“DO I REALLY NEED A RC FLIGHT SIMULATOR TO LEARN HOW TO FLY RC HELICOPTERS OR AIRPLANES?”Just in case anyone doesn’t know what a RC Flight Simulator is. It is a program that is loaded onto a personal computer that replicates the flight of RC helicopters and airplanes.
Here's a short video of why... Here is a link to my RC Helicopter Flight Simulator page for other simulator recommendations and the best heli simulators. If you are undecided between airplanes or helicopters, a simulator might help you out. The good ones have a large number of both planes and helicopters, so you can fly dozens of different aircraft to get a better feel for each. So do you really need a RC Flight Simulator to learn how to fly a RC helicopter or RC airplane? The simple answer to that is NO! Thousands of us have learned to fly without one - including me. When I was learning to fly RC helicopters, personal computers didn’t have enough power to create realistic physics of flight or realistic landscapes to fly in. Yes - I now own a flight simulator - they are so useful! Not just for learning how to fly - you can practice aerobatics on them as well and do things that you wouldn’t even think twice about doing with your real model helicopter or airplane. What makes a good RC Flight Simulator? That is an easy one – realism - the more real the better. That’s not just flight physics or graphics - the method of controlling your RC helicopter is just as if not more important. Please look at my RC Helicopter Flight Simulator "TIPS & RECOMMENDATIONS" section for what to look for in a helicopter simulator, how to set up your simulator for realistic performance, and my own recommendations on several good RC helicopter simulators. RC Flight Simulator Cautions It really is important that you follow some kind of lesson plan on a simulator. I have seen too many people who "incorrectly" learn on a sim and pick up some very bad habits. This actually sets them back and it takes them longer to "un-learn" these bad habits on the real thing than someone with no sim time at all. As I said, RC flight sims are nothing more than tools, a very destructive tool if used incorrectly. Check out my Flight School section and the lesson plans so you have an idea of how to learn to fly a real RC helicopter and then you can safely apply those same lessons to your sim time. If you think you can learn to fly a RC helicopter with a free RC helicopter simulator - not likely! Click on that link to find out why.
This next point is very important and I cringe when see or hear this. Thankfully it is the exception and not the rule, but it is worth mentioning. I have seen some advertisements and even heard some people in the RC hobby industry claiming that if you can fly a RC plane or helicopter on a simulator, you will have no problem flying real RC models. WRONG! A simulator is nothing more than a tool – it doesn’t come close to replicating all aspects of the RC helicopter or airplane. RC flight simulators don’t teach you how to build a helicopter or set it up – they don’t teach you how to start or tune an engine, or even do simple maintenance on your RC model. No matter how good simulators get – they will never replace hands on experience. There is also the "Fear Factor". Even with a hundred hours of simulator time under your belt, things have a way of becoming much more scary in the real world when you see many hundreds or thousands of dollars hanging in the air. This "fear" generally causes you to panic and loose your nerve. Yes - the fear of a lighter wallet usually wins out over the skills learned on the sim. I hear a lot of questions right now... something like “if you and thousands of other RC heli pilots learned without a simulator, and there are limitations, why should I even bother? I could save that money to get a better or bigger helicopter.” That is absolutely true. If it boils down to getting a RC helicopter simulator or spending that extra money to get a better quality RC helicopter with a computerized radio – spend your money on the heli gear. However, I know for a fact if I had a simulator program when I was learning, it would have paid for itself - many times over. I would have saved money on gallons of nitro fuel while learning and on a few sets rotor blades and flybars that I broke. Bottom line – simulators save time and money if used correctly and you know the limitations. Try to budget for a good RC Flight simulator if at all possible. One last point to consider when deciding if you should get a flight simulator when you are first starting out... Do you plan to take lessons from an experienced RC helicopter instructor? Learning from an instructor is the best way to go because they can help you with your helicopter set up as well as learning how to fly them. Unfortunately, there are many more people wanting to learn to fly RC helicopters than there are qualified RC heli instructors. Most of us have to learn on our own (yes I learned on my own too) and the RC flight simulator (if used correctly) makes that process quicker and more enjoyable.
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