Getting The Most From Your Simulator

No matter who you ask, you'll get the same advice: spend time practicing on a simulator. It's amazing how good and useful these tools have become. It's also easy to treat them like a video game and not improve your flying skills. With that in mind, here are some ideas that will make you a better pilot by getting the most out of your simulator:

1. Turn Off Exponential
Exponential and dual rates make a model easier to fly by making the controls less sensitive. The downside is that they let you be sloppier with your stick movements. Once you get used to them, it may be hard to fly a basic four channel radio with linear controls. But that's exactly the kind of budget radio which comes with many RTF packages, especially micro helicopters like the Esky Lama V4. If you turn off exponential in the sim and set the rates on high, you'll have to make much smaller, smoother inputs, and you'll be better prepared to fly the real thing.

2. Turn The Wind Up
The real world has wind, and so should your simulation! Don't just dial in a gentle breeze though, which makes any pilot look good. Practice flying in 10 mile per hour winds and higher, and if your software supports gusts, turn them on too. This will build your confidence and let you head out to the field on more days. Some simulators express wind in meters per second, which is equal to 2.2 mph. If you're not sure about the conversions, try them in Google.

3. Slam The Sticks
A good way to work on emergency maneuvers is to make a random, violent motion on the sticks, then try to return to level flight or a stable hover. This is good practice for a sudden gust of wind, losing orientation, or taking over controls from a beginner on a buddy box. As you get better at it, try the same thing at lower altitude, or close your eyes when you slam the sticks. There's nothing like the ground rushing up to meet you to get your attention.

4. Practice Landings
Sometimes I spend all my simulator time zooming around, practicing aerobatics, never touching the ground unless I crash. While that's fun, it ignores the fact that real models need to come down eventually, and landing is hard. While many programs don't simulate the friction and unevenness of the ground very well, they do provide valuable training in terms of lining up on the runway, flying towards yourself, keeping the wings level, etc. Try killing the motor to simulate the low voltage cutoff kicking in with LiPo batteries.

5. Pretend There's Real Money Up There
Imagine if a simulator deducted the cost of replacement parts from your bank account automatically whenever you crashed. OK, maybe that's not a great idea. The point is, you'll get the most out of a simulator if you treat it as a serious tool, and imagine there are real consequences. Find a good balance between trying something you're not ready for on a real plane and flying like there's money on the line. If your simulator can do an instant replay of a crash, try to figure out what went wrong.

Hopefully these ideas will help you get more out of your simulator. If you haven't gotten started with one yet, check out our review of the Mile High Wings USB interface, which works with most of the popular software packages out there. Happy flying!