An alternative to FMS

[lbl25a]

I have been using FMS since I started playing with helicopters and although it got me as far as hovering a Honeybee FP I was beginning to feel its limitations and had thought of moving on to Phoenix when I found this -http://www.marksfiles.net/HeliSim/index.htm. It is similar in look and feel to FMS and works with my ESKY USB controller but has a lot more to offer such as both normal and idle up modes and programmable throttle and pitch curves as well as other parameters.

This may be old news but, being freeware, it is certainly worth a look for newbies without a simulator and for me it is a new challenge to master before moving on to a commercial simulator. I know that I will be told that Phoenix is better but I would be interested to know how much better. Better graphics alone would not be a major attraction and, Unlike other freeware such as HELI-X HeliSim works fine on my cheap old laptop.

[quanter]

Phoenix is not just better, its in a completely different league.

Brian

[lbl25a]

Phoenix is not just better, its in a completely different league.

Brian

That doesn't tell me very much. A Rolls Royce is in a completely different league from a Skoda Fabia but both will get you from A to B.

I may end up with Phoenix further down the line, but meanwhile a developer who puts effort into providing a freeware Sim for hobbyists deserves my attention.

[Mike W]

Phoenix is as bout as realistic for helis as you get ... Some people have even gone straight from phoenix and flown the real thing the same ....I would rather spend the money and know that what I am getting is gonna work with my OS and also my TX .. Phoenix is soo easy to set up and ya can alter all the settings for wind , the heli dynamics the lot so you can make it fly like yours in real life ... For me nothing comes even close to it .... Yes you have to pay for it but at the end of the day how fast ya want to progress and also when the weather aint that bad i can still get some stick time in on it as i dont feel like its a game or looks like one for that fact either

[Sao]

I'll put this simply
FMS and other free sims = Poor pyshics and more of a game but it will give you the basics but won't teach you how a real rc heli feels

Phoenix and other 'proper sims' = Simulation with proper physics and is as close to being in the field flying the heli for real as you can get sat at your PC

[Pipistrelli]

The phoenix sim is a realistic look and feel. Someone said it earlier but FMS is pretty much a game.

If you are taking RC heli's seriously, you should have a proper sim so you can practice in between, the more realistic the better.

IMO phoenix is the best, oh and its the cheapest of the big names!

[cambs flyer]

I can't agree with the guy's above more.

Phoenix is a teaching Simulator, FMS is an arcade game.

To give you an idea of how realistic Phoenix is until yesterday I'd never launched a Trex 450 for real, after a few minutes of dutch courage I had her "tail in" hovering in a confined garden area.

To fly the real thing was just like Phoenix, and I'd have never managed this had I been using a lesser Sim.

Had I not practiced using the above I'm sure my first outing would possibly have cost me more in damages than the asking price of Phoenix, best £80 quid ever spent.

[moyesboy]

Probably this sim is not as realistic as phoenix.
However the guy asks is this free sim worth practising on.
Until someone with experience of helis and other sims has installed it and given it a fly then the question will go unanswered.
As I already have phoenix, and I no longer have a simple tx usb lead, I'm not about to do the download and try it myself. So I can't answer the question either.
So I will echo the other respnses by saying phoenix is very good and worth the money (bear in mind you will pay 25-40 quid for a USB lead to connect your "free" sim unless you are techie enough to make a lead).

Personally I found FMS was a great help and it enabled me to hover fairly well quickly. Phoenix would have been better though.

[cambs flyer]

Just to recap, before Phoenix I used to spend hours on FMS flying heli's, and thought I was getting there with my progress.

Until I purchased Phoenix did I realize how unhelpful FMS had been, it was back to stage one and learning all over again!

You can never really knock a freebie, but when it starts to involve some serious kit in the real world, you need the best to practice on.

[rombonie]

Again as said many times, Phoenix and or Real flight are the best and will without doubt pay for themselves time and time again.

I could not have done what i did yesterday without the sims, I must have stack it well over a 1000's times on the sim and they will help give you a fix when the good old british weather decides you're not flying

I hope FMS gives you a taste to invested in the really things.

[Tim Procter]

Has anyone mentioned Phoenix yet in this thread..

If not let me start by saying its the best sim by far..

Question:

Do you want to "play" at flying helicopters on your pc or do you want to learn to fly rc helis for real.

I'll let you answer that..

[lbl25a]

There are obviously a lot of Phoenix supporters out there but I knew that. Have any of you actually downloaded HeliSim and compared it? I am not asking for comparisons with FMS. As the developer says on his web site he does not expect those who already have commercial simulators to be seriously interested in HeliSim but it does offer the opportunity to record and replay training sessions together with the stick movements and thus may be interesting as a tool for detecting newbie errors. Also it is specifically designed to simulate characteristics of the 450 type electric helicopters and from response on other forums it seems that users have found it to be quite realistic in this respect. I have not got far enough with it to comment on this.

[Mike W]

Like some have said most of us have not used it so cannot compare it to FMS so we cannot comment on it be better or worse than FMS .... n e of the free flights sims are good as they give ya orientations and stick inputs ... I used FMS a while back and some others as well and nothing even comes close to Phoenix for graphics and heli physics ...But Phoenix aside .... If it helps Y not ... but then ya get what ya pay for in alot of peoples eyes ... Other questions tho ... does it have other models/fields?? ... FMS might be a little rough round the edges ( compared to pay for sims ) but it has a whole community worth of people making new models and fields and the like so people tend to bypass the graphics then and play it ...
Will I be giving Helisim a go ... afraid not ... run phoenix and love it .. Will I recommend to newbies ...maybe ... if someone wants to give a review of it with screen shots and a write up maybe ...
As you have said its had good reviews ... SO why not post the links to back these reports up ??...

[jboweruk]

Phoenix is without a doubt the best advice I was given, it is a full head and shoulders above anything else I've tried. And once I'd mastered the 3d helis on there, and believe me when I say that is hard, they are so twitchy, I could easily fly my little BCX around in the big upstairs bedroom without crashing anymore.

You won't regret Phoenix if you buy it, I never have, and I've never looked back.

[Rat]

The comparison needs to be made before further comments are added to this thread...

Unfortunatly I do not have a means of attempting to test helisim.

Any further comments, if they are to be useful need to be from someone with access to both Pheonix and this HeliSim.


Pheonix may be great, but stating that without the comparason is not answering the original question in this thread.