Also, while there is joystick support, you will still have to fiddle with configuration files to get your stick to work properly. Like many open-source applications, FlightGear requires that you not be afraid of the command line to get it installed and running.

Thereis a version for Windows, Linux, UNIX, OS 9, and OS X. (Click the thumbnail for the full-sized image)įlightGear is an open-source flight sim designed to run on multiple platforms. If you are the adventurous type, are low of funds, and have some time on your hands, there is another flight sim available to you, but youill have to work at it to get it running. You should go to the site and check out some of the photos of the experimental aircraft that have been modeled and pre-flown with X-Plane. It will cost US$99, cheap considering what you get. X-Plane is still in beta, with a release pending. In OS X, one of the best flight sims is X-Plane, which has been used to train test pilots on new aircraft. Macs have always had several flight sims available.

One of the attractions of early personal computing was the use of what would now be considered crude flight simulation programs. When many of us were kids, we dreamed of being pilots. I mean, itis tough to pilot a plane using a keyboard instead of a joystick. If anyone else were with me, theyid be depositing the contents of their stomachs into a barf-bag, but itis not my fault. It is always veering to the left, seeming to want to crash as it edges towards the ground whenever I bank a turn. If only this damned plane would let me! This aircraft seems to have a mind of its own. Below, the Earth is a patchwork of greens, browns, and yellows crisscrossed by thin black ribbons. The view from 3,000 feet is breathtaking huge white clouds like islands of Cool Whip are so substantial they look as if I could take a stroll on them.

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