Great Planes RF7
While it looks simple with the airplane lit up so well (above left), night flying can be quite the challenge. The night flying options will actually make your palms sweat—and it’s only a simulator! If you want some fun, do a catapult
Flying
Now that we have gotten into the simula- tor and have our first model in the air, it ei- ther (a) flies very similar to our own model or (b) does not fly like what we know. In fly- ing various aircraft to get a feel for the flight physics in the simulator, I found that the NexStar, E3D and Flyzone Switch trainer flew very similarly to versions I have flown in our club, and I did not feel the need to change anything on them. I found the con- trols of the Yak 54 and Sbach 35% to be close to versions in our club, though both were grossly overpowered.
This was easily addressed in the “Quick Edit” sub menu under aircraft. A quick re- duction in power to 70% had the airplane flying very close to what one does at my home field, and is a pleasure to fly. Like- wise, the same menu can be used to increase the flap deflection of the L-39 to help its landing characteristics.
One of the advantages of Real Flight is its
shot off of an aircraft carrier (above right) and then come around to land. As small as the model is, and as big as the flight deck is try not to break something!
ability to modify the simulator model to ap- proximate the physical model at your alti- tude and using your preferred powerplants, and if you desire, you can do many airframe adjustments to the planes you wish to fly, all part of what is termed “RealPhysics”. Alright, what else will RF7 do? How about hand launching the FlyZone Diablo edf, or several gliders? All it takes is a click on the keyboard, and away they go, sinking rapid- ly, just like the model! How about trying your hand at a helicopter? I think I must have broken enough helicopters to purchase a house. Fortunately they have been here, in Real Flight, not in reality. This is a good place to have the binoculars gadget engaged since they get very small, very fast!
Aircraft
With over 90 planes and 30 helicopters (and don’t forget the Blimp), there are al- most an infinite number of variations to choose from given the ability to edit their
characteristics. With many of Hobbico’s arfs and kits in the menu as well as several jets, giant scale aerobatic aircraft as well as WWI and WWII “heavy metal”, micro planes and gliders … well, there are a lot of choices! Modify the wind or turbulence, change the layout of the sun and clouds, choose a differ- ent field (I prefer the photo fields), or just change the color of your choice and it makes for a lot of fun.
Training
For the beginning pilot, the modules in- stalled in Real Flight 7 are powerful. Not only are there trainer airplanes and heli- copters among the 120 installed airframes, but there are training aides/scenarios as well. These training modules include: train- er takeoff and landing, airplane and heli- copter hover training, helicopter orienta- tion and helicopter auto-rotation training. Additionally, there is “Virtual Flight In- struction” with flight coaching from Frank Noll, Jason Noll, Jim Bourke and John Glezellis for airplane aerobatics as well as Brian Bremer, Pete Niotis and Todd Ben- nett for helicopters.
There are a number of maneuvers and les- sons (like beginning hover) that have the in- structors talking while performing specific maneuvers with a transmitter superim- posed on the screen showing their stick movements to give you both aural and visual instruction.
Challenges
The red “Reset” button does exactly that, but if you hold it down, it allows you to rewind the flight to relearn the inputs needed to avoid (in this case) the airplane splattering itself on the deck. Greg found this a valuable tool in trying to learn the rudder input for a rolling circle on the deck.
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After you have your favorite airplanes or helicopters mastered and are beginning to need a challenge, a mouse click on the Chal- lenge tab will bring up a host of events like a Balloon Burst, Limbo competitions, Spot Landing competitions, a Ring Race and an Air Race. As you complete a level successful- ly, more options are opened to you and more challenges await! Several of these chal- lenges are best availed with some of the oth- er options Real Flight 7 offers, like cockpit views and tail views (using F1, F2, F3 keys). Racing through the pylons and rings is much easier with a cockpit view, and is even more advantageous with a Heads Up Display
MARCH 2014
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