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RC HELICOPTER FLIGHT SIMULATOR TIPS AND RECOMMENDATIONSNo beating around the bush here… A RC helicopter flight simulator is a powerful tool to help you learn to fly your RC helicopter. Unfortunately most offer very poor helicopter simulation! There I said it! Before I get shot down in the street, let me point one thing out – if you think I am out to lunch on this point, you can ignore every thing I am about to say. "The purpose of a RC helicopter flight Simulator is to replicate in as much detail as possible, real aerodynamic physics and real RC helicopter control to help us fly the real thing." I really don’t care if the graphics are to die for and the models look 100% real – if they don’t behave almost 100% real and are controlled real, what’s the point! If you don’t get real physics and real control, you have nothing more than a video game. Sure it will still be entertaining, but it won’t teach you how to fly. So if you want to be entertained any RC helicopter flight simulator will do, if you want to learn to fly – keep reading. Let’s look at control first because it is cut and dry. If you are trying to learn to fly a RC helicopter or airplane with a joy stick or on your keyboard – you are wasting your time. The only way to learn to fly with a RC helicopter flight simulator is by using a real RC radio – period! The good simulator programs come with USB adapted radios that plug into a USB port on your computer. The two I will recommend even have an interface adaptor port on the USB radios so you can plug your own Futaba, JR, etc. radio in by means of the trainer input. Control doesn’t get any more real than this. Recommendations: Flight Physics are a little more subjective. I was primarily looking at helicopter flight and after trying a number of simulators I can only recommend two if you want the most realistic RC helicopter flight simulation. RealFlight is in a league of its own. The current G4 version is simply the best RC flight simulator on the market right now for both helicopters and airplanes. Everything is so good and it lets you customize literally hundreds of parameters. You can edit different air craft to make them behave closer to your own with an endless array of options to choose from such as gyro settings, tail rotor gear ratios, engine choices, fuel tank size, even how much exhaust smoke. Change the weather conditions, simulate radio malfunctions or engine trouble – hey there’s even the jerk at the flying field shouting our smart witted remarks from the flight line – just like at the real field. Don’t have an instructor to help you fly? No problem, yes there is even a virtual flight instructor to walk you through the basics up to simple aerobatics. This just scratches the surface. There is simply so much this RC helicopter flight simulator will do. With so many flying environments and different aircraft from electric park flyers up to turbine models, this is one simulator you will never out grow. Even if you do, there are add on modules to give you even more aircraft to fly. Ok I am a bit biased because Real Flight is the RC helicopter flight simulator I chose and use. However after reading review after review, there are so many people who agree with me on this one. I must admit, I have been able to edit a couple of helicopters in this flight simulator to behave and even sound so close to my real RC helis, I can honestly say they fly just like the real models – the physics are that good. It might not have as many features as Real Flight, but it has very realistic RC helicopter flight simulation and according to my own ranting, that is the most important feature. It also comes with a quality USB transmitter that also acts as a USB adapter for your own RC Radio if you wish to use it instead. Both of these simulators are priced around the $200.00 CND mark and the USB modified RC radios are included in that price. It is kind of sad with all the simulators on the market, these are the only two that I would recommend…but at least it makes your simulator purchase decision easy. Even at 200 beans, these RC helicopter flight simulators are a huge bargain. They come with dozens of helis and aircraft. If you wish to fly every one of them into the ground in a mangled heap of balsa and carbon fiber over and over – go right ahead. It will never cost you a dime to fix-em... just restart the simulation – sweet! You won’t go wrong with either of these simulators. Anything else is a waste of time, and even though they might cost less up front, you will soon realize a waste of money as well. Yea, I know some of you are saying I can down-load a free RC helicopter simulator off the internet. If you think you will learn to fly a Helicopter with a free simulator – I urge you to click on the free RC simulator link and have a read. TIPS: I can’t possibly go over all the different set up features on Real Flight or FS One, but I can give you a few important tips that will make your RC helicopter flight simulation as realistic as possible. Even if you only intend to fly your real heli with no wind outside or inside, the simulators are a bit too easy with no wind selected. Remember, the harder the simulation the easier the real thing will be. Concentrate on staying stationary in one spot. Follow the same steps as I have in my Learning To Fly RC Helicopters section on your simulator... it will make the best use of your time on the simulator and also enforces what steps you will be doing with your real helicopter as you learn.
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