An RC flight simulator is one of the best tools a new RC pilot can use before putting a real airplane in the air. You can practice the same takeoff ten times, completely botch a landing, hit reset, and be flying again a few seconds later. That is a whole lot cheaper than learning every lesson with balsa, foam, and glue.
A simulator will not make you an experienced RC pilot by itself, but it can get the basic reactions into your hands before your first trip to the field. That matters, especially when the airplane turns toward you and left and right suddenly stop looking as obvious as they did five seconds earlier.
What an RC Flight Simulator Is Actually Good For
The biggest advantage is repetition. At the field, every takeoff uses battery or fuel, every landing takes time, and a bad mistake can end the flying session. On a simulator, you just try it again.
- Orientation: learning what to do when the airplane is flying toward you instead of away from you.
- Stick control: learning to make small corrections instead of stirring the sticks and hoping for the best.
- Flying a pattern: practicing deliberate turns, approaches, and landings instead of wandering around the sky.
- Recovery: recognizing when things are getting ugly and getting the airplane back under control.
None of that sounds very glamorous, but boring, predictable flying is exactly what you want before you start worrying about aerobatics.
What a Simulator Will Not Teach You
A simulator is not the flying field. It cannot perfectly reproduce gusty wind, sun in your eyes, depth perception, a badly trimmed airplane, a loose control horn, or the sudden realization that the real airplane has actual money invested in it.
I learned that one the expensive way. I had been practicing flat spins on the simulator until I could do them perfectly. Eventually I decided that meant I was ready to try one with my nitro Katana. The simulator recovered just fine. The Katana did not. It lawn-darted nose-first straight into the ground.
That does not mean the simulator failed me. I asked it to prove something it could not prove. A simulator is excellent for practicing the control inputs and understanding what a maneuver is supposed to look like, but the real airplane has its own weight, balance, control throws, power, aerodynamics, and altitude to work with. Success on the screen is not a guarantee that the real airplane will react exactly the same way.
Use the simulator to learn reactions and procedures. If you can fly with an experienced pilot or instructor for the first real flights, do that too. The two work very well together.
Use Your Real Transmitter If You Can
If the simulator supports your transmitter, I would use it. You are practicing with the same stick spacing, spring tension, switches, and hand position you will have at the field. A game controller can teach orientation, but using your actual radio makes the practice feel a lot more familiar when the real airplane is in front of you.
How the radio connects depends on the simulator and transmitter. Some use USB, some use a wireless interface, and some need a simulator adapter. Follow the instructions for your particular radio and simulator rather than assuming they all connect the same way.
Start With a Trainer
Pick a forgiving high-wing trainer. Do not start by hovering a 3D airplane six inches off the runway because the simulator lets you reset it. That may be entertaining, but it is not doing much to prepare you for your first flight.
Start with calm weather and a big flying site. Practice taking off, making controlled turns, flying a normal rectangular pattern, lining up with the runway, and landing. Once that becomes boring, add some wind.
A Simple Practice Routine
- Fly away from yourself. Make gentle turns in both directions and work on holding altitude.
- Fly toward yourself. This is where orientation practice really starts to pay off.
- Fly a rectangular traffic pattern. Make deliberate turns instead of just flying wherever the airplane happens to go.
- Practice approaches without landing. Line up, descend under control, then add power and go around.
- Land over and over. One good landing surrounded by nine crashes does not mean you have mastered landings.
- Add some wind. Do this after calm-weather flying feels comfortable.
Flying Toward Yourself Is the Big One
This is probably the single biggest thing I would want a brand-new pilot to practice. When the airplane is flying away from you, everything feels natural. Turn it around and bring it back toward yourself and the picture changes.
You can understand that perfectly while sitting at the workbench and still move the stick the wrong way when the airplane starts drifting toward the edge of the field. The simulator lets you repeat that situation until you stop having to think your way through it.
Practice Going Around
Do not use the simulator to teach yourself that every landing has to be saved. If the airplane is too high, too fast, badly lined up, or the approach just looks wrong, add power and try again.
A go-around costs almost nothing. Trying to force a bad landing can get expensive. I would much rather see a new pilot make that decision early than try to wrestle the airplane onto the runway from a terrible approach.
How Much Simulator Time Is Enough?
There is no magic number of hours. I would rather see you make ten controlled landings in a row than tell me you have twenty hours on the simulator while using reset every third turn.
Short practice sessions with a purpose are usually better than just flying around until you get bored. Spend a session working on approaches. Spend another one flying toward yourself. Then spend one doing complete flights from takeoff through landing.
When Are You Ready for the Real Airplane?
If you can reliably take off, fly a predictable pattern, maintain orientation, make controlled approaches, go around when an approach is bad, and land without depending on the reset button, the simulator has done what I want it to do.
The real airplane still needs to be set up correctly. Before that first flight, work through the RC Plane Lab Setup & Preflight Center. If you are completely new to RC airplanes, the Beginners Lounge walks through the hobby from the beginning.
RC Flight Simulator FAQ
Can an RC simulator really teach me to fly?
It can teach you a lot of the basic reactions: orientation, stick control, patterns, approaches, go-arounds, and landings. What it cannot give you is all of the experience that comes from flying a real airplane in real conditions.
Should I use my RC transmitter with the simulator?
If your simulator supports it, I would. Practicing with the radio you will actually fly with removes one more unfamiliar thing from your first day at the field.
What kind of airplane should I practice with?
Start with a forgiving high-wing trainer similar to a good first RC airplane. Learn to fly that well before moving on to faster, more aerobatic models.
Should I turn on wind in the simulator?
Eventually, yes. Learn the basic controls and pattern in calm conditions first. Then add moderate wind so you can practice correcting for it without making the first few sessions unnecessarily difficult.
Where to Go Next
If you are still choosing an airplane, see Best RC Planes for Beginners. Once you have the airplane, use the Setup & Preflight Center before heading to the field.