My thoughts about Phoenix Flight Sim

[Tony]

After playing with this all night (yup, all night lmao) I have come to a conclusion. The Phoenix flight sim is not as good as RF6. I enjoyed RF much more than I did phoenix. The graphics are better, the physics are better, the sound is better, everything is better. Is Phoenix a good sim to learn on, yes, without a doubt. But if you are looking for a more realistic time in a simulator, do yourself a favor and get RF6+. If you are just looking for a Great simulator and don't care about what I posted above and would like to save that $80, then get Phoenix. It's still a great simulator once you get everything setup, I just think RF has a little more time put into it. My $0.02

 

[Derek]

I have been on the Phoenix Sim for about a year now and I like it. However, I have to agree with you that the sim "could" and probably "should" be better. I have very little experience with RF, only with my brief visits to the LHS...they have one out for display. RF graphics are much better and I think there are several other RC crafts that RF has that Phoenix does not. Phoenix is cheaper...I like it, but I do plan on experimenting with RF....as soon as I figure out what all I need for it. There are so many expansion packs.

 

[RandyDSok]

I'm assuming that your evaluation is while using the latest v4.x version of Phoenix...

If so that is interesting indeed. I knew from reviews of the previous versions of each ( RF 5.5x and PH 3.x ), that RF outperformed PH on at the least, the airplane sim and it seemed more debatable when it came to the heli sim side. When Phoenix updated to v4.x... it had narrowed the gap on the airplane side considerably and I saw many of the older RF guys moving over to PH... perhaps that was just because it was new but I had a feeling it was more substantial than that. When RF 6.x came out, the improvements in physics were being reported as being enough to make it top again but what was odd was I didn't see many of the PH guys moving over ( or back over ) to RF. Perhaps the guys using PH was/are doing so more out of budget concerns ( as I am/was ) as much as anything.

I know I "need" to update my RF to v6.x... this makes that decision much easier now... if I can ever get past those darn budget issues of course.

 

[Tony]

When you buy it, you have the option of the heli or plane expansion pack. I got the heli since that was what I was flying mostly. But, it would be nice to have the plane as well for the extra options. I think the planes handle much better on RF as well. But the heli's are about the same.

Either way, it's a great sim (phoenix). And it will do exactly what it's meant to do, teach you how to fly or perform new maneuvers.

 

[Tony]

I'm assuming that your evaluation is while using the latest v4.x version of Phoenix...

If so that is interesting indeed. I knew from reviews of the previous versions of each ( RF 5.5x and PH 3.x ), that RF outperformed PH on at the least, the airplane sim and it seemed more debatable when it came to the heli sim side. When Phoenix updated to v4.x... it had narrowed the gap on the airplane side considerably and I saw many of the older RF guys moving over to PH... perhaps that was just because it was new but I had a feeling it was more substantial than that. When RF 6.x came out, the improvements in physics were being reported as being enough to make it top again but what was odd was I didn't see many of the PH guys moving over ( or back over ) to RF. Perhaps the guys using PH was/are doing so more out of budget concerns ( as I am/was ) as much as anything.

I know I "need" to update my RF to v6.x... this makes that decision much easier now... if I can ever get past those darn budget issues of course.

The biggest bonus that I have found with phoenix is 1. the price. Being $80 cheaper can persuade just about anyone. And 2. lifetime updates no matter what your version. With RF, you have to purchase an upgrade to go from 5 to 6 and so on. Plus all of the expansion packs. However, with that said, again, the physics and flight characteristics of RF IMO far outweigh phoenix on just about every level. You are paying for that extra bit of tech they have in RF and IMO, it's worth it.

 

[Derek]

Budget issues, eh? Yep....i've got those, too, lol. Those silly little things like: house payment, truck payment, insurance, electric and heat bills and definitely the wife. Yep..for sure, lol.

I really would like to have the RF sim so that I can spend some time with it and see what people are talking about. I do like the Phoenix Sim and from the stand point of the Phoenix Sim being a "learning tool".....definitely! I really believe that I have become a better pilot because of the sim. I'd just really like to check out RF to see the differences in the graphics, and as Tony pointed out, the physics.

 

[RandyDSok]

expansion packs

I've heard RF take a lot of criticism over the quality of the expansion packs in general... most people were complaining that they just weren't ( physics wise ) done as well as they felt they should have been. Most were recommending that others save their money and just download the shared models that are out there... Many of the models that are shared, have been tweaked a lot by the community so I'm really not surprised. Of course, there are a lot of hastily thrown together models as well.. as with anything you find in those types of areas.

 

[Tony]

I've heard RF take a lot of criticism over the quality of the expansion packs in general... most people were complaining that they just weren't ( physics wise ) done as well as they felt they should have been. Most were recommending that others save their money and just download the shared models that are out there... Many of the models that are shared, have been tweaked a lot by the community so I'm really not surprised. Of course, there are a lot of hastily thrown together models as well.. as with anything you find in those types of areas.

