Take to the skies in a remote-controlled chopper

There are very few remote control helicopter simulator apps for the Mac but RC Helicopter Simulator does the genre proud with a decent effort that pushes all the right buttons.

Its developer claims that RC Helicopter Simulator is in fact the first configurable radio-controlled helicopter simulator for Mac. It allows you to pilot a remote-controlled helicopter using the keyboard, gamepad, dual analog gamepad, fake radio-transmitter, or even a real radio-transmitter. You can vary the flying experience by downloading new scenarios and backgrounds from the developer’s website, and even build both your own backdrops and helicopters.

You’re presented with several options on startup, including the type pf helicopter you want to try and the scenario. You can also choose whether to toggle on or off the sound effects and whether to play in full screen or not, among other things. When you finally click ‘Start’ to go, it’s almost like controlling a tiny mosquito with the buzz of the helicopter’s whiny engine soon driving you mad.

Unfortunately, there is no mouse control so you’re restricted to A, W, X and D on the keyboard to control the craft. However, this doesn’t make it any easier as it takes a while to get a grip of the thing before you can start flying around enjoying the view.

It’s shame there’s no mouse support but as far as Helicopter sims go on the Mac, RC Helicopter Simulator isn’t a bad effort.