New to Flight Sims?

A beginner’S guide to flight simulation on your PC

Flying on your home computer using flight simulation (FS) software is very rewarding, great fun and can substantially improve your understanding of real-world aviation.

Not that long ago, flight simulation on PCs was extremely basic, with rudimentary aircraft models, a one-colour ground surface, no varying weather conditions to deal with and only a small area in which to fly. Since then virtual aviation has come on in leaps and bounds, and with the improved processing power offered by today’s affordable home computers, flying on your PC is now both realistic and inexpensive.

Getting started in flight simulation can be a mystifying process, so here are some Frequently Asked Questions which should help you if you’re thinking of getting airborne on your PC.

What exactly can I fly in a PC flight simulator?

The short answer is… almost anything that can be (or has been!) flown in real-world aviation.

You can hop a memorable hundred yards in the Wright Flyer, flash across the Atlantic in Concorde, or perhaps you’d prefer a sortie in a classic Spitfire or a mission in a modern RAF Hercules or Falcon. Test your skills in an aerobatic competition or even manage and fly for your own air freight company.

It’s possible to fly civil and military planes from every era of aviation, whether helicopters, jets, microlights, gliders or propeller-driven aircraft.

One of the most appealing aspects of flight simulation is that there are absolutely no limits on what you can fly and where you can fly it.

Where can I fly?

The entire world is available for you to fly in, from Antarctica to Zanzibar and all points in between.

It’s up to you whether you take off from your local grass airstrip or one of the busiest international airports around the world.

Practising a touch-and-go in a Cessna is as accessible as shooting an ILS approach in a Jumbo Jet.

You can fly the very same routes that exist in the real world, or visit countries and places you’d never normally have the opportunity to visit.

Do I need to be a computer expert to enjoy PC flight simulation?

No – although basic familiarity with the day-to-day functioning of a modern PC will obviously be necessary. Flight simulation software and hardware are designed to install and work with a minimum of fuss, and FS enthusiasts range from those still at school to virtual pilots who are long past retirement age and are using computers specifically to enjoy simulated flying.

What equipment do I need to get started in flight simulation?

Getting airborne is simple and requires a minimum of equipment (hardware) and flight simulation programs (software).

Hardware – You’ll need a reasonably powerful PC, but nothing that you can’t easily find in the showrooms of your local PC retailer.

We’d suggest, as a minimum, that you have a PC running the Windows XP operating system, a processor with a speed of 2GHz or faster, 512Mb of RAM, a graphics card with 64Mb of RAM, 20Gb of hard drive space, mouse, sound card and speakers and/or headphones.

Because of the increasing size of the software, many flight sim products are now produced on DVD-ROM, rather than CD-ROM, so a PC with a DVD-ROM drive is recommended

It’s worth noting that a good ‘business’ machine may not be as suitable as a machine designed for ‘games’ – the quality of the graphics card is particularly important for flight simulation.

Generally speaking, the better specified the PC, the better the graphics and fluidity of your FS experience.

We’d also recommend a joystick or yoke to control your aircraft. Most FS flyers start with a joystick (which includes a throttle, rudder controls and various button assignments) and this is perfectly adequate for enjoyable flying. We’d recommend buying a joystick with a ‘hat switch’ (a thumb-operated multi-position control at the top of the stick) – this will prove invaluable for scanning the cockpit and views in all directions. Buying a yoke and rudder pedals is generally the next step, although certainly not essential, and will replicate even better the sensation of flying a real aircraft. A good joystick shouldn’t cost any more than £50 (some perfectly suitable ones can be had for around £25) and a good-quality yoke and rudder pedals can be bought for around £200.

Software – There are a number of PC flight simulation programs around but by far the best in terms of performance, value and popularity is Microsoft’s Flight Simulator series, which has been around for over 20 years. It really is a fantastic program!

This is what Microsoft says about their latest program, Flight Simulator X: “Microsoft Flight Simulator X is the culmination of nearly 25 years of the landmark Flight Simulator franchise—the most significant addition to date. Flight Simulator X immerses you in a beautifully rich and realistic world with dozens of aircraft and interactive Missions for a completely new and innovative gaming experience. Free Flight lets you fly anywhere in the world, from your hometown airport to the most exotic places you’ve ever dreamed of. Gamers and simmers of all ages and skill levels feel firsthand what it’s like to be an aviator traveling the globe solo or online with others."

What exactly are a ‘standalone’ program, ‘add-ons’ and ‘freeware’?

A standalone program (such as Microsoft’s Flight Simulator) is one that doesn’t need any further software for it to work. You can buy it, install it on your PC and use it. There are several other standalone sims, including combat sims.

With a copy of Flight Simulator you certainly won’t be stuck for aircraft to fly or places to go, but there is much more that you can add to improve your FS world. Add-ons (or expansions, as they are sometimes known) are extra programs designed to expand the Flight simulator program in specific ways which either haven’t been included in Flight Simulator (i.e. aircraft) or could be improved (i.e. detailed airports, specialised cockpit avionic systems, improvements to the terrain and so on).

