Flight Simulator X

When I grew up I was an air cadet, literally. Blue stovepipe trousers (slightly too short for my adolescently elongated legs), light crisp-blue shirt and silly little hotdog-bun hat. I have always had an urge to fly, always. Then, in a recent visit to Dreamworld I had a rather traumatic experience on the Lethal Weapon ride. That bitch should NEVER have let me on after I exceeded the height limits. I spent the two minutes of that ride trying to hold my legs underneath me so that my feet weren’t bludgeoned off by the tubular braces that were scant centimetres from my toes. After that incident, I became nervous on the flight home. For the first time ever I felt fear at all stages of the journey. Only recently, through sheer determination and now flight sim has that fear been allayed.

 

Before I launch into the limitless horizons of Microsoft’s Flight Simulator X I will first state a warning. This is not a game. FSX is a learning tool and through constant attention and learning you will be in a state of readiness that no other student pilot can match. With all realism settings cranked the only things missing from the experience are the possibility of actual death and also the ball-shrinking sensation of physical motion. Not everyone will appreciate this game however for those like me, this will re-kindle your interest in flight and after only a few hours of pattern-flying in a Cessna you’ll be calling your local flight school and booking in lessons.

 

This is not a pick-up and play type of game. If you really want to experience flight then FSX offers you a complete learning package from grounding theories right up to full flying tutorials. The most telling part of the game is when you first go to play is it asks if you are new to flight sims, have some experience or are in fact a real world pilot. Fly with trainer wheels for the arcade experience or crank up the realism, watch your fuel and prepare for in-flight emergencies.

 

 

 

The important thing to ignore from the popular media is the vicious rumour that only a top-end machine can run FSX. I run full grid mesh (detail level in the ground textures) and everything else on high bar airport traffic and, on a 3200+/7950GT I get 12 to 20 frames per second. For the shooter fans that’s an abomination and the difference between pwnage and death… in a flight sim it’s meaningless, utterly meaningless. The purity of this game is in the flying and all else is just filler. That said, the graphics are quiet pretty. I spent the other night in a 3 hour long haul from Perth to Port Hedland at 25000 feet and the sunset was breathtaking. Plane skins are very good and range from the brilliant burnished steel of the Cessna prop to the jagged and blocky paint job on the 737’s. The controls are where a lot of work went into. Each plane is modelled perfectly down to very small details. Each gauge works as intended and each switch or knob can be manually clicked or pulled instead of using the hotkey. In a 737 this can mean hundreds of variables, a factor no doubt treasured by real life pilots.

 

FSX ships as a standard or a deluxe version. The deluxe version costs slightly more but is well worth it. All comments from this point on are about the deluxe release. There are 30+ missions that you can complete with each acting as a learning tutorial and, in the case of the expert missions, will challenge the skills of all but real life pilots. From a simple airfield hop in a Piper Cub you can move your way up to flying movie stars to their island hideouts or the insanely difficult chopper mission to rescue workers from a burning oil platform. Completion of each mission earns you a reward (tin, aluminium, silver wings etcetera) and also adds time in to your pilot’s logbook. I worked my way through all the missions up to intermediate and then a few of the harder ones, but then I discovered what FSX is all about.

 

Free-Flight is the best game mode. In it, you choose from one of 24,000 airports world wide from major metropolitans (LAX, Tulla, Heathrow) right down to backyard airstrips (Burnie, Devonport). First thing to do is select your plane. I normally fly a Cessna (single engine) or a Beechcraft (twin engine) as these are the ones I’d like to fly irl. Next up choose your weather. You can either choose a pre-made set of weather or, as I always do, choose real-time weather updated every 15 minutes! That’s right, want to know what it’s like flying into Kennedy Int’l in New York right now... load it up and fly it! Whenever it’s raining at home I load up my Launceston to Devonport flight-plan and take off in the dark, wind and rain. It’s such a fantastic feeling to know how close you are to actually doing it. Make sure that before any free-flights you’ve upped all realism settings. There’s little in the game that provides more of an adrenaline rush than setting a light plane down in high winds and coming in on a diagonal angle to the runway only to rudder into a straight line as you flair and set wheels down.

