Product Review: RealFlight 8
THE LATEST GENERATION OF THE POPULAR SIM GETS BACK TO ITS ROOTS
The latest generation of the popular sim gets back to its roots
Whether you’re a beginner learning a basic skill or a pro wanting to try something new, flight simulators have become the go-to training tool for RC flight training. Want to try a jet? Load one up on the sim and give it a go. Ditto with a high-powered 3D helicopter. Even with the initial investment, RealFlight is a cost-effective way to learn something new in RC. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a new pilot trying to learn how to land without an instructor or an experienced pilot trying to learn to perform a pop top or harrier roll with your 3D plane in a low-risk environment, pilots of all skill levels will get something out of it.
About this time last year, I was working on the review for RealFlight X and found that it was—and is—a great simulator. Due to its ground-up development, though, RealFlight X did away with some features that many users of RealFlight 7.5 simply didn’t want to part with. It also had cutting-edge hardware requirements, and while it ran just fine on my brand-new Alienware gaming PC, it suffered from lag on lesser hardware platforms.
While RealFlight X was a complete rebuild, RealFlight 8 gets back to the roots that made this simulator so popular; it builds on the great features from RealFlight 7.5 while adding new features and improving its feel and physics. The good news is that it accomplishes this while maintaining the ability to run well on average computer hardware and laptops.
I’ve been using RealFlight simulators going back to their very beginnings, so I was excited to be asked to review this latest release. I know for a fact that the simulator has saved me thousands of dollars in virtual crashes. Over the years, RealFlight has allowed me to sharpen my muscle memory, learn to fly helicopters inverted and nose in, and hover giant-scale gas models without fear of tearing up expensive equipment.
UNIQUE FEATURES
RealFlight 8 is available in two versions: software only or software with an InterLink Controller. The InterLink is made by Tactic and has the feel of its 2.4GHz radios. I received the full version with the InterLink; in addition to the disc and controller, a set of interface wires is included to use the trainer connections on a variety of radios. Optional wired and wireless interfaces are also available separately. I don’t want the wear and tear of hours of simulator time on my field radios, so I’m more than happy to use the InterLink radio. You also have the option for the first time of using a game controller with RealFlight.
Easily the most exciting new feature in RealFlight 8 is support for virtual reality (VR), where you can wear a set of goggles and completely immerse yourself in the flightsimulator experience. I ordered a set of
Oculus Rift VR goggles but hadn’t received them as of this writing. I can’t wait to try them; I’m particularly interested in trying firstperson view (FPV) and cockpit view with the goggles.
Installation is quick and easy; just insert
the compact disc and follow the prompts. Depending on the speed of your computer, you can go from a shrink-wrapped package to flying in less than 10 minutes. The menus are so intuitive that no instructions are required. One cool feature is the preconfigured scenarios. Want to fly 3D? Pick the 3D scenario from the menu and the program will set you up with a 3D plane at the appropriate field. Slope soaring? Select it from the list and RealFlight loads up a high-performance glider on a hill with the wind blowing in your face. Of course, you can pick a field from one of the 11 photo field or 34 3D modeled flying sites, which vary from open fields to a Navy aircraft carrier, then select one of the 110 airplanes, 39 helicopters, or 19 drones and go fly. Lakes for float flying, night flying sites, racecourses, even an aircraft boneyard where you can FPV fly through the hulks—they are all there and more! Another fascinating feature are the challenges, which take boring practice sessions and activate that part of the brain that pushes us to reach a goal. They include incremental difficulty, and you can unlock challenges by mastering the basic levels first. A word of warning: It’s possible to consume large dollops of time without realizing it while working on challenges, resulting in hearing things like: “You did what for three hours instead of cleaning the garage?!”
IN THE AIR
The first thing I did before flying RealFlight 8 was to go into the program options and turn all the graphics and realism settings up to their maximum to see if I could induce any stuttering or framing. Even with the heaviest graphics
load I could put on the program, my average frame rate was in the range of 425 frames per second. I remember with my old PC and RealFlight 3.5 getting excited about 35 frames per second! I also tried RealFlight 8 on my less-thanstate-of-the-art company laptop. With some of the graphics options turned down a bit, it ran quite smoothly. And while I prefer the large monitor and surround sound of my gaming PC, I would be perfectly happy running RealFlight 8 on my laptop if I were traveling. Flying in the virtual world of RealFlight 8 is visually accurate, and the physics continue to improve with each version. I spent an entire long, rainy weekend exploring RealFlight 8 and tried just about everything the program has to offer. I really can’t think of anything that isn’t represented; over the course of three days, I flew jets, 3D gas, electric, helicopters (3D, electric, nitro, and scale), gliders (both on the slope and aerotowing), micro electric, quads, warbirds, and even a blimp. Night flying and float flying are available as well. Different camera views further expand the experience by allowing you to adjust your point of view. Climb into the cockpit of a P-51 or the very detailed cockpit of the Russian Thunder Yak. I was pleased to see the control stick move; even the rear-view mirror on the canopy worked. One of my favorites was to use the cockpit view of the Yak and fly over the runway with smoke on, do a half Cuban-8, and fly back through the smoke trail as it dissipated over the runway. Another area in which I spent extensive time exploring was the FPV scenarios and challenges. Most people fly FPV with goggles, which is hard to emulate without having the VR goggles, but RealFlight 8 does an excellent job of giving you the feeling of flying with goggles.
CUSTOMIZING THE FEEL OF THE INTERLINK
Some users, particularly helicopter and 3D pilots, may want to take a few minutes to customize the feel of the RealFlight InterLink. This is particularly true where the throttle stick is concerned since many helicopter radios have a smooth throttle action versus the ratcheting action of airplane radios. The parts are provided for the conversion, and it only takes a few minutes to accomplish.
BOTTOM LINE
RealFlight 8 is easy to install and intuitive to operate. The manual is only required to explore the deepest recesses of the program, such as advanced aircraft editing, but the vast majority of the software can be easily mastered by clicking and playing.
All the favorites of RealFlight 7.5 are back, including multiplayer, aircraft editing, float flying, and others, but many new features make it worth the upgrade. I haven’t yet been able to try virtual reality, but from talking to those who have, it’s a game changer. [Editor’s note: Stay tuned for a follow-up on RealFlight 8’s virtual reality capabilities!] Challenges will keep you occupied for hours when the weather is bad.
The point of a simulator, though, isn’t lost in clutter. RealFlight 8 is a great way to practice new moves and train your brain for muscle memory and orientations—practice that will pay handsome dividends at the flying field.