As the name suggests, add-ons need a standalone sim with which to work (i.e. a ‘host’ sim), and the host sims in which a particular add-on will work are always clearly marked. Microsoft currently brings out a new version of Flight Simulator every few years and some add-ons only work in one particular version of a host sim; some may work in several, so always check the specifications on the box before buying.

The existence of add-ons shouldn’t suggest that the Flight Simulator program itself isn’t up to scratch. Out of the box, it’s an absolutely amazing program for the price, but it cannot, obviously, encompass every feature of the World and of aviation for around £50!

The purpose of add-ons is to allow the virtual flyer to customise certain aspects of the default FS world to suit exactly the type of flying he or she wants to do.

Freeware refers to add-ons which are created by enthusiasts for others to share and are totally free! If you’ve got an Internet connection you can download thousands of new aircraft, airports and a multitude of other programs, many of which are of the very highest quality. There are hundreds of websites with enormous libraries of freeware, from which you can download and enjoy as much as you like, perfectly legally!

Software developers are constantly working hard to make the simulated experience as close as possible to real aviation, and progress in many areas is truly impressive. Here are just a few types of add-ons you can buy – or find for absolutely nothing in freeware libraries:

• Aircraft – if you look hard enough, you can probably find a simulated model of every aircraft that has ever graced the skies.
• Repaints – Airline liveries and squadron markings.
• Airports – highly detailed versions of specific airports across the globe.
• Scenery – highly detailed versions of certain areas around the world, with buildings, landmarks, roads, rivers and railways and more.
• Utilities – this covers a huge range of additional features, such as flight planners, additional cockpit instrumentation, accurate ATC, weather upgrades to re-create exactly the conditions a real-world pilot might face, extra airport traffic so that the aircraft you see at an airport is just as it would be in real life.

This is just the tip of the iceberg…

Do I need an Internet connection?

Strictly speaking, no, although we’d strongly recommend it. Internet access will not only allow you to access all the news and information on the thousands of FS websites, as well as giving you the opportunity to interact with fellow simmers on FS forums, but fast Internet access (preferably broadband) will let you access excellent features such as downloads (see below), online Air Traffic Control and online weather, which allows you to fly in exactly the same weather conditions as exist in the location in which you’re flying.

Flight Simulator will work perfectly offline, but given the number of freeware programs available and all the extra features available to enhance your flying experience, Internet access does provide genuine benefits to simulated flying.

What’s the difference between downloads and boxed products?

Some FS add-ons are only available as boxed software on CD-ROM or DVD-ROM; some are only available to download via the Internet, and some can be bought in both formats, depending on the buyer’s preference. Making products available to buy as downloads is becoming increasingly popular, thanks to the spread of broadband Internet access, and these products should work just as well as those provided on ‘hard’ media such as CD and DVD.

Do I need to be an expert in aviation to enjoy flight simulation?

Not at all! While actual flying is unfortunately beyond the financial means of many of us, we can still enjoy the next best thing.

Flight Simulator allows you to find your own level and area of interest and take it casually or seriously as you like. (Flight Simulator, incidentally, provides an excellent training programme on which to build.)

Some of us enjoy leisurely flights and short hops in light aircraft or historical planes, while others devote countless hours to mastering the complex cockpit systems of modern jet airliners and the techniques of instrument flying. It’s entirely up to you!

Is flight simulation just a solitary activity?

Far from it – with an Internet connection it can be a very sociable activity. Some pilots fly with Virtual Airlines, some of which are based on the aircraft and schedules of real-world airlines, which involves flying specific routes in designated aircraft, with reports, promotions and all the trappings of the airline pilot’s career. Others fly online combat missions together in Virtual Squadrons and there are numerous flying clubs which will welcome you as a member; chances are that you’ll find one which caters for the type of flying you want to do.

Simple voice communication software means you can communicate with other online pilots and you can fly using Air Traffic Control provided by an online ATC service which is staffed by living and breathing controllers and which replicates real procedures as far as possible. Recently released software means that a group of enthusiasts in different locations can even crew the same airliner from different cockpit positions.

Finally… 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.

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 General Aviation press now regularly features simulations in its pages and the number of pilots involved in developing FS 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!

Online and Printed Resources

There are thousands of websites for the flight simulation enthusiast, providing a huge range of services and resources.

As a starting point on the Web, we recommend you have a look at these major sites for news, reviews, forums and downloads:

AVSIM.com
FlightSim.com
SimFlight.com
FS News (German)


While several real-world aviation magazines now devote pages to simulated flying, there are several established and high-quality magazines devoted specifically to flight simulation, both in print and online!

PC Pilot (UK) Computer Pilot (USA)

Need more information?

If you’re interested in joining the growing ranks of virtual aviators, we hope these FAQs have been helpful. If there’s anything else you’d like to know, you’re very welcome to contact us by e-mail or make a post on our public forum. The Just Flight team look in there on a regular basis and the forum users are a helpful and knowledgeable bunch of enthusiasts who can be relied on to provide sensible and helpful answers to any questions you may wish to ask.

Click here to download the PDF (2Mb) of a recent brochure which will tell you more about the range of simulation software available from Just Flight & Just Trains.

Copyright 2010 Just Flight Ltd.