I'm sure RealFlight and Aerofly are much better, but I don't agree with your virtually worthless claim on FMS, Dennis.

I, like many others, have very limited funds available for R/C. The basic flight equipment took all my initial funds so FMS was my only sim option. I downloaded the virtual SPADs. I got my hands on a good basic R/C flight manual and spent many hours on FMS with my transmitter as the controller. Logged about 60 or 70 hours of FMS sim flight before my first day at the field with an instructor and my plane.

The results? My instructor says I was the fastest student he's ever had. I was doing loops and rolls on my first day of instruction - without the need for his intervention (saves).

Now, does this mean I'm just a talented great flyer? Hardly! I'm an average joe with scarred and arthritic fingers, my depth perception is not the best, and I'm really, really near-sighted. My eight year old grandson also kicks me to pieces on the video games.

What made my solo curve very short was the time I spent learning to fly correctly on FMS. And then doing it over, and over, and over ... before I took my first real flight.

FMS may not have all the bells and whistles but it will do the job well if a guy spends time with it.