There’s a cool new freeware helicopter in town: meet the HCG Cabri G2 for MSFS!

Helicopters are finally officially coming to Microsoft Flight Simulator later this year, once Asobo and Microsoft release the 40th Anniversary Edition of the franchise. Until then, simmers have been able to enjoy some great efforts from third-party developers who got tired of waiting and developed their own implementation of rotorcraft in the simulator, such as HypePerformanceGroup with their brilliant and ever-evolving H145 or FlyInside with the Bell 47, among others.

Today we’re sharing with you a recent release that has proven to be quite pleasant, especially considering that it’s a freeware project: the HCG Cabri G2. This new helicopter is the work of developer Hants County Gaming (HCG), who has worked for months to realistically recreate the Cabri G2 for Microsoft Flight Simulator.

The HCG Cabri G2 is powered by AirlandFS, a freeware tool that introduces custom flight dynamics to MSFS, used by other helicopters such as the Robinson R44, and is even supported by the H145. AirlandFS is known to have enabled the easy implementation of a realistic rotorcraft flight model in MSFS, so it’s always a good sign when we see a helicopter that uses this system… at least until we get first-party support from Asobo with the new Computational Fluid Dynamics in MSFS.

This Cabri G2 features pretty good visuals, with a detailed 3D model and high-quality textures. Besides, there’s a custom soundpack for the audio, floats, and even support for the PMS50 GTN 750!

This new freeware helicopter was already downloaded more than 5.000 times through flightsim.to, with users praising both its looks and flight dynamics. The Cabri G2 comes with a custom AirlandFS profile that you must enable in the app in order to get a functional aircraft. The developer provides an in-game checklist along with clear and straightforward instructions on how to get started, so make sure to see the full details if you encounter any issues. For example, HCG warns that the Empty CG Position must be set between 4.5 and 5.0 MAC. Failure to do so will result in unpredictable behavior!

Once you successfully take off with the Cabri, you’ll find a very nice machine that is a pleasure to fly. The flight model is really well implemented and you’re bound to have a blast with this light chopper, taking in the scenery below from the wide-open cabin. It’s quite a nifty little sightseeing machine!

The HCG Cabri G2 is still in a beta stage, but it’s already quite capable and feature-rich. It’s been updated since its launch earlier this month, receiving plenty of fixes and even a very cool new crop-spraying variant!

Interestingly, the MSFS team has recently revealed that they too are working on this helicopter model for the simulator, which will arrive as a new freeware aircraft in November with the 40th Anniversary Edition of MSFS. It will be interesting to see how they will compare but, for now, the HCG version is the only one available… and it’s quite worth the free download!