Real Flight Poll.......you like it or not........

[Xanadu]

How many here, after spending $200+ for Real Flight feel they get their moneys worth out from it.

I spent $200 for the system, plus another $150 for a new video card, and I am not overly excited with to say the least.
Its okay, but not great.

[Midair]

Real Flight R/C simulator (or any simulator, for that matter) is a great way to practice maneuvers, learn new skills or simply keep your fingers nimble during the cold winter months, but I wish that Great Planes would continue to work on improving realism. I realize that it's a good product that is head and shoulders above simulators from ten years ago, but, frankly, I have no use for 80% of what the program has to offer. I have no desire to fly on Mars or around the Pyramids in Egypt or at any of the other many useless locations. I'm also not keen on most of the aircraft. I'm probably like most people and only fly no more than five different platforms on a regular basis.

Peter

[tskca]

Spent $2K+ specifically for a PC, Core2 Quad with 1G on graphics card, using Realflight G5. Pleased. Simulation = excellent. So far saved over $300K+ on crashed helis plus time on repairs :=) Keeps me entertained on these wet West Coast days.

[mcx]

its nothing like the real deal. i have used all the flight sims, including aerofly pro all with a g2 controller. nothing beats flying the real thing. too me the flight sims are a game , just like playing microsoft flight simulator. except its models instead of jumbo jets and such.:thanks::TD:

[Bdegan]

I think SIMS are great for new students, to help with orientation.
I definately notice the difference when I get a new student who has spent time on the sim. Compared to one that has not.

It worked well for my son. During the winter a few years ago I bought Realflight G4. So you can see it wasn't that long ago.
He played around with it from November through to May.
We then started going to the field. After 5 different days to the field.
He walked up to the Chief Flight Instructor and asked to do his wings test...unbenounced to me.
Did his test and got his wings...He was 10 years old.

For that I feel like I got my money's worth.
I still use it to try new maeuvers. Is it realistic ??? It could be better.
I often find it easier to do something on the actual plane at the field than on the sim. Where some stuff on the sim is just to easy.

[Max]

Lately, I have been amazed at the number of first time fliers that come to our field, never having flown a real RC plane but played with sims and have learned just from the sims. As chief instructor, it has made my job easier.

Brad's son (post above) was one of those persons. We were so impressed, when he was ready we let him try for his wings without his dad even knowing.. LOL. He did his test and we instructors were coming up to him shaking his hands and his dad (busy with other things) notices us shaking his hands and and says "whats going on???".. "your son just got is wings..." LOL


Presently, I have:
RC Aerochopper (one of the very first sims)
Realflight 3.0
Realflight 3.5
Aerofly Professional Deluxe
Phoenix

I like them all. Some are "better" than other, but they all do the same thing- provide simulated controls familiarize yourself with new maneuvers or help the beginner.

My sim of choice today is the Phoenix, but I still use the Aerofly and Realfight. RC Aerochopper was from the 80's and is pretty much useless today, but in its day, it was INVALUABLE. I trained so many heli students with that thing many years ago.

With today’s sims, I like dialing in the "in-flight failure" and managing the aircraft after the failure to landing.

Like everyone else says- sims are not like the real world but does help build confidence.

I can’t say enough for sims for heli-beginners. Well worth the money in that regard. One heli bust-up and there's your sim.

Some sims can be resource hogs (especially RF) If you are having trouble with the sim, try reducing the graphics quality, turn off "particles" and reduce the amount of clouds. Also try selecting a less graphically intense flying field. I find "photo-fields" use less PC resources also- but I would still delete un-necessary objects from these fields as well.

On slower PC's, I also recommend copying a flying field to a new name and then editing the field to delete all the unnecessary objects- trees, tables, fences, etc-

Good luck.

[Gary Maker]

its nothing like the real deal. i have used all the flight sims, including aerofly pro all with a g2 controller. nothing beats flying the real thing. too me the flight sims are a game , just like playing microsoft flight simulator. except its models instead of jumbo jets and such.:thanks::TD:

Personally, I believe flight sims are much more than a game especially with today's new breed of flight sims.

You can go into the program and change many of the perameters, setting up your sim to react exactly as the model aircraft you are flying. After tweeking my Pheonix flight sim, I got the Yak 54 to fly exactly the same as my Aeroworks Yak 54. Add in some wind with a bit of Xwind and you have a very realistic challenge. I flew IMAC and with this setup flying the sim, it helped me tremendously in flying the sequences in competition.

Same goes for the helis with the flight sim. Again, having some patients, and working and reworking the sim perameters, I got the sim Blade 400 to fly the same as my model Blade 400. This really builds confidence fast and helps take the edge off the nerves when trying the model for the first few flights.

Now, just for the sake of argument, I am also going to say the same for the Microsoft flight simulator. My son, who has a commercial pilot's license, and I, would spend hours setting up and flying IFR proceedural approaches on the MFS. It is dead nuts on.

We would turn off the outside view on the sim and fly by instruments only from one city to another, following IFR rules and approaches. When we did the math, followed all proceedural turns, and was on ILS final at about 100' above ground, we'd switch on the outside view and there would be the runway straight ahead and we'd be dead on the centerline every time. Its an amazing learning tool! Don't underestimate its accuracy and usefulness in many many more ways than this! MFS is also much much more than a game!

[YoungestPiperCub]

Sims are 100% the best thing for this hobby. Better than spektrum better then electric better then sliced bread. People literally can fly unbelievably good in a few years if the fly sim lots. Anyone who owns a sim and uses it enough to see the improvements will tell you it is worth it. It will save you money from crashes and make you a better pilot.

I agree with what is said above flysim for a year and you will solo in days.

I have video lessons on my site detailing sims and maneveurs. give them a browse sometime

KK

[VA6WGO]

The simulator personally helps me a lot. It teaches me the inputs that are required for the maneuver I want to learn or practice and it takes away the stress of crashing while perfecting the maneuver.

But there has to be a balance between the sim and flying.
At the end.... the more fuel I burn the better I get.

Cheers,

Will

[Tyler P]

Sims are the best way to practice on a regular basis. You don't even have to leave the house, especially on those rainy or excessively windy days, to have a great practice session!:D

I agree that not everything is perfect with the simulators, but I learned a lot of difficult 3D maneuvers with mine and practice IMAC all the time on it! I look at the sim as a way to extend the flying season! And if all you have is a few minutes, you can still get some valuable practice time in!

[leopard1]

I loved Realflight 4.5. Until my wife knocked the Elite tx on the floor. Took her a few days to work up the courage to tell me. Sadly, the controller does not work properly anymore. Hmmm....maybe I can guilt her into getting me the new version!