Helicopter force feedback

A cyclic should hold, release, trim, and talk back

FFB-Bridge flies rotorcraft as rotorcraft. Rotor vibration follows the load on the rotor, force trim holds and releases like the real system, and 94 helicopter profiles carry rotor speed and blade count from type certificate data.

Download FFB-Bridge. Open the Flight Check guide
FFB-Bridge Tuning page with Rotorcraft selected and the Helicopter controls visible
Select Rotorcraft (helicopter) once; the profile shows helicopter controls and hides fixed-wing settings that do not apply.
Rotor feel

Vibration that follows the rotor

Rotor vibration is calculated from what the rotor is doing: its speed, its blade count and the load it carries. A hover, a climb and a quick collective change each feel different, and each type has its own rhythm.

Rotor rumble

At the rotor's own rate

Rumble runs once per rotor revolution, from the type's design RPM and the rotor speed the simulator reports: about 6.6 Hz in an EC135 and 8.7 Hz in an R22.

Rotor load

Heavier when the rotor works

Strength follows the load on the rotor: rotor thrust against weight in X-Plane, collective and G in MSFS. Flat pitch on the pad is light and a full-collective climb is heavier.

Collective bite

A pulse when the load changes

A quick collective input adds a short surge of rumble while the rotor takes up the new load, then settles.

N-per-rev

Blade passage you can count

Blade-passage vibration builds with forward speed at a rate set by the blade count, so two-, four- and five-blade rotors feel distinct. In a hover it keeps part of its strength once the simulator shows the rotor turning.

Natural variation

No pre-recorded loop

Each rotor cue drifts slowly in strength and the rumble slightly in frequency, so a long hover never repeats like a recording. The pattern restarts the same way at every Arm.

Flight-state cues

ETL, VRS and more

Effective translational lift shudders through the transition. Vortex ring state, retreating-blade stall and skid contact each arrive as their own cue that you can tune or turn off.

Rotor data

Rotor numbers from type certificates

94 helicopter profiles carry the main rotor's 100% speed and blade count from a sourced table. EASA and FAA type certificate data sheets and flight manuals come first, secondary sources only where those are silent, and a type without a traceable figure carries no number. When the simulator reports the aircraft's own design RPM and blade count, those take precedence.

94helicopter profiles with sourced rotor data
EASA · FAAtype certificate data sheets and flight manuals first
Sim firstthe aircraft's own design RPM and blade count when the simulator reports them
FFB-Bridge Dashboard during a helicopter flight with the rotorcraft effect chips active
The Dashboard shows which rotorcraft cues are active as you fly.
Force trim

Force trim that works like the aircraft's

Helicopters differ. Some have magnetic force trim with a release button and a system switch, some trim through the autopilot with no switch, and light trainers often have none. FFB-Bridge models each class and picks the right one for the helicopter you load.

Force trim release (FTR)Hold FTR to release the trim hold and move the cyclic freely. Let go and the cyclic is held where it is, with a breakout before it moves off the new trim point. An optional switch turns the whole force-trim system off and on.
Beep trimAssign a hat or four buttons to move the trim point gradually, as a cyclic beep-trim switch does.
AFCS follow-up trimFor autopilot-trimmed types, steady pressure below 40 kt walks the trim point toward the stick, the way an AFCS follows the pilot.
Trim style per helicopterClassic force trim, AFCS trim, light trim springs or electric cyclic trim. Any helicopter you load gets its class automatically, and one picker changes it.
Hardware Helicopter tab showing unassigned FTR, force-trim toggle, and beep-trim controls
Hardware → Helicopter contains guided FTR, force-trim on/off, trim-reset and beep-trim assignments.
Cyclic feel

Damping without a centering spring

Cyclic damping resists stick speed, adding the steadiness of a real cyclic without pulling the stick toward a fixed centre. A per-stick damper scale under Hardware keeps it stable on each base.

MOZA and Brunner

Trim held by the base itself

On MOZA AB9 and AY210 bases the force-trim hold runs on the base's own firmware spring, anchored where you release FTR. With FFB-Bridge Pro, a Brunner base holds the trim on its own trim centre.

Rotorsim EC135

Neutral from the aircraft's trim

The EC135 starter takes its cyclic neutral from the aircraft's own trim, with or without the autopilot. Two optional entry cues mark the rotor starting to turn on the ground and the entry into vortex ring state.

Built-in validation

Fly a helicopter without launching the simulator

The guided helicopter finale runs the full rotorcraft sequence on the bench. Individual steps isolate damping, force trim, beep trim, and every rotor cue using repeatable temporary settings.

Open the Flight Check guide
Guided helicopter Flight Check running a vortex-ring-state cue
The animated helicopter timeline names the current phase while the matching force runs.
Simulator and platform coverage

The same rotorcraft model across supported simulators

Helicopter support is built into the core force model and works across supported hardware.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 / 2020Rotor RPM, collective and G from SimConnect drive the rotor cues on Windows and Linux.
X-Plane 11 / 12Rotor thrust, rotor speed, design RPM and blade count come straight from the aircraft on Windows, Linux and Apple Silicon macOS.
Windows · Linux · macOSProfiles and Flight Check follow the same workflow on every supported desktop platform.

Build a helicopter setup you can feel and verify

Start with a helicopter profile, assign only the controls you want, and run Flight Check before the first flight.

Download FFB-Bridge. Check supported hardware