Learning to fly AND land a radio controlled plane with CRRCSim

(Originally posted on Thursday, 11 November 2021)

CRRCSim = Charles River Radio Controllers Simulator

Only 5 days ago I downloaded this little free game and it instantly catapulted to the top of my favourite games. I was searching for a free plane simulator and I found a site that mentioned this game. The file that I downloaded is only 8.5 MB and it's named:
CRRCsim-Win32-0.9.13

This little free game can save you lots of money in the real life – you can crash as many radio controlled planes on your computer as needed to learn how to fly AND how to land such a plane before buying such a plane in the real life. The most helpful thing is that you can see your plane zoomed in, either in a corner of the screen OR in the middle of the screen. Yes, you can zoom in on the “proper” plane too!

In the Youtube descriptions of my gameplay movies there are some detailed remarks. Please read them.

1. Example for the options Model Window and Autozoom (recorded with a mouse)


2. Example for no Model Window and no Autozoom with mouse cursor visible.


Please, notice that without the Autozoom it is much harder to fly and land a plane simply because it is much smaller. Exactly like in the real life.

I recorded some gameplay movies while playing with a mouse, but then I bought a cheap gamepad. Flying with a gamepad is MUCH easier than flying with a mouse, mostly because a stick in the gamepad returns to a neutral position automatically after you let it go, while the mouse cursor HAS to be moved to the center of the screen all by yourself.

3. Example for playing with a gamepad.


I use the right stick like a real plane control stick (elevator and aileron) and to the left stick I assigned only rudder. Increase throttle and decrease throttle are assigned to front left-side gamepad buttons (not to the left stick), because it's annoying to constantly hold the left stick up to have maximum throttle.

In the movie above I used rudder only on the ground (to make the plane turn after landing) because I wanted the gameplay movie to be comparable to the ones I made while flying with a mouse – you can see that flying with a gamepad is still MUCH easier even without using the rudder.

4. Example for using rudder with a gamepad.


In the movie above I used rudder also in the air to show you how much more fun it is to use it (at all, not only with a gamepad). It can be used also while playing with a mouse + keyboard, but I “discovered” this fact only after buying a gamepad. And after realising how important the rudder is for flying a plane overall.

Rudder makes your plane turn with only slight tilt of the wings, unless you use it for too long. It's very good at low speeds to slightly correct the landing path, BUT it can be also used in some fantastic aerobatic manoeuvres!

In the movie above I used the rudder to perform a manoeuvre that is a little similar to the aerobatic manoeuvre called “wingover”. I did it as a way to make an approach to landing, but my plane ended up on a wrong path, so I used the rudder AGAIN to correct the landing path. To make my flight a little random I did (as always) a roll and a loop first and only then I did the “approach manoeuvre”:
0. Fly away from the landing place.
1. Go straight up and lower the throttle.
2. Turn and hold the rudder to a side.
3. Release the rudder and level the plane.

This way your plane ends up flying more or less in the opposite direction than when the manoeuvre was started, so it ends up flying more or less towards the landing place. Usually you have to make some corrections of the flight path, but for this purpose you can use the rudder again!

Please notice that by accident you can perform a manoeuvre that is a little similar to the aerobatic manoeuvre called “hammerhead” or “stall turn”. It's like a wingover, but executed “too late”, so the plane “slides back” while turning to a side.

5. Example for easy approach to landing (recorded with a mouse).


The hardest thing for me is the approach to landing. I learned how to do it while turning sharply but there is actually another way: easy and cool at the same time! It's a little similar to the aerobatic manoeuvre called “reverse half Cuban 8” (terrifying name, really), but the way I execute it it's quite easy. To make my flight a little random I did (as always) a roll and a loop first and only then I did the “approach manoeuvre”:
0. Fly away from the landing place.
1. Gain altitude while flying at the angle of around 45 degrees.
2. Lower the throttle a little while gaining altitude.
3. Make a half roll to make the plane fly upside-down.
4. Make a half loop towards the ground.
5. Lose altitude and lower the throttle a little more.

This way your plane ends up flying in the opposite direction than when the manoeuvre was started, so it ends up flying towards the landing place. All you have to do is to make small corrections of the flight path and land – there is no need to do ANY sharp turns (the half roll was not a turn). It's quite easy even with a mouse!

6. Example for easy approach to landing (recorded with a gamepad).


In the movie above I used rudder only on the ground (to make the plane turn after landing) because I wanted the gameplay movie to be comparable to the ones I made while flying with a mouse – you can see that flying with a gamepad is still MUCH easier even without using the rudder.

7. Example for saving a replay and launching it as a “robot” (recorded with a mouse).


In this fun little game you can save a kind of replay that can be launched during another flight as a separate plane. However there are some things to remember:
1. After you “save” a replay you have to reset your plane for the replay to be visible. Before the reset the replay is stored as a kind of temporary game file (under a different name) that is not visible in-game. After you reset your plane (or leave the game) the temporary file is changed into a “proper” file with the name you entered. This file is visible in-game.
2. After the replay is loaded (as a “robot”) sometimes there is a bug and the other plane doesn't appear or it appears reversed. You have to “remove all robots” and load the replay again.
3. Autozoom makes it hard to see both planes, so it has to be turned off.
4. You can load more replays at the same time (I loaded 6 replays that I saved after I had recorded my earlier gameplay movies). After you reset your plane all “robots” are also reset.