Did I buy the wrong simulator?

[helinut2]

Sometimes I will make decisions too quickly :rolleyes: I was on the phone ordering some stuff and decided to order a RealFlight 4.5G simulator, till the guy told me 200.00. He then suggested hanger 9 FS one for half the price, plus he said it isn't nearly as big of a source hog as RealFlight. He told me the graphics are not as nice as RF, but the sim itself is as good if not better.
What do you guys think? Did I buy a decent simulator? I haven't loaded it yet, so I could exchnage it if ya think I won't be happy with it. I see an awful lot of talk about Phoenix. I currently have clearview and frankly don't think the actual flying is as accurate as I'd like. I am told that RealFlight 4.5, Hanger FS One & Phoenix are the 3 best. True?
Opinions welcome, please.

Guess I should have been asking these questions before buying :rolleyes:

[Montag DP]

I really don't think you can go wrong with Clearview, honestly. You get great support and free updates, so even if something is not quite as real as you'd like it, you can always suggest a change and maybe it will be later. I haven't used the other sims so I can't comment on how realistic they are in comparison with each other, but if you want one of the "big name" sims I'd stick with FSOne since it's cheaper and reportedly supposed to have good airplane physics.

Have you updated to version 5 of Clearview, by the way? The physics engine is much improved.

[Duckie62]

Well I do not know much about other sims, but for now I would say REALFLIGHT is worth trying out. I started with 3.0, A few months later moved up to 3.5 ( free online upgrade)
Then purchased 4.0 played with awhile, then you guessed it ( FREE ) upgrade again, now I have 4.5. Just when I thought I was on top of the sims situation REALFLIGHT gave everyone with 4.0 & 4.5 FREE add on packs 1 through 5. what a shame I purchased the add ons 1-4 for 3.0/.5. Well now I have them all, except a few select expansion packs. (5 & 6)

Any way I love the program and recommend that you try RealFlight and they let you download a sample demo for FREE. Here is the link

WWW.REALFLIGHT.COM

P.S. the demo takes ALOT of hard space,but it allows you to see:
1) If it will work well on your computer.
2) To test drive before you purchase.
But you need to use your keyboard to use DEMO.
Because the program is write protected by way of game controller.(Tx)

Hint: If you purchase Realflight look for the lady in Alpine Meadow.
Also when you want some additional fun with your planes, look in the hidden menus for the gifts from the programmers. Most important you can download many many more planes from the same WEB site above in the swap pages.

I am in no way no associated nor affiliated with RealFlight.
I am just a Happy customer. All in All it depends on what you want or expect to get out of the sim.
I appoligize for the novel,but you asked !

[Chago]

I have had my hands on both, tried both back to back.

I have owned Realflight versions RF-Deluxe, RF-G2 and RF-G3.5 and have access to RF-G4.5 kiosk at my place of employment at the LHS.

We also have at the LHS a kiosk of Hanger9's FS-One. And to be honest, and hopefully not sound like a RealFlight fan-boy, RF-G4.5 does a better job.

Now both will help you develop the muscle memory, and what your fingers need to do at the sticks. But I think RF does a much better job at giving you the 'feel' of what the aircraft will respond to the control inputs. FS-One feels very much like an 'arcade' game to me. With FS-one, all the aircraft seem to rotate around a central axis within the aircraft, regardless of the aircraft type. Where RF-G4.5 seems to handle the physics of the different available aircraft with more realism. The Cub, Extra and P51 will roll much differently from each other in real life and in RF-g4.5. But in FS-One, they feel way too similar. That and the fact that RF is much more 'tweakable' than FS one when it comes to aircraft setup and environment variables makes it much more realistic, IMHO>

Bottom line, is the difference worth the extra cost? Thats up to you, I've been a user of RealFlight since 2000, where FS-One is a newcomer (relatively) to the sim market. Again, both will teach your fingers what to do, RF will just do a better job of teaching you how each type of aircraft will react to your inputs.

[helinut2]

I have had my hands on both, tried both back to back.

I have owned Realflight versions RF-Deluxe, RF-G2 and RF-G3.5 and have access to RF-G4.5 kiosk at my place of employment at the LHS.

We also have at the LHS a kiosk of Hanger9's FS-One. And to be honest, and hopefully not sound like a RealFlight fan-boy, RF-G4.5 does a better job.

Now both will help you develop the muscle memory, and what your fingers need to do at the sticks. But I think RF does a much better job at giving you the 'feel' of what the aircraft will respond to the control inputs. FS-One feels very much like an 'arcade' game to me. With FS-one, all the aircraft seem to rotate around a central axis within the aircraft, regardless of the aircraft type. Where RF-G4.5 seems to handle the physics of the different available aircraft with more realism. The Cub, Extra and P51 will roll much differently from each other in real life and in RF-g4.5. But in FS-One, they feel way too similar. That and the fact that RF is much more 'tweakable' than FS one when it comes to aircraft setup and environment variables makes it much more realistic, IMHO>

Bottom line, is the difference worth the extra cost? Thats up to you, I've been a user of RealFlight since 2000, where FS-One is a newcomer (relatively) to the sim market. Again, both will teach your fingers what to do, RF will just do a better job of teaching you how each type of aircraft will react to your inputs.


Ya know, I kinda knew someone was gonna pop on here and say exactly what you have just posted ;) I shouldn't have let myself get talked into the FS one. O well, I'm sure the shop I bought it from will let me return it in exchange for the RealFlight. Guess I'd better give em a call.
Thanks for thwe info...

[helinut2]

Well it appears I can't exchange the FS One for a realflight. It seems if the seal is broken on the "box", it is considered an open software package, even though the actual disc packaging has not been opened. There is no returns on opened software, at least at HobbyZone, and I'm sure it's the same every where else. I'm gonna go ahead and load it and see if I like it enough to keep it, unless one of you guys wants to buy it. It's brand new :D

[pivlrs]

You might as well try it. FSOne actually has very good flight physics - probably better than most of the other sims. Downsides are

Slightly inferior graphics (not the point, imho)
limited selection of planes, with no community models available
Development seems to be completely dead (no updates or "news" for almost a year)

The last one is what bugs me the most. But, it still flies really well if the above don't particularly bug you.

[helinut2]

Thought I would report my findings and opinion of the FS One. I have a simulator called Clearview that I have been using for a year. All I can say is Clearview is hands down, way better in every aspect. I just finished flying FSOne & CV. It's no contest what so ever. Even the crashes on clearview are way more spectacular, and as far as actual flight control realism, they seem identical. The scenery and special affects are way better as well on CV. Two other "clear" advantages are price and source size. Frankly after comparing these two, I don't see any reason to even consider a different simulator, unless someone can convince me that RealFlight or Phoenix are way,way better than CV. This comparison is strictly my opinion and doesn't reflect quality of the FS One at all. It is a very good simulator, I just happen to prefer CV.
Anyone looking for a good deal on a FS One simulator, seriously? It's for sale here, or it will go on eBay. Make me an offer :D