Frequently asked questions

HeliSense is in beta right now. We’re aiming to release on the App Store later in August, initially in some regions and hopefully all of them, though timings can shift as we finish testing and clear App Review. The best way to catch the launch is to check back here.

HeliSense helps you learn and practise flying RC helicopters in every orientation, with a bias toward 3D flight. It pairs an Orientation Trainer — structured drills for holding and recovering from specific orientations — with a flight Simulator for free flying. It runs natively on iPhone, iPad and Mac.

It’s a training tool first. The Trainer is built around deliberate practice and review, and the Simulator lets you build stick time. That said, flying is fun, so it doesn’t feel like homework.

iPhone and iPad on iOS 26 or later, and Mac (Apple silicon) on macOS 26 or later. See supported devices for the details.

Yes. Every feature is free to use, for as long as you like — the free tier limits each session, not how long you can keep using it. Free flying runs in short sessions (about 2 minutes in the Simulator, 5 rounds in the Trainer) with a brief cooldown before the next one. A one-time purchase removes these limits.

Planned launch pricing: Trainer £9.99, Simulator £9.99, or the Pro bundle with both for £15.99. Prices are set per the App Store and may vary by region.

One-time purchases — no subscriptions. And thanks to Universal Purchase, buying once covers your iPhone, iPad and Mac.

Established desktop pro sims typically run around £40–100+. HeliSense isn’t trying to be a like-for-like replacement for those — it’s a focused, affordable way to train orientation and log stick time, at a fraction of the price.

You pick a starting orientation — tail-in, nose-in, either side-in, upright or inverted, or a random one — and HeliSense rotates it away by random amounts on the selected axis or axes, then holds it there for you to fly back to that target. There’s no collective control: just as in the Simulator’s no-collective mode, the helicopter holds a fixed position in space so you can concentrate on the inputs that rotate it. You choose which controls to work — yaw, pitch or roll on its own, roll and pitch together, all axes, or a random single axis each round. Afterwards, a Review replays the flight with a deviation gauge, per-axis accuracy and stick traces. Collective is practised in the free-flight Simulator.

The Trainer can overlay an arrow for each active stick, recalculated every frame, showing which way to move next. They’re a genuinely useful aid when you’re learning — especially with just one or two axes active. With every axis switched on there’s a lot to read at once, and you can end up chasing the arrows instead of watching the helicopter; at that point it’s worth turning them off and flying on feel.

The flight model is genuinely realistic — enough to learn on and keep progressing with, from your first hovers through to intermediate 3D and beyond — and it already models effects like autorotation and overspeed. We take the physics seriously and are actively maturing them, release by release. (Wind modelling isn’t in yet, but it’s planned.)

A bonus feature on iPhone and iPad: a helicopter’s silhouette flashes up briefly and you pick the correctly-oriented image from two choices. It’s a fast way to sharpen the part of your brain that reads attitude at a glance. It unlocks with either the Trainer or the Simulator package.

Two 700-size, 3D-capable models come bundled — one electric and one nitro — so you can fly straight away. More helicopters are planned as downloads.

Yes. Add a photo of your own site as a background and set the sun’s direction, height and strength so the lighting on the helicopter matches the shot. Custom backgrounds are used in the Orientation Trainer and the no-collective Simulator — the modes that hold a fixed point in space; full free flight uses the 3D Skybox Scenes instead. The Content Store also offers additional high-resolution scenery.

Touch controls (on iPhone and iPad), a real transmitter over WiFi (VBar Control Touch/Evo/Evo+ or any radio with ExpressLRS) or USB (on Mac), or an MFi-certified Bluetooth game controller. See Controllers for how to connect each one.

Get in touch via the contact page and we’ll help.