Aircraft Release : Schweizer S300CBi Helicopter by Dreamfoil Creations

[Stephen]

 

Aircraft Release : Schweizer S300CBi  Helicopter by Dreamfoil Creations

 

You would think the design of the Schweizer 300CBi two-seater helicopter is only a few decades old, but actually the design is decades old in many, many decades as the prototype of this machine first flew as far back 2nd October 1956. In other words only weeks before I was born, and that is nearly sixty years ago. That aircraft was the Hughes Model 269, and only by 9th April 1959 did the 269 actually receive certification. By mid-1963 about 20 aircraft were being by Hughes produced a month and by the spring of 1964, 314 of the 269's had been built. Hughes had very quickly successfully captured a large portion of the civilian helicopter marketwith an aircraft that would prove itself popular in agriculture, police work and light helicopter duties.

 

In 1964, Hughes introduced the slightly-larger three-seat Model 269B which it marketed as the Hughes 300. That same year, the Hughes 269 set an endurance record of 101 hours. To set the record, two pilots took turns piloting the aircraft and hovered in ground-effect for fueling. To ensure no cheating, eggs were affixed to the bottom of the skid gear to register any record-ending landing.

The Hughes 300 was followed in 1969 by the improved Hughes 300C (sometimes 269C), which first flew on 6 March 1969 and received FAA certification in May 1970. This new model introduced a more powerful 190 hp (140 kW) Lycoming HIO-360-D1A engine and increased diameter rotor, giving a payload increase of 45%, plus overall performance improvements.It was this model that Schweizer began building the 300C under license from Hughes in 1983.

 

In 1986, Schweizer acquired all rights to the helicopter from McDonnell Douglas, which had purchased Hughes Helicopters in 1984. After Schweizer acquired the FAA Type Certificate, the helicopter was known for a short time as the Schweizer-Hughes 300C and then simply, the Schweizer 300C. The basic design remained unchanged over the years. Between both Hughes and Schweizer, and including foreign-licensed production civil and military training aircraft, nearly 3,000 units of the Model 269/300 have been built and flown over the last 50 years. Then Schweizer was also purchased on August 26, 2004 by Sikorsky Aircraft, and hence the Hughes, Schweizer and Sikorski connections to the aircraft.

 

The CBi version available here is the fuel injected version of the 300CB that alleviates carburetor icing concerns in colder temperatures. The 300CBi also includes overspeed protection and automatic rotor engagement during start-up, as well as a low rotor RPM warning system. (wikipedia)

 

Performance: Maximum speed: 95 kn (109 mph, 176 km/h) : Cruise speed: 86 kn (99 mph, 159 km/h) : Range: 195 nmi, 360 km (204 miles) : Rate of climb: 750 ft/min (3.82 m/s)

 

Dreamfoil Schweizer S300CBi 

 

 

Dreamfoil Creations are the X-Plane helicopter masters. Every release from the Robinson R22, Bell's 206 and 407 and the brilliant AS350 have compounded the quality of their aircraft into the X-Plane simulation consciousness, so any release from these talented people is always going to want you to know that the aircraft presented is not only going to be very good, is full of clever features and will fly perfectly like the real machine. And in all counts this S300CBi does all that and more.

 

By all accounts this the S300C a small machine, almost more like a large backpack of strapping on an engine and rotor blades James Bond style than a fully fledged flying machine, but even when considering the compact size of the aircraft, it has the capacity to be not only a good working machine, carry two people and fly a fair distance, but I doubt I would want to spend 101 hours in a hover pattern in it.

 

By and large helicopters are far harder to develop for simulators because they are very intricate and detailed machines, like this S300C their guts hang out and the mechanisms are very complex in there are a lot of struts and moving parts to be built and animated. So this machine is certainly a small-scale helicopter in size, but huge in the scale of detailing.

 

 

There is a huge amount of work in here to create the S300C, complex and highly detailed you wonder where you would start in creating it all.

 

 

 

The highlight here is the amazing belt system running off the Lycoming HIO-360-D1A engine that connects to the tail rotor prop-shaft, in detail it is astounding in creation and animation, of course your life depends on those bands not breaking.

