The flight simulator
What makes RealFlight G3 so interesting is that it is a very faithful simulation of flying a real RC plane. It includes a wide variety of plane models and a reasonable set of fields. If you master the controls flying your simulated plane, you'll have a very good chance of mastering the controls of a real RC plane.

If you don't master the controls in the simulator, you're going to crash, like I did in Figure B.

FIGURE B

This is just one of many times I crashed. Click picture for a larger image.

The real value of the simulator is that when you crash, you don't destroy an expensive RC flyer. I crashed a lot.

The simulator's collision detection is among the best I've ever seen. The crash emulator is quite accurate. If you land too hard on the landing gear, the simulator has accurate sounds and the gear is no longer functional. If you land too hard by plowing the nose into the ground, the vehicle will bounce, wings will separate, and you'll know you did something very wrong.

PhotoFields
RealFlight G3 comes with a wide variety of 3D rendered airfields from which you can practice flying. It also comes with two "PhotoFields", panaramic photographs that have been turned into real flying environments. You can see one such photofield in Figure C.

FIGURE C

Here's a B-17 taking off from a PhotoField. Click picture for a larger image.

I really liked the PhotoFields. Graphics performance is smooth, with very little jittering. RealFlight G3 contains a 3D editing environment that lets you create your own PhotoFields. I downloaded a snow field which made for some very pretty flying. The 3D design system is quite sophisticated. When I flew my plane, I was able to fly both behind of and in front of the tower, shown in Figure D.

FIGURE D

You can fly both in front of and behind objects in the photo. Click picture for a larger image.

Another user-designed PhotoField is shown in Figure E.

FIGURE E

If you think it was easy getting this screen capture, you're very mistaken. Click picture for a larger image.

If you think it was easy getting this screen capture, you're very mistaken. This is a panoramic shot, completely enclosed, with a roof, posts, and a ceiling. There were many crashes before I was able to take the picture you see in the image.

Rendered fields
While there are a few PhotoFields, the program comes with a much wider selection of pre-rendered fields, such as the gymnasium shown in Figure F.

FIGURE F

Just try getting the chopper through the hoop! Click picture for a larger image.

Different fields have different flight characteristics. There's a field on the side of a mountain, and the wind gusts make it almost impossible to fly. But I tended to like the wacky fields, like the launcher off the aircraft carrier shown in Figure G.

FIGURE G

I feel the need, the need for speed! Click picture for a larger image.

Aircraft
As you've seen already, the program supports a wide variety of aircraft, including helicopters, propellor-driven planes, jets, and even gliders. In addition to the B-17 and F-15 scale models shown in previous images, some of my favorites included the vertical take-off Harrier, shown in Figure H.

FIGURE H

This VTOL aircraft is faithfully simulated. Click picture for a larger image.