I have a Flightstar 40 that i have never flown, i want to know how similar it is to flying the pt 40 on real flight... thanks

I wasn't going to respond to this because I'm going to open up a can of worms. But I feel daring today.

The Real Flight simulator, though better by far than any other, does not provide accurate flight information for any aircraft unless and until all the parameters of the real model are input into the program. Those cannot be obtained in many cases without first flying the aircraft. Then you MAY get close.

IMO simulators are best used to gain the knowledge and automatic (reflexive) responses to aircraft attitudes. The simulator will give you the basic "feel" of what you need to do, but the speed, depth and weather differences between the simulator and reality prevent a true comparison

Don't get me wrong, the simulator will help, tremendously, but don't expect things to be exactly the same between reality and simulation. The simulator WILL give you, with enough practice, the mental, visual and hand coordination required to prevent getting the plane into an attitude that you cannot recover from.

Silversurfer

Well put I feel the same.

Ditto here as well. I'm a begginer as well. I enjoy the simulators to get a feel for the sticks so to speak, but it is not the real thing. Its great to learn what the stick imputs do, but it is only a simulator............it simulates the real thing, but does not completly 100% duplicate it. It is great practice though, and like they say, practice never hurts. So does it help.........yes, is it completly accurate......no

Sims do help. Even the freebie FMS will teach you how to steer when you're flying towards yourself and it's all backwards. How the elevator is backwards when you're inverted, etc. The basics even more, like when you're too high what stick to push. How hard you can turn at speed to not go into a death spiral. How far away you can see your bird and still steer. (*No USING CHASE CAM OR ZOOM CHEATS!*) As far as the plane responding to wind, the weight and differences each plane has, it's not there. They are a nice learning tool, but a sim can never replace an instructor. No sim can trim your plane. A sim can't show you all the cool things *YOUR* plane is capable of like an instructor can. Learning on a sim you can get used to just keeping it in the air, and doing fun stuff. Then when you try and do a slow semi-graceful figure 8 around the field in real life with your trainer, you don't have a clue. I've used sims a lot, can't fly a real plane very well since I've only flown my trainer once. I can't wait for my next Instructor session. The sim advantage is my next sim session is now if I want. My instructor was impressed that I could already steer when coming back at myself, and do a decent touch - n - go landing because of the sim. Use all the tools you can learning to fly. An instructor is tool #1 by a big margin. Having a plane that flies half decent is tool #2, and a sim is close to #3 in my book. Reading these fine forums and picking brains is probably #2 or #3 though. - Joe

Totally disagree, sims fly better than the real models. I would suggest to sell your model and invest on more sim software and stay home warm and comfy sitting on your computer chair. Who in the right mind wants to fly a real aircraft that has so many deffects when you can keep flying a virtually perfect airplane that never gets destroyed crash after crash........




ok guys, it was a joke!]

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i dont know.. i have a diffrent but similar opinion.. the sim was what taught me to fly helicopters... i had zero instructor time with them other than every minute of spare time i spent on the sim. and in my opinion, the one i used on the sim flew almost as good as my real one. and i have only been flying since like may of this year. and not very often. i can do the basics in a heli.. hover, forward flight, loops and rolls.... not bad for only haveing like 15 days of total flight time for real. so my opinion differs from above. i make all the people here fly on the sim for awhile before i take them up. first student soloed on his 2nd flight, and ran out of season on my second. but they all did VERY well after spending time on the sim.

Graupner, I understand your point and I agree that sim experience can help considerably before attempting the real model. The question at hand was not about that but if one can duplicate the exact flying characterstics of a model on the sim. The answer is no, even on real scale aircraft its impossible to duplicate using millions of dollars of sim hardware and software. It can be very close that common flight scenarios behave practically identical but never acurate enough that the design is proven. Thats why we have test pilots!

I have to agree with the majority opinion. That is realflight WILL help you to fly but IS easier than flying in real life.
I'm a newbie too btw.
Photoniq

I agree. All the simulator is good for is practicing your thumb movements. Not much else. Though I have been using my RF Classic to get an IMAC sequence engrained in my memory.

Cappio, sim planes fly horribly. Try getting one to flatspin. If you think they fly better, you must not have ever had a real nice plane in the real world...

No wonder the subject always end up on a tangent line all the way in china. People read the first line of a post then comment without finish reading.

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I use Realflight in a different way. I will input a plane from the plans, install the expected engine power and fly. I then make changes to the control surfaces, throws, incidence, to arrive at the performance I want in the real plane. I have entered some from plans that I found dissapointing and then did not build. I have converted some freeflight oldtimers and was able to change them so that they behaved well as an R/C. I always try out my scratch built designs before wasting the balsa.
The simulator has saved me considerable money and time.
Hey its a great diversion during the long cold winters in Michigan.

Adam,
You will find that your Flight Star 40 behaves very similar to the PT 40 on the sim if the control throws, CG,engine etc. are equal. The PT 40 seems to be fairly representative of almost all trainers of the same size.
WCB

This is probably the most perfect description I've ever read, SilverSurfer. Sims are good for learning how to wiggle the sticks and flying the plane when it's coming at you, but the flight model is far from being realistic. Let's face it, the screen is 2D.

Welcome to RC flying... you'll soon be hooked like the rest of us

I noticed that more people were taking the question of "Is flying the simulator better than real life?" I don't think that this was your question... That is why I quoted you, to keep your question in mind

Now. First off, I want to say that I have never flown a flightstar. However, all for .40 size trainers, well not exactly the same, are similar. I flew the pt-40 in RF, and I have flown my Kadet LT-40 out on the field. They were different, of course, but not different in what I was trying to accomplish. To bank the pt-40, I had to pull down the elevator slightly with my right thumb, tilting the stick at the same time, while adding a little bit of rudder (my instructor was a pattern pilot, and insisted on the rudder part). That is the same on virtually all trainers. Now I am not sure if you trainer has only rudder, or only alerions, or both, but you can learn which sticks to move on the simulator. That is the similarity between any any trainer in real life, and on the sim.

Some people while probebly tell you that "If you think you can just fly in the simulator, then go out and fly it by your self; think again". This is true for the most part. As I said before, a simulator gives you a feel for the sticks, and (which I did not add before) some what of an orientation of which sticks to move when the plane is coming toward you vs. when it is going away.

Other differences are; No distractions in a sim; bird calling, sunshine, your kid asking you when you are going to be getting home, the wind in your face. Trees. It is funny how NOBODY but RC'ers and people who fly kites, relieze that trees have a mind of there own. You will be flying along and WHAM!!!.[:@]

Another thing is speed. I know that the pt-40 fly alot fast (or seemed to) in the sim. Maybe 'cause uit is a smaller plane[sm=confused.gif]

At any rate, sim can help you immensly, but it will not teach you to fly the plane. It is a stone, with which to sharpen your reflexes[8D]

BelIblis