Is a flight sim really necessary to learn to fly RC planes? I was asked this question recently, and I liked my thoughtful and detailed reply so much that I decided to share it here with all of you!

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I don't think a flight sim is absolutely necessary, but I do think it's useful and helpful for a number of reasons.

A flight sim will help practice basic flying manuevers like figure eights and square turns after you first learn them while flight training. You can work on a new turning technique or aerobatic manuever with your instructor, then go home and practice the manuever on the simulator to reinforce the lesson.

A flight sim will allow you to fly when your schedule or the weather won't let you go out to the field and flight train. I remember when I was training a couple of years ago that I couldn't wait for Thursday night flight training to come around. When we got rained out, being able to fly on the sim was a good substitute. I think having the simulator available helps eliminate the temptation to go out and fly when you know you shouldn't.

I trained at a club with several Avistar owners who wrecked their planes trying to taxi them in their driveways or starting them in their garage and having them get away from themselves. Don't underestimate the temptation to fly when you know you shouldn't. The simulator will help ease the craving to fly when you want to go out to the field but you can't. Keeping a cheap RTF park flyer handy for crashing in between training flights is also handy.

A flight sim will give you extra stick time to work on control orientation and practice aircraft recovery without risking your planes. I can recall at least three saves I had last year that I can contribute to simulator practice. Twice I had sport planes out high and away from me and I lost orientation due to hazy visibility. I pulled them out of dives intuitively because of simulator practice, then realizing afterward, "Wow! That was a pretty good save." Another incident was over the winter when I was flying indoors and my foamy was coming in toward me but another pilot had cut across my flight path. I banked my airplane above his and pointed it directly toward the wall, then quickly corrected course and banked sharply again to parallel the wall before colliding with it. All of these saves were done instinctively and were simply reflexes of previous simulator work.

A simulator is also a good way to try new and different forms of flying without having to pony up the cash for extra models. I've flown trainers, sport planes, and pattern ships while at the field, but I'm curious to try a lot of additional forms of flying. On the simulator I can practice with scale warbirds, scale aerobatics, 3D flying, helicopters, sailplanes, flying wings, and all kinds of other aircraft without having to invest extra time or money. I've discovered that scale warbirds look and sound cool, but they're kind of boring to fly. I've also discovered that 3D flying and helicopters are way tougher than I thought they'd be, and that I've got a lot more practice to get in before I bother to invest in real aircraft of those types.

I have a friend who is a decent sport pilot like myself, but he hasn't had much luck stepping up to the next level of flying skills. He was considering buying a CAP232 ARF because he thought his Great Planes Big Stik .40 ARF was too tame for him. I thought it was a pretty big leap, but he thought he could handle it. I had him come over and fly the Big Stik .40 ARF on my Real Flight G3.5 simulator, and he thought it was pretty realistically modelled. I then had him fly the Great Planes Performance Series CAP232 that is modelled on the same sim, and he put it into the ground several times in a row. The simulator helped him realize he wasn't ready for that level of scale aerobat yet, and it saved him a lot of money and frustration.

If you're only interested in basic flight training and you're not sure if flying RC is something you're sure you want to do for the next three or four years, then you don't need a flight simulator. If you're excited about RC flying and you can't wait to try out aerobatics or 3D manuevers or other forms of flying, the flight simulator is a great investment that can improve your skills and keep your reflexes sharp when the weather or your personal schedule would otherwise keep you from flying.

I have Real Flight G3.5 and I like it, but I can't say it's absolutely the best simulator out there. The new FS One simulator from Hangar 9 is supposed to be quite impressive with regard to physics. Helicopter pilots tell me that the Reflex XTR simulator distributed by Model Rectifier is the best at capturing helicopter physics. Aerofly Professional Deluxe is often touted as the best for modeling 3D aircraft flight, and they have a new budget edition called EasyFly2 that sells for $99.99 with sim cable included for your transmitter. The new Phoenix Flight Simulator is supposed to boast great general graphics and physics, and it's the only flight simulator that models float plane physics and includes aquatic take-offs and landings.

I don't think which simulator you buy is critically important. Even if Real Flight G3 is the worst of the bunch, it's helped me improve and grow my piloting skills quite a bit. The difference between a mediocre pilot and a good pilot is simply practice, and having the flight simulator helps me get in a lot more practice than I could without it.

i too have the G3.5 and i agree totally. i feel it helped me learn the basics without a doubt and allowed me to solo way before some of the others that were learning at the same time. i also like the idea of practicing a flight routine on the sim before taking it to the field.......and trust me, i am still learning. these things are great tools. my favorite plane is, of course, the yak 54...but i also like flying the p-51 mustang w/retracts. tha trainers are also very enjoyable. if you've never tried a flight sim.....you gotta get your hands on one. they're worth every penny spent.

