Does the aerospace committee have a copy of RealFlight? If not, could we possibly get a copy (with the USB transmitter/controller)? I’d be willing to split the cost of it if others are interested. I think it would be a useful practice tool, as well as a fun way to kill time while waiting for 3d prints to finish.
To the best of my knowledge the DMS doesn’t own a license of Real Flight. @deezler (Daryl) use to run a PC in digital media with it, but much has changed since then. I’d chip in but, my RC money is gathering up to fix my two RC cars at the moment.
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Hmm - is there at least an available aerospace PC to install it on? I would even be willing to purchase it for the aerospace committee. It could be a very useful tool for training new pilots, and I’d be willing to teach classes on RC flight.
Also, are there any regular aerospace meetings? It seems to be pretty inactive, and I would love to get more involved with it. @Romeo_Espana is listed as the chairperson on the wiki, but his last post was in May.
I believe Aerospace and RC where joined together. I believe the current head is @David_Walker.
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Darryl had it on his computer setup in AV a while ago, I’d love to have it available to practice.
So just being curious about Raspberry Pi as of late… Seems there are a few decent Linux RC flight simulators and a $30 Pi might be a nice ‘small’ footprint. Maybe like a wall mounted screen and controller.
Last I knew, the PC in the Aerospace (now RC) area had a flight simulator on it. @MichaelPursifull may be able to give us some up to date insight on that…
Also, last I heard, @Romeo_Espana had a copy of a flight simulator that he was going to donate (or has already, perhaps??)
Hopefully between the two, y’all will have better answers than I can provide directly. 
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Is RealFlight tied just to the USB controller or the computer as well? Somehow, I got the impression that it can only be installed on a single computer even if you were willing to move the controller to another.
Anyway, I bought version 5.5 back in 2012, tried it some and failed to master flying. I got busy with other things and never touched it again, along with my plans to learn to fly R/C.
I will be willing to donate mine if it could be installed on a different computer. I still want to learn to fly someday and could use it at DMS instead of here at home.
I don’t think it’s specifically tied to the USB controller, but you really need the controller for it to be useful.
You can actually use any actual R/C transmitter if you have the right cable.
I might be able to get RealFlight and a controller from someone fairly cheap, if I do I’ll put it on loan just like my nano qx. Is there any special permissions on the aerospace pc?
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I think there are cheaper quality options than RealFlight.
A real controller (~$40 - $50) with a JR (headphone style input) serves very well as a simulation controller. And it doubles nicely as a real controller. You have the option of a $15 dongle from Amazon to take the headphone input to USB, or I have heard of a software solution that is free and uses your computer’s audio input.
A couple of simulator alternatives are Heli-X6 - ($45) - its okay, does FPV and other craft, I think it is better suited for mid size (400) and up - the tiny FPV racers kind of sucked in it.
Another alternative, which is my fav FPV sim right now is Freerider. Less than $10. Control trim is a little off, but can be balanced out. I was surprised how well this one runs for the price.
I don’t dislike RealFlight, it was the first sim I used long ago. But it is pricey and comes with its own dedicated controller.
I talked with Darryl tonight. He has a personal copy of RealFlight. He said the Aerospace computer had a more accurate simulator on it.
Then I talked with Chesley. He started to look on the computer, but it would not respond to either the mouse or the keyboard. Both are wireless and may have dead batteries. I’ll look into it further the next time I am there.
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Try FlightGear in Linux…was pretty cool when I played with it last…
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I took another look at that computer tonight. The keyboard batteries were OK. I put a new battery into the mouse. Still nothing.
After I got out of a class, Harold @hasbridge was there. He had the computer working. It turns out that the monitor was hooked up to Chromecast, so whatever I was trying to do to that poor machine was not showing up. It turns out to have a different flight simulator on it as Darryl said.
The status of that computer is not clear. A label seems to indicate that it is on loan - in that case, we will not try to put RealFlight on it.
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I found that the computer has X-Plane on it currently, but I couldn’t figure out if/how a transmitter could be used as a controller. I didn’t see any obvious type of adapter. There is an APM that was hooked up to the USB port and connected to a futaba receiver, so maybe it was somehow done through that. Much of the equipment in the area is on loan from @MichaelPursifull, he would probably know how it’s set up.
I did some cleaning and reorganizing of the area last night too. There is now a place to actually sit and use the computer, and at least a small work area.
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@hasbridge nice work in Do-Occracying this and I you are running into the big issue of loaned equipment, What do we do if we want to change, modify, or remove it? Hopefully @MichaelPursifull will get in contact with you after the call out. I would suggest when you get a hold of him, ask if he will change the tool status from on loan to donated to RC committee. Because, as the setup hasn’t been used in months, he might not need to maintain ownership, plus then we don’t need to track him down in the future slowing down your progress.
Good work and I can’t wait to VR RC in the near future.
@MichaelPursifull & @Romeo_Espana… I know you are both incredibly busy! I hope all is great with y’al!
Just a head’s up ~ Looks like there are still some questions…
All interested in the PC in the Aerospace (now RC) area…
Here are some posts with info previously posted here on TALK for y’all to skim through, if ya want. 
Here is the first post that @MichaelPursifull posted about his plans for the PC:
Here is his follow-up showing what he had set-up so far at that time (just shy of a week later):
… and, some additional information spawned from a thread that started out about the drone batteries - beginning with this post where @themitch22 asked about the PC… :
I hope that helps
Seeing Michael use the phrases “ground control system” and “mission planner” set off some big time bells in my head and I have found the cause. Chad Frazer is teaching a class on Mission Planner (GCS) Software Use the morning of Oct 11 as part of his drone build party. Same software? Same computer?