Hi Guys; looking for a recommendation for a flight simulator that contains a dedicated pattern plane for practice before I fire up my Sequence. Would appreciate any suggestions you might have.

George

Hi George,
Phoenix Sim has 2 pattern planes in it.  It has the Integral and the Alliance.  They fly pretty well.  Real Flight has the ability to add-on aircraft and there are some models out there of vairous pattern ships.  Real Flight already has an SDK but Phoenix does not therefore, the only add-ons for Phoenix will be from Phoenix at least for a little while.

I just went through the process of deciding on a sim and I picked Phoenix.  Phoenix updates are free for life.  Real Flight, you have to purchase any updates.  I've flown the Real Flight at the hobby shop and people also say that the graphics are better in Real Flight but for practice, Phoenix does fine.  I do, however, have a high powered PC so I can run things crazy fast with either sim.  Additionally, we "occasionally" have online pattern contests that are announced here in the forums.  We have been using the Phoenix sim for this which is another reason I chose Phoenix over Real Flight.  Real Flight does have an online feature but I don't know anything about it.  Generally, people say Real Flight is better for planes and Phoenix is better for helis.  I think everyone has an opinion and the Integral and Alliance do fine for practice and you'll be happy with either choice

Scott

Thanks Scott!  that ansers my question;   Another, is where can I down load a pattern plane to Phoenix;  though, the Alliance is a nice ship and should work great for me to practice on;  I even have 2 or 3 of the Ripmax Alliance kits for E-power.

George

Phoenix also has the Integral. I just got Phoenix, it works well for practice, physics are good, and it's really great to go online and see and practice with your friends.

With the online connection, you can talk and message your friends, call for them, comment, etc.

Not sure about if or where to download other planes except from Phoenix, but there are 2 pattern planes and the ability to modify them in many, many ways.

I had real flight, did not like the planes and did not like that I had to purchase upgrades.

I am running the sim on an outdated, older laptop. I had to upgrade my graphics card driver for it to work, but it does not need a super powerful computer to run.

AF5 includes the Amethyst and Visa. Superb simulator.

Thanks Guys! That is really helpful info! I have downloaded the demo for Phoenix and will check on AFPD, as I owned an older version of it. If you find sites that offer pattern planes for download to either simulator, I would appreciate a heads up.\
George

Aerofly Professional Deluxe!!!!
I haven't tried Realflight since 3.5, but at that time thought the planes flew like crap.
The priceless benefit for sequence practice is the availability of a scenery with grid lines drawn in the sky. You can see where you're at relative to the ground: height, depth, runway orientation. It's not a photofield scenery, but if you can actually practice, who cares.
Planes fly fairly realistically, especially some you can download (for free).
I'm running a several year old version on a iMAC (practicing IMAC on an iMAC running windows XP. Not sure if the "farmland grid" scenery will run with AF5.
Get the version you use with your own transmitter, as trimming ability in the software lacks mixes.

I also have the MRC Reflex - the planes fly well and there is a scenery with a domed grid, but it's not as good as Aerofly.

Dan

http://rc-sim.de/
Lot of stuff for several sims

Aerofly 5, then RF5.5 last Phoenix, I have the three of them, I ended up that way looking for the best RCsim for pattern.

Aerofly 5, has the Amethyst and now the Visa, as mentioned earlier, and they fly very close to their real counterparts. Best physics. Needs a powerful computer/graphics card no less than 1GB.

RF 5.5 Don not have a real pattern plane, I downloaded the Pinnacle, it flies very very well, just as the real one, and with the same limitations for the FAI program. Physics as good as Aerofly 5 and now has a pattern grid for practice.

Phoenix Best graphic scenarios, great practice planes, but for the integral to fly correctly it has to have the CG close to the stab LE, unreal, it does not fly like the real thing, not even close. It's the cheapest.

Hope this helps

Alejandro P.

Thanks guys; appreciate all the informative ansers. Believe I'll look much more closely at AFPD and Phoenix.

George

OK guys; I have AFPD installed and registered; however, I cannot get the program to recognize my DX7 transmitter. It must be something simple; any suggestions?

George

Assuming you are getting to the program main menu, go into the "Controls" menu and make sure it is set to "Transmitter".

Another caution: I found my USB adaptor to be static sensitive. I blew 2 of them out (replaced under warrenty), before I realized what was happening. I now ground myself (ESD wriststrap connected to house wire ground) before I play.

Hope this helps.
Dan

Thanks for the response Dan. The program recognizes the USB interface, but indicates no transmitter detected. I have clicked on the "transmitter" controller in "controls", but still does not recognize it; Also, put the adapter for the DX7 on and still does not recognize it.
George

George, just a thought, have you made sure your TX is switched off with the USB lead connected? if your TX is switched on this could cause the recognition problem your facing.

Regards,

Andy.

Thanks Andy; No, the transmitter is turned off when I plug in the cable; then, of course it turns on automatically. Perhaps, I don't hive it in the right trainer mode. I will try that again, and perhaps talk to Ikarus tomorrow and see what they have to say. Thanks for everyone's suggestions.

George

It's been awhile, but it seems like that is how it behaved for me when the interface had been blown by static. Better make the call.
Sorry not to mention this when I was recommending AFPD.
Dan

Andy and Dan: I was making a last ditch attempt on the AFPD this morning; Found another adapter; 2.5mm plug to what appears to be a receiver plug. A small piece of instructions mentions this has to be in place if "your transmitter is not recognized by the program." DUH!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway, plugged that in and the transmitter was recognized; then, finally got the correct trainer selection in, put in data for the servo # and position, and we're flying! Appreciate your time, effort, and suggestions. Now I can go play!
Appreciate everyone who responded.

George

Glad your up and running George, it's always the smallest detail that eludes us all!

regards,

Andy.

Hi Dan,

I didn't know about the grid idea so I rushed to rc-sim.de and downloaded the Farmland-grid scenery into my AFPD but when I loaded the scenery no grid is visible.
Any idea if there are any special requirements or procedures for this to run?

Thanks,

Yoav

OK, found the problem.
Didn't use the .geo file
Thanks anyway

Yoav

Hi
I don't know if i am the only one, but I found that flying the sim does my head in. I can only fly it for about an hour at a time before i need to take a break.

I have AFPD.

Mike

Mike, I'd say you were doing great. I'm only good for 15 minutes!
George