Hello everyone...just wanted to come in and say hi. I'm new to the R/Cuniverse, Iused to run R/C cars when I was teenager and now that I'm in my mid 30s, Ifigured that flying planes would be a cool hobby to share with my son.

So Iwas shopping around on Craigslist and Imet a cool guy who was selling his first plane set up since he was ready to move up to more advanced planes. Ibought his Hobbico Nexstar Mini EPpark flyer trainer airplane and he also sold me his DX6i radio controller for a really good price. But he warned me that before Igo and do a live flight, Ishould put in some time on a trainer first. He even threw in a Blitz R/C flight simulator usb controller to connect up to my laptop so that Ican put in some quality trainer time. Idownloaded free FMS trainer off the net and Istarted to train on the simulator.

Here's where I've had my issues. Ican take off and maintain the plane in the air, but Ican't seem to get the plane to make a turn without the plane going off into the distance and then losing it. Ihave no problems when Iswitch into "chase mode" - Ican easily fly the plane and land it, but Iknow thats not how I'm going to be flying in real life, I'm gonna be on the ground looking up at my plane.

Does anyone have any tips or advice on how to get more out of this trainer?I know that alot of reviews about this trainer weren't that great, but then again its a free one, is that why Ican't seem to get it to simulate a more realistic flight with me on the ground looking up? Should Igo ahead and buy a better trainer?

Thanks in advance guys!

-estrike<span style="font-family: monospace;">
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In the context of your post, we know that when you say "trainer", that your talking about your flight "simulator". If you can aford it, I would say buy Real Flight G-5.5 for $199. Its really good. But it will let you push your boundary's and try things that you would never try with your real planes. Even after you are up and flying, you can use the flight sim at night, when its too windy, too much snow or rain. Its not just to learn to fly, but to progress after your flying. It really helps with muscle memory. Now, here on RCU, you are going to get the "join a club, dont buy a sim". Ignore them, do them both (Sim & Club) Joining a club is a GREAT way to learn the right way to do thing and to save you some money from your stupid little thumbs trying to kill your plane all the time. Joining a club also gives you a chance to meet a lot of cool guys (and 3 asssholes) that like to talk and teach RC flying. Oh ya, they will teach you and you son to fly for free, if you join.

Now to you losing your plane in a turn on your SIMULATOR. Your just starting out so "coordinated" turns are not what you need to learn first. You need to learn to "yank and bank" just so you can get through the turns and more advanced skills can come at a later date.

When you BANK using your planes ailerons, it will bank the plane but also make it lose altitude. You bank the plane and then pull back on the elevator to tighten the turn a bit. Dont bank over 45 deg. The more you bank and pull on the elevator, the tighter the turn gets. Once you get this VERY basic turn down, start doing figure 8's.

Hope you have fun. Oh ya, join a club!!

HI, welcome to the universe estrike, you've come to the right place for help!

You mentioned you are doing this on a laptop. That may be part of your problem. Unless you have a 21" screen anda goodgraphics cardon yours, screen size and resolution on most laptops is not great for RC flight simulators. In chase mode, you're getting a good view of the plane because of the fixed distance and you are able to see the planes orientation easily. In fixed pilot mode, theplane can notget very far away and you still be able to determine the planes orientation because the poor image.
If you have a PC with a larger monitor, I would try using your sim on the PC instead of the laptop. I use my sim on a 21" LCD and it is still hard to see at times, especially with smaller planes.

This is a factor in reality as well. One of the most common mistakes for new pilots is letting their plane get too far away, they loose orientation and the plane flies away to the unknown, or theykeep giving inputs until itcrashes.

A sim is a simulation of real world, but does not take the place of real world flying....Please get with an instructor that you can find at your local RC field....Instruction should be free.....This is a great hobby with the nicest people in the world...My daughter has flown with me for years...the last 8 or so...I have never had a problem with her and anyone at the field.....now you may hear a gruff word when a plane is re-kitted...but I can excuse that...
Anyway a great hobby but you need to enter into this hobby the correct way...let an instructor teach you and your son at the same time...you'll take your airplane home in one piece week after week....and the knowledge base is incredable...
Welcome the the addiction

Thanks guys for the great advice. Iwant to make sure Idont destroy my plane, so I'm gonna join up a local R/C club.

Welcome to RCU, eStrike!

For FMS simulator, you can select an automatic zoom of your model in flight by hitting the Z key.

Also, you can do a manual zoom by pressing the + and - keys, for both modes (normal and chase).

The camera should be following the model in the air, just like the RC pilot does in real life.
In order to achieve that, select the "fixed camera" option from the View menu.

Keep asking questions and practicing!