Sbob
SOH-CM-2026
Virtavia offers the CH-53 in two flavors, the Sea Stallion (USMC and USN) and the Pavelow III (USAF).
USMC/USN
USAF
These are BIG but fun helo's for FS9. They can dead-lift some very heavy loads while also performing some special OPS.
For the most part, the FD is accurate (IMO) and stable. The only drawback is the landing gear. Straight out-of-the-box, the -53 has a bad case of Pogo Stick Gear (aka The Yips) and I wanted tune this out.
This is almost always due to the Compressibility Ratio for each gear leg in the [Gear and Scrape] section. You land a little too hard and the gear shoots the plane up like it was attached to cannons where FS9 kind of loses the entire plot and the bad fun begins. 
There's also a smaller problem if you're running higher resolutions and a larger screen, I also wanted to add some "tire sink" when the throttle is at Idle on the ground.
Otherwise, I didn't want to go overboard on the tuning. A bad landing is still a bad landing, if you cut the throttles at 1,000 feet AGL and try to "slam hover" this thing to the ground, there should be some consequences.
I'm also starting to think the tire diameters are off. The tire size (especially the mains) seem to be too tall. This is a small issue and I haven't played with it yet.
Anyway, you'll want to open your Aircraft.cfg file. These numbers work for both versions, Stallion and Pavelow.
Move down to the Gear and Scrape section and replace it with the following:
static_pitch = -4.0
static_cg_height = 7.75
max_number_of_points = 12
//----------0---1-----2----3-----4----5--6----7---8----9----10-11-12-13-14--15
point.0 = 1, 20.3, 0.0, -7.37, 3500, 0, 1.15, 75, 0.90, 1.75, 0.5, 3, 3, 2, 53, 100 ; nose wheel
point.1 = 1, -7.1, -6.5, -9.15, 3500, 1, 1.8, 0, 0.90, 1.75, 0.4, 3, 3, 3, 53, 100 ; left wheel
point.2 = 1, -7.1, 6.5, -9.15, 3500, 2, 1.8, 0, 0.90, 1.75, 0.4, 3, 3, 3, 53, 100 ; right wheel
point.3 = 4, 22.0, 0.0, -4.05, 4500, 0, 0.0, 0, 0.85, 1.5, 0.6, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 ; nose float
point.4 = 4, -8.0, -8.8, -6.50, 4500, 0, 0.0, 0, 0.85, 1.5, 0.6, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 ; left float
point.5 = 4, -8.0, 8.8, -6.50, 4500, 0, 0.0, 65, 0.85, 1.5, 0.6, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 ; right float
point.6 = 2, 19.5, 0.0, -4.85, 4500, 0, 0.0, 0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0, 0, 5, 0, 0 ; scrape nose fuse
point.7 = 2, -14.7, 0.0, -7.21, 4500, 0, 0.0, 0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0, 0, 6, 0, 0 ; scrape aft fuse
point.8 = 2, -39.4, 0.0, -3.24, 4500, 0, 0.0, 0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0, 0, 9, 0, 0 ; scrape boom
point.9 = 2, 0.0, -8.8, -6.50, 4500, 0, 0.0, 0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0, 0, 4, 0, 0 ; scrape left pylon
point.10 = 2, 0.0, 8.8, -6.50, 4500, 0, 0.0, 0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0, 0, 4, 0, 0 ; scrape right pylon
point.11 = 5, 0.0, 0.0, 0.00, 0, 0, 0.0, 0., 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0 ; Water rudder
gear_system_type=0
The important numbers are in column 10, 0.5, 0.4, and 0.4. This should add more "cushion" when you touch down. Note that you CAN still screw up a landing, its just a little more stable and forgiving. Note, also, that the Virtavia CH-53 is designed to land on water. This is handy if you wind up in a Pogo. Get control back using the throttle then RAISE the landing gear. Come in for a landing with the gear UP and slowly touch down. The footprint for a water landing is wider. Once you're on the ground and stable, add enough power to get into a low hover then lower the gear and land.
Quick update- I did confirm that the wheel diameters in column 6 are off (too tall), especially for the main gear. Knock them down by about 0.2 (in this case, change 1.8 to 1.6). Then, adjust the gear length in column 3 to get a little "tire sink".
