[General Battuta]

Really? Man, I love flying the Apache/Havoc. You can pull off some great maneuvers and know that you look awesome from the ground doing it.

[JGZinv]

I've played my fair share of flight games, and I'd have to say either my config setup is poor, or again they really need to work on the implementation.
The first failure is that you "need" to switch controls to pilot the craft, that's a design issue. The other is I'd say the controls are very clunky feeling.
It's not as responsive, or as accurate as it could be using a KB. I'm probably setting myself up for disagreement here, but with as many people that
jump in and immediately crash - I'd say it needs a little bit more hand holding in terms of maintaining altitude and auto-leveling. Landings could make
a bit more sense than just dropping the chopper at low altitude.

I've even went to YouTube and tried watching some vids to get an idea, and folks there are stunt pilots compared to me. I went from ascending and
crashing back down, to staying aloft for a couple minutes till a random tank picks me out of the air. Haven't had much issue with other choppers or RPGs though.

Compared to older games from across the flight combat or FPS spectrum, I just think there's room for improvement.

[General Battuta]

You can't just drop the chopper to land, you need to hold S to spin down the rotors and stick the landing.

[Hades]

They can't have been as bad as GTA4 helicopters, which would flip and crash if you press the forward button

[JGZinv]

Um yeah.....

http://youtu.be/1WaGcouZ95k

http://youtu.be/jM6dbmBV2uc

http://youtu.be/BpvH_dzbscw

http://youtu.be/8xj4Bh81mxI

It's that bad. On Xbox they don't explode when something dumb happens, on PC they do.
So add a boom to the end of each video... along with everyone dying, and that sums it up.

[General Battuta]

Posting videos of morons flying doesn't make the point that the helicopter controls are bad. I can pull off some pretty badass stunts, and I could just as easily harvest a bunch of great videos of ace pilots from YouTube.

[Scotty]

Um yeah.....

http://youtu.be/1WaGcouZ95k

http://youtu.be/jM6dbmBV2uc

http://youtu.be/BpvH_dzbscw

It's that bad. On Xbox they don't explode when something dumb happens, on PC they do.
So add a boom to the end of each video... along with everyone dying, and that sums it up.

Yay for artificial selection of the worst examples!  For every one of the people who don't know what the hell they're doing, and for whom instructions wouldn't help any (and obviously didn't), there are two or three that know how to fly the thing.

EDIT:  ninja'd.

[Dilmah G]

I flew the black hawk at a mate of mine's house with k/m (this was after I asked him where he kept the anti-torque pedals ) and didn't find it that hard at all. Only thing I really noticed in comparison to other BF games I'd played was that A) throttle was more sensitive, and when you're doing tactical flying, this is obviously a good thing, and B) stick was more responsive, also an improvement compared to say, BFV's stick, which was more like trying to fly a truck compared to what it should've been.

[IceFire]

The helicopters are easier than in Battlefield 2. The biggest problem I have with Bad Company 2 is the screwed up joystick implementation. It's a known bug that no matter what you do some joysticks and this game have a reverse axis. So rudder left is rudder right, pitch forward is back, roll left is right... very confusing. So I'm doing alright with keyboard and mouse but it screams for my X-52... then I'd be a force to be reckoned with.

[Rodo]

Are those vids real?, ****... I need to get a better GPU right away... I NEED IT.

[StarSlayer]

Rooftop Trailer

[MR_T3D]

Rooftop Trailer

Disappointingly short, but..
HHHHHHGGGGGNNNNHHHHH

[IceFire]

Are those vids real?, ****... I need to get a better GPU right away... I NEED IT.

You mean the BF:Bad Company 2 videos? Yep those are real. It can look better on PC than console actually...although it's pretty spectacular either way.

[Rodo]

Not sure what you are talking about, I meant it for the 1st fault line vid, it looks really awesome, and this rooftop one as well.

[Gortef]

Looking good again.

[Grizzly]

Why does that rooftop remind me of Mirror's Edge?

[General Battuta]

Why does that rooftop remind me of Mirror's Edge?

Same developer?

[Grizzly]

Why does that rooftop remind me of Mirror's Edge?

Same developer?

Yeah, that too, but they're like... Exact copies.

Question about flying helicopters in Battlefield: Does Flight Simulator experience help?

[Dilmah G]

IMO it does to a point. Helos don't handle much like they do IRL (people think they're super realistic because they're sensitive on the stick/throttle and you've got to land the bloody thing with some semblance of sanity, unlike most other BF games), but if you're a good stick and rudder man, well then, you're a good stick and rudder man.

BF Helos, like in any game, have their own quirks to master.

[MR_T3D]

Why does that rooftop remind me of Mirror's Edge?

Same developer?

Yeah, that too, but they're like... Exact copies.

Question about flying helicopters in Battlefield: Does Flight Simulator experience help?

As far as I know, the flight model will be more like old Battlefield 2's, so I would assume that playing BF2 and getting used to its mechanics would be best way to 'practice' ahead of time would be through it.
Also, on the "looking like Mirror's edge" bit:
ME had some "baked-in radiosity" into its maps to make them colours so good, and BF3's engine is able to give the same effect...dynamically.
also, you can see your legs and stuff like in M'sE.