Learn to Fly RC Airplanes Right Now for Free

[RippinRich]

If you're thinking about getting into RC airplanes, do yourself a favor and spend some time on a simulator first. It'll save you a lot of money and frustration.

There are a couple really good free simulators available.

PhoenixRC is probably the best free option. Even though it's no longer officially supported, you can still find it online and the flight physics are surprisingly close to RealFlight. A lot of experienced pilots still use it. You can download it here https://www.rc-thoughts.com/phoenix-sim/ and its about 1.5GB with instructions to install.

If you can't get PhoenixRC working on your computer, PicaSim is another great free option. It doesn't have all the same features, but it's more than good enough to learn the basics.

The nice thing is you don't need an expensive RC transmitter to get started. Both simulators work with an Xbox or PlayStation 5 controller.

The only real downside is the throttle stick. On an RC transmitter (Mode 2), the left stick stays wherever you leave it. On a game controller it always springs back to the center.

Honestly though, this isn't a big deal when you're just learning. The goal isn't to master throttle management right away. It's to learn orientation, build muscle memory, and get comfortable making the correct control inputs without thinking about them.

Flying around at half throttle is actually a pretty good speed for a beginner anyway.

Once you can consistently take off, make turns, fly a circuit, and land in the simulator, your first real flight will be a whole lot less stressful.

Has anyone else here learned on PhoenixRC or PicaSim? Or is there another free simulator you'd recommend to someone just getting started?