A Review of Flight Simulation Software
What is flight simulation? It is reproducing the experience of flying an aeroplane artificially – usually on your computer. The best simulators fly like the real thing, react like the real thing and meet situations like the real thing.
In fact, flight simulation is used commercially for training pilots and even the design of aircraft, as well as research in to how they handle under various circumstances.
Dependant on their ultimate use, flight simulators vary in design and complexity. Some can be run on a PC, others are used in carefully constructed cockpit reconstructions. In fact they are now considered part and parcel of pilot training facilities.
We will only be dealing with leisure-based PC software simulations in this article.
A newbies guide to flight simulation software.
Flying on your home computer using flight simulation (FS) software is accessible, rewarding, great fun and can substantially improve your understanding of real-world aviation.
Once upon a time you experienced flight simulation in 2-dimensional, monochromed, limited radius situations. Today the situation is entirely different with an amazing variation of scenarios and conditions – almost as good as real life!
Question… just how realistic are today’s flight simulators?
No one has ever claimed that simulated flying can take the place of real-world flight training but, given the constraints of a home PC set-up, today’s sims are impressively realistic.
So if you want to experience what a real-world pilot experiences (including different airports, weather conditions, terrains etc) flight simulation on a computer will do just that for you.
In fact so far has realism gone that some airline captains claim that the simulations mirror very closely their own every day experiences. Also it’s amazing how many pilots now get involved in simulation development! And don’t forget the many regular articles in the aviation press about them
What is flight simulation? It is reproducing the experience of flying an aeroplane artificially – usually on your computer. The best simulators fly like the real thing, react like the real thing and meet situations like the real thing.
Flight simulation is used for a variety of reasons, including flight training (mainly of pilots), for the design and development of the aircraft itself, and for research into aircraft characteristics, control handling qualities, and so forth.
Dependant on their ultimate use, flight simulators vary in design and complexity. Some can be run on a PC, others are used in carefully constructed cockpit reconstructions. In fact they are now considered part and parcel of pilot training facilities.
We will only be dealing with leisure-based PC software simulations in this article.
A newbies guide to flight simulation software.
Flying on your home computer using flight simulation (FS) software is accessible, rewarding, great fun and can substantially improve your understanding of real-world aviation.
With the advent of fast computing, flight simulation has emerged from the ‘experimental’ era of limited situations, to a full-blown, almost as large-as-life reproduction of the flying experience.
How realistic are current flight simulators?
No one has ever claimed that simulated flying can take the place of real-world flight training but, given the constraints of a home PC set-up, today’s sims are impressively realistic.
A real-world pilot can now practise a simulated flight he’s planning to make in the real world using accurate representations of departure and destination airports, flying over scenery that is developed from actual photographs of what’s on the ground, navigating with navigation aids in their real-world positions, and flying in real-time weather conditions which are applicable to the flight route. Indeed, many pilots do just this.
The realism of today’s sims is such that the aviation press now regularly features simulations in its pages and the number of pilots involved in developing simulation software shows that flight simulation is far beyond what you might call a ‘game’. Of course, some add-ons are more accurate than others, but when airline Captains say that a particular simulation of the aircraft they fly day in and day out is enormously impressive, that should go some way to answering this question!
One of the best flight simulators on the market at the moment is ProFlight Simulator. Find out how you can get a free copy by visiting this independant review site.
