Free Simulators

[Daniel Kezar]

I didnt see any threads relating to free simulators on here so i decides to make a thread for people to post their favorites. mobile or pc (or mac, i suppose) is fine, as long as the base game is free.

let me start it off with picasim. one of my favorites. very well done. so many factors you can change and its on mobile with most planes locked and on pc with all planes unlocked however they request a donation which is completely understandable.

another one is absolute rc simulator. although les realistic and with less variations, it is still fun.

now, the rc plane series.
i had the first one years ago (7 to be exact) on my ipod touch version 2. it was pretty bad. one map, 2 unlocked planes, horrible graphics and literally close to no physics and horrible controls. but it was 2011 so what would you expect?

rc plane 2. much better. still bad physics but cool new game modes and lots of planes and maps.

now for the good one, rc plane 3. this is great. physics are still not very realistic but if you enable "realistic" mose over "arcade" mode it is much better. graphics are impressive. there are many runways and there is night flying. sooo many planes, many locked still, some interesting and huge maps and some cool game modes. and the best part..... it is now off of mobile.... you can download it for free on steam. i have yet to play it on pc but i am anxious to see if it will be compatible with my taranis q x7.



so that got us off to a good start. many others on pc i could find are very old and dont appear to be very realistic. like some had recommended OS of winxp and could run on win98. yes, windows 98.....

 

[Redflier]

I have RealFlight Mobile and Leo's on my mobile. Both are pretty basic, and you have in-app purchases, but good for whiling the time.

Leo's has a strange quirk, though. The RH lever jumps around, which is really frustrating. I fly Absolute on my Kindle Fire, as well as the fullsize flight app Avion.

I do have Xtreme Soaring (again full scale), but it's not much fun IMO. The free app is very limited, and even the paid for one isn't very realistic.

 

[foamtest]

I learned to fly on absolute RC on my kindle, is there a PC version of it?

 

[jtrops]

Picasim has been great, and now I'm getting interested in sloping (it has a lot of slope soarers). If you are going for the Android variant you can get the full app on the Amazon App store for free. Every time you launch the app the developer gets a kick back.

I have it on my Ipad as well, and I paid for it to support the developer. I like it better on my android, and FireTv stick because I can use a game controller. While the game controller isn't much like an RC Tx, it does have sticks in the right places. On the Mac I use Picasim through WINE, and I use an old Aerofly "game commander" usb controller (it looks/feels like an RC Tx).

 

[RMDC]

The only sim I've used is RC Desk Pilot. It's been a great help, especially with the Flite Test models provided by FT forum user rcspaceflight. He went out of his way to replicate the flight characteristics pretty well.

 

[donalson]

The only sim I've used is RC Desk Pilot. It's been a great help, especially with the Flite Test models provided by FT forum user rcspaceflight. He went out of his way to replicate the flight characteristics pretty well.

I'd been using RC desk pilot based on the suggestion of someone on here... but yesterday I saw your post... I've prob spent more time playing today than I have in the last week or so that i've had it on my computer...

I did notice that a lot of the FT planes didn't need the lower rate setting on my controller... I really enjoyed a few of the planes and now has me watching a build video on them... before they weren't even on my radar...

 

[copperjot]

Bump^ for Picasim!
I use the free version on my phone everytime im on the toilet. I find myself spending extra time there lately.

Also, Ive managed to get Picasim to work with my modded flysky fs-i6 Transmitter and the Free FULL version on a windows10 PC using SmartPropoPlus, that's free as it can be! So I practice alot when im at home. When I go to the field I practice on my phone for about 10 minutes just to warm up before an actual flight

 

[jabberwockie]

Thanks for this tip , great for this crappy uk weather we're having just now

 

[JimCR120]

Bump^ for Picasim!
I use the free version on my phone everytime im on the toilet. I find myself spending extra time there lately.

Also, Ive managed to get Picasim to work with my modded flysky fs-i6 Transmitter and the Free FULL version on a windows10 PC using SmartPropoPlus, that's free as it can be! So I practice alot when im at home. When I go to the field I practice on my phone for about 10 minutes just to warm up before an actual flight

Hello copperjot.

