Hi, my name is Sam and I'm with Exploration Works (an innovative, hands-on museum of science and culture, opening in the summer of 2007, located inMontana).One of our opening exhibits is going to be a Hang Glider Simulator. A person actually gets to hang in a harness and shift their weight to control theglider. This is hooked up to Microsoft Flight Simulator. This allows the participant to experience what hang gliding is like.We have made a couple of prototypes and set them up at some fundraisers for the museum, and people seem to really enjoy it. However, the Flight Sim hang glider that we have been using in the prototypes is not very realistic in the handling aspects. I have searched and search for another that might be more suited for use with the simulator, but I have yet to find one. This is why I

I'll put my 2 cents in. I think your fatal mistake is M$FS. When you are in a glider, you are dependent upon local air mass movement to give lift. MSFS is not a great simulator in that regard. Whether it is close enough for your purpose only you can determine. But I might recommend taking a look at X-Plane which does a lot of laminar airflow calculations to determine proper lift. It is much more realistic in it's flight characteristcs. It's not too bad in the visual department, and it is getting better in that regard. But you have to remember that X-Plane's most important criteria is flight - and second is eye candy. It is relatively inexpensive - about the same as M$FS but with way many more updates.In any case sounds like a great and fun project you have. Best wishes!Senior Captain, Pier Glass Aviation

Okay, thankyou. I'll look into it.-Sam

I would recommend that you take a look at Microflight.This is because Microflight was developed with hang gliders in mind.It was originally called Hang Sim. For this reason, it is probably the best suited for what you want to use it for.There is also a lot of addon scenery and aircraft available for Microflight, which varies in quality as you would expect from 3rd party mods. Some addons are very nice indeed though.It also has nice features for gliding, like trees that blow in the wind visibly, so you can always get a visual on wind direction.Same for smoke and windsocks, but trees are everywhere.Also, it includes thermals and ridge lift, etc.It is only $25, so can't beat the price.Also it is due for an upgrade soon, its sister app (virtual sailor) just underwent an upgrade, and it is very much improved. (check VS out also if you like boats.)The author gives upgrades for free if you purchased within 2 years, so even if you buy now, you should be eligible.Good luckregards,Dave