Just received a mailshot offering a suscription to Computer Pilot Magazine in the UK. Is it worth the money? What information does it have? It also comes with a free book titled Flight Simmers Guide MK 2.

Yes, I highly recommend it. Full color mag with lots of reviews, how-to's, and other good info. Take a look at their site http://www.computerpilot.com/ for more info. I've been a subscriber for about 6 months or so now and don't regret it at all.KP

I've read it a few times, beautifully written, presented etc., but I always find hints, tips and what's hot at the major flight sim sites more than in the CP Magazine. IMO, CP doesn't really cover freeware as well as one would get by casually forums at the various websites.

By default, it will get hot news later than our sites,since it is a printed magazine.Apart from that, I'm very satisfied. Many articles andreviews are good (a few articles though seems to be theremore to cover up all pages).It is now a monthly magazine with a free cd-rom for eachissue. I think it's worth the money.Best regards Bj

I've picked up an or two at the local newsstand but decided not to subscribe... why?Downside:1. Most of the articles tend to lean towards being "infomercials" for products, which I can read about here at the websites.2. The articles that are more geared to the "hobby" side (building aircraft, how-tos, editing features), seemed to be glossed over.... never get into the depth I am looking for.3. There news is always outdated... that's what websites are for these days.Upside:1. They include a CD now at no additional cost2. They include a pst issue of the mag so you are really getting 2 for the price of one.3. Nice photos (however, I would think being a simulator mag they would use submitted sim shots for their centerfolds instead of real aircraft)Best is to try and pick up a copy and decide for one's self... then again I think they have an amazing return policy - You can stop your subscription at any point and they will return the difference of unread issues.... double check on that, though.

I've picked up an or two at the local newsstand but decided not to subscribe... why?Downside:1. Most of the articles tend to lean towards being "infomercials" for products, which I can read about here at the websites.2. The articles that are more geared to the "hobby" side (building aircraft, how-tos, editing features), seemed to be glossed over.... never get into the depth I am looking for.3. Their news is always outdated... that's what websites are for these days.Upside:1. They include a CD now at no additional cost2. They include a pst issue of the mag so you are really getting 2 for the price of one.3. Nice photos (however, I would think being a simulator mag they would use submitted sim shots for their centerfolds instead of real aircraft)Best is to try and pick up a copy and decide for one's self... then again I think they have an amazing return policy - You can stop your subscription at any point and they will return the difference of unread issues.... double check on that, though.

Ponyboyz brought up some valid points, although they should also be looked at from a proper perspective. As far as "infomercials" are concerned, you gotta keep in mind that there are very few places, websites or magazines, that would have critical reviews (I'm not talking about users' reviews). It seems Avsim has run out of reviewers (I recall the website more active in this respect even only a couple of years back) and the only reviewer left seems to be Bear, who once in a while will treat us to his minireviews or a review of a golden era package, which although greatly appreciated, hardly reflects the number of new releases. Haven't seen Andrew Herd's review on flightsim.com in a while either and all their other reviews are infomercials in true sense of the word (the infamous mention of Dell at the end of every review). Once a source of very good, insightful reviews - FSInflight online magazine - just folded. Reviews in Computer Pilot's competitor - the British PC Pilot - are not that much different (that mag is more expensive although in my opinion has nicer editing). If you want an accurate evaluation of an FS addon product, the only way to get it is to dive into the forums here, which, as we know, can be time consuming. The same goes for assistance with development - printed mags will never have enough space to cover such things in depth, they may only nudge you in a specific direction or give you a general idea of the subject and the hints where to get more information. My point is that I would never buy the magazine for up to date news, in-depth reviews, or extensive tutorials. To me it's a nice complement to the sites like Avsim. Many of us don't have time to spend hours in the forums here and a mag like that is sure a nice thing to have when your access to a computer is limited or your eyes are too tired from looking at the screen. You gotta admit that sometimes staying on top of all new developments in FS, even only glancing at the forums, can be very time consuming. Myself I like reading wherever I can, so the mag comes in very handy.Apart from reviews, Computer Pilot also provides flight training articles (ground school, basic training, IFR, multiengine, etc; sometimes topics in those are explained better than in standard textbooks that I'm using for my real flight training), excellent Round Robin adventures by Al Pelletier and many other ideas on how to enhance your simming experience (places to visit, challenging approaches, etc.).Anyway, I'm a happy subscriber to both magazines and consider them a very nice complement to websites like Avsim.M.

My problem with COMPUTER PILOT is that it includes articles for all the current Fsims. As I am only interested in articles regarding FS2004, I find that 3/4 of the magazine is of no interest to me. Also the included CDROM has stuff for FS98 and FS2000 on it -- c'mon, I know that there are still people using these sims - but I am not sure that you are going to capture a large Sim audience by including downloads for them.Anyway, I guess that's my problem -- but my problem becomes the magazine's problem if I don't buy it for these reasons.Barry

I agree with Barry. While I usually find a few very interesting and relevant articles in there, much of the magazine doesn't interest me. They spend some time in other flight sims, as well as combat sims. I just don't have time for more than one sim and I have no time to invest in combat sims anymore (I used to be big into combat sims back in the day). For example, this month's has a very detailed review of Lomac, and another article on X-Plane. There is two articles I have no need to read, as I don't own either sim and don't plan on purchasing in the future. That being said, they do have very good articles on real-world procedures. This month's has a nice article on holds. This is something that I knew next to nothing about. I've also read articles on night flying and flight planning as well as approach and landing procedures.

I occasionally buy issues of both PC Pilot and Computer Pilot, but agree with the criticisms above. That's no real knock against the magazines, but if you have high speed access you don't really need the downloads available on the CDs and the reviews and most of the tips are available online for free.Having said that, sometimes it is nice to have something glossy to to hold in your hands instead of always reading about flightsim on a computer screen and I do want to support the magazines to keep them alive. I just bought the current PC Pilot because of the free version of Airline 4 offered on the CD.BlairCYOW

While not a large percentage of every issue is relevant specificly to what I do, there is defionitely enough for me to have extended my subscription to several years. Here are some of my paticular likes:1. Real World Operations Profiles: The two issue operations profile of Australian Regional Express was neat in providing info on how to emulate an regional commuter. This particular profile gave me insight into how a Saab 340B, such as used by Northest regional carrier Mesaba Airlines, is used, and what to look for in modifying the panel. They provided a download with REX paint to go with it.In addition, they profile various types of operations by providing Round Robin flight plans described in the articles including printed and downloadable IAP plates to go with them.2. Tutorials on IFR, Multi-Engine, Ground-School, etc.3. Profiles of interesting world-wide private recreational flying with info on how to accomplish those flights in the sim.4. Flightsim tutorial such as managing AI, creating AI traffic, and descriptions of freeware and commercial products that apply. The sdame types of reviews and tutorials apply to scenery and weather products.5. Included CD. A recent CD, besides various freeware items and commercial demos, included the FS9 SDKs available at press time . . . not a small download if you had to go that route.6. Reviews: I have found them not balanced specificly in favor of most vendors but highlighted low points where noting them was due.Everybody to their own taste. In general I find a significant portion of most issues well worth reading and at least something of interest in each.