Game Review: Clearview RC Flight Simulator

Clearview RC Flight Simulator is just like the website says, a professional quality RC flight simulator for radio controlled planes, helicopters and cars at a reasonable price.

Ratings:

Graphics & Audio: 18/25,

Gameplay: 24/25,

Creativity 20/25,

Fun 23/25

Total: 85/100

Having recently become interested in the RC helicopter hobby I first purchased a coaxial or inexpensive small helicopter like those ones in the mall last Christmas and love it. I wanted an upgrade to a more realistic one and purchased a Blade SR helicopter that is going to take some practice in order to fly and a flight simulator would be great for this.

Just a few short years ago batteries reached a low weight and high enough output to put battery powered electric motors into both airplanes and helicopters. These light weight electric aircraft meant lower costs and easier flying so the hobby has now become one that anyone can enjoy both indoors and out.

In order to learn how to fly a radio control aircraft you used to have to connect your controller to a more experienced person's and fly hands on while they helped you if you got into trouble. This worked but often made for anxious quick change overs while your craft plummeted till the more experienced pilot could recover.

I watched when I was younger as RC pilots would help the novice hopefuls try to learn the hobby hands on at a nearby college that let flyers use the parking lot on weekends. With the advent of computer simulators it was a logical step to take RC flying to a simulator and use realistic controls and aircraft handling on the computer.

Clearview is a radio control aircraft simulator that comes in at a reasonable cost of $40 available at the Clearview website or as a package deal with the AC3D 3D Design software for $100. The 3D Design software is for creating your own aircraft designs and uploading them to your flight simulator for a really unique design feature.

The Clearview simulator is a realistic flight simulator for aircraft, both airplanes and helicopters, along with a few cars and odd craft like the Osprey or Avatar's Scorpion. You can choose from a wide array of aircraft from the programs collection along with a choice of flying fields and fly your chosen vehicles right from your keyboard or a realistic RC controller.

A flight simulator just begs for a controller that is appropriate to flying and while you can use your mouse and keyboard a joystick or better yet an RC controller is much better. If you have any plans to use the Clearview flight simulator as a warm up to real RC flying you should buy a controller, they only cost about $25 with shipping for a basic one.

You can also go the full route and buy a really good RC controller or as they call them in the RC world a transmitter that is compatible with the program and any future aircraft. Several of the better models of transmitters are capable of connecting to your computer with a USB cable so you can control your flight simulator and your RC models.

Whether you use a less expensive controller like the Dynam USB controller or a more expensive model connecting it your PC using the USB connection is easy. The Clearview program does work with a wide range of controllers and even the less expensive one I purchased as part of a kit with the Blade SR does work but it is a bit of a hassle.

Once you install the program and have the controls of your choice connected the program is very easy to use with a top row of drop down menus. Menu items include the settings, aircraft models, car models, flying fields and flight recorder choices with more available for download.

The flying fields or playgrounds are actually just modeled pictures added to the backdrops of the game engine but the main point of the program is realistic flying physics. A simulator is only as good as its real world counterparts and I can tell you from actual use that the Clearview program looks and feels just like the real thing.

I have used a couple of helicopters and while I have not flown my more expensive one much yet it does handle just like the Clearview simulators. The simulator has the realistic motion and physics of the small aircraft even down to wind and small quick movements that are common place in the small model aircraft.

I have also flown an RC plane a bit and seen more than my fair share of them while my dad flew his plane and there is a certain degree of jerkiness to the smaller lightweight aircraft. You can see this as well in the simulator that gives you the feel of the small aircraft for a great simulator experience.

I have checked out other reviews along with user experiences and many agree that the Clearview simulator is a great simulator at this price. While Clearview does not have the best graphics its physics which is the more important aspect are realistic and right on for an RC simulator.

Clearview has a wide variety of aircraft available from all the manufacturers of RC airplanes and helicopters like E-Flite, Walkera and Align. The simulator does not have a large selection of specific planes but you can probably find one that is similar at least in size and power to one you can purchase.

Planes are less exacting in control than helicopters for specific models but having the ability to fly and especially practice landing for a radio control plane is crucial. The helicopters on the other hand are much more specific to models and finding the brand and exact controls and specific tweaking that the helicopters use for controls is a prime reason to get a simulator.

Helicopters are very specific especially in the various tweaks for the controls and this is the main reason to purchase a simulator that has model specific and control specific designs for the best simulation practice. Clearview does a great job with simulating the RC aircraft and most importantly gives you a chance to practice on a computer game that comes as close to the real thing as possible.

Some very nice settings are the various tweaks you can add for beginner, novice and advanced flight to help you control your aircraft, especially helicopters, better. These tweaks are the same ones you can use for real flight when using the more expensive controllers that many aircraft use.

The use of a flight recorder that allows you to play your flights back so you can check out any mistakes or for bragging rights is handy. Clearview is not all roses as the graphics are a bit less than stellar and for some user created models that you upload I found that load times for new flights do not work as quickly as the stock aircraft do in general.

As a fun distraction or if you're serious about purchasing a remote control plane or helicopter you really need to spend a little extra on a simulator. The money spent on Clearview will easily translate into savings after you start to fly for real in crash prevention and all those replacement parts.

Clearview is an easy way to get the experience and practice you need to help you learn before taking the controls of the real radio control planes and helicopters. The cars are only represented by a couple of entries and just like other aircraft you can find and install a wide variety of models from users who have created their own on the Clearview and other websites.

Clearview is a fantastic radio control simulator and well worth the price for a great way to learn and get some practice on radio control planes and helicopters without the expense of the real thing. I highly recommend Clearview as it can save you on expensive repairs and costly replacement parts especially for those helicopters to give you an edge in flying.

Clearview Website