I've been flying for going on 7 years now and now I'm starting to learn 3D. I've put off buying GP RealFlight G2 flight simulator mainly because of the price (let's face it, $200 is a plane!!!!! lol). But I've been thinking lately that the RealFlight would be a good way for me to get stick time learning 3D without having to haul the plane to the field, and without the high cost of all that fuel. Especially now that winter is on us and flying days are extremely limited. I am flying a DP Ultimate with a YS 120 on it and I noticed that RealFlight comes with an Ultimate Bipe in it, so this is attractive to me because they have the plane that I am learning on. To make the final decision to purchase, I'm putting it out all your pilots out there already flying 3D. Would the purchase of RealFlight be worth it for me??? Would I be able to sharpen 3D skills sitting at my computer??

Thanks in advance for any help on this one.

Because you have limited flight time I'd say get a simulator. You could probably find one on here for a discount. I'm not sure it will give you the practice you need to 3D, but it'll keep you "flying" during the winter. It will keep your thumbs up to speed.

I made major improvements in my flying by using a G2 RealFlight simulator, although I had only been flying for a year, so it was more like fool proof practice for me.

Mike

It cant hurt. Plus its alot of fun. Just wish I had it. Have to go to the LHS, they have it set up there. Cost ya to fly there though.

I have been flying over 25 years, I bought realflight last year. What a blast. It helps a ton on my helicopters, and when i get bored, I put in a plane, give it new engine and control paramiters and ring it out. What a blast. Well worth the money for any rcer. You will like it. It does help!

I'm thinking of buying the Ikrus simulator. I was told it's better for 3D and the graphics are supposed to be better. Thats what I'm told, I wish I knew somebody with both

John


turn the screw in till it backfires, then back it off an 1/8

For torque rolling, Realflight is too easy, but it'll get you there, and save you enough money in fuel and crashed planes to make it worth it. It doesn't have the physics to do most of the 3D manuvers without some tweaking (and that makes other things unrealistic), but I think it's worth it just from the aspect of learning proper inputs for the different orientations, recovering from stalls, etc.

Hello,
look at this thread:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/showthread...634&forumid=72]

I learned on RF and I use it to try new maneuvers or to see if it is possible for me to unlearn bad habits. I consider that this program has saved me from at least 3 crashes over two versions ($400). Since I fly 1/4 scale, I think this is a savings of over $1000. So for me, it is money well spent.

Oh yes, I learned to hover on it.

I found it a great help. I learned to torque roll on G2 last winter. Some planes are easier to TR than others. Start with the easy ones to get your head to start thinking about the proper inputs for corrections. Once you get to the point that you could TR it all day then go on to a harder one. (there are several available to download form the G2 website) Keep working up through the planes that are harder to TR and eventually you will be able to TR most any plane on the simulator.

One hint is to zoom in on the plane (I believe the F2 key will zoom in) and practice kind of low. You want to be able to see the rudder and elevator deflection as you are learning. Later on practice by looking at other parts of the plane and not the tail.

As for other 3D maneuvers, some are more realistic than others. Elevators and harriers are okay to practice with but harrier rolls I've found are much harder to do on a real plane than on the simulator. I also find the sim won't do a waterfall or a blender very realistically (at least the variety of downloaded planes I tried).

It's a great tool for practicing slow rolls, point rolls, and rolling circles.

Definitely worth the price from my experience.

Best of luck.............Mark

I was on the cord with my trainer learning just to fly. The next time I came back, after flying on the sim, I was taking off, landing and doing rolls and loops with my trainer. Instructor was amazed! I now have a low wing tail dragger, US AirCore Colt 40, I am now doing knife edge, flat spins and all kinds of maneuvers practiced first on the sim. Only flying sense Feb. and I amaze my instructor every time I show up. Can hover the Big Cap 232 and Ultimate Bipe on the sim but I have yet to do with a real one as I do not one to do it with. Thinking about the Magic for starters. Lots of fun, well worth the $$.

Richard

THE REAL FLIGTH SIMS ARE HARD TO BEAT. IF YOU HAVE THE FULL VERSION, NOT THE LITE, YOU CAN SET UP A/C JUST THE WAY YOUR ATUAL IS SET UP AND DO AND PRACTICE TILL YOUR HEARTS CONTENT I THINK THEY ARE WELL WORTH THIER WEIGHT IN GOLD!

R/

I got the full version about 2 1/2 months ago, I can hover and torgue roll now, and it took me a month, but I learned to do a rolling circle. I bet a crashed 1000 times! can youimagine what it would cost to do that in a model? Best investment I ever purchased

All these guys have it right on the money. G2 is without a dought the best learning tool for all types of flying that you may encounter and that means 3d flying as well. With the right amount of practice you will find that your realtime flying will not only become more precise, but you will become much more confident and in control of your planes.
The stock DP Ultimate does not feel anything like the real one because its setup to be a .40 size plane but you can always download a few from different sites where people have set it up as a 1.20 size model .
I spent a good part of the year 2001 flying the sim and practicing 3d maneuvers because i didn't have a plane to fly ( was saving up for an avistar) when i finally bought an avistar, i outgrew it in over a month.
I flew many planes between then and know, but i just finished building my H9 Edge 540 with a ZDZ 40b and on the third flight i had it doing torque rolls and harriers. It was actually easier than the sims Edge (Add on 4)

I have crashed the cap 232 countless times on the sim. Probably over a 10000 times because I use it a lot. I have finally learned how to do the torque roll on the plane. I also learned how to do a rolling circle, inverted stuff, and how to get out of trouble. I was able to control the nasty snap the cap has on the sim. I have gotten used to high rates.

I have never crashed my cap232 in real life. I was close to crashing a few times, but owe that to experience on the sim.

I find that although Realflight my not be identical to flying (not far off though) it helps to improve stick sense and orientation when planes in different attitudes.

I personally benefited by improving my rudder inputs when in an inverted harrier, something I've always been a bit aprehensive about doing with my real planes.

I also spent alot of time doing the rolling manoeuvres, taking off, putting some aileron trim in so it rolls on its own and just flying around using rudder and elevator.

I keep me hand in with the torque rolling occasionally. It keeps you sharp torqin the CPLR Cap or Giles!!

Find that it may not be a substitute to flying, but it definately helps......especially in England when it never stops "!@£%$ raining!!!!!

I am presently learning to fly on high rates and to control my sticks better. While I crash the sim a lot, I find that my reaction time and response ability has greatly improved. I hardly ever over control regardless of how excited I get.

Aerofly PRO is better for 3d

ask the pros who has it... like Rolan Matt..

Aerofly? You must not have ever flew this sim or G2 to say that. 3d is many many more manuevers than just hovering and torque rolls....
Roland matt obviouly has inside ties to this sim to add his name to it, not nescesarily because he's a big fan. Kind of like Que Que going from Futaba to JR.

I never would have learned how to do a rolling loop if I didn't have a simulator.

I got G2 last year for X-mas. After countless crashes and a million or so touch and go's, I had finished building my PT 40. I took it to the field, started it took off flew around and landed. (23 times before I ever had an accident!) Didn't know anyone that flew and didn't want to rely on somone elses schedule.

Yeah, G2 works!

Example #2

Put my 12 year old son on a buddy cord this week using a Magic to train him. (Set up with high single rates)
I've had to rescue him about 5 times in 1/2 gallon. He'll solo this weekend.

G2 is good stuff!

Does a bear poop in the woods?

Get it!!

I learned using the original version of RF and still use it to try different setups and maneuvers.