Hey,
I been flying FMS for a while now, and tried Aerofly Pro Deluxe Flight Simulator yesterday. I am not sure if it is such a great program, coz I am able to fly pretty well on it, a whole lot better than in FMS. Only problem is landing. I usually break the wheel assembly trying to land.

Anyone else using Aerofly Pro Deluxe Flight Simulator? Any suggestions on landing? And how realistic is it? I don't think the actual flying would be so easy.

Like in real planes also, landing is where anyones flying skills are first tested.  You have to come in at the right speed and angle, to make a smooth landing.  Practice makes it perfect ! 

Flying on a sim is much easier than flying in real life.  And the biggest reason is the fear factor.  You are totally aware (consciously or unconsciously) that crashing on the sim is NOT going to cost you any money !  But out on the field, your nerves are affected by the fear of crashing.

Yes another reason flying on the sim is easier is that the models and flying conditions (wind etc) are "perfect".  You can introduce a bit of uncertainty by adding wind in the sim, but still the behavior of the aircraft are smooth and precise, which is never the case in real life.

i guess the programmers decided to make landing more tough so that we learn the hard way. we would not care much if a landing was bumpy, but having the wheels break off would be a clue that we need to take more care as far as landing is concerned.

I got it!!!
Full up elevators right before touchdown.... any suggestions on slowing down the plane?

You need a "small bit" of up elevator just before landing. If you felt the need for "full" up elevators, that means your angle of approach is too steep.

http://www.rcindia.org/rc-maneuvers-and-skills/systematic-progression-of-airplane-flying-skills-landing/

One thing we find that helps in real life and on the sim is to go to low throttle before you start making that final turn to come in for a landing.

got a few good landings.... but for some strange reason i find it easier to fly a biplane than something like a cessna. while flying it is due to the higher speed, because i have set a slight wind in the sim, but i get more control on the biplane than cessna while coming in for the landing...
any thoughts?

Hmm, I guess biplanes in the sims are more docile. 

I would suggest though that you try to practice with a plane that is the hardest for you to control !

From real experience biplanes are actually less docile. The roll rates are usually faster because of the shorter span. Also if you let it get far and doing aerobatics in bad light conditions, it could get difficult to tell if the plane is upright or inverted.

Hi guys,

I have personally used AFPD extensively before moving on RealFlight G4.5.. It is a very very decent simulator and is anytime better than FMS! In fact I learnt hovering in AFPD!! Landings alone are a bit unrealistic and the undercarriage will be ripped off very easily.. If you can land in AFPD without breaking your landing gear, then you are ready to land on the field as well!!

I could say that this is the next best after Real Flight!! It is anytime better than Hangar9 FS One and also Reflex!

- Chan

Guys,
       Where did you'll buy real flight or AFPD?? Any place local??

PM for details.

Here is a Screencast I just recorded. Is that landing good enough. I wasn't able to bring it to land next to me though.

Another one... but the landing wasn't that great.

The first one is not that bad    But I think you should reduce throttle a little earlier, and reduce the amount of controls applied after you have lined up the aircraft with the glide path.

Most importantly, you should practice in an airfield with an actual runway, and try to touch down at the proper location on the runway.  This would help you sharpen your skills much better, and is more of a real life scenario.

thanks anwar. working on the runway now.
something i noticed; you could make a bad landing, but as long as the main wheels touch ground firs and stays there, you will be ok. but if it doesn't then the wheel assembly will break.

That sounds like a simulator specific behavior/issue, do not give undue importance to that.  Try to practise for a nice gradual approach angle, glide path and a smooth touch-down on the main set of wheels at the beginning of the runway itself.  If you are able to do that time and again on the sim, the better prepared you will be for the real thing.

Tried landing on carrier... crashed only once out of 5 times.... aiming to land at the start of the runway consistently now.

Hey sunil ,
can i know from where did you download it and what was its size and whether it can be used or practised with a Tx?

http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/3363587/Aerofly_Pro_1.6.8_Plus_Exp_Pack
http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/4559873/Perfectly_Working_Aerofly_Pro_Deluxe___Starflight_Add-on__Extras

you will get the size from there. you should be able to use ur Tx, but I am not able to use it coz I am running Windows 7.

I have tried downloading realflight to by using this... but i didnt figure out what to do with the torrent file...

i forgot the instructions on realflight. prob was my old computer didn't meet the sys requirements and new computer is running on windows7. cant install realflight.

Real Flight G4.5 Video Contest Entry - Thought you guys would like to see how the pros of simulator's do....

Guys,

How do you make videos from Realflight 4.5?? I recorded the flying but it saves in '.recording' file format and could be played only from Realflight. Is there a way to capture it as mpg or avi??

Just installed RF4.5 and loving it... So many aircrafts to choose from..

-Ismail

Hi Ismail,

You have to use an external screen caputring software.  Google on it and you would find plenty of softwares out there.  I think there is a thread going on in RCG / RCU regarding this.  Check it out.  Would post the link if I can find it!

- Chan

Thanks Chan. Pls post the link if you could find.

Hi Izmile,

Google for "BSR Screen Recorder" 

Cheers

Atul G.

Plz confirm...

we cant use our TX with aero fly if our system is running on Windows 7???

i am using AFPD on 64 bit Win 7(See screenshots) with FRAPS (http://www.fraps.com/faq.php) for screen recording, got about 600+ models. In Bangalore? get in touch with Vikas for more info +

 AFPD/Realflight  rocks 

Thanx augustinev...

I'm Having too many problems connecting my Dx6i to the comp for AFPD!!! It's just not recognizing it...!

see if it is recognizing in any xp pc if it does , load xp on your win7 using vmware, you are good to go. to me it appears to be a cable issue. my suggestion is get yourself a sim box, save the tx for real flying