I started with Flight Simulator 98.  I didn't use it a lot, mostly just around Meigs Field. (still have the printed manual somewhere), but I started using it more when I replaced it with Flight Simulator 2000.  That's when I took my first flight in a default tubliner and got hooked.

I found this video that goes through all of the versions.  I found it very interesting and brought back memories.

 

Bob

 

Psion Flight Simulator for the ZX Spectrum 48k - Christmas 1982

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_Simulation_(Psion_software)

FS98, and that was completely by accident.

started  from the basic  amega 500 pc   flight  sim   lol  think it  was  the  falcon,  that long  ago

My first flight sim was Flight Simulator II on an Atari XL but I didn't really get into it until Flight Simulator II on an Atari ST - still got the manual for it - great dogfighting!!

I fiddled with some of the earlier Microsoft Simulators, but SubLogic ATP is what I consider my first.     It wasn't even included in the review!    Weak

 

JH

I started with (Microsoft) Flight Simulator 1.0 somewhere in the 1980s on a monochrome monitor.
If someone had shown P3Dv4 to me at that time, I would absolutely not have believed I was having something more than a Sci Fi dream. 🤗

Edited July 17, 20187 yr by Rafal

1982, we used to trade 5 1/4" Floppy Disks around the school yard like they were baseball cards, on them were cracked copies of various video games. I ended up with a copy of Flight Simulator 1. I fired it up on my old Apple 2e and I was immediately hooked. Shortly after that SubLogic released Flight Simulator 2 and that was retailing for $65, which was a huge amount of money in the early 80s, but I saved up and got a copy, best thing ever did and I have purchased every release ever since 😎

Started with FS95 really,but had been asked to take a look at FS1 as well but did not aspire much to it til MSFS95. Yes, a long bench-mark of our lives.

1 hour ago, Rafal said:

more than a Sci Fi dream. 🤗

Fully concur

First flight sims I had the chance to watch and play were SIMULATORE DI VOLO (original title SOLO FLIGHT) on a Commodore C128 of a friend:

http://specialprogramsipe.altervista.org/gioco.php?collana=com_64&console=c64&codice=simulatore_di_volo&id_rivista=4

and R.A.F. (original title ACE OF ACES) on a Philips VG-8020 MSX 1 of my cousin:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ace_of_Aces_(video_game)

First flight sim I owned was F/A 18 interceptor for Amiga 500:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F/A-18_Interceptor

First flight sim with a non-arcade flight model was Birds of Prey for Amiga:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birds_of_Prey_(video_game)

First civil flight sim was A320 Airbus for Amiga:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A320_Airbus_(video_game)

And first "modern" flight sim, with realistic flight model, was Flight Unlimited II for PC:

 

 

FS II and Jet on the C64 

MS Flight Simulator 98.

Cheers, Pete

8 hours ago, signmanbob said:

I started with Flight Simulator 98.  I didn't use it a lot, mostly just around Meigs Field. (still have the printed manual somewhere), but I started using it more when I replaced it with Flight Simulator 2000.  That's when I took my first flight in a default tubliner and got hooked.

I found this video that goes through all of the versions.  I found it very interesting and brought back memories.

 

Bob

 

Started with Sublogic's Flightsim 2 for the Commodore 64.  I remember buying scenery add-ons for it.  The C64 helped launch my career in the hotel industry and as a traveling hotel business systems instructor.  Reason is I was interviewed and asked if I ever worked with computers, to which I responded I owned one, was hired for the hotel on the spot, became their manager and systems trainer for my new employees, as well as their system reports programmer for the owners.  All that stemmed from my purchase of the C64 which I purchased for flight sims, 34 years ago.  From the C64 I graduated to FS for the Atari ST, then Flight Assignment ATP for the PC.  Did not like the ground colors for FA-ATP, so I hacked the program using debugger, found the strings for the ground color, and changed the cities from yellow to gray.  I guessed at the strings by searching for the hex codes for the color values, if I made a mistake and crashed the program, I would just restore the backup I made of the executable and try again, lol.  Even made my own flightsim for the PC using C++., not of commercial value but I had scenery stretching in a 200 mile wide swath from SFO to JFK and included ORD also as one of my airports, it wasn't bad and ran at 18.2 fps using page flipping, I would draw a scene in the buffer while displaying the previous frame on the PC.

John

Edited July 17, 20187 yr by John_Cillis

Started with something on an Amstrad PC and although I can’t remember what it was called, I do have memories of vivid but featureless plain blue sky and plain green ground and a few basic instruments. At the time however I thought it was amazing. After that I moved on the the Airbus simulation on the Amiga and then to FS95 and each of its subsequent reincarnations. 

If anyone had described to me twenty or more years ago what flight simulation would be like today I probably would have thought they were crazy dreamers! We owe a lot to all those who have laboured away on the development side without whom flight simulation would not be at the truly amazing level we experience today.

Bill