Simulator Experience

Hey, everyone, I just thought that I'd go ahead and talk to you about something that has been the center of much controversy over the past couple of years. It's the infamous question, "After how much practice on a simulator are you ready to practice the real deal?" I've had the RealFlight simulator ever since it was first released many years ago, and I've since bought the RealFlight Deluxe upgrade to it... that was about a year ago. I've practiced and practiced and performed all of these advanced aerobatics and whatnot, but the second that I get out to the field with my baby, I just can't seem to get the nerve to hover more than five feet off the ground. Same thing with my airplane as well, and heck, I could probably make those pros green with envy with the stunts that I pull off with the sport planes in the simulator. But again, this is an open topic to all of you. When do you think that you've accumulated enough practice in the simulator to actually go out and fly solo in the real world?

HI silverx10

I reccently brought a raptor 30 v2

(By the looks of the picture u own a raptor right)

took my raptor out to the local club the pro's down there fixed up what i got wrong. I only got 1 tank full thru the heli be4 i had to leave.
the next day got the heli out at my place by myself, By the end of the day i was comfortabley hovering it above head height and moving it around.

And from basicaly no experience of simulators or any thing like that i did not find it that hard at all.

As long as u got the training legs

There u go i beat the ods and i havent even had a crash yet

Actually, I made the mistake of getting a Kyosho Nexus 30 Standard Type S (I still have yet to find what the "S" stands for in "Type S"... maybe it means "Standard" again?) as opposed to the Raptor 30, mainly because Tower Hobbies was selling the Nexus 30 in an "ultimate combo" (a combo that contains everything that you need to get started), and I couldn't resist such an incredibly good deal. But, as are most things, this proved to be one of those "you get what you pay for" deals. Don't get me wrong... I mean the Nexus is a fine machine, but let's face it, it's almost as antiquated as its' Concept counterpart. The avatar (the picture that you see to the left) is my way of making myself feel better (in a small way) for making such an incredible mistake.

In any event, I agree: the training gear is definitely a very good thing to have on the helicopter when you're first starting out. I had mine on there for the first... I dunno... couple dozen flights? Eventually though, I realized that I wasn't going to run it into the ground, flip it over, or what have you, so I took off the training gear, and let 'er rip. Can't say that I regret my decision to take off the gear, either. It was holding me back, dag nabbit! Anyway, the breeze looks manageable out there, so I think I'm going to go out, and hope for the best. Let's just hope that all that practice over the winter in RealFlight actually comes out to something, hm?

*Crosses fingers, toes, and all other crossable appendages.*

[jahatton]

Hi Silverx10, I started flying fixed wing in 78 and by 94 got out of it and went to Microsoft Flight simulator.. When the R/C Sim's started coming out with real-like scenery and aircraft, I got the RF G2 and dove into the heli training. After 2 years I got the burn to get back in the hobby and decided it was time to test the theory of how good is the transfer to real.
I bought the Raven 50 and got everything that it needed and on the first flight after having the expert set it up, I started hovering with no problems. I had 2 flights with the training gear and after that I cut up the gear to make a camera mount. I now have over 40 flights on it and had only 2 crashes.
The first crash was when I leaned the engine out a little too much and I failed to hear the engine giving signs for me to land. It backed into the ground and caused $350 in parts.
The second mishap was with the camera mount and uneven ground.
I don't do any stunts as the copter isn't setup to do that.
Jim

[BLACKHAWK DOWN]

to me its all about setup
the better the setup
the less work required to fly.
summer is here and boy oh boy i cant wait to get to the fields in a few weeks