I was watching TV the other day, saw some radio-controlled helicopters and thought, “I want one!”  So $200 later, I’ve got a fully capable heli in my untrained hands. Not sure why I ever thought I knew the first thing about how to fly a chopper…

Much to my dismay, it was destroyed within 1 minute of installing the battery. Not very encouraging.  Back at the hobby shop, I spent nearly $40 in repair parts.  This time, though, my natural copter ability didn’t let me down. I managed to hover.  It was an amazing show of skill that lasted almost 2 seconds before a wall got in the way, resulting in the “wallet reach”, a crushed ego, and the reinforcement that I have no idea how to fly a helicopter. Things worked out better for my buddies who now have a funny story to tell. 

There’s got to be a better way, a cheaper way, maybe a virtual way?

SIMULATION

Right, can’t believe I didn’t buy the simulator first.  For starters, it’s fun. When I crash I don’t do the “wallet reach” I hit reset.  I can’t imagine what it would have cost to learn to fly with the real heli. I’m sure I’ve crashed at least $100,000 worth of remote-controlled choppers.  Best of all, within one week of simulation practice I was able to hover my real model through an entire battery. 

The simulator cost $100. I had already spent $80 after flying (if you call it that) for a total of 3 seconds.  It makes so much more sense to try things virtually before committing to the real thing, and it’s so much cheaper. 

Anyway, I wanted to share how we’re using simulation everywhere.   Time to get back to it. I’ve got to figure out the Idle-Up mode, inverted flight.