 

All detail is so complete with even small items like the engine oil and air filters and the piping and exhaust systems are all exceptionally well done. Control linkages even buried down in here in the guts of the thing all work as they should. You have two fuel tanks, a main on the left (195lbs) and a deletable auxiliary tank (195lbs) on the right.

 

Rotor assemblies

 

 

Rotor linkages and control rods are the heart of great helicopter design, and this set is one of the best yet. All links are animated and perfectly too. More clever stuff is in the rubber covers that move in shape to the linkage movement... that is detail in the extreme. great texture work in that the assemblies are worn and realistic. There is a manual feature in that when the rotors are set at idle you can move them (slowly) with the mouse to get the correct tie-down of the rotor position, you do this from the top of the hub hook (arrowed)

 

 

Rear rotor assembly is just as detailed and functional. all rotor movements are excellent and in reality when running you don't really see any of this stuff, but it is nice to know it is all there and working as it should do.

 

Cockpit

 

 

Quality and detailing continues in the cockpit. It is surprisingly roomy in here and the view out is exceptional. Seats are thin but the vinyl seating covers are just so realistic even in their shapes and light reflections. Headphones hanging on the center roof support can be used by clicking on them and the external sound goes down (slightly) with their usage. Slender collective sits between the seats for either pilot of co-pilot use.

 

 

You can select if you want a single set of controls or two sets.

 

Panel

 

 

Panel instruments are quite basic (no artificial horizon?) which would mean VFR rules only, top row down is (left to right)

 

Chronometer - Vertical speed - Speed (knots/MPH) Altitude

Engine RPM - Manifold Pressure

Fuel Gauge - Fuel Pressure Gauge - Cylinder Head Temperature

Oil Pressure Gauge (PSI) - Oil Temperature Gauge - Ammeter Gauge

Lower is a Hobbs Meter

Lighting switchgear includes - both adjustable avionic and panel lighting, panel main switch, position and beacon switches.

 

Fuel mixture and fuel shutoff knobs with electrical main key switch, Battery and Alternator switches

 

There is a choice between the X-Plane default GPS Garmin GNS 430 or the Bendix/King KY 98A that is usable for COMM 1 use.

 

The Garmin GTX 327 is the built in transponder unit.

 

To note that the Cylinder Head Temperature (CHT) here is driven by a custom algorithm which simulates more realistically the CHT behavior to give a more realistic flying experience, instead of it being just a dumb gauge.

 

 

Cockpit reflections are excellent, and with such a very large glass area it could have been quite bad, but the depth is just right for realism.

 

 

You can animate the way you enter the aircraft by pressing an active arrow by the lower door. all the sounds are simulated as well and if the engine is off you will hear the pilot messing around in the machine.

 

 

There is a compartment under the panel that can be opened to reveal the S300C's checklist, making it very handy for use.

 

Lighting

 

 

Cockpit and panel lighting is excellent, the panel is shown here at full brightness but it can be toned down. There is a green map light on the rear bulkhead that can be fully adjusted in all axis and is also very good.

 

External lighting is great with navigation which are steady and flash and beacon lights.

 

Under the aircraft there is a spotlight, with a hard to see switch on the front of the cyclic. The spotlight is also fully adjustable to get the right lighting angle you require.

 

 

Features

 

The S300B comes in three version choices...   Skid, Wheels and Floats.

 

 

 

On the wheels you can have them selected up or click on a zone to turn a handle to lower the wheels and lift the skids off the ground.

 

 

Floats look very authentic and canvas like, really nice design work.

 

 

Opening doors come with the advantage of having then either on or off the aircraft.

 

 

GPU (Ground Power Unit) can be used either from the menu or by pressing the power outlet on the left side of the aircraft. Both fuel tanks can be filled via pressing the fuel caps and use a gauge to set the tank amount.

