I'm interested in getting a Bell 206 helicopter and I see there's two to choose from, the one by Cowin Sim and the other by Flyinside Inc.  I know Cowin Sim makes good X-Plane helicopters, I own his Bell 206 B3 for XP11 and it's fantastic but I'm very curious about the Flyinside model.  In it's description it talks highly of  the helicopter physics modeled in the aircraft like translational lift, transverse flow, etc.. but the Cowin Sim version does not mention anything about the flight model, all it says is "realistic flight model" so I have no idea what's all modeled in the MSFS version.  I know all that stuff is modeled in Cowin Sim's X-Plane aircraft, a real life Bell 206 pilot told me the XP11 version was about 90% accurate compared to real life handling (probably even closer now with the XP12 flight model updates) but I don't know if the same effort was put into the MSFS version.

I would really appreciate any feedback from users of both helicopters.

Thanks

I only have the Flyinside version, bought because I read good things from "rotor heads". 🙂I love it, among other things it has a properly working throttle with idle release button which you can have on automatic or manual if you wish. I am no heli pilot, but everything about it, the way it flies and behaves in general, makes it one of the best - if not the best - helis in MSFS for me. This is all very subjective, of course. 🙂

 

56 minutes ago, Jure said:

I only have the Flyinside version, bought because I read good things from "rotor heads". 🙂I love it, among other things it has a properly working throttle with idle release button which you can have on automatic or manual if you wish. I am no heli pilot, but everything about it, the way it flies and behaves in general, makes it one of the best - if not the best - helis in MSFS for me. This is all very subjective, of course. 🙂

 

This is the one I'm leaning towards.  It seems to me they're proud of the flight dynamics realism they achieved and it's not easy making flight models/flight dynamics for a helicopter that mimics real life, especially with the limitations that MSFS has by design.

FS9, FSX and P3D always had limited helicopter flight physics programmed in it's flight model.  They're missing key elements that are specific to helicopters or they are difficult to model and implement and so is MSFS (though it's better than the others) so developers have to get creative and smart to making realistic flying aircraft, whether it's an airplane or a helicopter, to make an aircraft with good, realistic flight dynamics is not real easy to learn.

Many developers know how to make good eye candy now days which is great but a significant number of aircraft developers have often had difficulty making aircraft that behave very close to realistic.  It's always been that way. though the each simulator has it's challenges.  Usually one thing I notice is generally (but not always) more expensive aircraft have better flight models than cheap ones do.

BTW X-Plane 12 has amazing helicopter flight modelling allowing developers to make extremely realistic helicopters, far superior than any other sim besides maybe DCS World but that's only combat helicopters.

I  just found a great blog article about the FlyInside Bell 206 and it has me sold.  It talks about how the developer did develop their own complete custom flight dynamics system.  I don't believe the MSFS Cowin Sim versions have anything like that implemented.  It also talks about it's other great features as well.

https://msfsaddons.com/2022/12/21/the-flyinside-bell-206-jetranger-is-out-now-for-microsoft-flight-simulator/

I'm getting the FlyInside 206 for sure now.

I think you'll be very happy with it. Beyond the flight model itself they did a very clever thing with the heli manager app that ships with it: there are sliders to adjust the stability, so for anyone still new to helicopters or who might have less-than-ideal controls you can tweak it to suit what you need.

I don't have the CowanSim 206 but did try several of their other helicopters. They're popular but personally I find them to be too rough around the edges. Might just be how flight models ported from X-Plane behave within the limits of the MSFS SDK.

20 hours ago, CapnCrunch said:

I think you'll be very happy with it. Beyond the flight model itself they did a very clever thing with the heli manager app that ships with it: there are sliders to adjust the stability, so for anyone still new to helicopters or who might have less-than-ideal controls you can tweak it to suit what you need.

I don't have the CowanSim 206 but did try several of their other helicopters. They're popular but personally I find them to be too rough around the edges. Might just be how flight models ported from X-Plane behave within the limits of the MSFS SDK.

Yeah I am really enjoying it.  I ended up  buying it.  It's my first helicopter experience in MSFS, I didn't even bother trying the new default MSFS helicopters as I'm sure beyond looking nice with modern graphics, the flight modelling sucks like most other MSFS default aircraft.  All ESD based flight simulators have bad or limited ability when it comes to helicopters especially as I said before.

You are right, the limits of the MSFS as well as FSX & P3D flight modeling (and the limits of the SDK's) has never been as good as X-Plane (not trying to start a war, it's just the truth) for helicopters because not all of the physics for them has been modeled accurately or modeled at all.

I don't know i you ever heard of Dodo Sim for FSX.  They made a Bell 206 for FSX in a similar way that FlyInside has for it's 206, using their own outside custom coding to get around the limits of the SDK.

Edited December 22, 20232 yr by Kalnon

I just tried FI 206 in 2024 and despite it's working OK, the fps is heavier than in 2020 especially at 50-300 feet. The fps is better at 500 ft above, and it is worst on the ground. I did turn off the particle effect (it doesn't work in MSFS 2024 after all). Above all, it's the most realistic helicopter in msfs so far in terms of flight model.

I don't have CS 206

Edited July 8, 2025Jul 8 by History

27 minutes ago, History said:

I just tried FI 206 in 2024 and despite it's working OK, the fps is heavier than in 2020 especially at 50-300 feet. The fps is better at 500 ft above, and it is worst on the ground. I did turn off the particle effect (it doesn't work in MSFS 2024 after all). Above all, it's the most realistic helicopter in msfs so far in terms of flight model.

I don't have CS 206

Oh ! I thought the particle effect, not the visualization but rather the physics/mechanical effects themselves were actually more detailled in FS 2024?

OTOH, doesn't FlyInside use some kind of external FM?

I purchased the Bell 47 when it was initially released for MSFS 2020, but didn't like it that much, so I never spent on their Bell 206.

The CS 206’s feel like toys compared to the Flyinside 206. Go fly it In Phoenix during the summer and see what happens! 😉 Heat has a major impact on the airframe and flight model just like IRL, unlike the CS. 

Edited July 8, 2025Jul 8 by Gulf76