !
Many thanks for the HU !

**Roadburner440** · November 15th, 2012, 03:56

That is interesting to say the least... With all of my transient flights in H-60's over the years I never recall ever hearing a sound like this even in turns. Granted I have never flown in any other type of helicopter to make a comparison to. Usually in flight the only noises I hear are the engines over my head, the whine of the main gear box, and what I guess would be the "thumping" of the main blades which have never sounded like that to me inside. Maybe this effect is more common to fixed rotor head types than dynamic. I will give it a whirl with the Huey though. Just having HTR from HC changed my whole helicopter world inside of FSX.

**Dain Arns** · November 15th, 2012, 04:48

I know there is the temptation to use this gauge on helicopters that really don't have this effect in real world. It just sounds so good!

The ones that are included in the package are a pretty good representation of helicopters that do slap the blades occasionally, IMHO.
The EC-135 is a pretty good example, and I used the gauge myself only on the ones included in the package.

My experience is mostly with the MD500 series, and I think it is done pretty well with this gauge.
With the 500's to my memory it seems to be a fairly soft effect when it occurs, and I think the author represented it well.

***PRB*** · November 15th, 2012, 04:51

That's pretty cool. Thanks for the HU.

- Paul

**Cirrus N210MS** · November 15th, 2012, 05:40

thank you for sharing

***Victory103*** · November 15th, 2012, 06:06

Originally Posted by Roadburner440

That is interesting to say the least... With all of my transient flights in H-60's over the years I never recall ever hearing a sound like this even in turns. Granted I have never flown in any other type of helicopter to make a comparison to. Usually in flight the only noises I hear are the engines over my head, the whine of the main gear box, and what I guess would be the "thumping" of the main blades which have never sounded like that to me inside. Maybe this effect is more common to fixed rotor head types than dynamic. I will give it a whirl with the Huey though. Just having HTR from HC changed my whole helicopter world inside of FSX.

Depends on what they were doing, the only notable time I can hear it from the cockpit is steep turns. Seems to be more effective in 2 blade systems.

***PRB*** · November 15th, 2012, 07:57

Here's a forum of real helicopter pilots talking about this. Their description of the phenomenon seems to match what the FS movie demonstrates. I only rode in a helicopter once (CH-46) and I don't remember that noise either, but we were going slow/straight-n-level the whole time.

http://www.pprune.org/rotorheads/876...lade-slap.html

EDIT: An interesting NASA study conducted on this:

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...1972011376.pdf

- Paul

**Dain Arns** · November 15th, 2012, 09:02

Originally Posted by PRB

I only rode in a helicopter once (CH-46) and I don't remember that noise either, but we were going slow/straight-n-level the whole time.

Riiiight.
From what I understand, it generally is not encouraged to do by many operators because it creates noise.
Noise causes complaints (in the "civilized" world...)
Extreme maneuvers are avoided to prevent slap and noise complaints.
Some say wear and tear as well.

Sooo.
I guess if one wants to be prudent, they could look at this gauge as a learning/training tool, to properly operate a helicopter within its limits in FSX and prevent slap.

Or you can have fun, it's your sim after all, and enjoy the slap. Like this guy in the enclosed video...

(BTW, I think OleBoy did this paint job of the one in the YT Video)

<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6LiiO1YWbRo?rel=0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>

***PRB*** · November 15th, 2012, 10:24

Originally Posted by Dain Arns

Riiiight. ...

Not sure what you mean there. My post was actually in support of the gauge in that A) the fact that we were going slow and straight and level explains to me why I did not hear such a noise in my, B) one and only, helicopter ride, and C) and D) the links to smart people who know about real helicopters explaining why it happens, which is in line with what the designers of the gauge said. Heck, I already have it installed and am having fun.

- Paul

**Dain Arns** · November 15th, 2012, 11:49

Originally Posted by PRB

Not sure what you mean there. My post was actually in support of the gauge in that A) the fact that we were going slow and straight and level explains to me why I did not hear such a noise in my, B) one and only, helicopter ride, and C) and D) the links to smart people who know about real helicopters explaining why it happens, which is in line with what the designers of the gauge said. Heck, I already have it installed and am having fun.

- Paul

Yeah, that would mean I'm agreeing with you, and especially what I had specifically quoted from you.

**Roadburner440** · November 15th, 2012, 11:58

Video sounds pretty normal to me. I think I get now what you guys are calling slap. To me it just sounds like what I hear Monday-Friday all throughout the day so I guess I never give it much thought. Hear it from the outside when I am on the ground, but not usually in flight. The rotor noises that I usually notice are the "whooshing" noise you get whenever a blade is out of track with the other 3. The gauge certaintly does add some fun in FSX though after trying it. Is always nice to have new effects, and it keeps me from going toward those extreme bank angles.

**OleBoy** · November 15th, 2012, 12:50

Originally Posted by Dain Arns

(BTW, I think OleBoy did this paint job of the one in the YT Video)

<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6LiiO1YWbRo?rel=0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>

I did. It's in the SOH Library.
I sure would like to try these sounds in Prepar3D. Can someone confirm the XML gauge error when the file is loaded in the "gauges" folder? Next question, is there a fix?

***Killbilly*** · November 15th, 2012, 14:45

This is sweet! Thanks for the HU, and thanks to the creators of this excellent addition. It's just a whole new sense of flying the helos. Nice.

***Victory103*** · November 15th, 2012, 23:01

I'm installing it now, just as a real world guy never really paid much attention to it while flying, as it's not that audible from the cockpit. I can tell from the ground without a fail the difference between an Apache and everything else with the rotorwash in the "X" tailrotor.

**Warrant** · November 18th, 2012, 07:27

Wow, what a great realism amplifier this is! Currently flying a Bell 222, but also implemented the effect to the Huey, Black hawk and many other choppers. Really recommending this to all helo-junkies out here!

**peter12213** · November 18th, 2012, 10:04

This is great thanks a lot.

**Paul Anderson** · November 18th, 2012, 12:29

I like it for the Bell 206.
If applying it to other helos not listed in package, would be interested in recommendations for which option to use for:

EH101
Robinson R22
Schweizer 300cbi

or do they not have a noticeable slap sound?

**SeanTK** · November 18th, 2012, 13:04

Originally Posted by Paul Anderson

I like it for the Bell 206.
If applying it to other helos not listed in package, would be interested in recommendations for which option to use for:

EH101
Robinson R22
Schweizer 300cbi

or do they not have a noticeable slap sound?

Having a a fair share of helicopter stick time myself, this adds so much to the experience in FS!

I would use the heavy 4XX rotor sound for the 101,
the 206 soundset for the R22,
and the AS35X soundset (maybe the MD500 sound) for the 300cbi. That's the closest approximation there is to the blade slap intensity until more variations come out.