I was hoping to skip the SIM ... I have been flying for a few months and hover well, but I was having a fear of doing much else.

I decided to bite the bullet and fork out for a SIM. Yeah, there are discussions about which to get. I saw good things about a lot of them, but when it came down to the rainy day and the heli bug; I went with my LHS SIM - RealFlight G3.5

The point I wanted to make is that what I think this is teaching me right now is that rule - "Tell the helicopter where to go, don't just react to where it is going."

I am gaining some confidence with that control - hopefully it pays off.

I also bought one to play with and it is teaching me alot. You can go in the physics settings and really tame the helicpoter down and then reset it to high and really have to fly it.

Sims are a great tool for anyone in rc.

Also, I have saved myself the price of the sim manny times over. I hate to think how much virtual money I have spent with all the crashes I have had. Yes, I know that as a learner I would not be trying the things I try on the sim, but that is exactly the point of a sim, because I/we try more, we learn more. Even if the feel is not exactly the same as the real model, it MUST be helping in other ways, confidence for one.
I wish sims had have been around when I started flying planes back in 1990. Cos' that wasn't virtual money I crashed!!!!!

devmode

I would say that sims (G3, Phoenix, Reflex, AeroflyPro) on heli learning (not just beginner stuff) is an essential compoment. Congrats on a great sim choice. We have all three and prefer in the order written. Forth one should not even be considered for heli. It is the best 3d airplane sim though.