Set the way-back machine for the early 1980s. You are standing in one of the larger hobby manufacturer/distributor facilities of the day. In a corner office you notice a few men huddled around what appears to be a television screen. All eyes are fixed on the screen and their faces are bathed in a green glow given off by whatever they are watching. When one of the men shifts his stance, you get a glimpse of the screen—and it’s a monochrome computer monitor.

            The image is mostly black, with a few animated green lines in the middle and some text along the bottom. Moving in closer you see that the green lines make up the outline of a rudimentary airplane and the numbers along the bottom reference height, distance, etc. There’s no sound except for the keyboard clicking, but every so often the group lets out a collective “Ooh” or “Watch out!”

            What this group is watching so intently is a computer program—the first of its kind—that is running on one of the original Apple personal computers. The program’s author, a college professor, had just sold two of the first copies of his new program to a couple of guys in this group.

            Almost instantly a few telephone calls were made, a partnership was created, and the result was the birth of the Radio Control (RC) flight simulator. Notice that I wrote “Radio Control”; the military has been using various types of flight simulators to train its pilots since the 1930s, but they had been bulky and only available to those in the service. Not until the advent of the personal computer has this type of technology been available to help teach modelers to fly.

            This first RC simulator was rough. The technology behind it was pushing computer technology to its limit. Loops and rolls were basically it as far as aerobatic capability. Since the simulator had no sound, color, scenery, or runway, it took quite a bit of imagination and dedication to fly. However, RC-pilot wanna-bes had this new method to use to learn how to fly.

            Computers have advanced in capability through the years, and so have RC simulators. When color and sound became standard equipment, simulators roared to life and included vivid color graphics. As computer speeds increased, programmers were able to pack more complex calculations into their programs, improving the flight dynamics.

            All of these improvements have brought us up to today’s simulators, which include photo-realistic graphics, accurate flight characteristics, interfaces that allow control using actual RC transmitters, and the ability for pilots around the globe to fly together at virtual airfields via the Internet. Simulators have come a long way. They are now a viable alternative to using buddy cords or other forms of traditional flight training.

            However, nothing in this article should convince you to attempt to fly your first model by yourself. Although the simulator can give you all the skills needed to take off, fly, and land your model successfully, it does not teach you how to properly build and set up your model, start the engine, adjust the needle valve, or spot problems on the ground. Enlist an experienced modeler’s help when flying in the real world.

            People normally ask how long it will take them to learn to fly using a simulator, but there’s no firm answer because people learn at different speeds. A rule of thumb is that when you can fly competently around the sky where you want and take off and land where you are supposed to, you’re probably ready to try the real thing.

            A simulator will allow you to learn at a more rapid pace than you ever could at the field. Most flying sites have one or two nights a week set aside for training; you can get in three or four flights, but that’s pushing it. With a simulator you can learn any time you’re home—at night, when it’s too windy, when it’s too cold, when it’s raining, or when it’s snowing. As long as you have electricity and free time, you can be in the air—virtually.

            It’s time to jump into flight simulation. I’ll tackle this in five steps:

            1) Types of simulators that are available today. Please don’t confuse this article with a simulator “shoot-out” with one coming out the winner. There will be no side-by-side comparisons. This is more of a buyer’s guide; I’ll mention all commercially available packages on the market and a few found only on the Internet.

            2) Computer requirements

            3) Using a flight simulator correctly

            4) Using advanced features

            5) Commercially available simulators

 
The realism that a simulator delivers depends heavily on your computer.

Older, slower systems can’t draw photo-realistic scenery fast enough.