I bought Realflight®© deluxe refursbished for 100€ in 2001 with the plastic controller box then the update G2 for another 100€.....expensive at first sight but it save me so much money (at least 100 times more).

- Nice looking, maybe the best graphics on the market today.(see raptor 30 with addon3)
- Possibility to simulate flight failures,
- Network gaming (if you have a permanent internet access)
- A lot of new color schemes can be found freeely on internet (see below in links), but it is only a skins for existing heli or airplanes.
- You can build airport but you have a limited number of items.
- You can record your flights and demo, distribute them,
- There is a virtual instructor to learn new tricks,
- Games in games : events like autorotation, precision landing.

- Helicopter simulation is no realistic at all ! but I slowly discover why it is so bad (you do not notice it till you do not display the frame rate): go to section : Increase realism
- No graphical editor for airplanes and heli : KnifeEdge (the editor) want to sell add ons at very high prices.
- Overall bad realism....why ? if you want to recognize a good simulator, mesure data on your model and put it into the simulator, if the feeling is different then something is wrong in the physical model.
- Crazy protecting system! you must always have the realflight cd inserted! and sometimes realflight is asking you all others CD : RFdeluxe, then Cd update the addon2 then addon3 etc : it is slow, disturbing and can be easily outpass with daemon tools (note that version 2.00.570 seem not to accept any virtual cd, hee knife edge that is not in the software relase note !). Why do they not use a dongle instead ?
- The wind affects are not properly modeled, the wind in the sim is linear from the ground up in the real word the height causes a much greater affect. additionally the turbulence is (for want of a better word) "swirling" and has both vertical as well as horizontal components. The settling with power is totally absent from the sim, as a result it is not very useful.
- Flight Model is TOO EASY, and still too SLOW. A way too much inertia.

My Wish:

1- open the physic engine, so we can tune equations
or use better equations if cpu power is enough (what do you do with 2800MHz????)
2- better simulation of heli inertia...
3- better simulation of wind or at least with more tuning options
3- Vortex ring problem
4- heli editor or at least release some converter or open the internal specs of file, Some of us can write an editor.
5- a draganflyer!!!!
6- sell a heli version/ a airplane version / a full version
7- more heli lessons (instructor)

overall inmprove the physic engine, in reality things get worse really faster than in simulator.

When will Knife Edge open their physic engine (equations), so we can tune or rewrite them ??
When will Knife Edge release their format specs so people can build planes editor ?
I would like to say : NEVER since they release quite expensive addons (which bring nothing)

Conclusions:

- There is no other simulator which is so nice, even if the physic is so bad.

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• Change characteristics in order to match the natural instability of heli:
  - edit the aircraft and reduce weight of paddle : raptor 30 has 35gr, reduce it to 10gr not less otherwise rolls won't work anymore.
  - Of course do not fly without wind.
• improve response of heli:
  - edit the aircraft and reduce speed of servos : default is 0.22 sec/60°, reduce it to 0.02sec/60°
  - reduce exponential on all command.
• Improve physics :
  - desactivate the grass in the airport : it is consuming alone nearly 30 fps on my PC1
  - As a rule : desactivate every graphics till you did not reach at least 60 fps (or more) in all flight configuration (when you are in front of trees, houses etc, if the framerate drop, the heli is out of control).

The heli is difficult to maintain ? to fly ? and you crash in less than 3 second ? welcome back to some reality !!!!!!
As a result on my pc nearly every visual enhancement are switch off, but that is the cost for having a little more reality. (just to say I bought CSM 10.1 on ebay.....)

• Want to pratice autorotation ? instead of using the switch (throttle cut) use a very small tank (30cc) and fly....till you run out of fuel.
• Be careful to learn on both sides ! like me you may prefer to turn always from the same side : that's bad ! and when you go back to field you are petrified....
• With the latest cd burner (philips, acer some plextor), it is possible to outpass the safedisk 2 protection of G2 (burner must support EFM (hardware) or be recognized by clone cd in order to use the AWS fonction (Amplify weak sector)). I prefer to made an image of the cd, then use daemon tool and daemon ui. NO NEED TO INSERT THE CD anymore, Realflight®© g2 start in 5 seconds, ahhhh marvelous...

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