how realistic is the RC sim?

[sheko_2000]

hello,
i fly high wing trainers
so far i am good in it
now i want to get myself new sport or scale model such as mustange P-51 or a sport like extra or katana
i found myself in the sim flying these planed a good way
doing basic aerobatics flying, cross wind landings ...etc

so i need to know how realistic are these sims
do i consider myself good with these models ?
i use both aerofly delux and G4.5

[RCModelReviews]

I find simulators to be amazingly realistic -- once you set them up correctly.

When I was learning 3D (something I'm still doing), the sim saved me a lot of pain and suffering.

I do notice that flying all kinds of model on the simulator is actually easier than in real-life but it does get you comfortable with all the various aspects of specific types -- such as avoiding tip-stall with some scale models and getting used to higher landing speeds etc.

The best thing about a sim is that once you have one, you can fly at any time of the day or night, regardless of the weather.

[sheko_2000]

hello,
i tried to let the planes stall so many times but i couldnt !! thats why i was concerned about its realastic

may i ask more details about what u just said "I find simulators to be amazingly realistic -- once you set them up correctly"

[RCModelReviews]

Most simulators allow you to adjust things such as the weight of the model, it's CG, the power, the wind, the turbulence, etc.

You need to play with these settings to get the models to fly realistically.

It's been my experience that most simulators are set up so that the models seem to be filled with helium and are very light -- much lighter than they behave in real life.

Increase the weight of the model and see what happens. That often makes them realistic -- and add some turbulence, that's more like real-life too.

[sheko_2000]

thanks so much for the tip
it will really help

[propfella]

I have just about every flight sim available and almost ready to give up updating them, it's so darned expensive. Personally I prefer Phoenix slightly over Real Flight, followed by Clearview (for price)

One question that begs to be asked. How is a newbie, who has never actually flown a real RC Plane, supposed to know what realistic is. As far as he or she is concerned, the way the plane flies the first time he uses it is realistic because he /she has nothing to compare it to. Altering the setup is merely your idea of what realistic is. Another 500 people could set the plane up entirely differently, exactly the way real RC planes are. Most planes of the same brand and model will fly differently. Find someone with the same model as you and ask if you can swap for a few minutes. I'll guarantee the other plane will feel diffently.

A good flight sim will present it's planes as close to being realistic off the bat. What use is it if you have tom set it up to as yet unknown parameters.

I really don't think any plane in a sim could be identical to the real thing, close? yes but not identical. I use the sims to get the feel of flying. There's a vast difference between The Wright Brother's plane and flying an F18 but it's the "feel" for flying a newbie is after. How their fingers on the sticks make the plane react. What happens when they move this stick this way and that stick the other. How to take off and how to land. Those things are what is important to the newcomer.

The most important thing missing is the realisation that real planes crash and usually cost you money. So flying a sim and real life are as different as chalk and cheese. The sim will give the feeling of flying a plane and how to make it behave but changing from the sim to real life is a massive step to make and usually frightens the heck out of anyone experiencing it. But very quickly that "Feel" comes into play and there they are actually flying the real thing.

A Flight Sim is an AID to flying, not a free pass to fly. (in my opinion)

[propfella]

Sorry, I forgot to mention. I've been flying Sims for 12 years, almost daily. I've only flown an RC Glider for two minutes. Unfortunately I'm not in a position to fly the real thing. That could change if I was financial enough to own a pair of LCD Goggles.

[RCModelReviews]

As someone who (somehow) got the job of being the club's instructor, I can say that flight-sims are great!

Most of them are "realistic" enough to teach the basic muscle-memory needed to fly an RC model.

The biggest problems that novice pilots face is remembering which way to push the sticks and getting used of the different inputs required when the model is flying towards them.

The sim is great for this.

When I train a new flier, those who have spent time on the sim are a piece of cake. They don't get disoriented and, if they've done enough sim-time, they usually go solo in just one or two flights with a real model.

As for realism, most of the sims I've tried are too "pure" in the way they depict the physics of flight.

Simulated models don't misbehave the way that real models do sometimes. For instance, when learning 3D, most sims produce a model that will knife-edge exactly the same to the left or right -- in the "real world", there's always a slight difference in the knife-edge characteristics of a model -- depending on which way you're going.

Likewise, many models will tend to screw out of consecutive tight loops but the models in most sims behave perfectly.

[adeptrc]

You can learn an awful lot with even very basic sims. I taught myself to fly RC (long before I could afford a real setup) using a BBC model B, dual analog joysticks and two games, Aviator and Elite (Brits will know what I'm talking about). Both games were simple B/W wireframe. Aviator (flight sim) had great physics for an 8bit micro . . . and Elite (space trading, but with good 'flying') forced you to think in 3D (lining up with a rotating space station orbiting a planet to dock through a rectangular opening - you had to match the rotation (roll) but keep the proper heading with pitch and yaw ... and use throttle to slow down at the right time to an appropriate docking speed . . . )

Later on, MS Flight Simulator in 3rd person view also provided a good experience . . . but those dual analog joysticks the BBC used were much closer to the feel/function of a real transmitter . . . we're spoiled now that you can pick up a USB 6channel transmitter and an open source sim for under $20 . . .

I find the biggest difference in the real world is that you have a much better perspective - other than flying at the boundaries of vision, since eyes don't have autozoom. But in the real world, the wind can be more fickle . . .

I would suggest tweaking the sim settings for a model (or close substitute) you fly in real life, until the sim behaves close to what you experience in real life - that will probably give you a good idea of what to tweak on a new model . . .

Bruce, what sim/model combo do you use when introducing a new member (total newbie) to the AXN . . . since it has such a wide speed range . . . my 10yr old flies indoor RC helicopters . . . but I think becoming comfortable with the fact the AXN can really move, and how to control velocity might be the most intimidating thing for him . . .

[pldb64]

Speaking from the perspective of a newbie (7 weeks and counting), i found the Sim worth its weight in gold.

I haven't dumb thumbed anything yet! (famous last words i hear you all say?) and i'd attribute a large part of that experience to 20+ hours on the simulator before the AXN had even arrived from HK!

I use Phoneix as my preferred Sim simply because the environmental settings appear to be more realistic than i could achieve with any others. I've set up random gusts of wind from varying directions and with varying strengths.

I started out flying just with the standard EasyStar to mimic the AXN but found its flight characteristics were not truly representative. Fortunately after a little digging on RCG, i found someone had already added ailerons to an EasyStar variant and so now i fly that almost 100% of the time.

I still need to make some adjustments to the AXN model in Phoneix as the roll rate and behaviour when attempting a roll does not match that of the model just yet.

Generally speaking - it meets my current needs very nicely.