We’ve already talked at length about how flight is fascinating from many points of view. As time goes by, our blog is becoming a small encyclopaedia covering every aspect of flight, from the strictly technical aspects (with our AVGeek section) to more fun elements, one of which we’re going to look at today.
Flying is, after all, also about entertainment.
Since the very first video games, personal computers and consoles, flight simulation has always been one of the favourite themes for players from all over the world.
What exactly is a flight simulator?
It’s a system that accurately represents what it’s like to pilot an aeroplane. This system is used as a teaching method to train pilots, but most commonly as entertainment for aficionados. Whether it be in the form of a simple video game, immersive virtual reality or using real, full-scale steering positions, this kind of video game has always had great appeal among gamers.
It goes without saying that each gamer has their own specific taste. As in real aviation, there are civil and military flight simulators, but we prefer civil ones, obviously.
In civil aviation, the games require you to pretend to be a real airline pilot and attain a high level of experience in piloting planes from and to any airport in the world. In the latest generation games, you can choose the model of your own aeroplane, set adverse weather conditions to increase the difficulty level, and you can even manage the air traffic control tower or design more and more sophisticated aeroplanes.
The stuff of geeks, you say? Not at all. Or rather, not just for geeks…
We don’t want to sponsor a specific software, but we suggest you try a game experience with FlightGear, an open source software (implemented by users) licensed by GNU General Public License. It really is very exciting.
Seeing is believing!
