Not to beat an over-discussed horse but does RF 4.5 represent the best on the market currently or AFPD or what?

I have both and I prefer AFPD for precision practice. RF 4.5 is much better than older versions. It could be that I just use AFPD more... but any time I have gone to RF for a change I always come back to AFPD and it seems a lot better. Both of them have optical effects that are not the same as the real world... so you're best to use the sim to learn the sequence and each manuver but be careful not to pick up bad habbits trying to correct for optical illusions

They are both excellent sims... the graphics in RF are really great now, probably ahead of APFD. I Think APFD still has better physics.

Posted By Chris Hammond on 23 Jan 2009 23:44
They are both excellent sims... the graphics in RF are really great now, probably ahead of APFD. I Think APFD still has better physics.

I'd agree with that... RF has a bit better eye candy and the multi-player mode...

but AFPD seems to have better physics...

Reality is you have to spend time tweaking planes and settings to make them feel right...

usually add weight, play with CG location, etc. etc.

Thats a great point too - I also play with the incidence, CG, etc in APFD. I also have a program for each APFD plane in my radio for mixing, rates etc. I treat them pretty much like a real plane from a trimming perspective except that the virtual planes seem to need more radical changes than a real one to get the same effect.

As far as the optical distortion - the sim seems to project the image into a kind of dome shape. The curve of the dome is tigher at the top. So when you fly verticals and 45 up lines you think the plane is moving in ... resist the temptation to always rudder out or you'll find yourself doing it in real life.

The downloadable planes for APFD tend to be really good quality too.

i like G4.5

Hey Roy, can we expect to see you at some events this year? It would be great to catch up.

Super work on the site. Looks GREAT!

Ken

Well...blast from the past!! How are you! and thanks for the kind words on the site.

I am thinking about dusting off the thumbs a bit...I sold out everything about 3 years ago and took a break. But these weasels in the SE (mainly Wayne & Phil) have been beating on me pretty hard.

The most expensive part is having to buy April an RV (part of the price for getting back in <G>



Roy

just do it!!!!

I keep hearing rumors about this guy in Mooresville that is going to fly...but so far - nada!


Hmmmm.....

I have witnesses, maybe foamy's but I have flown this year!!!1

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Foamies count?..
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I have AFPD and like the physics. The dome projection effect is much reduced if you use one of the computer generated fields rather then than a photo-realistic field. For IMAC practice I like the 'farmland' scenery selection. I can keep a wide field of view and still maintain some ground reference points in view. I tried RF 4.5 on my brother's computer and find AFPD better for realistic precision 'practice'. If you have a chance to try either or both out, also try cockpit view and fly the pattern - very instructive. Also, don't forget to adjust wind speed, direction and turbulence to see which program does best; for me AFPD was the clear winner.

The realistic physics in AFPD allow me make changes in CG, incidence, power, etc. that give me better feel for how similar changes on my real-world birds will affect the plane.

If you want a fun challenge, fly the F-14 from the carrier and land it again on the carrier.

Hi Roy:

Buy April the RV!! It will be money well spent. Bought Julie one (with a toy-hauler compartment in the back) just for our IMAC trips and have never used it for anything else - yet. Now instead of "it's too hot", "too cold", "I'm bored", "I'm tired", "I can't bring my dogs", it's "when are we going again"?

Have to admit myself that I enjoy the camping at the field most of all.

Hope to see you and April around the meets sometime soon. You two were some of the first folks we met when I started IMAC in '04.

Chris

Yea Roy, Just Do IT !

We rented an RV a few times... and Loved it...

my wife aske me when are the Nats, so we can go back! Gotta love that!


As for the sim... as mentioned above, I also use the Farmland scenery.. I have a version of it with a grid... showing vertical lines, 45 degree lines and loops....
works nicely....

Well...

I bit the bullet (or actually it bit me!)...April has her bathroom now and Grover has a mobile doghouse...

Where did I put those lotto tickets...




R

Way to go Roy you will have a lot of fun hanging out with old friends again ! Oh yea ,,,,, No you can not go back to basic !!!!

Posted By Roy Barrow on 28 Jan 2009 12:05

Well...

I bit the bullet (or actually it bit me!)...April has her bathroom now and Grover has a mobile doghouse...

Where did I put those lotto tickets...




R

Excellent! One foot back in, the other's on the threshold Now we just need to hook ya up with a plane!

What do you mean Basic??? That's a little more advanced than what I was thinking...

I was hoping Youth Masters would have a Senior Division this year!

come on!!

Posted By Curtis Cozier on 27 Jan 2009 16:24

As for the sim... as mentioned above, I also use the Farmland scenery.. I have a version of it with a grid... showing vertical lines, 45 degree lines and loops....
works nicely....

Can you send me the scenery with the grid? I've been looking for something line that.

Mark

Speaking of which...where might one find an AFPD model available for download that is well setup for sequence work?

As well as the grid background...??




Roy

Roy,

The Extra 330 in AFPD can be adjusted to fly IMAC well - setting your throws on the control surfaces, adjusting incidences and CG results in a well behaved simulation. You can also download a Yak, Edge, and Votec from

http://www.afpd.docinsane.com/

Look for the zip file with AFP or AFPD in the file name. The Yak has an IMAC version with throws already set. After trying all of these, I find that tuning the Extra 330 to my flying style gave me the most realistic results, the Yak comes in second.

Both wor well for trying out new mixes, adjusting CG, etc before trying them on the real planes at the field.

Randy

Here is the farm land grid zip file...

http://imac.thepeaks.com/bb/farmland_grid.zip


It is about a 30 mb zip file...just put the folder and 3 files in your scenery folder

Curtis...

