Serious simulators–they can teach you to fly
Combat flight simulators have long been an industry mainstay. Most seem to have been optimized for excitement, with perhaps more attention paid to spectacular graphics than to absolute accuracy. There is, however, another segment of the flight– simulator market that may be perhaps less exciting but is even more demanding for its programmers and potentially more rewarding for its users. These are what I call the “serious” simulators. Unlike “dogfighting” games, these simulators actually teach the techniques used to fly real aircraft-from lowly trainers all the way up to the Boeing 747-400.
While many of these “serious simulators” offer impressive graphics, more attention has been paid to realism. Their aircraft function much more like their real counterparts, in sickness and in health (and many simulators can be user-programmed to simulate aircraft, systems or instrument “sicknesses” at realistically inopportune times). They simulate flying to and from real-world airports using real-world navigation aids; you won’t find the somewhat synthetic battlefields seen in the military sims. Planes fly through realistic weather, too; several simulators can be set up to periodically query the Internet and download the current weather for the locations in which they’re flying.
In the rest of this review, I’ll look at a representative sample of some of the successful desktop flight simulators. I couldn’t cover every product. If you’re interested in desktop flight simulations of any kind, check out sim sites such as www.avsim.com, www.fltsim.com, or www.microwings.com on the Web. Each site has a wealth of information on just about every sim on the market as well as links to many other product-specific sites.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000 Professional Edition-Windows only
The latest Microsoft Flight Simulator (MFS2K) includes a number of aircraft, ranging from a Cessna 172 up through the Boeing 777 and even the Concorde-all with somewhat realistic-looking instrument panels. A complete series of interactive “how to fly” lessons, starting with your first flight and moving up to advanced instrument techniques, is presented by Rod Machado. These lessons are very well organized and include handy features such as the one that allows you to “black out” certain instruments to teach you partial– panel flying.
For instrument training, not only can you dial the weather down to or below minimums (or download actual forecasts from the Internet), but you can also program various instrument, radio and system failures. Realistic-looking worldwide instrument charts and approach plates are available from Jeppesen SimCharts service. An electronic map lets you see how well you’ve been navigating, and though there isn’t any vertical tracking, the various “instant replay” modes give you a pretty good idea of how well you’ve been holding altitude or tracking a glide slope. A large, attractive manual helps you to find your way around the various aircraft instrument panels and includes a modest selection of instrument charts (printed in a small, eye– straining size).
Users of MFS2K also benefit from the vast universe of add-ons available, including a variety of scenery areas, additional aircraft, preprogrammed flights and “adventures.” Some are commercial products; others are available on the Web (check http://www.microsoft.com/games/fs2 000/default.asp and the sites listed earlier) and come from the immense user community. Available at just about any computer store or mailorder outlet, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000 is a great starting point from which to explore the worlds of both entertainment and serious flight simulation. (By the time you read this, Flight Simulator 2002 should be out, offering even more aircraft and features.)
Fly! Version II
Windows or Macintosh
Fly! Version II from Terminal Reality Inc. provides full instrument flight capabilities that include nav and comm radios as well as a very realistic AlliedSignal KLN-90 GPS. I wrote the 288-page manual for Version II, which is provided electronically. It provides more information than most manuals do on how to run the simulator and fly its airplanes by rote. It also offers background information on aeronautics theory and instrument– flying techniques.
The graphics are fabulous and include various exterior views of your aircraft and extremely accurate weather and sky depiction. Terrain is similarly detailed; if you’re flying in one of the areas in which TerraScene satellite imagery is used, it’s easy to pick out the block you live on. Instrument panels are totally realistic and are so detailed they don’t even fit on one monitor (you can pan seamlessly around with the mouse). Each switch, button, knob and control is not only depicted, but it’s also fully operational. Flight models are reasonably accurate, although aircraft performance seems to be based more on the fond hopes of plane manufacturers’ marketing literature than on the real world. In addition to an electronic “vector map” window, you can open another window that shows your position over an actual and familiar U.S. Sectional Aero Chart. This kind of graphics power comes at a price. The frame rates will probably suffer unless you run a fast processor (a 750MHz or better Pentium III, or the equivalent G3 or G4 on a Mac), some kind of Dual Overhead Balls graphics card with 64MB or more of video RAM, and 128MB or more of system RAM.