Another Newbie
 

<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 14pt">I just recently retired at age 65.As a youth, I spent many hours building balsa wood planes.I&rsquo;m not sure if radio control existed at the time and if it did I most certainly couldn&rsquo;t afford it.</span></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman"></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 14pt">In the last few months I was fortunate enough to meet a gentleman near my age that was a member of a local flying club very near my home.I&rsquo;m the type of person that attempts to learn from others experiences or misfortunes.I have been bugging the local flyers to death.</span></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman"></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 14pt">I think I may have settled on an Alpha 40 DSM2 Ready-To-Fly and a </span><span style="background: #fafafa; color: #141414; font-size: 13pt">DX8 transmitter.The thing that I&rsquo;m unsettled about is a choice of a simulator.I want a good one, but I certainly don&rsquo;t to waste money needlessly.I was hoping a few good people in RC land could commented on what would be a worthwhile simulator for an old grey-haired guy with totally no experience with RC planes.</span></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman"></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="background: #fafafa; color: #141414; font-size: 13pt">I will have an instructor working with me.I hope he has the patience of Job.I would greatly appreciate any and all comments and/or criticisms of my plans.Thanks to all in advance.</span></span></div>

RE: Another Newbie
 

G'day Mate,
I have been a qualified flying instructor in Australia since 2004, & my advice is, don't waste your money on a simulator, YET, grab your instructor whenever you can & FLY.
Air time is the best teacher, a simulator will not teach you depth perception, & orientation at your particular flying field, actual real life flying will.
Just listen to your instructor, & concentrate on the plane, & you should be fine.
When you can take off, fly around & land safely everytime, then a simulator may be useful, to progress to more advanced aerobatics.
And don't think for a minute, that you will not need to learn basic aerobatics, you may not fly the pattern often, BUT, if your plane somehow gets into a weird position, you will not panic, & will be able to get it level & flying again, before it hits the ground.
That is my advice, use it if you want.

I hope you have the best fun & luck possible.

Cheers

RE: Another Newbie
 

While I agree that a GOOD instructor is worth their weight in gold, I don't feel that a simulator is a waste of money to a newbee in any way shape or form.
What something like Phoenix or Realflight (they are both good ones, and worth the $$) will allow you to do is spend time getting thumb memory. Sure, the depth perception thing is not there (a 3D TV with a 2d-3d convertor helps), but the ability to just 'fly' with-out a single repercussion is a major bonus being as your instructor will not likely want to spend every waking minute waiting for you to call just so you can go fly with him/her - as most of them have a life as well. The sim will allow you to do just that, and fly when it suits you.
Get accustomed to using the weather settings in a sim, having cross winds etc with variable gusts and direction of wind is great for adding some real world feel into the mix.
One key point I will add, set yourself goals if using a sim. They are easy to get into the habit of 'game mode' (ie just playing around) being as there are no repercussions. Try to always have an idea of what you need to master, and then work on it. Move on to the next point to 'master' only when the initial thing has become 2nd nature. It is a tool after all said and done, and needs to be used like one.
Just to point out their benefit, my first EVER plane landing was due to a dead stick 15ft above the ground just as I had taken off. If I had not spent hours on my sim (phoenix) practicing dead stick landings prior to that point, then I would have lost that plane, right there and then, end of story. At that exact point where I got it back down without a single scratch on it, that sim paid for itself - period.

RE: Another Newbie
 

As a club instructor I find the simulator a tool with limitations, if used properly it can be very productive.

A simulator used improperly can be the cause of many bad habits that have to be corrected due to unsupervised flying. Problems like over controlling ie. banging the sticks around from premature simulator aerobatics. Improper use of elevator when entering and exiting turns to mention some issues. That coupled with getting bored adds the temptation of flying airplanes (although fun) well above the students skill level resulting more possible negative training.

Fact is there is NO reset button at the field, so going wild with the simulator sometimes lessens the initial training value. I use the simulator to assign specific homework on certain issues as they present themselves. As a pilot enters more advanced flying a simulator allows practice with new maneuvers with no risk to the airplane. Making the simulator in that case a great tool.

JMHO

RE: Another Newbie
 

I agree with Alan there is no sub for stick time. ..a sim does not land or take off quite right....a sim is the last tool you need. I agree that a student with a sim progresses faster it is by no means a requirement

RE: Another Newbie
 

Welcome!
In this , some folks pick-it up at a normal pace, some quickly, and some struggle with it. I've found that new pilots who have used a simulator tend to pick-up the basics faster and progress quicker . Now would these folks have done as well without using one.....I don't know ,but I still think and as mentioned, if used properly they do help. The biggest issue when flying is orientation and controlling the plane when it's going away from you versus coming toward you and this happens at takeoff throughout your flight and at landing. The simulator, can help you practice this as well as takeoffs and landings. What it doesn't do is give you an exact feel for the flying field in real life; 360 degree view, your peripheral vision, wind conditions, and a general sight, smell, feel. I like the Phoenix simulator for it's life-like backgrounds and models. Remember too you need a computer with enough horsepower to run these as they do consume a fair amount of resources.
The plane you picked is an excellent choice and if it is a new RTF Alpha 40 it will come with a DX5 transmitter . The DX8 is a more advanced version of that transmitter and it would be a good choice when you get additional models as you can program them all on that single transmitter but you don't need to spend the money on it at this time. You will also need to your ground support equipment like a field box, starter and battery, glow plug ignitor, fuel pump/can, charger, basic RC tools and quite often you can pick all of that up used on the classifieds,craigslist, or from members in you club.
Good Luck !

