A beginner's thought on training with RealFlight

Model Airplane News, Jan 2000 by Cozine, Geoff

As a newcomer to this hobby, I have been greatly concerned about the expense of replacing planes while I'm learning how to fly. Having a welltrained RC instructor, as I do, can allay most of these fears, but RealFlight Deluxe can help eliminate them altogether.

I started flying with RealFlight Deluxe before I had ever logged a minute of RC airplane stick time. I have had some experience with RC cars as well as with full-scale simulators on the PC, so the sticks felt fairly natural to my fingertips. I had some knowledge of the theories and skills needed for basic flight, but I was definitely a novice. An experienced pilot sat with me for a while to give me pointers as I learned on the simulator, then I worked solo. At the flying field that weekend, my instructor repeatedly commented that he was impressed with my progress. There's no question that the simulator helped a great deal.

Note, though, that RealFlight Deluxe is not intended to replace an experienced instructor. It's great not to worry about crashing your aircraft or having to wait for the perfect day to go flying, but from my vantage point, I recommend that someone who can serve as an instructor sits with you while you are learning. Although many aspects of the physics are realistic, your trainer plane will be able to pull off hard turns and highlevel aerobatics that would break a real trainer.

RealFlight Deluxe could easily become an invaluable training tool for fliers everywhere. Novices can learn how to fly, and experienced pilots can experiment with aerobatics, both without endangering a model. You can also test numerous Great Planes kits before buying them, and you can even decide whether a helicopter might be in your future.