The CSM 3 in 1 Flight Simulator has been around for some time and has become a firm favorite with both helicopter and fixed-wing fliers. It has recently been upgraded to Version 10. There is already an excellent review of the previous version (V9.1) available on this site so this report will concentrate on the differences between these versions.

The upgrade to Version 10 will be the first upgrade in the history of the CSM simulator to cost the user. The transmitter adapter needed to be upgraded so this is not just a software upgrade that can be downloaded from the web. The old interface must be sent to a distributor for replacement. In the UK/Europe, NHP/Revolution Models will take care of the upgrade. The upgrade costs 29.95 UKP. This includes the latest software and a new interface. In the US the upgrade is available from Horizon Hobby for about $50 US.

Version 10 of the simulator also needs a slightly more powerful PC than the previous version though still nothing very advanced. For full capabilities, a Pentium is recommended though it will run very well on a 486DX2-66 although not at full graphics speed.

Buying this one upgrade will allow future upgrades to be downloaded free of charge. The reason that there is a charge for this upgrade is because of the cost of producing and shipping the new interface. CSM has promised that future upgrades will be downloadable from the web site as the previous ones have been.

The main screens are now a tasteful gray/black and yellow with a CSM logo. They look quite a bit smarter than v9.1 but are otherwise very similar. There are a number of additional parameters in several areas that will be covered in more detail.

The graphics are considerably improved with better colors; graduations in the sky to give you some idea of altitude etc. as well as the ability to "paint" your own plane or helicopter from within the simulator. However they are still essentially the same polygon style graphics as before. Although this does not give the same air of ‘photo-realism’ as some of the newer simulators it does have the advantage that CSM can be run on a relatively modest PC.

The background scenery is not much different. There are a number of additional supplied airfields and there seem to be more variations available for creating custom airfields. Modifying the colors of both planes and scenery can be accomplished more easily. Customizing of both models and flying fields is much more straightforward though it will still require a little reading of the manual and ‘FileInfo.doc’ file to get it right.

One major addition is that individual models can now be loaded and saved from the simulator. Model setups and be exchanged with other CSM simulator users. In Version 9, this utility was only available with a third party program but it is now a standard CSM feature. The model swap site has now been enhanced to have all the models available in both V9.1 and V10 versions.

There are a number of new general features including the fascinating addition of a night flying scenario. This uses a separate color set for the model and the airfield, which is mostly black, but it can be adjusted to give some chance of success. It works best with helicopters that tend to stay in one place. With planes it is a lot of fun but the model should be set for air launch because simply getting it off the ground takes a lot of skill.

There are also a couple of additional views available by pressing F5 and F6 when the model is flying. These are called "Follow" mode and "Height-hold follow" mode. Basically these move the viewpoint around with the model. With helicopters, this is a fairly normal mode of flying; walking round following the model this can be done with planes as well. It useful for checking the attitude of the aircraft but they can be very disorienting, particularly the "height-hold" version.

Transmitter calibration and setup is slightly easier. There is a new program called TxTest that is similar to the old InTest program that shows bar graphs of all transmitter channels. The delivered transmitters are fairly generic this time; e.g. Futaba 4 channel rather than particular model numbers. A transmitter setup can be saved by name, which makes things easier.

Most of the major flight improvements this time have been to the helicopter simulation. There are now two different helicopter graphics available; the original simple and efficient slimline pod and boom model and a detailed Futura SE. The SE seems to run fine on anything above a Pentium 120 although it slows a little when really close in while running 800 x 600 graphics. It is also possible now to design helicopter graphics. It is a fairly complex process to set up an accurate model but if the time and energy is available, it is possible to achieve something much closer to a real model.

There are many new options from the main menu. I will not give full details but the aerodynamic modeling looks good and there is now a CSM ICG-360 HH gyro. The simulator interface is exactly like the real thing so when the gyro is set up the simulator, the settings can be transferred to the real model.

CSM has added 'aerial circles' in shading on the blue sky for judging 'crick in the neck' and when approaching the ground from near above as in a 'windy auto'.

There is an F3C practice field delivered as standard with *all* the markers and wind direction can be set. Maneuvers can be practiced in uncomfortable conditions like a howling gale at 45° to the flight line. This can make a real difference when using the simulator for serious competition practice.

Other detail changes include 'Control check' instead of 'pitch gauge' with collective, throttle, cyclic throws as paddle angles, tail pitch angle and gyro stuff; yaw rate demand, gyro mode and gyro gain. This all reflects what is actually being ordered by the transmitter so that the transmitter mixes can be fine tuned exactly as it would be done in real situations.

The engine data is basically the same as in V9.1 though there is now a note about gearing losses that needs to be taken into account by the user. Essentially it warns that an amount needs to be removed from the published power output of the engine to be realistic.

There is not really a great deal of change to the fixed-wing part of the simulator other than a few detailed but valuable enhancements. CSM reports that there will be more enhancements in later releases. The main addition seems to be the thermal activity.

The check controls option now has a picture of a plane with the bits moving as the sticks are moved but it also gives the actual deflections in degrees as well. Seeing the numbers and the moving surfaces is rather reassuring.

The supplied planes are basically the same generic set that were available for V9.1 and there seems to be little difference in the parameters available to set them up other than the ability to change the color scheme. However, it is now possible to set the wind direction and thermal activity. This can be valuable for a beginner to be able to practice crosswind takeoffs and landings. Wind direction may be even more valuable if while practicing for competition. Pattern flyers and scale competitors have to be able to cope with whatever nature and the judges have to offer.

The excellent flight model seems to be largely unchanged. The addition of thermal activity is interesting but with little knowledge of thermals, comments on the accuracy of the model cannot be made. It was difficult to get the supplied Fournier motor glider to come down at all with a large amount of thermal activity set. It just seemed to keep climbing even without the motor running. Those who have thermal experience need to check this.

The upgrade is worth the money particularly in view of CSM’s determination to make the next upgrades software only and free of charge. There is still no soundcard support. The buzzing noise through the PC speaker is all that is available. Unfortunately Colin Mill, the author of CSM has not agreed to say definitely that soundcard support will be added in the next version although this single most requested feature.