Why do you love Flight Simulator?

[PC Pilot Dave 3]

Hi everyone,

 

I was just thinking the other day about why I love Flight Simulators. I generally like to play video games with a rich storyline and/or a lot of action (i.e. Mass Effect, Zelda, Skyrim). I currently play FSX and other than the missions, it does not offer any of those. But for some reason I still always go back to it and watch people's flight sim movies on Youtube. I guess I just like the idea of being able to go anywhere in the world and the challenge of getting there safely.

 

So i just wanted to hear what everyone else had to say on this - why do YOU play flight sims? I'd love to hear.

 

Thanks!

[ViperPilot 81]

It allows me to travel back to the Golden Age of Flight, and captain a DC-3.

 

It allows me to join a Fighter CAP in the Pacific, during the Battle of Midway.

 

It allows me to take a waist cat shot, in my Tomcat, in the Gulf of Sidra.

 

It allows me to take a $100 hamburger flight in my Navion.

 

And all from the comfort of my simpit, with all the accoutrements at arms reach, and...

 

No 100LL or Jet-A to buy!

 

[captain420 3,099]

I love flight simming because I can go on a virtual vacation and fly anywhere I want from the comfort of my own home. It's a great vacation get away to me.

[Wendall 50]

Where else can a 15 year old kid command a Boeing 377 flying a trans-atlantic flight while in the year 2013?

[A320FAN 370]

My passion since I was born. I love Flight Simulator for 737NG and 777...

[HarryCYUL 45]

Where else can a 15 year old kid command a Boeing 377 flying a trans-atlantic flight while in the year 2013?

A2A:   ACCU-SIM CAPTAIN OF THE SHIP B377 :good:

 

http://secure.simmarket.com/a2a-accu-sim-captain-of-the-ship-for-b377.phtml

 

most awesome addon I have ever seen and heard.....live crew and passengers

 

Captain of the Ship Features

 

·         Total freedom from start to finish.  You are the captain, and are not forced to follow a linear progression.  You are free to choose what to do and when, and your intelligent crew will adapt.

·         You learn the most when you are having fun. Our former Accu-Sim 377 is extensively used by Tim Chopp, owner of the Berlin Airlift’s C-54 and C-97 Stratofreighter for his own personal training

·         New career system is based on how well you manage your aircraft systems, quality of flight, and emergencies

·         Intelligent passengers react to the weather, flight, and cabin conditions.

·         This Is Your Captain Speaking... The captain keeps passengers informed on the flight’s progress

·         A Live Engineer manages systems which allows a true left-seat experience

·         Virtual flight attendant performs her duties and reports to the crew

·         Navigator’s station with real-time monitoring and calculations of wind and flight conditions

·         Professional Audio with new sound suite including over 15 electrical motors, authentic switches, wind, cabin creaks, etc.

·         Natural Speech constructs sentences dynamically from a pool of over 1000 sound recordings strong.

·         Accu-Sim physics system shakes the cockpit and airframe based on both external and internal conditions

·         Real-time passenger loading and unloading

·         Deeper systems modeling throughout including oil pressure loss, friction heat, and cabin pressurization failures.

·         New Cabin Pressurization Module driven by the turbochargers

·         New Climate Control Systems including 24,000 watt air conditioning compressors along with dual body heaters

[Guest]

I get to do the kind of flying I will never get to do I real life.

[jetsflier 87]

It's amazing how much it decreases the stress on me every day. I'm not quite sure why it does that, but just doing something I love somehow makes me forget everything else. I honestly feel like I'm in the FS world that I'm flying in, until my parents tell me to do the dishes! 

[kaspern83 77]

Because where else can I control 220k pounds of thrust without spending 100 grand for flying school?

[Gregg_Seipp 570]

• Fly for hours for $0 in a variety of amazing airplanes I can't afford to fly.
• Fly anywhere I want, visit all kinds of places .  Of course it's not as good as the real thing but, whatever.  I can save some money for that.
• No avgas or jetfuel smell.
• No drafty cockpit
• The airplane I want to fly is never checked out by someone else.
• No dealing with outages (or at least I can get them fixed in a snap for free ).  No maintenance costs...or at least a whole lot cheaper.
• Pause.
• I can use all those free "not to be used for real flight" resources.
• I can turn the sound down.
• If real world wx stinks, I can fix that.
• I can practice approaches any time I want.

