[Grizzly]

Anything would do (except Flight Simulator, because I already got that one ). I am bassicly for a good helicopter sim, preferably one which features blowing up stuff.

Any recommendations?

EDIT: Now... I'd like to fly jet planes too (WW2 is okay, but I want some variation), any recommendations? (Except HAWX, which isn't a sim).

[Herra Tohtori]

Black Shark or Lock-On Modern Air Combat: Flaming Cliffs 2 (which amalgamates LOMAC, Flaming Cliffs 1 and Black Hawk into one game).

[Dilmah G]

Dude, everyone knows Hind is the only Helo sim.

[Sushi]

Gunship 2000, baby!

Crap, I think I just dated myself.

I hear that Jane's Longbow 2 is pretty good as well.

[mxlm]

People say good things about the two Enemy Engaged titles.

[Nuke]

i was gonna buy dcs blackshark then i found out it had some crappy drm (it uses starforce) that only lets you activate the game 3 times before it locks it down. its so bad i wouldnt install it on my computer if you gave me a free copy. then i thought about pirating it, but the installation procedure was so complex that i said **** it. ive always wanted a realistic, modern, combat chopper sim. its such a shame to finally get one, then have it raped my drm. ****ing games industry.

[General Battuta]

battlefield twoooooooooooooooo

[Thaeris]

Battuta, that's not a realistic simulation...



However, if you're going for a mixture of realism and simplified physics, ARMA 2 isn't bad. Although the little things demonstrated that it wasn't going to take the cake for accuracy (as well as being inherently simplified for integration into what ARMA truly is - an infantry simulation), the overall feel of flight is very lively, which makes it highly enjoyable. That said, it's worth a look - you can get the demo on ARMA's website.

As far as realistic flight without the combat, you might consider X-Plane, which is constantly improving. You might hold off on buying it though, as X-Plane 10 should be coming along in the near future. And then you might want to wait until the price comes down/the bugs are sorted out. Whatever you do, X-Plane is a great investment... And should you want to fly a chopper that you can't get or doesn't exist, you can always make your own. 

[General Battuta]

Battuta, that's not a realistic simulation...

What are you talking about? It's the only sim I know of where you can do a backflip, jump out, fall, and then catch the helicopter on the way down and get back into the cockpit.

I seriously doubt the realism of any sim that doesn't let you do that. 

[Nuke]

i could attatch some bottle rockets to my chinese made r/c helicopter.

[Grizzly]

Lock on looks nice enough, especially since it has jets too.

Anything else on that department?

[Mobius]

Strike Fighters?

[StarSlayer]

Haven't played it but it looks pretty decent...

[Klaustrophobia]

lock-on is a good one.  though to be honest, i've heard bad things about flaming cliffs 2.  if you're not going to play multiplayer regularly, i'd stick with the original lock-on.  good game, but Eagle Dynamics doesn't have the first clue how to properly handle releases.

[Scooby_Doo]

Haven't played it but it looks pretty decent...

That does look very nice 

[newman]

ARMA2 isn't a sim, though, and if you're looking for a pure helicopter or fighter jet sim it's not going to satisfy. It's more of a FPS with the ability to fly but don't expect too much realism there. The way flight control is handled leaves a lot to be desired too.
The game itself is fun, though, it's just not really a flight sim in any serious sense of the word. Also, the single player campaign was extremely buggy back when I tried the game - to the point of being unplayable. Not sure if they fixed that by now.

[Dilmah G]

battlefield twoooooooooooooooo

gtfo bf n00b

Right. So. Jet Sims.

Lock On: Modern Air Combat.
Falcon 4.0: Allied Force.

Are two of the better ones I've played (as have the other posters). I haven't played Flaming Cliffs so I can't say much about that. Warning with the two of them though, if you haven't had much to do with this genre, they might require some serious effort from you. One of our F/A18E pilots once said "Anyone can fly a Hornet, but not everyone can operate one." Games like LOMAC and F4 model the systems of their aircraft to a reasonable degree, so you'll be able to witness the truth of that pilot's statement with regards to modern military aircraft. Of the two of them, F4 is the one I found to be harder, but as with all things it'll be easier to those who have a genuine interest in it. And of course, the more you play the better you'll get.

It's been years and years since I've played X-Plane (ran like a ***** on my ol' Windows 98), so I don't know how good that's turned out.

[X3N0-Life-Form]

Free Falcon is great : www.freefalcon.com

[Grizzly]

i was gonna buy dcs blackshark then i found out it had some crappy drm (it uses starforce) that only lets you activate the game 3 times before it locks it down. its so bad i wouldnt install it on my computer if you gave me a free copy. then i thought about pirating it, but the installation procedure was so complex that i said **** it. ive always wanted a realistic, modern, combat chopper sim. its such a shame to finally get one, then have it raped my drm. ****ing games industry.

Guess what.

Lock On: Flaming Cliffs 1 has Starforce. It will only run on Xp or lower as a consequence.

* -Joshua- growls.

Oh well, let's just uninstall that one, LOMAC and then crack it.

[Grizzly]

Did some digging on Falcon. Apperently, you will need the original 4.0 to install stuff like Free Falcon or Open Falcon, and then there is the  'official' Allied Force version of Falcon 4.0. And they are all incompatible with each other. hmm..

Anyone with experience on this? What do you recommend?