It’s wonderful to think that, with no training whatsoever, a person can be authorised to fly a 747 into a busy airport at peak time. With “Microsoft Flight Simulator” you can do that, while communicating simultaneously with Air Traffic Control. With this software, a gamer can learn to fly any aircraft available in the real world. This game is not only instructive, it’s also a great deal of fun, and you could find yourself laughing like a maniac at the end.
Learning to Fly
Some PC gamers take flight simulators much too seriously, for example, many have transformed rooms in their homes into flight decks, maybe even with their wives as unwilling stewardesses. This is not essential. To fly a plane in this game, just get a joystick, and for a helicopter, pedals are a real help.
A successful version of the game is “Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004”. The advantage of this version is that it’s been popular for some time, and as a consequence, there are bundles of add-ons available for it. Not only are many of these free, but they can also be downloaded from the internet. Add-ons include: extra aircraft, new scenery and even special effects such as fire and explosions. It would be wise, however, not to focus too much on explosions, when learning to land safely.
Anyone with a virtual death wish can jump immediately into a plane and try to take off. If you do this, make sure that the plane is going fast enough or it will probably stall. It’s much better to go to the “flying lessons” section of the game. There you can be instructed by the amiable Rod Machado who, by the way, seems to be obsessed with coffee.
The flying lessons can turn you from a student pilot into an airline pilot, by which time you may start looking around for a uniform. That is one of the danger signals, and may indicate the need to get a real life.
Getting hooked is a real possibility, and could eventually lead to your flying for a virtual airline. Many sad souls end their days there, and some even become virtual Air Traffic Controllers. Of course, the burn-out rate for controllers is extremely high.
Final Approach
It makes us feel secure, does it not, to know that the skies are full of trained simulator pilots? We can be grateful that there are adventurous men and women who can, at the drop of a hat, wrestle with the controls of a real plane for the first time, and attempt a landing. You can become one of them.
Bruce Bowden - Bruce Bowden writes about science and other topics. His book Strange Harbinger is a science fiction mixture of comedy and drama.
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