So true. I am spending massive amounts of time on Realflight 9. It takes a ton of PRACTICE. If you don't know the basics of flight. Who the hell is going to know how to set up a radio. You stressed a very valid point.

I also came back after a long layoff during COVID. This time around, the simulator is saving me a lot of money. I've been flying again about a year, my main bird is a TREX 550X. I am tracking my brand new 800 Pro with UPS now. Damn, flying backward is brain bending. Inverted is coming way easier. I cannot say how the good the CGY760R FBL unit from Futaba is (and the receiver is integrate, so one box). My flying totally doesn't deserve a big 800 yet, but they are so majestic in the air and so far as I've seen, the bigger they are the easier they are to fly. Easier to see and everything happens slower. (just gotta forget the $) Anyway, getting all this stuff dialed in on a simulator and crashing a lot less is my plan. It is working great so far. I've put a couple hundred sport flights on the 550X with minimal repair. It's just so relaxing to fly to compared to smaller helis. (which is why I am really looking forward to the 800) I am adding maneuvers from the simulator once I am confident with them. I hope you get as much out of it as I have been.

I get a lot out of flying my old Blade 180 CFX and trying out new things on that first. A crash in quite inexpensive to fix if thing go wrong.

@@stevebarrow3042 It is much more expensive than crashing the simulator. I have XK110, E160, and an OMP M2 V2 besides an Oxy 2, TREX-550X and 800E Pro. I get WAY more out the simulator than I do the micros. The micros are toys, and not a great way to practice or learn new things.

@@yzScott I agree the simulator is the cheapest crash, in the past I haven't had much faith in the sims as the physics were frankly terrible and I didn't learn but with a MCPX and long grass crashing cost nothing and I learnt heaps. Going to try a newer generation of sim to see if they are better. With respect to the smaller helis being toys, I think they are all toys right :)

Richard Mansell yeah I paid for all those. Mind u, the hobby has been dead for years. So every little helpz

@@rockyfosgate I wouldn't call the hobby dead.. but hopefully this will bring enthusiasm back to this hobby

I am good at flips using collect but often find myself like a dear in headlight in certain orientations.

Thank you for the kind comments. Practicing in the sim is very useful, but generally because it is such as "sterile" environment, I like to crank the wind up and practice with a 10 mph wind for a few minutes, then switch the wind direction completely and keep practicing the same maneuver you're focusing on, this teaches you corrections. Otherwise the sim feels to synthetic, but for sure it will help you develop the muscle memory.

Brendan Redler Yep. They released them publicly now

It's a shame, nice guy great series but puts you to sleep a bit