How to Find Free Flight Simulator Games Online

Me Flying (in the sim)

As a Flight Simulator Junkie, I've bought my share of Microsoft Flight Simulator releases and IL2 Sturmovik versions. But I also enjoy flying ,not playing, mind you, this is serious business :), simulators that are completely free and can be downloaded from the Internet. I've tried them all. In this article I will give you tips on finding free online simulator programs and my opinion on their strengths and weaknesses.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• a PC running Windows (Windows needed only for some of the programs listed here)
• an Internet connection

1. *FlightGear (civilian flight simulator)
   If you are looking for a freeware alternative to Microsoft Flight Simulator or its main competitor X-Plane, look no further than Flightgear Flight Simulator found at http://www.flightgear.org.
   Continuously improved by scores of developers, Flightgear runs on Windows,Apple and Linux computers. It is a modular package, meaning that, just like for Microsoft Flight Simulator, there are many available add-ons such as aircraft and scenery. Besides being free, Flightgear is also an open source program, meaning you can download the source code and change it to your liking. I installed an earlier version of Flightgear, and found it relatively easy to set-up. However, the program still had a few bugs and was lacking the polish of Microsoft Flight Simulator or X-Plane.
   Overall, Flightgear is a solid offering and the more time you will put into understanding and customizing this program, the more you will get out of it.

2. *Orbiter (space flight simulator)
   If you want to do your flying outside of the Earth's atmosphere,and on other planets, then Orbiter is the simulator for you. Orbiter is also a free program, and can be found at http://orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/.
   Orbiter features realistic space and atmospheric flight physics, the entire Solar System, and a range of missions to fly in both real and fictional (but highly complex) spacecraft. Just like Flightgear, Orbiter has numerous add-ons such as high-resolution planetary textures, user created missions and many spacecraft.

3. *YS Flight (civilian and combat flight simulator)
   YS Flight (http://homepage3.nifty.com/ysflight/aircraftsoft/aircraftsofte.html#YSFLIGHT) is a small flight simulator that has an interesting selection of both military and civilian aircraft. The graphics are fairly rudimentary,but setting up a mission is a snap. If you want to get in the cockpit and shoot some bandits after just a few clicks of the mouse, give this sim a try.

4. *Abandonware
   Many simulators of ages past are now available on the web as 'abandonware'. Just Google the term and you will find numerous sites where you can browse for old flight simulators. Since most will run under Microsoft DOS, you will need a DOS emulator, like DOSBox, to get these games to play. DOSBox is found at http://www.dosbox.com/.
   I used to have a lot of fun playing Electronic Arts 'Chuck Yeager's Air Combat' and MicroProse 'Dogfight' or '1942: Pacific Air War'. You should definitely give these games a try, just to get a sense of how far the simulation genre has come.

5. *Free Download Demos
   The latest offering of Microsoft Flight Simulator, FSX, has a playable demo which can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/games/flightsimulatorx/downloads.html. Scroll down for 'Trial Version'
   NSFS's main competitor, Laminar Research X-Plane, also has a time-limited version located at http://www.x-plane.com/demo.html.

6. Have fun flying for free!
   :)

Resources

• FlightGear Flight Simulator
• Orbiter Space Simulator
• YSFlight
• DOSBox DOS Emulator
• Microsoft Flight Simulator X Download Area
• Laminar Research X-Plane Demo