I bought a pair of RDS8000s so I could buddy box with them and so I would have a backup transmitter in case I needed to send one in. I've been happy with my choice. With two computer radios, I can reduce the student's throws on the slave radio to avoid twitchiness while keeping full throws on the master for easier recovery. If you match the programming exactly on both radios, you also know that the student box is trimmed perfectly before you ever take off.

You can still buy new VG400 transmitters on EBay for around $20.99 shipped from a seller named mnhobbies. I've bought a few things from him over the years; he's a good seller and his merchandise always arrives as advertised. You can get the regular Airtronics buddy box cable to use with the VG400 and the RDS8000 and you'll be good to go.

The new SD-10G transmitter isn't buddy box compatible with any of the previously existing Airtronics radios. The new SD-5G and SD-6G radio systems are buddy box compatible with the SD-10G.

If you need a video card to soup up your PC, check out some of the ATI HD 4650/HD 4670 video cards available at NewEgg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131180

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814141114

These cards are very inexpensive yet very powerful with regard to 3D graphics acceleration. If your computer has a PCI-E expansion slot available for an add-on video card, one of these cards will allow you to run any flight simulator you'd like.

As for simulators, the best "Bang for the Buck" in the simulator world is ClearView:

http://www.rcflightsim.com/

The graphics are good, but the flying physics are really, really good.

You can download ClearView and try it in demo mode for 15 minutes of actual playing time. You can also playback the two pre-recorded demo loops indefinitely to make sure the simulator runs well on your PC.

If you decide to buy it, ClearView costs $39.99 to register and you can upgrade the demo version automatically through online payment.

I normally fly Real Flight G5 and ClearView with my Interlink controller from my original Real Flight G3 purchase. I have used the ESky EK2-0905A USB simulator controller:

http://www.raidentech.com/e4chflsitrki.html

I bought mine through http://www.raidentech.com and flew it with both FMS and ClearView. It takes a little bit of effort to calibrate the ESky controller first through the Windows Game Controller control panel and then through each individual simulator's calibration routine. Once the calibration routines were finished, the controller felt just as accurate as my Interlink controller or an actual transmitter.

$60 will get you a good simulator, a weak simulator (FMS), and a good USB controller to use with both. You could also consider EasyFly 3 or Real Flight Basic, but they commonly sell for almost twice as much at $99.98 to $129.99. These are both available at http://www.towerhobbies.com.

Tower also carries a pretty cool little bundle for something called EasyFly 3 SE:

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXXUS9&P=0

For $29.99, you get a USB gamepad controller for your PC and a limited version of EasyFly 3 (which is itself a limited version of Aerofly Professional Deluxe). This new bundle is only $10 more than the ESky controller and FMS. I feel pretty safe in guessing that the graphics and physics are worth the extra $10 on EasyFly 3 SE.

Good luck and good shopping!