USMC/USN
USAF
These are BIG but fun helo's for FS9. They can dead-lift some very heavy loads while also performing some special OPS.
For the most part, the FD is accurate (IMO) and stable. The only drawback is the landing gear. Straight out-of-the-box, the -53 has a bad case of Pogo Stick Gear (aka The Yips) and I wanted tune this out.
This is almost always due to the Compressibility Ratio for each gear leg in the [Gear and Scrape] section. You land a little too hard and the gear shoots the plane up like it was attached to cannons where FS9 kind of loses the entire plot and the bad fun begins. There's also a smaller problem if you're running higher resolutions and a larger screen, I also wanted to add some "tire sink" when the throttle is at Idle on the ground.
Otherwise, I didn't want to go overboard on the tuning. A bad landing is still a bad landing, if you cut the throttles at 1,000 feet AGL and try to "slam hover" this thing to the ground, there should be some consequences.
I'm also starting to think the tire diameters are off. The tire size (especially the mains) seem to be too tall. This is a small issue and I haven't played with it yet.Anyway, you'll want to open your Aircraft.cfg file. These numbers work for both versions, Stallion and Pavelow.
Move down to the Gear and Scrape section and replace it with the following:
static_pitch = -4.0
static_cg_height = 7.75
max_number_of_points = 12
//----------0---1-----2----3-----4----5--6----7---8----9----10-11-12-13-14--15
point.0 = 1, 20.3, 0.0, -7.37, 3500, 0, 1.15, 75, 0.90, 1.75, 0.5, 3, 3, 2, 53, 100 ; nose wheel
point.1 = 1, -7.1, -6.5, -9.15, 3500, 1, 1.8, 0, 0.90, 1.75, 0.4, 3, 3, 3, 53, 100 ; left wheel
point.2 = 1, -7.1, 6.5, -9.15, 3500, 2, 1.8, 0, 0.90, 1.75, 0.4, 3, 3, 3, 53, 100 ; right wheel
point.3 = 4, 22.0, 0.0, -4.05, 4500, 0, 0.0, 0, 0.85, 1.5, 0.6, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 ; nose float
point.4 = 4, -8.0, -8.8, -6.50, 4500, 0, 0.0, 0, 0.85, 1.5, 0.6, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 ; left float
point.5 = 4, -8.0, 8.8, -6.50, 4500, 0, 0.0, 65, 0.85, 1.5, 0.6, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 ; right float
point.6 = 2, 19.5, 0.0, -4.85, 4500, 0, 0.0, 0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0, 0, 5, 0, 0 ; scrape nose fuse
point.7 = 2, -14.7, 0.0, -7.21, 4500, 0, 0.0, 0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0, 0, 6, 0, 0 ; scrape aft fuse
point.8 = 2, -39.4, 0.0, -3.24, 4500, 0, 0.0, 0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0, 0, 9, 0, 0 ; scrape boom
point.9 = 2, 0.0, -8.8, -6.50, 4500, 0, 0.0, 0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0, 0, 4, 0, 0 ; scrape left pylon
point.10 = 2, 0.0, 8.8, -6.50, 4500, 0, 0.0, 0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0, 0, 4, 0, 0 ; scrape right pylon
point.11 = 5, 0.0, 0.0, 0.00, 0, 0, 0.0, 0., 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0 ; Water rudder
gear_system_type=0
The important numbers are in column 10, 0.5, 0.4, and 0.4. This should add more "cushion" when you touch down. Note that you CAN still screw up a landing, its just a little more stable and forgiving. Note, also, that the Virtavia CH-53 is designed to land on water. This is handy if you wind up in a Pogo. Get control back using the throttle then RAISE the landing gear. Come in for a landing with the gear UP and slowly touch down. The footprint for a water landing is wider. Once you're on the ground and stable, add enough power to get into a low hover then lower the gear and land.
Quick update- I did confirm that the wheel diameters in column 6 are off (too tall), especially for the main gear. Knock them down by about 0.2 (in this case, change 1.8 to 1.6). Then, adjust the gear length in column 3 to get a little "tire sink".
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