It's common for aircraft sellers to claim their birds have "realistic physics."
Fly one of mine and you'll know what that really means.

• Here's a review you might find interesting.

• The Ultimate Goal:
  To bring vehicle physics up to the same level found in commercial flight simulators.

• The Starting Point:
  In order to really appreciate what VHI offers, it's helpful to understand the SL vehicle system. It is EXTREMELY basic. It has a vaguely airplane-like mode of operation - but there is no stalling, no inertia - just a few basic Newtonian forces, and that's it. An airplane in SL that just uses the basic vehicle system is going to fly like a UFO. Any real pilot, and any flight sim pilot who pays attention to such things, is likely to find this state of affairs rather bland and uninspiring. It offers little challenge. Yet, the majority of airplanes in SL are running scripts that do little or nothing to remedy the situation. VHI closes this gap by providing aircraft with realistic physics, excellent handling, superior sound, engaging systems simulation, and more.

• I can tell you that I've yet to see another physics system that's even nearly as realistic as mine, let alone on the same level or better.
  Is it the best? I believe so. It could be that there's someone out there who has one that's as good or better, but in the six years I've been working on this, I haven't seen it yet. In fact, I've never seen one that even comes close. Other people say they have "the best airplanes in SL" and "highly realistic physics." Yet, when I see their airplanes actually flying, and especially landing, I don't buy it. And that's what it all comes down to. The only way to produce a really good aircraft physics system in SL is to put in LONG hours. The stock vehicle system doesn't help you do it AT ALL, and it's not like some other areas of software development where there are 1,000 examples on Google. At the end of the day, I'm driven to truly understand aircraft physics, and to express it in a way that's fun and engaging. I've wanted to write my own flight simulator since 1997 or so. Well, here it is.

• For those who are ready for a more engaging experience:
  The crown jewel of the VHI ownership experience is the physics engine when it's running in high realism mode. Lift, drag, gravity, and thrust are all simulated. These aircraft stall, and some of them will even spin if you push them far enough. One of the most challenging parts of flying is landing, and an airplane needs realistic physics for that to be even a remotely interesting experience. The AOA gauge on the HUD lets the discerning SL pilot know that this is as close to the real thing as you can get in SL, and that the developer cared enough to spend entire days working on just that one little system. If you've had the experience of flying something that was clearly slapped together in a couple weeks (or less) and rushed to market by someone who wasn't passionate about their work, you will be pleasantly surprised. It's common for aircraft designers to claim their birds have "realistic physics." Fly one of mine and you'll know what that really means. I'm not just simulating one or two effects - I'm simulating EVERYTHING to the maximum extent I can wring out of SL!
  

• You will not find mass produced schlock here.
  VHI does not sell McAirplanes. EVERY single VHI aircraft has several weeks development time, BARE MINIMUM. Normal dev time for ONE AIRCRAFT is three months to half a year. I am a licensed private pilot (and long time sim enthusiast for years before that) who cannot stand poor physics simulation, even if it is Second Life. If it's not good enough, it's not FUN enough! What isn't good enough to satisfy my exacting standards is not good enough to sell to you. I have no problem keeping an aircraft off the market for two weeks after I "think" it's done, just to be sure.

• Why do anything half-way?
  Now, think about this for a moment. If you're going to put down THOUSANDS of L$ for an airplane, shouldn't you be getting your money's worth? Why pay piles of cash for an airplane that flies like a UFO? Wouldn't it be better to get an airplane with engaging controls and lifelike physical behavior? Most aircraft makers use very basic scripts. A few of them try to simulate a "stall," but it's either really a mush which never really develops into a stall, or it's like a light switch - always exactly the same, no subtlety at all, no edge behavior, no boundaries for you to test. Where's the fun in that? One or two automated gimmicks might add a little flavor. But why horse around with gimmicks when you can just do it right the first time and actually simulate flight physics?

• Ripped content is not for serious aircraft builders.
  VHI does not rip textures, sounds, or any other assets from flight simulators. Instead, everything is created from scratch. What cannot be created from scratch is bought legitimately from licensed sources. From recording to foley to synthesizer to sound control script, I am willing to put in the hours to DO IT RIGHT!
  

• Research is the name of the game.
  Aircraft design is a meticulous process. Weight & balance is considered. Wing planform mirrors what it should be in real life. Control surfaces are carefully placed. Deflection and actuation methods are precisely implemented. If something is out of balance, would there be enough room to put some ballast at the right location? Copying a real world design is easy enough. Coming up with an original design that could actually work in reality is a little trickier.

  Some aircraft are copies of what's out in the real world (like the F-16.) The custom models (Nimbus, Cygnus II, Avocet, etc.) are designed specifically to meet the challenges of SL. Short field takeoffs are automated and there is a heavy bias towards making airplanes that float. The jet intakes on the Nimbus aren't placed over the wing for no reason!

• You can just "get in and go" without looking at the notecard.
  That said, VHI manuals are LONG AS HELL. This fact by itself should tell you something. EVERY vehicle made after Summer 2005 has a long list of features. Why spend your money on an airplane with a minimal feature set, when for the same money (or a FRACTION as much, in some cases) you can have so much more?

• VHI aircraft can be operated by newbies.
  If you can use arrow keys and the page up/down keys, and move a mouse around, you can fly a VHI aircraft. In most cases, the first and only question the aircraft asks when it first starts up for you is whether you want the realism high or low. With low realism, even a new pilot will have an easy time flying these aircraft.
  

• You are getting a full-featured HUD with your purchase.
  To get the airplane status readout, you need to use it with a Summer '05 or later VHI aircraft, but the rest of the stuff (airspeed, altitude, vertical speed, navigation, and tactical) will work with ANY vehicle. I could easily charge hundreds of L$ for it. It has full waypoint navigation, traffic collision avoidance system, and tactical radar. It also includes a very smooth jetpack script that slows you down when you're close to the surface or about to cross a sim border. How many vehicles out there come with ANY HUD, let alone one with THIS many features?
  

• I fly the hell out of everything I sell, and I get people to bug test them before they go on the market.
  There are thousands of VHI aircraft owners, and I get less than one bug report a year. Does that tell you something about the quality assurance level around here?
  

• Updates are automatic and free.
  For life.

• Sculpting is tricky, and I'm willing to put in the time.
  Sculpt maps do not necessarily represent with perfect fidelity what you designed in the modeler. Not a big deal for organic curvy stuff, but a royal pain for mechanical stuff! I will sit in front of Blender for FOUR HOURS and blow L$150 in upload fees just to see if I can get a little more refinement on ONE SINGLE PIECE. If I can't, I have the satisfaction of knowing I tried.
  

• I'm involved with the flying community in SL.
  I promote airports to people I meet. I make sure all the places I land are in my HUD, so that when someone gets a new version of it, they also get an updated airport list.

• VHI aircraft always have been and still are reasonably priced.
  I'd rather have 100 happy customers toodling around the grid and telling their friends what a great airplane they bought, than 50 who wondered why they paid such an exorbitant price, regardless of how good it is. The most anyone ever paid for one of my aircraft was a few thousand L$, and I didn't get a cent of it. It was a raffle for SL Relay for Life, a nonprofit organization that raises money for cancer research.