Stuart Marsden Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 I am looking for guidance please. I am a B cert flyer for fixed wing and would like to get my skills and stick time up to what it was 15 years ago after a long break. I now want to fly helis as well. Can anyone advise which SIM is best. The Realflight 7.5 best package about £130 with tranny has slt and this means you can WiFi to a large Tele screen, my Futaba8J does not have slt so would not work with the £80 no tyranny option, on the large screen.On the other hand the Pheonix at £99 comes with no tyranny but I do have a DX6i, this system seems to be Spectrum based. Please advise, I could just use my 17 inch laptop screen but think the extra money for the best Realflight is worth it if the actual simulator is as good as the best Pheonix Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Molineux Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Hi Stuart, I've never used Realflight but I can tell you that Phoenix is pretty good, will work with either of your transmitters (I've used both Hitec and Frsky with mine) and it also has free upgrades for life. That makes older versions on eBay a bargain! Dave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Marsden Posted August 10, 2016 Author Share Posted August 10, 2016 Thanks for this, do you use a laptop and can you link to a large screen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanR Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 I have used Phoenix on a large TV screen but this relied on a conventional video connection between my laptop and TV - HDMI in my case. I don't know what slt is. Additionally, I would point out that my laptop is an ancient thing but still gives a good account of itself with Phoenix. My understanding is that Realflight requires a more powerful setup than Phoenix. Perhaps you need to check on this, also. Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Marsden Posted August 10, 2016 Author Share Posted August 10, 2016 Many thanks for this, Pheo ox is looking good. Cheers Stuart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Posted August 11, 2016 Share Posted August 11, 2016 + 1 for Phoenix into tele using a HDMI cable from a laptop. My copy is 10+ yrs old but with free life updates is bang up to date. Used with Futaba, JR and now Spektrum Tx's. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John C Posted August 11, 2016 Share Posted August 11, 2016 I was using Phoenix to learn to fly 3D planes and it was very good until about a year ago when a new update was brought out. In the new version is was so unrealistically easy to hover you do not learn anything. I hoped that this was just a glitch and would be fixed in the next release but it wasn't (and still wasn't some months later when I last checked). Others on the forums found the same as me. After a couple of months I bought Realflight 7.5 which is very realistic and the models fly like my real 3D planes. It did not run very well on my laptop so I bought a secondhand PC with a dedicated graphics card which allows the sim to run at its highest settings and at a fast frame rate. On the laptop the slow frame rate made me feel nauseous and was not enjoyable. I use a HDMI cable to a largish TV on my desk which is much better that the 15" laptop screen. Both sims have special cables/dongles to connect to the PC. I use Heli-X for my heli sim but I think Realflight is fine too. I haven't tried Phoenix for helis. At first I used my DX6i and now my DX6 tx to control the sim. It is probably better to use your normal tx so the feel is the same as in real life. Now I don't use the sims much and just fly my Twisted Hobby EPP models in a field near home. They don't break when they crash (every couple of minutes) and I can fly the 24" and 32" ones very close to me without risk of injury. It is more fun than the sim. Without the sim I doubt if I would have learned how to fly 3D. I never thought that at 65 I would be able to learn to fly 3D but the sims have been great. For learning to fly collective pitch helis I found that the Blade Nano QX quadcopter in 'agility mode' was a great aid. You can fly it indoors at home and, in agility mode, it flies very like a Blade Nano CPX heli which was the next step up for me before moving to a MCPX BL and then on to a 300 size model. I found the QX gave me lots of stick time to get the hand-eye co-ordination for tail in flying and it then allowed me to progress slowly to nose in hovering. Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Marsden Posted August 11, 2016 Author Share Posted August 11, 2016 Thanks all, it has been most helpful. I purchased the Realight7.5 today and first impressions are excellent. Best regards. SM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Z Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 Hi, Resurrecting this thread as it linked but dated now. I have Phoenix 5.5 but am wondering if it is worth updating to RF9. If it is. My TX is a Futuba 6 EXP or a T8J and I have the Phoenix cable. Would they work with RF9 or will I need to by the Spektrum interlink or??? Thanks for any help S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Marsden Posted November 16, 2020 Author Share Posted November 16, 2020 Hi, I started this post and this has just popped up. I just wanted to say I followed the advice and my transmitter is the Futaba T8J, so this should be fine.. cheers the Captain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lima Hotel Foxtrot Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 Posted by Stuart Z on 16/11/2020 17:38:38: Hi, Resurrecting this thread as it linked but dated now. I have Phoenix 5.5 but am wondering if it is worth updating to RF9. If it is. My TX is a Futuba 6 EXP or a T8J and I have the Phoenix cable. Would they work with RF9 or will I need to by the Spektrum interlink or??? Thanks for any help S Never having used Phoenix I can't do a comparison, however... I initially had Clearview with a basic 4ch USB only tx and for £25 it was absolutely fine at seeing what happens with models, stick controls and different wind conditions, but I wanted something I could monkey with a bit more. I bought Realflight 8 Horizon Hobby edition from Steam and it has far greater depth. However... If you want full functionality you need to get the HH wireless control adaptor (at quite a lot of money fwiw!). I've been using a USB adaptor from Amazon that does the job, but I'm limited to 5 channels and can not edit the models. I have discovered purely by accident that if I plug in an Xbox / Playstation style USB game controller and configure that as a tx then I get full functionality. I can edit the model and then go back to my normal tx using the cheap amazon adaptor and fly quite happily. Occasionally not having all the mode switches/flaps/gear etc is a pain, but it's only a simulator and will never truly replicate the experience of standing in a field with the sense of spatial awareness and chilly breeze you get IRL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Z Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 Thanks for the advice guys. Was hoping to cut back on cost somewhere and spend money on kits etc. It looks as if the Futuba tranny is the way forward, it may be a question of whether to buy the RF9 and see how I get on. Didn’t really want yet another TX and this time a different brand, I have 4 Futuba TX, 3 of which are 35mg but work very well and in very good nick! The question remains, I suppose, is RF9 better visually than Phoenix 5.5. I guess that will remain to be seen! S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxG Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 Try https://www.rc-thoughts.com/phoenix-sim/ if you have a dongle. Its free. Worked well for me on my new Win 10 PC. Had a proper copy on my old PC hence having the dongle. Read the site to see his philosophy as to why he has the files available to download. My downloads were malware free. HTH Maxg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyGnome Posted November 18, 2020 Share Posted November 18, 2020 I bought a cheap multiple sim and cables package off ebay, for about a tenner. Fully expected it not to work but I now have Phoenix 6 (plus all the additional models and sites off the website mentioned above) on my Surface tablet, which works with my Spektrum D7. Although I have been unable to get flaps to work yet. All sim functions available. Works for all types of aircraft. On the more powerful pc in my 'shed' I have Realflight 7.5 plus the expansion packs, and a few of the models off RCGroups. This software registered ok as well so tech support is available, in theory. I use my Taranis with this (after much fiddling) and have flaps and gear as I want. Some user models need editing to reallocate channels but that adds to the fun. This works fine for planes, helicopters, quads, boats, tanks etc.. All sim functions available. I think Realflight is the more 'realistic' of the 2. There is also a quad game/sim called Windrider that is good for a laugh. I haven't been able to get Reflex to install in anything other than Chinese and an error message (surprisingly in English..) stops me accessing the menus to change language. If I run out of things to do, I may get around to fixing it. GG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Z Posted November 18, 2020 Share Posted November 18, 2020 Thanks for all the feedback! It sounds like there are a few options to explore for those times when you cannot fly for weeks at a time. S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyGnome Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 Oops, the quad sim I called Windrider' is actually 'Freetider'. Apologies, GG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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