And it keeps getting better.

[Guest]

No drafty cockpit

You can easily simulate that with a couple of fans.

[HansRoaming 73]

Would have love to become a pilot, didn't have to opportunity so next best thing.

[Dillon 2,197]

Years ago me and my dad would go to KMDW or KORD and watch the aircraft takeoff and land. Wondering where they were going, was it somewhere better than Chicago, and what was it like to fly those big birds. Plane spotting in those days was easier than it is today because of the access around the airport we had. My dad could have only dreamed of the sim we have at our fingertips today. FS9/FSX allows us to dive into the world of aviation in a way we could never do before. I know exactly what the airline pilots do everyday and the skill it takes, I know the various cockpits, and every major airport in the world. Very few real world pilots have the exposure to the vast amount of aircraft/locations we do with few exceptions. Chuck Yeager was able to bounce from WWII fighters to X-Planes to airliners to GA aircraft. How many can do that and concerning WWII combat it's impossible for anyone today. Unless one is a test pilot in the military, retires, fly airliners and GA on the side you won't have a fraction of this exposure. The shear volume of locations one can fly to at the drop of a hat with no cost is amazing. Yes it's virtual but when you go to a well modeled airport's (in FS9/FSX) counterpart in the real world you know exactly where you are. The first time I went to Disney World I already knew KMCO.

For those of us who've been aviation heads since we were born FS9/FSX is like crack cocaine for us. After all these years everytime you load up the sim there's something new to explore because both sims model the whole world. No two flight are ever the same and there's always something new coming out to add to our experience. Who would have thought Bush flying in Alaska is so much fun or flying Alaska Airlines routes up the Fjords from Seattle in a 7373 could be a blast.

FS9/FSX is what Nicorest is for smokers what a flying addiction supplement is for Aviation heads. The money and access it would take for any of us to do in the real world what we can do in the sim is virtually impossible even for the most rich in society. Yes one can own a Citation X but an Airline is not going to let said person jump behind the controls of a 744 and fly to Rio not matter how rich they are. We can do that in FS9/FSX. For those of us that can't pick up and go flying every other day for various reasons (money, time, family) FS9/FSX satisfies that pull to the sky until we can go up again. I can't say enough the exposure to the various types of flying/procedures leaves one speechless. Flying an airliner to Cancun is a different reality than flying a turbo prop from Vegas to the Grand Canyon, glider flying is another example, throw in Bush flying and your in a different world again. In the real world pilots don't often experience these various worlds because their stuck in their own section of aviation. FS9/FSX is amazing in bringing the whole picture of aviation to us. From historical flying to everything today we in this community have more knowledge of the big picture than we realize. If we use FS9/FSX like a real world trainer you can't beat the knowledge you gain from it.

That's why I feel the product is so amazing and have been involved with it for years. It's sad the future of our hobby is so uncertain...

[Don t moderate me this way 882]

It gives me a break from the forums!  

[Howellerman 104]

Well, as much as I enjoy flying visually and mechanically beautiful aircraft, gliding over interesting terrain in custom-made or real-time weather, and ending with the challenge of landing well, I am afraid to say that FSX appeals to the dark side in me: The "Tweaker".

 

Being 60 years young, I have tweaked a lot of things over the years. Motorcycles always need better suspension, engine performance, etc. Cars needs better wheels, shocks, and tires. Stereos always sound better when you have that synergistic match between components that can only come from experimentation with different cables, preamps, etc.

 

And FSX, to me, is the ultimate tweaker paradise. It is like Sim City, where I can build and modify the environment around me. Meshes and land classes and textures, oh my! I look back to my early FSX days, November 2012, and marvel at how much those first flights have evolved over the last 9 months. And the amount of money I have invested!!!

 

Ultimately, I guess FSX represents the best of both worlds: actually flying a beautiful aircraft, and the ability to tweak the world around me. It is my #1 recreational pursuit right now, to the bemusement of my wife and frustration of my son (aren't you done with the PC yet, Dad?). Love it!