NOTE:
I had help from one of the moderators to reset the poll. I added additional sims to the polling list so this way, it will be more accurate and a better comparison of sims.



I'm wanting to get a sim so I can get more stick time without having to buy new planes every week and wreck them.

So which one do you prefer and why? Which one will have more support for expansion planes?

[link=http://www.realflight.com/products/g3_main.html]RealFlight G3.5 (By Great Planes)[/link]

[link=http://www.fsone.com/]FSONE (By Hangar 9)[/link]

[link=http://www.aerofly.com/]AFPD (AeroFly Professional Delux)[/link]

[link=http://www.modelrectifier.com/rc-products/flight-simulators.asp]Reflex XTR (By MRC)[/link]

[link=http://www.phoenix-sim.com/pages/news.htm]Phoenix RC[/link]

[link=http://rcflightsim.com/index.html]Clearview[/link]

[link=http://www.flying-model-simulator.com/]FMS (Flying Model Simulator) FREE Program[/link]

I like the FMS.
Reason... IT"S FREE!

FMS... free program and free add ons... as many as you like!

I have G3.5 and all the add ons plus many custom planes from knife edge. I like it a lot but never tried the hangar 9 one.

How you can you have a simulator poll and not include a slot for Reflex? [sm=spinnyeyes.gif]

I own G3/3.5 FSOne and Phoenix and FMS so i dont think im biased. Phoenix owns all for heli's, and is ok for planes. FSOne owns all for planes, particularly 3D planes. RFG3 was ok all around, but G3.5 blows and is just a game, not a sim. Just my .02

Shane

By the way, the above is just from a flight dynamics/physics point of view. I dont care for all of the bells and whistles one way or another... and if the gimmicks are what your after, G3.5 for you.

My sim is not thereby, every day the same stupid question ,,, very borin [sm=48_48.gif]

Vote: Other - AFPD
Why?: It runs awesome on Linux

I added 2 more sims as I'm learning others are out there...

Reflex XTR

AFPD

I went into Hobbytown USA yesterday and tested both G3.5 & FS ONE.

I really liked FS ONE b/c the plane I used (P-51) felt very real when it was taxing around. The way it was bumping around and flew definitely impressed me. I then gave it the real test (for me) and used the Firebird Commander and this too felt very real to me, especially since I have this plane and the way it flew on the sim was exactly how I feel it flys in real life. HOwever, I didn't like it when the plane was further out from me. It seemed to really struggle coming back. It seemed the time it took to fly out to that distance, took A LOT longer brining the plane back and it didn't seem real. Kinda hard to explain I guess.

I liked G3.5 and I used the P-51 again (their verison I think is Top Flight's P-51). I think the camera view was more real. It seemed like it kept track of the plane as I was standing on the ground and I can't say I felt this was done correctly by FS ONE. I think FS ONE's view was set up the same. I love the fact that G3.5 will show if one of the landing gear wheels gets broken off and yet the plane will still fly! I was told that it also limits you on the time you can fly. So you can run out of gas! That's real! Can anyone confirm that?

When I spoke to two of the guys working there, one owned the Phoenix sim and he said he thinks it's #1 for helicopters and ok for planes but he said that FS ONE definitely was the worst when it comes to true flying characteristics for planes. However, he confirmed that the Phoenix sim doesn't show the plane break to pieces when it crashes...it simply just stops (very lame IMO) as the whole purpose of a sim is to simulate the entire experience of RC flying which we all know includes BAD crashes.

Then I the other guy said that the Reflex sim apparently has you flying in a giant box. Can anyone confirm this? Meaning, if you fly the plane far enough, it will simply meet the end of the invisable box and crash. Again, lame if this is true.

Looks like I'm back to deciding between G3.5 and FS ONE again.

I think I would like FS ONE more b/c I plan on getting a Hangar 9 Spit or P-51 (I'd only select the P-51 b/c I still think the Spit looks a little funny ((i.e., glossy finish, weird looking cowl or front part of the plane that I can't quite explain but it just doesn't look right) at any rate, I just want the best one that has the most realistic flying characteristics.

Nick

I've been using FSOne, have never tried the others. I only really care for heli's and for me it's a trainer. So take what I say with a grain of salt.
I like FSOne, I can configure the heli to do anything I want, heavy, light, side heavy, whatever.
I've created new scenes (pano's) and it is more realistic for me this way. I also like the support from FSOne and occasionally get help by Inertia Soft (even though they are not tech support). I don't think I have found anyone more helpful, ever. Remember I don't have any experience with the other companies.
Scott

I've got the Hangar 9 demo,that comes with a alpha 40 and p-51 and I use my Jr controller with it.
I got it for free from my buddy beacuse he allready has it,he got it with his f-22.

I played the G3.5 and FS ONE at hobbytown also,
I like the g3.5 for all its planes,
and I like fs one for its 3d manuvers;also its fields...
its a hardd decision
edit:i looked at the towerhobbies site and there arent many planes i like
the one at hobby town had all the addons i forgot
im getting fs one

I'm an advance beginner flyer. I have FS One and Aerofly and used to own G2, but haven't seen the newest version of Real Flight.

If you a beginning to intermediate flyer, all 3 will teach you what you need to know, i.e. stick movement.

Aerofly has the largest network. Good support and tons of aircraft. Instructions are available on how to build your own planes and many have done the work for you and offer them for nothing. The software vendor support those efforts and link to many free add-on sites. http://www.aerofly.com/www/free_stuff.html

Most of the stock planes are Europeon, but users have done a ton add-ons. Innovative stuff like the Wright flyer, the whole Multiplex line and many, many US aircraft.

