Finally got my SIM working .... I bought one that has a parallel port connector (Quattro J-line) and does not work with WinXP, so I had to add a second OS (Win 98) to my system. WHAT A PAIN THAT WAS!

Anyway, all is working now and I am using the FMS free software.

What I have noticed is that the the SIM is only somewhat like real life.... The whole SIM experience seems to happen in slow-motion compared with the wild, frenetic motion of real life. In fact, how the heli behaves in the SIM is sort of what I expected when I bought the real heli (an Aerohawk) ... at least with the SIM, the learning curve does not START OUT immediately at 90 degrees!! (i.e. a learning curve that goes STRAIGHT UP at the very beginning!)

I still crash alot with the SIM, but at least I can get the thing off the ground for a few seconds before it goes smashing into something. The SIM heli seems to hang in the air more and give you a chance to think for a second (just a second!) about how you want to move the sticks.

The SIM is useful, for sure, because it gives a good sense of how a heli responds to the forces involved ... I just wish the real life one was less "spastic." (And yes, I believe there are no physical set-up problems with the real-life heli --- Colin, of Like 90, took a look at it...)

Oh yes, and the SIM does not seem to have any of the confounding forces (can't remember the name) that are involved with take-off and the wind bouncing off the ground ... no tilt to the left at spin-up .. followed, of course, by over-correction to the right ... which sends the whole thing careening into the nearest inert object .. smashing this or that heli part.... (sigh....)

Any comments for a crash- (and broken parts-) weary beginner?

All I can say, as a 3 week Aerohawk beginner is try to think in much smaller stick movements. I was overcorrecting big time in the beginning, and drop the throttle the SECOND it is not doing exactly what you are telling it to do, IE heading fot the good china!

Dont forget of course, that you are more likely to try radical manouveres on the sim, but never with the real thing!!!

Hi,

Sims are good for just one thing and one thing only!!!!
They teach you the stick inputs required to fly. Or to put it another way they teach you how to use your tx for any given situation.
If you want to get down and dirty with one you need to alter your trims, or parameters to make things as hard as possible. The harder you make it the more you learn.
I've yet to find a sim that truly feels like a micro heli.

My favourite just as a side note: Easyfly with dummy tx. Great fun, loads of places to fly and land including, if you're good enough, the apex roof of a house, a small bridge to fly under, a hangar to fly through/land on!