ORIGINAL: Trainwreck68
I have been flying helis for about a year now and I am pretty good (fixed pitch only), but now I want to get into planes. I plan on starting with a 3 channel such as Cox Sky Cruiser and I have been practicing on my simulator for a month now and just can't seem to get it perfect. My question is do I really need to be proficient on the simulator first before I try live flight? When I started with the helis I jumped right in live with a cheap 3 channel and had very little problems learning, but I have a heck of a time flying helis on the simulator now so I'm thinking that may be I should forget the simulator and just get out and fly. Any opinions?
It will really depend on what sim your using - FMS or alike .. utter rubbish IMO, and will not teach you a thing.
As a heli guy also (but with nitro collective pitch not FP), I use Phoenix as a training tool, and found it VERY helpful when initially going into planes, as it allows for the differing characteristics to come through, and get your head space in the right place so when I went to the field, on my first take off and circuit, my instructor almost walked off as he didn't think he was needed. It was also a fantastic tool when going from a 450 electric to my nitro heli.
High end sims do help learners - period, it's just that the ones that do are also the expensive ones!