It also installs with 2 CD's, FSOne has 4. Aerofly loads in 1/10th of the time it takes FSOne to open.

FSOne is prettier, but not by a lot. Most say it has better aerodynamics, but again, a novice won't notice. In that regard, all 3 will probably perpetually leapfrog over each other.

One thing that perplexes me about FSOne is how anemic the help file is. It identifies each screen in the program, but there's almost nothing about how to use any of them. A detailed well written manual would be a nice addition.

For me, a sim doesn't have to model flight characteristics perfectly. I use it to learn stick movement and how to stay out of or get out of trouble.

FMS. The physics aren't wonderful, but it teaches you orientation plus its a few hundred dollars cheaper than the other options.

??? How? Are you using Wine, CrossOver, or VMWare? Does it work as well as running under Windows? Thanks.

Phoenix for me. I've only tried Phoenix, RealFlight G3.5, and FMS. For me, accurate heli physics is the absolute top priority, along with the ability to edit aircraft settings to get them to behave as closely as possible to my real aircraft. I don't care much at all about other features such as aircraft break-up animation on crashes, cockpit view, online-multiplayer, or the ability to create new aircraft skins. So for me Phoenix wins out even though it doesn't have many of the features that G3.5 has, because I think the helis behave more realistically.

I like Real Flight G3.5 for all its bells and whistles and planes but FSONE feels much more like the real thing when flying. For me that's the most important feature of a flight sim.

PFOEYYY what is this borin........[:'(]

I own AFPD and I've played extensively with G3.5 at a local Hobbytown. I find that the flight physics feel the same on these two and planes seem to fly the same (if they are the same planes). G3.5 is easier to keep tabs on the ground than AFPD is, but you can fiddle a bit and get that ground reference on AFPD by changing your field of view. AFPD has some good plane editing functions, but some really glaring ommissions in them too - I've not tried modifying planes in G3.5 as much, but it too lacks some needed abilities (like settings for altitude for instance). The scenery is better is G3.5 - I find my depth perception is flawed in AFPD and I've run into trees that weren't there! In general I think that AFPD's scenery graphics and abilities are a bit rough. You can only get cockpit and chase-plane views on the 3D renderings, not on the photo realistic scenes. This latter isn't that big of a deal to me though since I ALWAYS fly as the guy on the ground. Not all competitions are available in all scenes in AFPD, I don't know if this is true in G3.5. I find this frustrating - The baloon pop competition is without value in AFPD since the baloons aren't 3D and there is no way to figure out just where they are in the picture. The planes seem more bullet-proof in G3.5 than AFPD, landings that were just fine in G3.5 give me a "boom" hit on the ground or wheels broken off in AFPD - This probably means that AFPD is more realistic in that respect. Realflight G3.5 has a LOT more expansions, but you'd go broke getting them. AFPD has only two so far, and they are only a little more expensive the G3.5 ($31 as opposed to $29), there are a LOT of free planes and scenery out there for AFPD though and some are very good. I've not tried the new scenes, only the planes, but I'm not happy with many of the scenes that come with AFPD so I'm going to try more of the free scenery that folks have posted.

I have the "Game Commander" version of AFPD and I think that it is pretty good. It seems the controller is an exact match to my Futaba 6EX radio except that the flaps in the Game Commander are a dial and they are a switch on my Futaba. I like the dial.

In general I'd have to say that G3.5 and AFPD are pretty equivilent in value but for one thing, I'm disappointed in the variety of planes in AFPD compared to G3.5. I like the fact that it is easier to break a plane in AFPD, that seems more realistic to me - and my problems landing in AFPD exactly match my real life experiences too! Now if someone could get me an AFPD model for my old Dynaflight Bushwacker I'd be in heaven on a simulator!

While the grass is always greener on the other side, I'd have to say that I'm pleased with AFPD. I'd award RF G3.5 with an A and AFPD with an A-, both have room for improvement. Both are really good.

DLC

I like FS One. I haven't owned any others except FMS. It's not perfect but probably none of them are. I selected FS One over Phoenix because, in addition to the good features and official support which are pretty good, the unofficial support available here is really good. I also liked the various features that it has specific to sailplanes.

As far as physics and the reality of flying, I think AFPD stomps them all (RealFlight, FS One, Reflex). The others don't even come close. I'm only talking airplanes.

Actually, "stomps them all" is probably a bit rhetorical.

I've got a couple of the sim models flying just like my real models. After having tuned my real ones better. And now I'd say the sim is very good at simulating whereas before my fixing my models to fly better, I thought the sim wasn't very good.

Now I'd say it's good. As for stomping them all..... I ain't got them all to know.

True, I agree with that. BUT the AFPD helis have much to be desired.
I have both AFPD and G 3.5.
So for helis out of the two, I choose G 3.5. I fly Helis
Just my opinion

Fred..

Having spent countless hours on AFPD and Realflight G3 ( with the expansion packs, latest patches and updates ), I have to say Realflight G3 is ahead in realism - way ahead. All of the RF3.5 models in the expansion packs and add-on disks are extremely accurately modeled physics wise to the real-world counterparts.
Most of the downloadable AFPD and expansionpack models fly like helium filled foamies tethered to sky rails. However, there are a few 25-40% AFPD models that are very good, but the pre and post stall behaviour is still not there - far too forgiving. Whereas KnifeEdge (Realflight) is constantly tweaking and (usually) improving the flight models, IPACs (Aerofly) is focusing on its low end (easyfly) and the last few AFPD releases all fly the same surreal way. AFPD is showing its age and is overdue for a major overhaul which I hope is coming. The only advantage APFD has over Realflight is that it loads fast, uses very little computer resources and has more flexible control mappings should you wish to use your own controller.