 

Exhaust Options

 

 

There are three exhaust options in: Short - Long (pipe) - Long and Tip. The different sizes of the exhaust options will change the sound source with:

• Short will point exhaust sound to back of helicopter
• Long will point it to left side
• Long + Tip is the same as long but will muffle exhaust sound

 

Menus

 

The S300B uses the standard circular Dreamfoil menu system which is activated by pressing on the right top hand corner of the panel.

 

Menu items include: Smart livery - Stability - Customize - POV (Point Of View) - Report - Volume - Weights - Quick Views

 

Smart livery allows you to select a livery by going round a dial and clicking on a version you like, easy!

 

 

Stability allows you to adjust the Pitch-Roll-Yaw percentages if you require a different feel for the aircraft. The Customize menu is the main selection point to adjust or change the features on the aircraft. Menu items include: GPU, Aux Tank, Doors (on or off), Exhaust, Rotor Shadows, Skid/Wheels/Floats, Hook, Governor Kit, Garmin GNS340/Bendix/King KY 98A, Yaw String and Co-Pilot Cyclic and rudder pedals.

 

 

POV (Point Of View) alows you to adjust the X-Plane point of View settings without going to the X-Plane menu. DreamEngine 3d sounds is one of the best sound systems in X-Plane and you have full control of the different sound settings through the inbuilt menu.

 

 

You can adjust the weights of both the Pilot and Co-Pilot, which is interesting in the way you can set up and fly the aircraft. There is a full set of default views that is available through the menu, included views are: Pilot - Passenger (Co-Pilot) - Panel - Cyc. Frictions - Chase - Lateral - Tail Boom - Tail - Outside Angle - Outside Frontal - Preview.

 

Liveries

 

Eleven liveries provided are all excellent, They include (left to right) default White - Calypso (float only), Camouflage 1 and 2, (sec row) Graphite, Orange, RB Stripes, Red, (third row) TH55 (army), The Hunter! and Yellow. 

 

 

Flying the Schweizer S300CBi

 

I was expecting the Schweizer S300CBi to be very, very nervous or twitchy, as it is such a very small agile little insect of a machine. But in fact it was quite a well balanced and quite stable aircraft to fly...

 

 

Startup was quite easy. Power (Bat) and Alt switches on, make sure the mixture knob is in and turn the key and hold for a short while...  easy, lawnmowers are harder.

 

I am going from KFMY : Page Field to KRSW South West Florida Intl which is very short hop, across the southern western Florida landscape.

Inputs are as expected with very fine movements, but control was easy and I had no issues slipping up and away from Page Field. Transition from vertical to forward movement was seemless but the aircraft is very light and you can gain height very quickly if you don't arrest it.

 

Your speed is not going to break the sound barrier, but I found I settled quickly into a nice 70knts at around 500ft. The S300C does not come fitted with a governor, normally it's a unofficial kit that people install on the aircraft after purchase, so it is simulated here that the non-governed version when not fitted or if governor is disabled it does correctly simulate the correlator behavior which is a link between the collective and throttle to reduce pilot workload, when raising collective it will also increase throttle or vice-versa.

 

 

Sounds are overall excellent, and you can't fault them. 3d zoom with directional sound with more noise if you don't wear your headset...

 

...   the headset will also if hanging up will move around with any wind blowing, as do the keys in the ignition slot on the panel. But the wind factor is quite big on the aircraft as if you are flying with the doors off then if you stick you head out into the slipstream then the wind noise will get louder the faster you go, the wind noises are also tuned to give you the correct wind sounds that are generated by the shape of the open door and the angle of the wind. Noted as well is the factor if the doors are on or off the noise is higher or more slightly muted when closed.

 

There is hook underside of the aircraft but I think the one missing feature are two spraying booms, as a lot of these aircraft are used for crop spraying, and that would have be a fun activity for future reference.

 

 

 

 

You do feel the lightness more when auto-rotating back to the hover, and you have to be quite exact with your cyclic inputs to retard in the speed and height. The tail at these very slow or positioning speed is quite easily lost as the power is converted to the rear thrust. Nothing here you can't handle of course but a little practise is needed to get the feel right. But overall you quickly love the feel and manoeuvrability of the machine and slow long turns soon become a favorite way of just changing direction.