Thank you sir!

Roy

James,

That is great advice and thanks for the link. That is exactly what I needed.







Roy

Curtis,

Thanks for the farmland grid files! After editing the farmland-grid.geo file to put the grid, 45s, and cirlces where I wanted, and adding some extra 45 lines and grid copies, I can now see many small errors that I did not know I was making and also found a couple of more costly errors, particularly on looping maneuvers. Now that I have a good reference, I can begin to unlearn old bad habits and learn some new ones over time.

Thanks again!!!

Curtis;
Thanks a bunch for the farmland file!! After down loading it I open AFPD and loaded it into the simulator only to find it right in my face. I mean large white grid. What did I do wrong or maybe you or James or someone could tell me what to do to make it move out where it can be seen.
Hope I explained it so I can get help.

"KEEP THE WINGS LEVEL"

Bill Harden
IMAC 2973
AMA 29723

Bill,

To move the grid back, find the file farmland-grid.geo in the scenery folder. In that file (it is in plain text) you will find lines that look like

// Grid: copied position 25m more distant
POSITION 82 120 50
OBJECT farmland/grid.obj

Be sure that the object name matches the one I show. On the POSITION line, make it read like the one I show - this moves the grid back about even with the edge of the corn field. After you edit the file, save it to the same name. Now when you load the farmland-grid scenery, the grid will be back where you can see it all if your zoom setting is not too high. If you read the .geo file, you will find that you can have multiple copies of any of the grid objects. I find that I like to have a few left and right diagonals at either end of the field to creat 'lanes' for my 45 up/down lines.

Randy

Thanks Randy;
I found the file and will work with it tonight at home.If I have trouble I will let you know.

Thanks again!!

"KEEP THE WINGS LEVEL"

Bill

Posted By James Marsden on 05 Feb 2009 0:17
Bill,

To move the grid back, find the file farmland-grid.geo in the scenery folder. In that file (it is in plain text) you will find lines that look like

// Grid: copied position 25m more distant
POSITION 82 120 50
OBJECT farmland/grid.obj

Be sure that the object name matches the one I show. On the POSITION line, make it read like the one I show - this moves the grid back about even with the edge of the corn field. After you edit the file, save it to the same name. Now when you load the farmland-grid scenery, the grid will be back where you can see it all if your zoom setting is not too high. If you read the .geo file, you will find that you can have multiple copies of any of the grid objects. I find that I like to have a few left and right diagonals at either end of the field to creat 'lanes' for my 45 up/down lines.

Randy

Sorry I missed the posts....

Yes... it does need to be editied to move it back a bit...

Hope this worked

Randy & Curtis,

Thanks for the help!!

I just found time to work with the file as I have been getting ready for our anual boat show that is this week at the Columbia Fair Grounds.

Anyway got the grid moved back just like Randy said. Now if I can just keep the plane close to the grid I will learn what 45 really looks like.

How are YALL setting your viewing options?

Thanks again!!!

"KEEP THE WINGS LEVEL"

Bill

Autozoom, field of view about 20%, height dependent vertical camera at around 60%, delayed horizontal camera at 60%. These are for flying IMAC with a 40% plane. For helis and smaller planes, I usually reduce increase the value for field of view.

To get an idea of how straight are my lines and how round are my loops, I like to turn on the trace and set the field of view lower to 10% or less.

Randy

Another use for trace is to look at centering of elements on lines. This is paricularly useful on uplines and downlines when the speed is changing constantly. It is also handy for looking at the width of the arc at the top of a stall turn.

At first, having trace on can be discouraging - in addition to the big errors I suddenly saw smaller mistakes that many judges would not detect. But the new information from observing trace will improve your flying over time.

Randy

Randy,

Thanks once again!!

I just returned home from our boat show and set my simulator

viewing options as you laid out and all seems well now. I did slow

the simulator speed down to 80% untill I get the hang of flying

with the grid.

"KEEP THE WINGS LEVEL"

Bill

Guys, I see you cn order it with and without a transmitter. Do you all use your own transmitter with the AFPD program? If you use your own TX, have any of you used a 10 or 12X as the TX for AFPD?

Bobby

I've used my 9C and now my 14mz with AFPD... I set up several different models just for the sim

I used a 10X.

I just purchased the Phoenix Flight Sim from the company in England. Has anyone else here tried this sim and if so, what do you think of it?

I have used AFPD in the past and found it an excellent sim but now having used the Phoenix, I really like it. As with other sims, it takes a bit of time tweaking the models but I find that when setup, planes fly very realistically.

The cost is about half of what is charged for either AFPD or RF 4.5. I also like that updates to the software are offered as free downloads as they become available and there is no need to buy add-on disks as when new sceneries and aircraft become available, they are also offered to users free of charge. So once the program is purchased and registered, it never becomes obsolete...Just download the latest software version and your back on top of the game.

One other thing, the scenery is photo-realistic, not computer generated, which gives the the flying experience a whole new world of realizm! As such, the program is not resourse hungry as is RF. It can be setup and run very well on even a basic system and doesn't require the latest and greatest video card to run smooth.

Just thought I'd throw another sim into the mix and get some opinions on it. Thanks.

I Like Reflex XTR great for sequence practice and 3D. 3D seem more like a real aircraft, as where RF G1,2,3 always seemed more like a simulator. Havent tried 4.5

Can you describe how I should be using the grid. Which line should I be using for straight and level in the box? The bottom of the big circle? That seems to low???
Are their any videos of someone flying basic through the grid that would be really helpful.

Thanks.