 

Once you’re comfortable with your ability to fly, it’s time to hit multi-player. All FSX servers are hosted by players; there is no dedicated hosting software. You are able to see the servers available though so can choose with whom you want to fly. There are a few recurring Australian hosts, the first is ‘free flight Australia’ which is a guy who picks a random airport each night and it’s a free for all. The second is Tidy Enforcement Airlines (me) where we have limited ATC (air traffic control) and organised flight nights. The third and most popular is YSSY Today offering Kingsford Smith Airport and full ATC. Don’t spawn on the runway, communicate with the controller, adhere to taxi paths and don’t crash. If the host disconnects at any time you can choose to continue with your own session so I like to fly out of Kingsford Smith on long haul flights which gives me proper ATC for takeoff and when the host quits I can continue flying for a seamless experience.

 

There is also a massive world network called Vatsim which is like a gigantic teamspeak that is able to operate on different frequencies. Most major airports are covered and you can leave, say, Tullamarine with 4 traffic controllers, experience hand-offs in airspaces as you cross the world and then land at Boston Airport where there are 150 aircraft and 70 controllers. Unfortunately you can’t see the other aircraft but the ATC guy can and if you don’t stick to requested patterns and altitudes you’re going to get kicked. What’s great about Vatsim is it links into the in-plane radio so you hit Shift+2 for Comms/Nav and dial in to the next frequency. 

 

Before you decide to purchase this game, it’s really important for you to consider your peripherals. Mouse and Keys will lead to a dead and unresponsive experience. I was operating off a Self joystick (rudder, 14 buttons, hat switch) but eventually upgraded by buying Quiksilver's Saitek Flight gear (14 buttons, 2 scroll wheels, 1 spin wheel, 3 hat switches, adjustable grip, adjustable increments) which includes an impressive joystick as well as a separate throttle and multi-function display. The quality of your gear will impact on the experience… my Self joystick was great for flying but not until I got hold of the Saitek did I truly appreciate having a finely calibrated throttle. For the hardcore among you there are full pro-flight kits that include a proper flight-yoke and multi-throttles (for the four engines of most jet-liners) however these will set you back several hundred dollars.

 

I'll leave you now with a recent email sent to a friend, trying to communicate some of the experience that FSX brings.

 

------spawns in Cessna, parking bay 12, on external view checks flaps and rudders are working, starts engine, avionics, turns on lights, turns on seatbelt signs, sets squawk to 1000------

 

>>> tunes comm1 to frequency 187.75 and sets to active

>>> tunes comm2 to frequency 120.50 and sets to active

 

*comm1 - Sydney ground this is mike delta hotel requesting taxi instruction to nearest active

*ground - mike delta hotel, you are cleared for juliet, golf, golf 2, hold short

*comm1 - copy that ground, juliet, golf, golf 2, hold short

 

*comm2 - Sydney tower this is mike delta hotel requesting clearance for runway 32 right destination Canberra

*tower - mike delta hotel you are cleared for straight out, climb and maintain 20000 feet

*comm2 - copy that Sydney tower, cleared for straight out, climb and maintain 20000

 

 

------maintains level flight, switches off the seatbelt lights, switches off taxi and landing lights, switches on strobe and squawks on 1200, adjusts elevator trim, sets autopilot (20,000ft, elevation at 0fps)------

 

-----starts descent 100nm out, 10 to 20 degrees flaps------

 

>>> tunes comm1 to 164.36

>>> tunes comm2 to 130.50

 

*comm2 - Canberra tower this is mike delta hotel requesting landing clearance for runway 14 left

*tower - mike delta hotel you are cleared for landing at 14 left

 

----seatbelt sign on, 30 degrees flaps, slow to 200 knots, landing gear down, strobe and landing lights on----

 

----lands, taxis off active-----

 

*comm1 Canberra ground this is mike delta hotel requesting taxi to parking bay 19

*ground - mike delta hotel you are cleared for taxi via mike, mike 2, bravo 1

 

----parks, raises flaps, switches off lights avionics, engines and master battery switches-----

 

You can find a copy of Microsoft’s Flight Simulator Deluxe online through <a href="www.gamesdepot.com">GamesDepot</a>.