 

Engine shutdown is quite quick with a pull of the fuel shut off knob, but the rotors will take ages to slow down and droop, as there is no rotor brake but pilots usually slightly grab hold the tail transmission shaft when under 100RPM rotation and this is simulated by a hand on the transmission shaft...  dangerous!, yes absolutely. You can as noted earlier adjust the rotor angle (centre of the hub) to find the tie down points which are on active areas on the skids and tail boom.

 

 

Overall I loved the aircraft, brilliant...

 

Summary

As light helicopters go you can't really go past the Schweizer S300CBi. There is nothing here to be negative about as everything is pretty well covered.

 

Great to fly, handle and easy to flow, it is an easy aircraft to fly or learn if you want to transition to vertical aircraft, it is just a little twitchy in the landing and auto-rotation back to vertical flight, so you have to practise that to get it perfect.

 

You have almost "Insanely Great" detailing and animations, loads of excellent features, excellent quality textures (4K liveries), great sounds and everything is packaged perfectly. DreamFoil Creations are at the top of the game in many areas, but their helicopters are simply outstandingly good and the Schweizer S300CBi is another of their brilliant creations.

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________  

 

The Schweizer S300CBi by Dreamfoil Creations is NOW available! from the X-Plane.Org Store here :

 

Schweizer S300CBi

 

Your Price: $32.00   Features:

Detailed Model

• Highly detailed interior and exterior model
• Custom commands for all switches
• GTX327 transponder simulation
• Functional custom warning lights with integrated test buttons
• Fully articulated 3D rotor and blade flex
• Realistic blade tie system
• Rotor blur transparency use a new technique to display clouds correctly
• 3D propeller for tail rotor
• Custom animations for panel switches/keys/handles/gauges
• Animated transmission belt with clutch stretch system
• Enhanced night lighting with spill lights
• Custom Beacon/Strobe lights
• 3 Interchangeable Exhausts
• Removeable copilot cyclic and pedals
• Interior and Exterior with detailed normal map
• Switchable Garmin 430
• Yaw string
• Removeable Doors
• Rotor shadows toggle

Realistic flight model

• Accurate autorotation parameters
• Custom algorithm for CHT (Cylinder Head Temperature)
• STAR/AES system simulated
  • Start-up overspeed limiter
  • Automatic Rotor Engagement
  • Low-Rotor RPM Warning
• Functional circuit breakers
• Pilot / Passenger weight affect CG
• Correlator simulation
• Governor kit available
• Flexible skids
• Rotor hold/drag allow to change rotor position with engine off
• Main rotor protective caps can be activated by clicking on blade tip when on correct position
• Cyclic with functional lateral and longitudinal frictions
• Collective functional friction
• 2 Hourmeters with per livery persistent data (engine / flight)
• Realistic startup with custom vibrations
•  

External objects and tools

• Hook for sling load operations
• Functional floats
• Transport wheels, can be used with engine off to move helicopter on the ground
• Removeable Auxiliary Tank
• GPU (Ground Power Unit) available

Smart Menu

• SmartLivery - Dynamic Livery Menu
• Stability
• Views and weight control
• other

DreamEngine Sound System

• Over 64 custom sounds
• New volumetric cockpit
• 3D positional sounds
• Headphone simulation
• Sound interaction with doors

 

Requirements:

Windows, MAC or Linux - 

X-Plane 10.45+ (any edition)  or higher, running in 64 bit mode

Joystick required 
1GB VRAM Minimum. 2GB VRAM Recommended.

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________  

Installation and documents:

Download for the Schweizer S300CBi is 331.70mg and the unzipped file is deposited in the "Helicopters" X-Plane folder at 364mb.

