Articles by Nick Bates

An update on the Cowan Simulation 500E review

An update on the Cowan Simulation 500E review

Nearly a year after the initial release, Nick Bates went back and has gone through the model. And boy... What a difference the updates have made.
Review: JRX Design MBB Bo 105 DBS4 for X-Plane

Review: JRX Design MBB Bo 105 DBS4 for X-Plane

After the success of the Gazelle, JRX Released the famous Bo 105 and Nick Bates, a real-world pilot with lots of hours of experience on this model tells you all about it.
Review: Philip Ubben/Khamsin Studios SA-315 Lama for X-Plane

Review: Philip Ubben/Khamsin Studios SA-315 Lama for X-Plane

This little helicopter has recently been released for X-Plane after Philip Ubben’s stubbornness and willing to bring it to life. Was it worth it? Well... Read on and you may be (very) pleasantly surprised!
Review: Cowan Simulation 500E for X-Plane

Review: Cowan Simulation 500E for X-Plane

The MD500 is a very popular helicopter and known by many as a sort of a “sportscar of helicopters”. Ascending star developer Joshua Cowan released his 500E for X-Plane and real world 500 pilot, Nick Bates tells us everything we need to know about this initial release.
Review: VSKYLABS R44 for X-Plane

Review: VSKYLABS R44 for X-Plane

After the R66, VSKYLABS released the second Robinson they proposed themselves to bring into Laminar Research’s sim. After a rocky start, Nick Bates is finally ready to let us know everything about this bird.
Review: JRX SA341B/SA342J Gazelle for X-Plane

Review: JRX SA341B/SA342J Gazelle for X-Plane

The Gazelle is one of those helicopters that you simply can’t take your eyes off. JRX brought it to X-Plane in full glory. Nick Bates put it to some (serious) testing!
Review: VSKYLABS R66 for X-Plane

Review: VSKYLABS R66 for X-Plane

VSKYLABS’ most recent release – and the first of the Robinson family that they are going to produce – has been out for some days and we gave Nick Bates the opportunity to check it out.
Review: Pizzagalli AW609 for X-Plane

Review: Pizzagalli AW609 for X-Plane

As with all tiltrotors, the AW609 is a very interesting and curious machine. Nick Bates took a look at PizzaGalli’s rendition for X-Plane.
Aerofly FS2 R22: a pilot's perspective

Aerofly FS2 R22: a pilot's perspective

The Robinson R22 turns 40 this year and so Nick decided to write a bit about what's, very possibly, the best R22 in a sim right now.
The LTE myth

The LTE myth

LTE, or Loss of Tail Rotor Effectiveness is something every pilot dreads and that is, very often, taken as one of the examples of how good a flight model in a given sim is. Nick doesn't see it that way and, along with other pilots, he thinks there's an LTE myth. Here's his opinion. What's yours opinion? Do you agree with Nick?