RE: Another Newbie
 

Sims are a wonderful adjunct to flying the actual RC aircraft and they re indeed most helpful when flying simultainiously. Key word. When they are used without flying the actual aircraft for extended periods then big holes in ones airmanship will develop and this can cause problems later.


So yes indeed use one and expecially while you are also flying the real models but don,t make the mistake that some folks do by thinking that they will only start flying the the real models after reaching some imagined level on a sim.

John

RE: Another Newbie
 

The Phoenix seems popular with some of you guys replying.  Is there a preferred model of Phoenix for a beginner like me.  Again, I don't mind spending what is necessary, but I don't simply want to throw money away needlessly.

RE: Another Newbie
 

Real Flight 6.5

RE: Another Newbie
 

The beauty with Phoenix, is that once you have the 'dongle' (the special USB to controller cable that has the protection code embedded in it), you can upgrade the program forever and a day to the latest version (currently V4) free of charge. All new aircraft are offered as free downloads also.
Also, as the copyright protection software is in the dongle, you can install Phoenix on as many machines as you like, or actually even run it off a USB flashdrive as I do when I go away for work and only have my company laptop with me. I just have to remember to NOT forget the dongle as that is mandatory to run the thing.
Their alliance with Horizon Hobby (Hangar 9 / Specktrum etc) means that you can find 'realistic' versions of a lot of their planes within Phoenix, and setting up your DX8 will be a piece of cake.
The best point is that you use it in conjunction WITH a good instructor, as to get the best from it, you do need 1/2 and idea as what you should expect when actually flying.

RE: Another Newbie
 

I believe the Alpha .40 comes with a simulator, not a fancy one, but good enough to practice with. If you just want a simulator to help you practice and try some different models, Phoenix is good. If you want the best, easiest to use, more options, etc. and consequently the most expensive, then Realflight is the way to go.

RE: Another Newbie
 

A simulator is an awesome tool. That's why full scale pilots and even astronauts use them.<div>It is no substitute to stick time but it will shorten the time you will be in the buddy box, without doubt.</div><div>I use Real Flight, I like it, not too pricey</div>

RE: Another Newbie
 

+1 on the simulator.
It's always worth the money and you'll solo a lot faster then just with buddy-box flying.

I learned to fly helicopters with Real Flight and saved a ton of money with not crashing my Rappi.
Simulators do not replace actual flying, but the are a great training device.

Pushing the 'reset' button is a lot more convenient then picking up the pieces and build a new plane :-)

RE: Another Newbie
 

RE: Another Newbie
 

Since it sounds like you are on a budget you may consider scanning the classifieds for an older version of Real Flight, FS One, or Phoenix which will sell at a considerably lower price than the newest one. I honestly can't tell a practical difference between the 3 brands for getting a newbie pilot competent to solo and do basic aerobatics. The computer you have is also going to be a factor. RC simulators are pretty graphic intensive, roughly on par with the most demanding computer games at the time of their release. For it to be useful, you need to be able to get at least 30 frames a second consistently, with 60 fps the best that your eyes can see and most monitors can handle. I bought Real Flight 5 just about 4 months before 6 came out and needed a $150 video card to get 60 fps consistently (that's on a new computer that was pretty high performance to start with). If you go back to version 4 or one from a different brand from about the same time the graphics won't be quite as realistic but still pretty good, and the physics modeling will still be good enough to teach you a lot. I would expect Real Flight 4 to run just fine on any computer that's less than 3 years old and has at least a $30 graphics card in it. If you're not particularly tech savvy, the discussion forums have lots of posts from people outlining their computer setups and showing what frame rates they get.

RE: Another Newbie
 

You guys certainly give a newbie something to think about.  And, that's good.  I'm not rushing into the purchase of a simulator.  I may need to get a new PC before I get the simulator software.  My old PC has served me well, but it is somewhat out of date.<div>
</div><div>I certainly do appreciate all the responses I have gotten.  Thanks to all the kind people helping to literally get me off the ground.  I am discovering there are some pretty great guys flying planes.</div>

RE: Another Newbie
 

I can definitely advise you NOT to get FSone. I did, and regretted it. If you get a perfect download and no problems then it is a good sim and the graphics and behavior of the planes is more realistic than Realflight. My computer was state of the art, I downloaded every patch and upgrade available and still had nothing but glitches and program lock ups with FSone, and there is NO PRODUCT SUPPORT for FSone. It's a shame because in my opinion, when it worked it was a better simulator than Realflight, but it is unstable and in my case became totally unusable.