Combat Simulator Training

This shall be my FIRST artical so please be forgiving of simple mistakes and the like.

I started flying simulators when I was too young to even read.  It wasnt until about 15 years later that I picked up an R/C plane and started flying, with great success I might add.  I feel as though the simulators I played helped me a lot as far as understanding cause and affect in using the various control surfaces and being able to predict a planes reaction.  The number one simulator I used was European Air War.  The second one that I used (which was harder for 3 year old me to figure out) was the Red Barron 3D game.  Now that I understand things better I have gone back and played the Red Barron and it too was an awesome game worthy of the 250 MB download.  I will talk mostly about EAW since that is the one that had the greatest affect on my flying career. 

The game is based (and quite accuratly) on WWII Europe.  With this game you can play as the RAF, USAF, or the Luftwaffe.  Not all planes are available such as bombers but they are still in the game for missions that require them.  

Unfortunatly, unless you gaurd your bombers well and keep the swarms of fighters off their 6's, they easily become cannon fodder, pretty accurate really. 

The flight tendencies are rather accurate and easy to get used to.  With a basic joystick the game is still imersive enough to help you learn about what your plane can and cant handle.  With the more advanced joysticks with resistance and vibrations, it becomes even more imersive.  

The cockit view is impressive and allows you to view your instruments and keep track of air speed, altitude, oil pressure, ect.  

Dogfighting is amazing in this game with an availability of different guns for different planes, ranging from various sized cannons to 50 cal machine guns.  Ammo can be set to unlimited or limited for varying realism.  

This is how I learned to fly R/C as well as I did.  While I am by no means an expert, I can keep her in the air and pull some fancy evasive menuvers even with only rudder and elevator control.  I would suggest this game for the combat enthuseist or anyone who still likes to fly during the winter but lack the space.