Revisiting this thread because a number of things have brought me back to simulated RC flight:
1) Desire to try out different types of fixed wing flight: 3D in particular
2) Desire to get back into collective pitch / 6 channel helicopter flight
3) Desire to improve my multirotor flight skills without constantly replacing/repairing equipment
4) Colder, windier weather with short daylight days of Winter in the Northeastern USA.
5) New work provided laptop running OSX that is far more capable than my older 2010 computer equipment at home
I first bought the Phoenix simulator when I started in the hobby about two years ago, initially to learn to fly helis. I thought with their small size (micros) and my living in the city, that made the most sense for aviation RC.
I researched it and saw the recommendation was go with either coaxial or a multirotor (which were bigger and more expensive back when I started, but the protox was about to change all that in a few months). I went with a Blade coaxial, to a fixed pitch heli in short time. Had trouble with the fixed pitch heli in being able to hover it. Found it easier to fly that in fast forward flight, so decided to invest in the simulator.
At the time, I only had a DX6i I bought used from a friend, and knew the Phoenix simulator was compatible and came with a hardware PPM/USB interface that was proprietary to it.
Later, as I learned more about the hobby, I realized there were more cost effective options, but at the time, that seemed like the easiest way to get started.
As I learned more about the hobby, I learned there were inexpensive PPM to USB converter cables that could make your trainer port equipped (PPM) TX look like a gamepad/joystick to the computer. These included this adapter:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__13597__USB_Simulator_Cable_XTR_AeroFly_FMS.html
Which I bought, because I had found a free simulator RC Desk Pilot:
http://rcdeskpilot.com/
That also happened to have a bunch of models of FT aircraft created by a fellow forum member rcspaceflight, who shared all his prolific models here:
http://flitetest.com/articles/36-add-on-planes-for-rc-desk-pilot
Unfortunately for me, all my home computers at the time ran Gentoo linux, and RCDeskpilot and Phoenix only ran on Windows. I purposed an older computer to run Windows but the performance of Phoenix was terrible. RCDeskpilot was much better, so that's what led me to basically scrap my expensive Phoenix sim for a freebie. That and the fact I was just finishing up my first FT build, the FT-22.
Well, fast forward to today. I now fly primarily with a FrSky Taranis X9R+, and the most capable computer I have is a Mac running OSX. I can still run Phoenix on my personal Windows equipped PC, but the fan kicks on immediately and I have to run with simplified graphics and environment models.
I knew about FlightGear (linked to above) due to my linux computers running them, usually with keyboard input, but figured I can take advantage on the USB port on the Taranis, and run without that inexpensive adapter I had bought for RCDeskPilot.
Sure enough, it was pretty easy to do. Here's what a MacOSX user needs to do. Windows users can eliminate one step (the Xbox controller drive isn't necessary):
https://github.com/d235j/360Controller-n/releases
http://tattiebogle.net/index.php/ProjectRoot/Xbox360Controller/OsxDriver
Then, using this OpenTX model:
View attachment simulator.zip
I was able to use my Taranis on the Phoenix sim running under Windows with the trainer port, and use FlightGear running on OSX to get a fullscale sim working with my Taranis. This same model also works with RCDeskpilot and the above inexpensive dongle.
While I'm at it, how could I forget the free simulator that actually uses the field I fly at as the virtual field? The one that is named after the club I joined when I first got into the hobby two years ago?
http://sourceforge.net/projects/crrcsim/