How pleasant to have a new member jump right in with input. Perhaps you could also respond here on in the other welcome section with a short intro about yourself with where you fly, how long you've been in the hobby, how you got in the hobby, and anything else you might like to share.

Welcome to the forum.
-Jim

 

[Daniel Kezar]

Bump^ for Picasim!
I use the free version on my phone everytime im on the toilet. I find myself spending extra time there lately.

Also, Ive managed to get Picasim to work with my modded flysky fs-i6 Transmitter and the Free FULL version on a windows10 PC using SmartPropoPlus, that's free as it can be! So I practice alot when im at home. When I go to the field I practice on my phone for about 10 minutes just to warm up before an actual flight

hey! welcome to the forums!

also i dont know what this "smartpropoplus" thing is but i got the full version on pc for free (donations accepted though) from the picasim website.

 

[Daniel Kezar]

The only sim I've used is RC Desk Pilot. It's been a great help, especially with the Flite Test models provided by FT forum user rcspaceflight. He went out of his way to replicate the flight characteristics pretty well.

oh they have FT models in that? will definitely have to get it now. have had it on my list for a while. do you have to download the FT models separately or are they included with it?

 

[rcspaceflight]

oh they have FT models in that? will definitely have to get it now. have had it on my list for a while. do you have to download the FT models separately or are they included with it?

I put all of the FT models that I made for RC Desk Pilot together into one .ZIP folder. It's in an article I wrote somewhere, but I have a link to that article in my signature. So it's a separate download from the software, but it's an easy download.

I actually designed the Spin Tails plane for someone on here a long time ago and since I already had it 3D modeled, I made it an add on for RC Desk Pilot. .... Then eventually Flite Test turned it into one of there designs. I just find it interesting that I ended up making an FT design add on to RC Desk Pilot a year or two before they made it an FT design.

 

[Userofmuchtape&glue]

I also have RCDeskPilot and use a Logitech Rumblepad 2 (ancient).

Have about 50 planes on it from RCgroups etc, and also rcspace flight. I edited most of the 36 planes, increased power, and lowered side drag. this made them flyable on the PC controller! :black_eyed:

But def nice to have that many free planes to play around with... my record for pylon racing is 12.03 seconds with a modified FT cruiser.

 

[rcspaceflight]

For sure mess around with the settings on the add on planes. You can always re-install them if you mess them up too badly. Honestly I haven't flown most of them in real life so I completely guessed at what they should be like in the simulator based on what they looked like they could do in the FT videos. And what logically made sense.

I mostly made them for the 3D modeling. That was the hard part to figure out in the process of making them. Anyone can change the settings in the program, but it takes knowing other software to 3D model.

 

[Daniel Kezar]

wicked cool! thanks! to "install" them do i just run "%appdata%" and then find the program files and paste the plane files into the planes folder?

 

[rcspaceflight]

wicked cool! thanks! to "install" them do i just run "%appdata%" and then find the program files and paste the plane files into the planes folder?

Something like that. I honestly don't remember. I think just download, unzip/extract all of the .ZIP folder, then copy and paste into the planes folder. I think there are two plane folders though. Not sure. It's been a few years since I've used RC Desk Pilot. Or even flown anything. I haven't even watched a single episode of Flite Test in months..... I should probably at least binge watch Flite Test soon.

I don't know what happened.

 

[Daniel Kezar]

Something like that. I honestly don't remember. I think just download, unzip/extract all of the .ZIP folder, then copy and paste into the planes folder. I think there are two plane folders though. Not sure. It's been a few years since I've used RC Desk Pilot. Or even flown anything. I haven't even watched a single episode of Flite Test in months..... I should probably at least binge watch Flite Test soon.

I don't know what happened.

haha! after my YT account was terminated didn't watch for a month or two. right now haven't watched in a week and a half or so. i want to watch all the episodes, though, from 1-(what is it, like 900?) i guess 900 lol. im halfway through the second season right now.

thanks for the help.

 

[Userofmuchtape&glue]

Yeah RCspaceflight, thanks for modeling all those designs for us! They are great fun to play around with.

New record with a modified FT Cruiser... :black_eyed:

 

[Daniel Kezar]

oh cool. nice record. also congrats on 1k posts

 

[Userofmuchtape&glue]

Haha thanks!

You'll hit 1000 soon at the rate you're going!