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SamFisher

macrumors member
Sep 15, 2010
85
0
United Kingdom
There is a free simulator called flight gear which is windows/mac compatible, i use it and i think it's ok. But might not be supported with accessories...

Just thought i'd throw it out there... ;)
 

avro707

macrumors 68000
Dec 13, 2010
1,710
807
Flight Sim X for Windows will suit your needs quite well. That and a Saitek joystick or or a logitech one.

However, that will only be the start. Addons you will surely get in time:

1. FSUIPC by Pete Dowson
2. ActiveSky Enhanced (for great weather simulation)

I'd only go that far, because MS Flight is around the corner and we have to see how the existing addons will translate across from that. Most developers will already have Flight and should be getting their addons ready for it.

It's going to be a new world with flight. Installing addons as we used to know it is looking like it'll be turned on its head, in a good way.

If you want to get into airliner flying later on with the high-end airliner simulations from PMDG or FlightSimLabs, you'll probably end up getting a yoke/throttle/pedals setup and maybe even one of those FMC consoles that connects to your computer (for Boeing planes at least). It's the ultimate thing to program an FMC with a console and display that is on your desk! :cool:

That's the beauty of Flight Sim, it's easy to extend it and you are only limited by availability of addons, and the health of your finances to support the addiction. ;)

Also, what computer are you intending to run Flight Simulator on? You'll need a pretty potent machine to get it running fast at high detail. Raw processing power is better than the latest graphics cards. The best performing machines are typically overclocked PCs running at 4.0ghz or better from what I've seen.
 

mrcowdude20

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 11, 2011
173
0
Philadelphia, PA
X-Plane 9 or MS Flight Simulator X. Both can be purchased for about $30 USD.

Flight Sim X for Windows will suit your needs quite well. That and a Saitek joystick or or a logitech one.

However, that will only be the start. Addons you will surely get in time:

1. FSUIPC by Pete Dowson
2. ActiveSky Enhanced (for great weather simulation)

I'd only go that far, because MS Flight is around the corner and we have to see how the existing addons will translate across from that. Most developers will already have Flight and should be getting their addons ready for it.

It's going to be a new world with flight. Installing addons as we used to know it is looking like it'll be turned on its head, in a good way.

If you want to get into airliner flying later on with the high-end airliner simulations from PMDG or FlightSimLabs, you'll probably end up getting a yoke/throttle/pedals setup and maybe even one of those FMC consoles that connects to your computer (for Boeing planes at least). It's the ultimate thing to program an FMC with a console and display that is on your desk! :cool:

That's the beauty of Flight Sim, it's easy to extend it and you are only limited by availability of addons, and the health of your finances to support the addiction. ;)

Also, what computer are you intending to run Flight Simulator on? You'll need a pretty potent machine to get it running fast at high detail. Raw processing power is better than the latest graphics cards. The best performing machines are typically overclocked PCs running at 4.0ghz or better from what I've seen.

Thanks, xplane is working well, and now its on my ipad. I was looking at a simple simulator, but obviously there isnt such a thing, and the computer i was using it on was a macbook, and i didnt relize how much ram and crap it needed
 

P51Mustangrulz

Suspended
Mar 26, 2011
20
3
If you really want to test you aviator skills, I highly recommend the WWI combat flight simulator Rise of Flight.

Trust me...there's something alluring about flying the Baron's red Fokker Dr1.
 

Huntn

macrumors Core
May 5, 2008
23,469
26,589
The Misty Mountains
Thanks, xplane is working well, and now its on my ipad. I was looking at a simple simulator, but obviously there isnt such a thing, and the computer i was using it on was a macbook, and i didnt relize how much ram and crap it needed

Simple can equate to arcade. Years ago I played Chuck Yeager's Air Combat. I loved multiplayer on that game, but it was definitely arcade. X-Plane is one of the most realistic flight sims, although it lacks "real" combat. Last time I looked at it there was no damage modeling. If you want to dog fight, you can symbolically do it in X-Plane, but nothing is more satisfying then watching chunks blow off the plane your shooting up. ;)
 
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