Tag: 2020

Why I bought Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020

Paul3 Replies

Simulator evolution 101

Saying that can mean so many different things, from First person shooters to flights like Microsoft Flight Simulator.   Each one has an unique aspect in the Gaming or PC world.   Now Let’s talk about what a Simulator is and then we can get into the mechanics of why someone would use this.  According to Wikipedia a “flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and the environment in which it flies, for pilot training, design, or other purposes.”

In the 1990’s it used to be a big bulky room with plenty of room for hydraulics and servos to simulate the direction and motion of the aircraft.  I know this really well because I on occasion would visit one of those places where you could see the flight crews flying in the simulator and it was so interesting and quite nice to see in actions.   The cockpit would be up in the air and you’d see the simulator tilt right or left or tilt down or up and you could imagine how that would be so fun to fly.   Now I on occasion I got to join the flight in the simulator because hey I was a little kid at the time and who’d not want to see it in action.

Simulations Still amazes me

I would on occasion remember those days in the big simulator and be in awe of what you could do.  So ten years ago I started looking for a simulator game or app.   I found the Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 and I was just amazed about it.   I started playing that simulator in the early days when it wasn’t really as good as it got today.   It was really fun and enjoyable to fly in those days to remind me what it was like when I was young.  The nostalgia alone is something that was the best feeling in the world for me.

Fast Forward to 2020

As the Pandemic hit and we were stuck in our house for days on end due to being lockdown.   I got really bored and started playing the old simulator.   I decided I wanted to see if they’re something new and better graphics.  So I found out that Microsoft was releasing the 2020 version later that year.   I ordered my copy of the software as soon as I was able to preorder it because well I was stuck in my house and wanted something to do.   I started using it and I have had the best time of life flying the game that reminds so much of my childhood as a kid in a real simulator.   I will say that it does take some time to get used.   You will also need a Decent graphics card to be able to play this one if you really want the realism of the way everything looks and how the terrain will look.   I suggest something like a minimum of Nvidia 1060 TI or higher and that is just the GPU.  A good CPU is recommended  something like an i5 or high would work just as well.   I never tried this on a I3 cpu so I am not sure how well it would work.   I encourage you to try it out on your system and see just how nice it is to fly a plane.

Buy Microsoft Flight Simulator (PC), (Steam),(XBOX) and explore the world!

 

How Computers have changed the world

Paul
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020

The History of Flight Simulator

In the early 80’s and 90’s, there was very few people who actually knew this but bases and other places had flight simulators for their pilots to practice.   In the early days we had simulators where you had to schedule to have a chance to work on their pilot skills.   It would be a big bulky room with Hydraulics and even had a preformed landscape that was used.   This wasn’t easy to setup or even to move if you had to.   The building had to have massive room to make the simulator move and feel like you were in the air.  The controls didn’t always worked as they should of and you had to have someone monitoring the simulator outside and hit buttons to make the simulator do things they wanted too.  Pilots only had so much time usually allocated a hour at a time to fly the sim to work on their skills.    It always left the pilot with stress because they would want to do even more than the simulator could do.

The early Simulators:

  • could not fly to far
  • Had massive heat issues.  (The Simulator had to have a cool off period between flights)
  • Be down for days to weeks due to hardware.
  • Need Racks of physical tape backups
  • cost a lot to make and maintain

The Downfall of Simulators

Like most who are reading this, you’re probably asking yourself why would they have those simulator?   In truth, they were required by the FAA and the Military to train new pilots before they could actually fly a real plane or helicopters.   Pilots also were required to fly so many hours in a simulator a week to brush up on their pilot skills, in the early days.   When new models came out, the pilots would come back to the simulator to learn how to fly the new models such as the Boeing 747 aircraft.   Each simulator facility, there was a massive undertaking to update the simulator to the newest model and keep their pilots up to date on the latest techniques to flying.

Fast Forward to today

In today’s era, there are some major upgrades to the simulator.   The building has been reduced to more than half.   The simulator itself can be used longer and acts more like a real boeing 747.   The controls in the simulator work even better because the heating issue was resolved by the way the system has developed.    You really only need a few fast CPU and GPUS, such as a I9-10850k with a Nvidia 2060ti or even better a 2 x 3060ti with SLI.   The Simulator now has few downtimes and less heat and even more realism than the before.   You can feel the aircraft and expect it to do what you want it to do and learn even more about aviation, navigation, and communication in the new simulators.   Pilots can now do simulations at home with very little cost to them compared to what it would of cost in those days.   You can buy a Microsoft Flight Simulator and fly anywhere in the world you want to and keep up your flight skills in 2020.  No more needing to schedule to use that flight simulator when you can do it at home and learn the techniques that are required.

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