Outstanding Product!! Works Outstandingly with FS Addon Converter in FSX "Acceleration" Well worth the money for me considering longevity of use from FS9 thru FSX! Just finished a multiplayer FSX flight! Good job on this one Nemeth!

Now that I've owned this product for a while, I'm going to upgrade my review. Nemeth Designs has done an outstanding job as they strive for exceptional realism in their product design. I was initially a little frustrated with the extensive switchology required to get this aircraft model started and running, especially as many of the switches did not appear to be attached to working aircraft systems models, e.g. flies just as well whether the hydraulics switches are off or on. Nonetheless, the switches add a sense of procedural realism. The manual has excellent systems descriptions but the procedures are a bit difficult to follow in some places. After gaining some experience with the product, I have developed my own cockpit procedural flow which expedites the start process with particular emphasis on those panels and switches that are essential to successfully start the aircraft. Though I'm delighted with the procedural realism, a CTRL E function would still be appreciated for those occaisions when I'm time-constrained and would prefer to skip the procedures just for a quick hop. If I have to throw switches, I'd like them to be connected to working systems models, but such improvement may be constrained by limitations of FS2004. Other reviews have offered varying opinions on the quality of Nemeth Designs visual aesthetics, I find them to be adequate at the very least if not actually quite good. I fly exclusively from the VC so I appreciate the detail and functionality in this area. The flight characteristics are wonderful. I've never flown a real Mi-17 so I don't know how this product compares; however, the model certainly feels like a big helicopter and behaves as one would expect for an aircraft with the the design characteristics the Mi-17. I'm particularly delighted with the level of realism of the autorotations compared to the auto characteristics other helicopter models, such as glide ratio and rotor inertia. A fun addition to this product would be additional cockpit panels in Cyrillic alphabet as on Nemeth Designs Mi-2 product, though unless Russian is your primary language it would be best to master the English language panels first...
So, given my additional time spent with this product I upgrade my recommendation from nice-to-have to gotta-have. I rank it a 4 only for possible improvements as noted above. If FS2004 allows no further improvements, I would give it a 5.

Too much emphasis on "switchology" but not enough emphasis on functioning systems models, e.g.:

-Checklist includes clickable switches for flight data recorders, voice annunciations, hydraulics, and bank angle limiter (or SCAS of some sort). However, apparently there are no systems models attached to these switches. (Knocking off the hydraulics appears to have no effect on the flight characteristics!)

-Erroneous/nonexistent instrument indications, e.g.:

-No reading on the DC voltmeter when selecting & checking VU-6 rectifier function.

-No fuel quantity indication (understood that power must be supplied correctly for the instruments to work).

-Unable to maintain level cruise flight when the power is set to "continuous" mode on the IR-117 operation time indicator.

-VHF comm selector doesn't appear to function correctly (i.e. freq. bleed despite selecting Comm 1 or Comm 2).

All somewhat frustrating after having to sift through almost 2 pages of start checklist (which isn't always consistently written with the rest of the manual) just to get the thing running (with most of the instruments up).

Needs a "CTRL-E" option for folks who just want to kick the tires, light the fires, & go for a quick run around the patch (or don't want to bother with checklists/switches).

But having said all this:

-Good autorotation sim, maybe one of the best (knock off the power and it comes down like a Simonized foot locker).

-I like the "feel" of the landing gear.

-Aesthetically pleasing for the most part.

-Generally good fun to fly (don't know how it compares to a real Mi-17?).

Plenty of room for improvement, but I still recommend as a "buy," particularly if you've gotta have a Mil...

outstanding a must buy. one of the best helicopter i have ever owned.

An impressive product. I'm very pleased. Not being a helicopter fan originally, I bought it because it looked so damn good. Turns out it was loads of fun to fly too. Because of this I quickly got over the learning curve. A year on I still fly it regularly.

Great work, Nemeth!

I've never been a fan of helicopters in FS, but this one changed my mind. The systems replication is very convincing, as are the virtual cockpit and cabin. I've never used a chopper in FS that is as easy to fly and hover as this one!

I'd love to see Nemeth tackle some of the REALLY big Mils, too....like the Mi-26 or Mi-6...or even the Mi-12!