I am working real hard with the RF G5 sim. I am basically working on landings - one where the aircraft could be flown again. I think I am doing real well using the Hobico Nexstar SelectBP without all the stabilizer stuff. My question is how well the simulator represents real flight. I have accumalated abour 30 hours and am using the Advanced setting with some wind across the runway.

I plan to buy a Hobico Nexstar Mini this spring when the white stuff leaves and am hoping the sim is not giving me a false sense of ability.

Would appreciate any comments. Thanks

None of the sims are going to nail the way your model flies exactly. Yeah, you don't have one yet, but the point is that sims have very low probability of matching the real models most of us fly. CGs, weights etc just aren't going to be the same.

Turn on turbulence in addition to your "wind across the runway".

The sims teach some good things. But no matter how good any are, you're going to discover it's a very different world when you're actually out there in the world. Nonetheless, you're learning way more by doing what you're doing than you'd learn waiting for summer watching TV.

I've had a number of students who'd spent time with sims and every one who was serious did very well from their 1st session. Some had quite a time with perspective, but not very long. So keep doing what you're doing.

What the sims will do is reduce the number of crashes and damage to your plane. True, flying your plane will be different from the sim but it won't be the totally clueless experience it would have been without the sim training. Even FMS will improve your flying abilities as opposed to no sim at all. Trust me, I destroyed my first plane and heli several times trying to teach myself, then I discovered the forums and FMS. Cut my repair costs by 75%. I still crashed but much, much less. I have tried several sims, from freebies to $200+ ones and none of them are like the real thing. Nothing can duplicate your plane, your flying area and your weather. They all teach the basics that a beginner needs (IE: light fingers and orientation and control of a remote object). Just learning that the plane's left isn't always your left is a costly experience without a sim. Even FMS (freebie) will teach a newbie that and save money and tears. Some sims teach more than others. As you progress in flying you will find the limitations of what the sim can teach you. A beginner probably won't tell the difference between FMS and AFPD other than graphics but after a few weeks of flying the real thing the limitations of FMS will be apparent. I must note that I have FMS on every computer I use (even work) and use it more than any other sim I have or had (RFG4, Reflex, AFPD, Preflight, FS-One). Why? because it keeps my mind focused on the basics over the winter and rainy seasons.

I started with a parkzone foamy trainer first (no sim) landed it the first time. Crashed it a couple of times however it is easy and cheap to fix. It also has no alerons so it is easy and cheap to learn with. I now have a Phoenix sim and if you tune the size, weight, expo, ect of your plane it is real close to me as far as flying at the field. Some things are harder on the sim like learning to hover than doing it for real. Just my opinion. I then purchase a Hobbico Electrostar very close to the plane you are talking about. The hardest thing for me with that plane is takeoff do to power to weight. I still have the plane in like new condition with extra batts, charger, transmitter, everything I am willing to sell CHEAP as it just collects dust now. Landing is usally the hardest thing to do, when you get into the larger planes (50cc) they are so powerfull they just jump into the air my 8 year old kid can take it off and fly it, not LAND it. The wind has almost no effect (10-15mph) and I live in the mtns. The balsa planes are harder to repair when you first start than the foamies again just the way it went for me.

I've been an instructor for a long time. I was startled at the progress of students with a sim, versus those without.

Still, seek out a club and make friends with an instructor, a sim isnt going to teach you how to start an engine without chopping your finger off or take you out for a cold one when you solo.

I'm one of the newbies and as far as I'm concerned I feel the simulator is a very good tool. I have the G4.5 and have been using it for about 4 months now. My only actual flying experience has been with an Avistar flying a racetrack pattern. I use the NexStar for my sim time and I think the two aircraft are quite similar. I'll just keep flying the sim for now and hope for an early spring. The snow is getting to be a real pain.

Yea, I hate it when it snows down here and ruins a good flying day

I know, that snow can be a real pain. Our house is on the market, 8 months now, and if it sells we're heading for NC. I can take a little of the white stuff but not much of it at my age.

Well, it's snowing right now in NC. Heck, it's the 2nd time this winter. 1st one was on the ground almost 3 full days. All 3 flying fields in the area lost at least two days of flying.

If you do move here, I'd suggest you check out the Mocksville area. Best flying field on the East coast. Best bunch of old retired guys to fly with in the whole United States. Couple of pretty good hobby shops within driving distance. One of 'em has a buffet restraunt in the same shopping center. A load of us went down yesterday for lunch and "shopping". If you can't fly, go eat and buy.

Check out Mocksville or the Winston Salem area. You can see the mountains on the horizon but don't have to drive mountain roads, and the beach is just a couple hours the other direction. Check us out. You'll be glad you did.

I live near charlotte nc and My wife just bought me my first Airplane. I have the King Bee 11 and king 111 Heli..Never flew a plane yet. Im getting the 4 CH art-Tech F/A 18 Hornet 3D Plus the Blitzworks 6 channel flight sim..I have the FMS that I fly Heli's with..I am learning on both and will visit air fields to get some pointers..I here mooresville has a good one..The one in winston salem is Great..I run my Nitro truck on the RC truck track.Any info..

