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Review By Larry Bennert
larry@heliproz.com

I recently had the opportunity to test a copy of Hangar 9’s FS-One flight simulator and thought I would do a semi-quick review for those of you who are looking for a simulator that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.   First out the gate set aside about an hour just to install the program.   I would consider my computer as a gamer machine, so my video card is higher end and the processor is on the high side of middle of the road.  I built the machine about 2 years ago.  Any computer purchased in the last year should be able to run FS-One without any trouble.

FS One



As I stated earlier it took somewhere in the neighborhood of an hour to install the 4 discs and to get the program up and running.  Upon start up, the program worked flawlessly. Being a heli guy I picked my old favorite the JR Vigor CS.  I owned this heli a number of years ago and loved the way it tracked and how precise the movements were.   At this point the loading took about a minute to load the environment and physics. 

Vigor
VSOneFlightSite
JR Vigor 90
Flying Site

The Vigor helicopter in the simulator flew just how I remembered, with the only change being this model was set up full 3-D “very touchy”.  It took me a few minutes to get used to the high rate of cyclic, but after getting used to the model I was surprised on how well FS-One did with recreating the physics of flight.  Everything I did felt more or less like the real thing.  When I flipped the switch to get into stunt mode I realized that I had just entered throttle hold (airplane layout for the transmitter). While this being an annoyance, is no way a deal breaker for the program.  This small issue is easily fixed buy going to FS-One’s website http://www.fsone.com/Downloads/Default.aspx  and downloading the patches.  After downloading the patches the simulator automatically changes the layout so your left switch is your flight mode and the right will be throttle hold. The tail would kick out a bit when doing some maneuvers when full collective was added and other little nuances that made me feel like I was looking at the real thing.   The graphics we pretty good as well.  I will say that I did not try to change fields or adjust any of the settings.   I am not impressed too much by graphics on a simulator. To me it’s all about the physics, does the software do a good job of recreating the flight characteristics. There are other simulators out there that cost twice as much as FS-One that have better graphics, but if you’re looking to learn how to fly FS-One will do the job admirably.

All in all I have been very satisfied with this program and would recommend it for anyone who wants a simulator and does not want to fork out $200+.  At $99.99 you really are getting a good deal.