simon, thanks for your inputs. these are my thoughts on the points you
have mentioned:

1) the heli-chair can currently be used to interface with microsoft
flight sim, x-plane or other flight sim software on the market by means
of a USB cable.

2) a computer flight sim on the PC is not as 'real' as a real
helicopter. in my humble opinion, current PC flight sim technology is
woefully inadequate at modeling the physics of helicopter flight. some
of the more developed sims with motion and wrap around screens are
getting closer but the fact is that a computer program must always make
certain assumptions in order to write the equations modeling the
aircraft and atmosphere. this is why i call the heli-chair an
"emulator" rather than a "simulator." it is doing everything that a
real helicopter will do.

3) sitting in a chair or stading up, it really makes no difference if a
model helicopter is headed your way because you don't know where it
will end up and it moves faster than you can run. duck behind the
chair for added protection if necessary.

4) if you have successfully learned to fly a real helicopter by
learning first with your thumbs and fingers, in my opinion you are an
exception and you have done something that most people wouldn't be able
to do. i just don't think the average person can learn how to
coordinate anti-torque pedals, throttle, collective and cyclic without
actually having the controls to manipulate. the movements of the
cyclic are similar when flying with the transmitter as compared to the
real thing, but in my opinion are not 'substantially' similar as i
would call the comparison between Heli-Chair and real helicopter. as
mentioned earlier in the thread, the difference between a precision,
spring centered gimbal (on your transmitter box) and a relatively
imprecise cyclic stick are indeed significant.

5) the robinson R22 is a bit more stable in comparison to flying the
heli-chair, and not vice versa. the sensitivity of the model simply by
virtue of its size, weight and rotor disk loading makes it inherently
more responsive to cyclic inputs.

6) i do not recommend using any of the mixing functions of the radio or
features such as a heading hold gyro or governor to assist in flying
the helicopter. they can be helpful for some aspects of initial
learning but it is critical to turn all that stuff off and do it on
your own.

kas