Try different planes than just the nexstar. If you are going to try to learn to fly on your own(no instructor), practice on the sim until you can fly and land every trainer (and some of the other planes) on the sim almost every time you try without damaging the plane then you will have a much better chance of success with your real rc plane. Also, when you do fly a real rc plane, you don't have to land on the runway, so don't use up your battery trying to. After you get so you can land good in the grass is when you start trying to hit the runway. here is a pic of me walking out to where I landed the first time (with the nose wheel 2inches from a prairie dog hole)

If you are going to teach yourself to fly, I don't suggest you practice until you can land with the trainers on the sims. Find the crapiest flying plane you can and when you no longer have problems with it you will have better luck for real. It is not just the landings but the takeoffs are unrealistic. Also the zoom mode..if you have G5 use the "Keep Ground in View" zoom until you get it-then switch to manual zoom with about 2or 3 +'s. Practice doing touch and goes at full throttle with a Dazzler or an Extra Special. In a sim easier is not better. Make it as hard as you can. then when you fly for real it will be a piece of cake. But I can't help you with the takeoff..you'll probably have to learn those with a real plane. Use lots of crosswind like 20 mph. Real flying isn't always this difficult but push yourself to your limit on the sim. It will save you money. If you aren't getting fustrated with what you are working on it's time to find something on the sim that will. Flying is a blast-there aint enough caffiene to give me the rush I get from flying. I get nothing from the sim. But it keeps my planes in one piece.-BW

Thank you for your advice. I have set the dificulty to advanced and set turbulence to 100' and 30%. I usually fly with a 8 to 10 mph windspeed set at about a 30 to 35 degree crosswind. I do mostly touch and goes with the Hobbico BP or the giant P47. Also use the L39 - about a 50% success rate.

Everyone has warned about takeoffs and I will take your suggestion with a 20 mph croswind.

I try to make coditions worse than I would fly in real life.

I am impressed with the advise and suggestions willingly give by everyone.

RT

RDThompson- Thanks you just helped me. I never have changed the turbulence and forgot it was there. I have never changed the difficulty from Intermediate and don't even remember it being there. The point I was trying to make with the Dazzler and the Extra Special is to teach yourself with a touchy airplane. Overcontrolling especially close to the ground is usually a big problem for beginners. These two planes will teach you a finer stick movement..if you keep the throttle up a little. The planes you mentioned the warbirds might help you get used to the stalling but they are more sluggish than even the trainer I have.

I taught myself to fly using the Transall electric on FMS. That plane would fall out of the sky if it got too slow. It took a month for me to be able to land it consistantly. I also used a game pad since I had no TX interface.

I just tried those turbulence settings you said and a 20 mph wind. I like it. I have flown in in that before. I think you can work with a 15mph wind but set the turbulence to about 15 ft. When i fly the closer I get to the ground I can really notice any wind. Thanks again for pointing that out I knew something was missing.-BW

I just tried it again with some new settings. With the difficulty on advanced-the turbulence set at 20-30 ft and 15-20%,and the wind at 5-10MPH.This seems to be the closest I can get to the real conditions I fly alot in around here in MI. Sometimes we do get nice days with no wind but keep it about 5 to get a Real feel. I thought I would let you know if you wanted to get close to reallife. Make the practice on the sim tough but sill have a good time. My 20 mph suggestion is too much with turbulence. I wouldn't even take a plane out in that. Practice everyday on that for a month or two and you should be ready for the Nexstar ep by spring.I don't recommend teaching yourself but you sound like your on the right track. Keep me posted on what you do.

Sorry for not thanking you for your advise sooner We are tarvelling in the sunny south and have had limited access to wireless connections. I am not sure exactly howI will approah real flight but suspect I will fly in my open field of about 3 acres. I guess that's a yard in Wyoming.

I have tried to make the sim as difficult as I can with winds and turbulence and using the advanced difficulty setting. My landing's with the Nexstar BP are probably 99% good. But other larger faster planes about 75% but I am working on that.

If I decide to fly on my own I am thinking of starting with the Flyzone Diablo Trainer. Probably does not help in learning takeoffs and landings but I am thinking of the getting used to the controls in real flight when the plane is coming toward me. Even though I think I am starting to react naturally to the 'reversed control' look on the sim, I thought maybe the first real life mistakes might be easier with a less costly plane.

I still have a couple months to decide as the snow is still coming.

I am going to try your settings when I get home in a couple weeks. It looks realistic. I also try to use small fields as I have about a 3 acre open area bordered by trees.Ithink I am gaining more confidence but know the first flight will probably be tense. But I haveacouple more months to practice before spring.

Rt

I haven't heard too many good things on the Diablo..but do a search here on RCU-BW

You will find that RealFlight very accurately represents the NexStar. All of the parameters present in the actual aircraft have been programmed into the simulator. Certainly no simulator can 100% recreate the actual experiance, but RealFlight does it better than any other.

Steve Kaluf
Hobbico

Steve,

Thanks for your response. I am encouraged now. So far I have found the Nexstar BP easy to fly with a lot of success. I try hard to make it difficult by using crosswinds with turbulense. I am considering the mini Nexstar and assume it flys as well as the full size.

Thanks,

Roger</p>

I find that my G-5 comes very close to flying the real thing on most of the planes. But NO sim can reproduce the visibility and "feel" of the plane like flying the real thing.

The real value of a sim is to train you to be "instinctive". This means reacting to flight situations without having to first think about which stick to push, and which way to move it. Once you master instinctive flight on the sim, you will have NO trouble flying any of the good trainer type planes.