Helicopter simulator realism
Hey everyone.
I'm what I'd probably consider an 'expert' airplane pilot with 5+ years of experience flying all kinds of RC airplanes in all kinds of conditions. I probably fly 3-4 times a week so I'm out there quite a bit.
I've got some heli experience with a blade mcx 2 (which doesn't really count) and some real CP experience with a T-Rex 450 clone and a smaller CP heli.
My CP heli experience wasn't the best...I was able to hover but forward flight led to disasters so I kind of quit the heli thing for about a year (other than my mcx 2).
I've recently acquired a Phoenix flight sim and have been messing around flying the New Blade 450 3D in the intermediate mode. I've been flying it quite a bit and can hover, do figure 8s, fast forward flight, loops, brief inverted hovering at high altitude and the occasional roll. I always fly with a touch of wind and turbulence on to simulate (as best as possible) real outdoor flying, even on a 'calm' day.
This has peaked my interest in possibly giving the heli thing another go-round as the Blade 450 3D BNF looks pretty enticing for what I want to do, and I'm a big fan of E-Flite/ Horizon.
My question is this: How realistic is the sim for helis? I know for airplanes it's reasonably close but there are certain nuances missing. I'm wondering how well my heli skills on the sim will transfer to real life in this case. Will I be able to just take off and fly just like on the sim or am I fooling myself? I never had a sim when I started flying airplanes so I can't really draw from that experience and I'm not sure how accurate the helis really are on the sim.
I don't want to think I'm going to be able to 'just fly' based on my sim experience and then just end up being frustrated because the feel. etc. is way different.
Thanks!