Sims...

[James D]

Hi all,

I wanted to post this specifically in the 'non-sim' thread as I was looking for honest, straight answers. I've flown my whole life, heli's and F3A and now just recently IMAC. I've never used a Sim. And don't really have any intention to....

Am I being stubborn? Should I give it a go? Is my time not better spent in the air handling wind and whatever else?

What are the experiences of you all

many thanks

James Delphic

[heydick]

James,
Here in the States there's a large percentage of the country that's under snow during the winter or the weather is just too darn nasty to fly in. For these people there's nothing better than flying a sim to keep the thumbs limber. The sim is nothing more than a tool and at this point in time can't duplicate actual flying conditions with 100% accuracy, but if you can't fly because of the weather, it's the next best thing.
Many people use the sim to practice the new IMAC sequences before the season starts. Personally, I've found the sim to be invaluable for learning 3D maneuvers, especially rolling maneuvers where timing is critical. In this respect alone I truly believe the sim has saved me thousand of dollars in crashed planes.
There's no substitute for actual flying, but if you can't fly, for whatever reason, you can stay sharp on a sim.
.02

[p sme]

what hey dick said. I am planning to start competing in IMAC this season, so just the other day I looked up the sequence and learned it on the sim, since there is stil half a foot of snow on the ground. Also, I learned to do rolling harriers in probably about 5 hours and probably 200-300 crashes on the sim. It would have taken me way longer than that flying a real plane. As heydick said, its not perfect, but if you turn on some wind, pur in the glare from the sun, etc. its pretty darn close. Either way, they are great learning tools

[Bobbydog]

Not exactly what you asked but... I learned to fly with a sim. I live out in the boonies and have never seen anyone else fly other than on videos so a trainer was out of the question. I practiced on that sim for a hundred hours, untill I could do some 3D and was amazed at how good I could fly a real RC plane on my first flight. My first plane had ailerons and I was flying upside down and doing blenders (bad ones )in the first 2 days.

Now I use it to practice crazy hard maneuvers at night and fly them for real in the morning. Without a doubt it doubles anyones learning curve. Go for it. Good luck.

Bob

[JohnnyKatana]

if it wasnt for a sim id have lost thosands in planes
learning 3d is made 6654654 times easier with a sim
you pay the sim off within the first five times you crash on it
much worth the money

[harv]

when i first got my sim, i could barely hold a hover, i couldnt toruqe, do rolling harriers, i could allthe simple stuff, i spent about a year flying on it, non-tstop, now im one of the best pilots at the flying field i fly at. it saved me $1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 of airplanes. but i live in canada so half the time is spent indoors out fo the rain or snow.



harv

[James D]

Thank you all so very much for all of your comments. It's pretty unanimous that a sim is an absolute investment. I'm from AUstralia and because the weather is prety good all year round - even in Winter - we can fly all of the year.

I just had a look at the 'real' Sim thread and there are a million opinions as to which one and then they go into vid cards for their computers and the like.

Let's just say for the moment that my PC is the 'best & most powerful" thing you can get - even though it's not.

Which Sim version would you guys recommend?

All the best J

[LangerLad]

Reflex XTR gets my vote.
I have or have had in the past AFPD, G2 and Phoenix, all of which are good sims but I find that Reflex is just that bit more realistic and demands a little more from the pilot.
Another plus is that all updates are free so no costly upgrades in the future.

Stew

[Bobbydog]

I've only ever used Aerofly Pro Deluxe (AFPD) and its great. A little tough to setup if your a computer noob. There are hundreds of different planes to download if you know where to look. Mostly German websites. I'm not sure exactly what the system requirements are for it, I've got a AMD Athlon 2500+ processor and a Geforce 6600GT video card and that runs it no problem.

I'll have to check out Reflex XTR, if its better than AFPD then it must be really good.

Bob

[3DCrazy516]

The only sim I have is realflight classic, soo I'll be looking into a new sim also. Right now I'm leaning toward aerofly but I'll see what Toldeo has to offer.

[Rob B]

I think any of the major simulators, aerofly, g3 etcc.... Will give you the same end result. It's an opportunity to take your coordination to a whole new level. Sure you can learn this coordination at the field with a real plane, but it's much easier on the sim. Meaning, if you crash while practicing a rolling circle in the real world, now you have to stop practicing for the moment. Practicing on the sim give you the abilty to repeatedly practice a manuever till you get it. without the hassles of crashing for real. My two cents.....

[Bobbydog]

I just checked out Reflex XTR and it does look really good. A company called MRC is distributing it in the US but their website is in shambles. Everything is either out of stock or is "coming soon". There is no way I'd send them 200+ bucks. I did a Google search but couldnt find anywhere else to buy it. If someone knows of a US or Canadian distributer please let me know. Thanks.

Bob