Truth! The heli and the plane packs are pretty good, but when you get into the others, I heard the same thing. The stock program is the best by far out of any of them. And I 100% agree, get the ones that are online. What sucks sometimes though is that you have to have an expansion pack to get some of them if not most of them lol. But, I found a great 3D plane on there that I LOVED. I missed it after I sold the sim lmao.

 

[RandyDSok]

So Tony.... you gave us your two cents on Phoenix now... I'll offer you seven cents for it making you a profit of a nickel... LMAO


Harassed Tony... check

Almost go rid of the headache that woke me up... check...

I'm out of here to see if I can get more than just 4 hrs of sleep... later guys.

 

[Tony]

I forgot to mention this, and it's the reason I WILL NOT take this sim back or sell it (pretty sure you can't take it back lmao). Setting up the DX8 on this thing was CAKE! Setting up the DX8 on RF, not so 'cake' lmao. I tried like hell to set my Tx up on Rf and never got it to work correctly. With Phoenix though, not a problem.

If I can come up with the $200 for RF, I WILL buy it again. There are many more people on phoenix, but there are still great people on RF that I would love to fly with again. Sam is one, and Tom (tominator) is another, and I REALLY miss flying with those guys. These damn trees in my yard need to start producing some green lmao.

 

[Derek]

Well I am glad that you have a sim now. I had a great time flying with ya. Yeah, the audio kept breaking up after a while, but it was fun, nonetheless.

 

[Tony]

You are right about that. I needed a sim before I tried to put that 600 in the air. my fingers forgot everything about flying lmao. Hell, it' sgoing to be quite a while before I get the 600 in the air, so I should have plenty of time to practice. Now if I will only start treating it like a sim and not a game lmao.

 

[breeze400]

You have to remember one thing too. Rf is more expensive cause it comes with a controller! Phoenix dosen't! Plus you can use the rf controller fir a buddy box if your running a futaba system on your birds!

 

[RandyDSok]

You have to remember one thing too. Rf is more expensive cause it comes with a controller! Phoenix dosen't! Plus you can use the rf controller fir a buddy box if your running a futaba system on your birds!

While Tony was quoting the price of the one without a controller... Phoenix does have a version that has a DX5e included with it that is currently going for $175. Of course for that same $50 difference, I'd probably instead consider going with something like the Turnigy 9x or 9xr and get more features as well as multiple model memories.

 

[breeze400]

I here you on that. However I have a dx6 7 & 8 plus a 4 Chanel futaba. So im not wanting another tx lol.

 

[wolfman76]

dang what about me man???!!! lol i like rf much better also and i have no problem getting the expansion packs in fact i already have atleast 4 i have 2,5,6,&7 my most recent one has the rf airliner on it which is fun to fly.... another thing rf has that phoenix does'nt is the fact that there is no boundaries on rf you can fly as far and as high as you want sky is the limit literally... me and tony have take the sr-71 blackbird to 250,000 ft and probably higher but we were so far up it actually took us over an hour to fly back to the landing strip.... (well as soon as we found out where it was... oh yeah i also got the heli mega pack when i got mine.... but a key note is that i purchased phoenix first don't get me wrong i still like phoenix alot but i think rf is still better in alot of ways attention to detail being one like on the p-51 in rf the software automatically changes tx controls from airplane to helin vice a versa in rf when flying the p-51 as an example instead the idle up switch turning throttle on automatically full throttle on no matter what you are flying heli or airplane rf does not it changes the switches idle up in plane changes to being able to turn smoke on and off using the switch and also opens and closes the canopy on the plane now that is attention to detail plus has working flaps knob for certain aircraft... it is little things like that even though they really don't effect the flight of the aircraft in the sim that only certain ppl that really pay attention to the model notice... and i like that lil bit of extra detail they put into it when they designed it.. also just my 2 cents but hey everyone is going to have their own opinion on anything...

- - - Updated - - -

You have to remember one thing too. Rf is more expensive cause it comes with a controller! Phoenix dosen't! Plus you can use the rf controller fir a buddy box if your running a futaba system on your birds!

actually depending on which one you got it did or does come with a tx it comes with the dx5e tx i have version 3 upgraded to 4 and mine came with that tx
mine was 199 when i got it so the price has went down quite a bit

 

[stokke]

So Tony's got Phoenix now? Sweet

 

[Tony]

Yup, I do. Hopefully soon I can get RF as well so that I can fly a plane that can actually snap roll like they do in real life lmao. Phoenix SUCKS when trying to do 3D with a plane...

 

[Westy]

Depends on the plane ..... the best one I have found is the Kyosho Edge 540.... perhaps you could copy the physics off that one onto another plane of your choice and it would do the same thing? Not tried that ... but a good idea I think! worth testing.

 

[Tony]

Nah, I have tried every "3D" plane on that sim and none of them act like any of my 3D planes. The snap rolls are sluggish to say the best and they don't complete. There is just something off about the sim in the physics that bugs me. But, my first post still stands, it will teach people how to fly.