Regardless of whether you aspire to scour the skies as a pilot or not, the flight simulator game has become one of the most popular games amongst gamers of all ages who simply want to get a feel of what it is like to fly a plane.

And that’s really all there is to flight simulators ever since the idea caught on with Edwin Link’s ‘Link Trainer’, a revolutionary simulator that almost every aspiring fighter pilot during World War II trained before going ‘live’.

Of course, as time ‘flew’ by from World War II time until now, these sims (simulators) further developments have kept up with progress in aircraft technology in creating a greater degree of realism for pilots-in-training to the point that the entire cockpit (known as the simpit here) is duplicated in its entirety from the controls to the environment as well as the aspects of motion involved.

But until then, it was just limited to pilots and those who were a part of the aircraft industry until Microsoft released its Flight Simulator, which is the longest running PC game of all time. Its current (and its tenth) version, the Microsoft Flight Simulator X provides simulations of commercial passenger jet airliners to sailplanes to light aircraft as well.

Now, the aforementioned sim, Microsoft FSX, is one of the ‘home flight simulator’ greats meaning (if not necessarily obvious to all), it started as a game which you could play on your personal computer in the comfort of your home.

Now, if you use the PC, the keyboard and mouse are sufficient to serve as controls (for the simulator) as you try the different planes which are in various environments while also supporting joysticks and pedals to make the experience as realistic as possible, thanks to technology that is progressing exponentially.

Not only has the simulator technology improved rapidly but the internet has also helped it along with forums for gamers (youtube posts videos of guides to these simulators) as well as avenues for developers to work on open source simulator design projects that can used for free by downloading the software from specific URLs.

In short, the flight simulator game has diversified from a niche segment of customers for training purposes into the mainstream where almost everyone can get a feel as to what it is like to fly an aircraft in simulation mode using PCs or consoles that are available on the market.

Yes, we’re talking about fanboys, the guys who wanted to be a pilot when they were young but couldn’t and the ones who’d like to fly a plane just as a hobby. And why not? We’re all entitled to have our heads up in the clouds once in a while… right?

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