Please Note: Every effort was made to obtain monitor photos that were in focus. But the screen resolution is so high, the photo quality so good, on this simulator, that perfectly focused photos would most times “strobe” placing obscuring lines in the picture. The XTR simulator has great, in-focus graphics that monitor photos just cannot capture. The photos had to be just slightly out of focus to eliminate the strobe effect. We will keep trying to update the photos to make them clearer, but thought you would like to know about this excellent simulator despite the sometimes less than perfect pictures we took.

As an instructor who can, unfortunately, remember the bad old days when a student pilot’s first feel for RC flight happened only with that first touch of the transmitter sticks (and no buddy boxes anywhere), I know that RC flight simulators have progressed to the point where they can help the student RC pilot learn faster and more safely.

That is not to say that RC simulators can train a student without real-world flight experience with an instructor. They can’t and are not intended for that either. In the real world, things happen quickly, the airplane gets too far away during an eye blink, incorrect banking happens at the worst possible moment and engines sometimes just stop turning. The real world is a wonderful place to live and to fly, but it doesn’t have a reset button that I can find. And sometimes real people, as well as real model airplanes, can be hurt when student pilots fly solo before it is time.

Instead, RC flight simulators speed the learning process. With enough flight hours spent in the electronic skies, a student RC pilot will develop a better understanding of what is happening while gaining some experience handling an airplane. These skills will carry over into the real world, making learning faster and less prone to problems.

That is, this will happen if the simulator being used has very realistic flight simulation abilities. The simulator must accurately portray not only RC flight’s general characteristics but those of individual models as well. This realism is the best of both “worlds” and the new Reflex XTR RC Flight Simulator has both qualities in abundance.

“XTR” stands for “:neXt To Reality.” No, I don’t know why they didn’t call it “NTR” except that NTR could be a radio station and doesn’t have the “X” sound that means so much in aviation. Whatever the name, this simulator has a lot of realism that will help every RC pilot improve their skills.

The Mechanics

Photo 1

The simulator itself comes in a very small square box just large enough to enclose the CD disk itself. The only contents are the disk, the transmitter connector cord and abbreviated instructions. The idea is to use your own transmitter to make the simulator as “real” as possible. Spring tensions and travel movements are then identical to your transmitter since it is being used. However, it is a good idea, if your transmitter has multiple model memory, to assign one model memory to the simulator since travel adjustments, trim settings and servo directions will vary.

The transmitter must have a trainer or Direct Servo Controller (DSC) port. If not, it can not be used with this simulator. Fortunately, almost all modern transmitters have such a port. The transmitter’s modulation, the way it sends out its signals, must either be PPM or able to be set as PPM. PCM modulation will not work with this, or most other, simulators.

There are different simulator versions depending on the transmitter to be used. The only difference is the transmitter end of the USB connector cable. Mine was set for JR and I used a JR 8103 transmitter. Adaptor cables for all transmitters are available if I ever want to try a different brand with the XTR.

If your transmitter has all of the above, then you are ready to take to the virtual skies. Well, you will also need a computer and color monitor. The Reflex XTR will work with Windows 98, 98SE, ME, 2000 or XP. The basic hardware requirements are a Pentium P4, or equivalent, running at 1200 MHz or faster. RAM must be at least 256 MB and the hard disk needs 1 GB of free space. Of course, there must be a CD-ROM or DVD drive and a USB 1.1 or 2.0 Port available. The video card needs at least 32 MB memory and be capable of accelerated 2x performance. Complete requirements are listed at www.support@reflex-sim.de

The simulator loaded and ran perfectly on my computer running XP using a 3.0 GHz processor, 1 GB of RAM and a Legacy video card (best as I can tell as I am not much of a computer person).

While some instructions are packaged with the XTR, they cover only the loading process and many of the most frequently asked questions. However, there is a comprehensive XTR Home Page with all types of information and helpful suggestions. Pressing F1 also gets you a comprehensive “help” section from the CD. The Model Rectifier Corporation’s Home Page (http://www.modelrectifier.com) also has instructions and even offers free updates. There are several updates available that add slope soaring (the only simulator I know that does this) plus extra competition helicopter flying sites and numerous new aircraft.

Simulator Characteristics

 
Photo 2    Photo 3

But the basic simulator already has a wide variety of airplanes and helicopters. It also has some very attractive German flying sites. The graphic resolution of these fields is amazing. They are picture quality, maybe better. It is just like being there as even the bare areas in the grass runways and the different weeds among the grass are clearly visible. One part of a runway even needs the grass cut a little shorter as some of the smaller airplanes have trouble in the slightly higher grass there.

Photo 4

That is just how real this simulator’s graphics are. The sun can get pretty glaring at times. Unfortunately, sunglasses don’t help with this problem so don’t fly directly into the sun. Monitor photos were made more difficult as the airplanes are sunlit, with sometimes darker shadowy sides, and often cast strong shadows (photo 4).

Of course, all parameters, weather, wind, aircraft performance, control responsiveness, relative viewpoints and even movie parameters are fully adjustable. Just about every variable can be individually set and controlled by the pilot.

 
Photo 5    Photo 6

The XTR uses the Windows format to make these adjustments featuring a variety of different “settings” boxes as photos 5 and 6 show. The airplane’s response to every control input can be adjusted as can the efficiencies of its various control surfaces. Click on these two photos to enlarge them and you will notice that even the probability of an in- flight engine failure can be programmed! The pilot’s point of view can vary from any field location to one that rotates, or promenades as the XTR calls it, according to the flight path.