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________

 

Review by Stephen Dutton

 

30th June 2016

 

Copyright©2016: X-PlaneReviews

 

Review System Specifications:

Computer System: Windows  - Intel Core i7 6700K CPU 4.00GHz / 64bit - 16 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - GeForce GTX 980/SSE2 - Samsung Evo 512gb SSD 

Software:   - Windows 10 - X-Plane 10 Global ver 10.45

Addons: Saitek x52 Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose  Soundlink Mini : JARDesign Ground Handling Deluxe plugin

 

Scenery or Aircraft

- KRSW - South West Florida Intl by Aerosoft  (KRSW - SouthWest Florida Intl - X-Plane.OrgStore) - US$24.95

- KFMY - Page Field - Fort Myers, Florida 1.0 by timbenedict3 (X-Plane.Org) - Free

 

 

[Guest Matthias]

Well, That was i name a GOOD review! :-)

 

Thank you mate! I wil buy her right now :-)

[Guest Matthias]

Just now, Guest Matthias said:

Well, This is what i name a GOOD review! :-)

 

Thank you mate! I wil buy her right now :-)

 

[HeadwindH]

I would give 5 stars for the 300CBi BUT for now I give it 3.5.  I five points off for having to go to plane maker to get rid of the pilot so the sunglasses don't block the cockpit view.  This problem has is old enough to have been fixed by now.  Only custom-service response was from user group people saying "No problem, go to Plane-Maker" or that it is Laminar's fault.  BS!

 

One full point off for the RIDICULOUS post-crash sequence in this aircraft and their Bell 407.  I don't know about any other Dreamfoil products.   A few seconds is ENOUGH.  Not 30 or 45!  I have to do an aircraft re-load from developer menu to get on with it. 

This is a simulator!  You don't have to kill me with a heart attack or stroke getting angry waiting to fly again.   

 

I WILL NOT buy another Dreamfoil helicopter until they tone the post crash sequence down.  A fragile metal helicopter DOES NOT bounce.  Maybe once or twice.  Give me a break!

 

Otherwise I like both the 300 and  Bell 407.  (Not fond of the 407 force trim.) Yes, I know, don't crash and you won't have the post-crash nonsense.  Many X-Plane aircraft have silly crash scenes but Dreamfoil stuff is down right nauseating.

 

I was a Warrant Office Helicopter Pilot in 1968-1971 and this little 300 brings back old memories of Primary Flight School in the TH-55. 

 

I am looking forward to the CH-47 Chinook by Dreamfoil because that was my main machine while in the Army.  But, if they use a forcre trim model similar to their Bell 407 and don't tone down the post-crash I will pass on spending any more money.  I'll stick to the freeware Chinook, one of the best flying aircraft in X-Plane, helicopter or fixed-wing IMHO.

 

Thanx for listening,

 

Headwind H

 

[Stephen]

All those headwinds! The coming Chinook is actually by X-Trident and not Dreamfoil, but Dreamfoil has been very slow with the XP11 updates, which is unusual for them. Just some patches and no clear XP11 updates/Iupgrades. On release the 300CBi was very good... to be fair is the fact that Laminar have done some significant changes to the vertical flight performance, but it is still the responsibility of the developer to respond to those changes, but the transfer to XP11 has been quite a drawn out mess from a developer point of view which I discuss in the March "Behind The Screen" edition.

[Nic Meuss]

This aircraft does not work correctly in Xplane version 11 - There are several serious limitations in its operation under version 11 - do not buy this aircraft model if you run Xplane 11

[Stephen]

I'm going to guess but I am going to say that you have your "Experimental box" ticked on? I don't think the 300CBi has had the update yet, knowing Dreamfoil it will come.

[jesus]

After downloaded the software into my machine, I tried to install the SIM X-Plane 12 so can fly the helicopter I been working on my training to get my license approved.

Unfortunately, I not been able to get the X-plane 12 to work
The software Dreamfoil S300C does work fine, but the X-Plane 12 does not

Can you please advise or send me a link how to resolve this issue since without this to work I do not have use for your software and will be able to need it;

[Stephen]

The Dreamfoil S300C is not an X-Plane 12 aircraft, but only designed for X-Plane 11? and it hasn't yet been upgraded? I can't understand either how the helicopter can actually work, and yet X-Plane 12 does not?

 

X-Plane is not actually my software either, but created by Laminar Research? A lot of odd questions here...  and not a lot of clear information.