I learned to fly ( well, solo. You should never quit learning ) without one. I am convinced that I would have soloed sooner if I had had one. While I believe that no sim can completely duplicate the real thing, they really help with orientation and helping stick moves become second nature. I also think they would be very useful in practicing aerobatics " safely ".

I bought the original Real Flight a few years ago, and it sucked bad. Very unrealistic, though it was more primitive than what's out there today. I tried the G3 demo as well, and IMO, it hasn't improved that much. Planes feel very clunky in the sim, not smooth as they do in real life. Not to mention the fact that they're over priced. One of my gripes with G3 is the fact that you can't buy just the software. You have to pay for the controller. Since I already have an interlink, that makes little sense. Hangar 9's sim comes with just the software though, yet it too is very expensive. I see no need for them to cost so much since similar programs, such as Microsoft's Flight Simulator series, are nowhere near that expensive.

With a good instructor, flight sims are totally unnecessary.

I bought the original real flight and the RFG2. IMO the planes fly fairly realistic. I'm not not talking 3D, just basic flying. You can learn without a sim, but I remember getting frustrated trying to find time when an instructor could help, only to have the weather cancel your day.

I originally used the sim to learn how to use rudder. making coordinated turns for hours, and make left and right hand landing approaches. I did this so much that I was moving the sticks without even thinking about it. They are worth the money me.

You don't have to spend $200, there are some good budget RC flight sims out there, orenda635. The Clearview flight sim is only $30 for the full registered version, and they have a free downloadable trial you can get at http://www.rcflightsim.com Clearview's graphics and physics aren't in the same class as Real Flight G3.5, but with a properly configured controller, it does fly fairly good and is well worth the $30 asking price.

The FMS flight simulator isn't quite as impressive with regard to graphics, sound, or physics, but the price (free) is certainly fair. Even FMS can help a new pilot practice with regard to control orientation. Raidentech.com has a USB E-Sky flight sim controller bundled with the FMS simulator on CD for $19.99. You can download FMS or simply learn more about it by visiting: http://n.ethz.ch/student/mmoeller/fms/index_e.html

For $49.99 you get get the E-SKY USB controller with the FMS CD and a fully registered copy of the Clearview simulator. Two full flight sims with a dedicated radio controller all for the price of an XBox game is a pretty good deal.

I didn't discuss it in-depth previously, but the EasyFly2 flight sim might be the best bargain on the market for an advanced physics flight simulator. EasyFly2 was developed by IPACS, the same folks who developed Aerofly Professional Deluxe. EasyFly2 uses the same graphics and physics engines as APD, it simply offers a more streamlined package with fewer models and flying sites. It's $99.99 with a transmitter interface cable, or $129.99 with a USB game controller. You can learn more about EasyFly2 simply by visiting the dedicated web site at http://www.easyfly2.com

You might think flight sims are "totally unnecessary" orenda635, but then so are 4-stroke engines, computer radios, electric starters, and a lot of other things that make the hobby more convenient, more diverse, and more fun. Flight Simulators are one of the hottest segments of the hobby right now and there are more and more quality products competing for marketshare.

I stated in my initial post that a flight simulator isn't a necessity. I just think it's nice to be able to practice inverted flat spins at 11:30PM while I'm in my jammies!

I learned to fly without a sim but I did a lot of practice with a cheap RC (Radio Shack) car to get used to controlling a vehicle from outside the vehicle. I also learned on planes that were much slower than today's normal trainers. A Gentle Lady sailplane and a three channel Sig Kadet Senorita. Learning in "baby steps" meant very little time spent on a buddy cord.

have to say that was well put Biged,
the sim has been a huge help in my personal progression from trainer to advanced planes when I went to the field after the winter break with a new plane, after I had just gotten my sim a couple of months earlier, the diference was huge, smoother landings, better take offs, just better flying in general.
a couple of weeks ago before a maiden of my new H-9 Mustang 60 size, I worked out the kinks on my sim for a weak, just a bit of practice time every night, had a perfect maiden greased my landings and things couldn't have gone better, thanks to a few sim sessions.
I felt much more relaxed at the controls and even had a roll recovery that if not for the sim time I might have panicked, came in for a low pass went for the victory roll and got a little loose finished the roll about 15 to 20ft off the ground not a weed cutter by any means but close enough for flight #2 but I didn't feel out of control and left the field happy and with plane fully intact.
so necessary-no,helpfull-definatly yes