Yes, I am a bit biased. I have to say I love the Alouette III. I have seen it fly since ever, considering the helicopter was in service before I was born. It was one of the very first helicopters – if not the first – that I saw flying in real life.
Since I use more than one sim, I have always been on the lookout for this bird in pretty much every (consumer-aimed) flight simulation software out there.
Knowing that there was one coming to Microsoft Flight Simulator was, of course, good news.
The author of this new helicopter for MSFS is Taog’s Hangar and if the name rings a bell, you probably heard about or are even using their Huey for MSFS.
It’s curious that the helicopter also means a lot to him. That’s probably the reason why he’s working on it anyway. He told me that he has fond memories of the helicopter because he saw it in action with the French Navy
So, he started working on it to bring it to the sim for everyone “to enjoy this incredible piece of aviation from their home.” This is, without a doubt, “a product made with love and passion” as he puts it.
Taog’s Hangar is a 1-man show but the developer has been having the help of testers from the community. When I asked him about this particular project and how “realistic” it would be, the answer was that we shouldn’t expect anything PMDG-like.
Honestly, I wasn’t anyway. Yes, the Alouette III has a few complexities but it’s not exactly an extremely complex and automated machine. The question remains – how deep are the systems? I didn’t want to push it, though, especially since the project is in the early stages of development, so we will have to see when it comes out. The goal is to make a nice model with good flight dynamics, using Asobo’s CFD (the native flight dynamics that came out with Sim Update 11).
To be able to do that, though, Taog’s Hangar is looking for pilots with experience in the Alouette III that can help provide feedback regarding handling and flight characteristics. Consider this a call to arms. If you can help or know someone who can, let me know, and I’ll get you in touch with the developer. The community thanks you!
I’ll keep you updated as much as I can on this project. Meanwhile you can enjoy the nice screenshots Taog’s Hangar has sent.
