just bought a blade cx and would like to buy a sim that would help speed the learning process without replacing too many parts. i want to eventualy move up to a cp or something like it and would like to get some advice as to which software would help me out the best. i also am interested in electric planes (once the GF lets me buy another toy) so please take that into consideration. where do i get it and how much do they cost. sorry for sounding so much like a newbie, thanks for your time.

RealFlight has pretty good Heli support.. Give that a try..
Download their (non-flyable) demo to test your system and you will get a pretty good idea of the graphics.


Dave

The Realfight G3 demo is playable, and is a good idea of how your system will run G3. I use it and it is very good.

where do i get it and how much is it? what is the best controller i can get for the money?

Flying Model Simulator (aka FMS) is real enough to learn basic heli flight. IMHO, the 3d heli that comes with FMS hovers the same as me Esky CP2 (CP2=BCP with lipo, aero upgrades, & bell hiller).

the controller from your CX will work with any sim, you just need ppjoy and a cable. You can either buy the cable or make your own.

it boils down to this: you could get G3, or fms and a blade cp (or cp2 ).

for me, i'd rather be practicing on FMS and looking at the cp2 on top of my monitor, than just having G3.

I would recommend the Real Flight G3. its a great simulator and it has so many expandable possibilities. you can get more information here
http://www.realflight.com/

just got G3 yesterday, i saw its awsome, before yesterday i was never at the controls of a heli, now i can hover and do likea circle and bring it back to a hover and land, im also entering the inverted hovering not that great at yet, but practice makes perfect, even then ur not perfect, great investment i think.

i agree with mcmanta about G3. it is far superior to FMS in every way. g3 is a worthwhile investment in the long run, and it can be more fun to play with as a game (i'd probably play g3 more than unreal if i had it). fms is plain, but realistic enough to teach you the dynamics and controls of an r/c heli. in the end no matter what sim you use, you still have to build confidence flying your heli with all its "realworld" inaccuracies. g3 can't do that.