Find aircraft background, systems descriptions and manuals for the aircraft you are researching. Each note keeps its source and version context close by.
Simulator manuals describe the developer’s implementation. Aircraft background is research-based; pilot accounts describe an individual’s experience. Coverage here is limited to the selected notes and linked resources, not the full contents of every manual.
Hughes OH-6 / 500 · CowanSim · MSFS 2020 · MSFS 2024
Cowan documents separate collective and throttle controls
The MSFS manual requires separate collective and twist-throttle axes, naming COLLECTIVE AXIS and SET HELICOPTER THROTTLE AXIS. It distinguishes the collective’s engine-RPM beep switch from the cyclic trim controls. The starter is a toggle that must be cycled off before another start.
Cowan MSFS 500E manual · PDF pp.1–5,9
Hughes OH-6 / 500 · CowanSim · X-Plane 11 · X-Plane 12
The VR seating position can be saved
Clipboard arrows adjust the pilot’s view in six directions. Save Position writes the chosen position to the aircraft’s VR configuration, and the guide requires an aircraft reload to apply it. Cyclic trim uses the ordinary X-Plane 12 trim commands.
Cowan 500E X-Plane 12 manual · PDF p.9
Hughes OH-6 / 500
Hughes developed the compact, single-turbine OH-6 for the US Army's Light Observation Helicopter programme. Its reconnaissance and utility roles were followed by the civilian Hughes 500 lineage.
Engines, rotors and equipment changed across the OH-6 and 500 family. Taog's simulator package offers skid and float configurations and documents electric cyclic trim; it does not describe that trim as a full automatic flight-control system.
Aircraft / family
Flying Fries Hughes XF-11 · Flying Fries · MSFS 2020 · MSFS 2024
Three-axis trim and control lock
The manual identifies trim controls on all three axes. Its control lock removes normal aileron and elevator control while elevator trim remains usable. Engine-failure features and sounds have their own version context.
XF-11 manual v3.0.0, 1 June 2026; PDF pp.5–7 History; pp.19–20 and 32–34 trim and control lock
Hughes XF-11
The XF-11 began as Hughes' military reconnaissance project during the Second World War. The developer's history follows the programme from a larger intended production order to two flying prototypes after the war. The first used two Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major engines.
Flying Fries represents the contra-rotating-propeller configuration with period autopilot equipment and custom simulation features. Its manual describes three-axis trim and a control lock that can immobilise aileron and elevator controls while leaving elevator trim available.
Hughes XF-11
ICP Savannah S
The Savannah S is a light high-wing aircraft with fixed tricycle gear and a Rotax-powered configuration. Its control system combines a conventional elevator and rudder with externally mounted Junkers-type flaperons. These wing surfaces mix roll control and flap function, so their movement is part of both the primary controls and the low-speed configuration.
ICP’s maintenance manual describes pitch control carried first by a pushrod and then cables, rod-operated flaperons with a mixer, and cable-operated rudder control. The elevator’s electric trim tab also acts as an anti-balance tab. This is a specific mechanical arrangement whose force and trim behaviour comes from the connections and tab geometry, rather than from the aircraft’s high-wing outline alone.
Savannah family options described by ICP; availability varies by version.
Nemeth Designs Ilyushin Il-18D · Nemeth Designs · MSFS 2024
Mechanical controls and trim
Sections 2.1.5–2.1.7 describe rigid mechanical elevator controls with a loading spring and aileron runs using rods and cables. Elevator trim acts through a mechanical tab, and the right aileron has electric trim. The four-engine propulsion installation is separate from those primary-control mechanisms.
Nemeth technical description; sections 2.1.5–2.1.7 primary controls and trim; AP-6E and equipment
Nemeth Designs Ilyushin Il-18D · Nemeth Designs · MSFS 2024
Transport equipment
The technical description identifies four AI-20 turboprops, retractable gear, electric flaps and the AP-6E autopilot. Passenger and cargo roles share this control-system description.
Nemeth technical description; sections 2.1.5–2.1.7 primary controls and trim; AP-6E and equipment
Ilyushin Il-18D
The Il-18D described in Nemeth's technical reference uses four AI-20 turboprops, retractable landing gear and electric flaps. Its elevator control is mechanically linked with a loading spring; the aileron runs combine rods and cables.
The simulation is released for MSFS 2024. The technical PDF describes trim and an AP-6E autopilot, while a separate cockpit document identifies the instrument and control layout.
Ilyushin Il-18D
IRIS Simulations Jabiru J160 · IRIS Simulations · MSFS 2020
Central stick and spring trim
The manual describes Teleflex push-pull primary controls operated from a common central stick. Cable-operated elevator trim loads springs against a friction lock; nose-up trim raises the elevator. The electric flaps have their own actuation, separate from the manual primary controls.
PDF1,11-14,21,32-33
IRIS Simulations Jabiru J170 · IRIS Simulations · MSFS 2020
Control runs and elevator trim
A common central stick operates Teleflex push-pull primary controls. Elevator trim uses a cable to load springs against a friction lock, with nose-up selection raising the elevator. The manual describes the J160 and J170 together while retaining their wing and weight distinctions.
PDF1,11-14,21,32-33
JU 52 · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2024
A combined trim-and-flap control
The linked 2022 MSFS 2020 manual illustrates a shared trim/flap wheel. It provides background for the aircraft family; this older document does not establish unchanged MSFS 2024 controls.
Legacy documentation · MSFS 2024 package interface remains unverified
