The Difference Between Freeware and Payware Vibrafiles in Flight Simulation

Here's my philosophy on charging for some vibrafiles while giving others away for free.

As you can imagine I have a passion for helicopters and for maximizing the simulation experience as much as we can afford to. And anyone with a passion will want to share that with others. I have spent a substantial amount of time feeling out what a few of the helicopters feel like in the sim -- the way they sound and spool up to full power, the way they might act like shuddering or shaking during various modes of operation. And I feel it really helps with immersion to get the vibration sensations to match what it looks and sounds like.

For those helicopter models that are made available for free, I too throw my hat in the ring, and my contribution into the sling, in order that everyone might benefit from the spirit of the simulation community.

To be clear, this is my impression of what these helicopters feel like. What do they actually feel like?

Well that's where the payware vibrafiles come in.

Because I've come up with a process for determining that. Actually bringing the real, actual helicopter vibration experience into the home simulation environment. I perfected the process with Mr D's MD500. I record the full operational sequence three different ways -- actual acceleration data up to 150Hz, the frequency spectrum across that range, and the video of what is going on at any given time to correlate the operational phase to that data. So I know what the data looks like when the engine fires, when he takes off, when he's hard banking, when he lands, when he shuts down, etc.

I analyze that data and pull out the dominant frequencies for all those operational phases. I code them into SimHub and call them out depending on what a sim-pilot might be doing at any given time based on the simulator's telemetry, and combine them with things like the sensation of scraping the skids on takeoff, or the landing bump, or exceeding maximum speed, and even flirting with Vortex Ring State.

And then finally I check the generated spectrum in the sim rig against what I recorded on the actual helicopter to ensure the frequencies and sensations are the same.

Obviously that runs into a lot of time and effort, and in the case of future helicopters, cost. Selling some of these files helps fund the process of documenting all the helicopters I can get access to by paying for recording flights. And that's how you can contribute to that process -- by purchasing the files of your favorite helicopters so you can feel exactly how they fly. So if you're up for it, please help fund that process by purchasing one today.