Lets Fly VFR – Flight Simulation.

Best Flight Simulator Setup Practical & Performance Choices First.

Practical & Performance Choices First.

So, you’re getting into flight simulation and you’re aiming for the best flight simulator setup you can get. It’s an admirable and amazingly satisfying hobby for sure and it can also get very expensive. The choice of PC will dictate the success of your flight simulator setup for sure. Flight simulators are notoriously hungry of gaming PC hardware to begin with so starting here is a wise decision.

The next decision for you as you plan your best flight simulator setup options is going to be display options. Here’s where it can make or break the immersion of being in your sim. The options are generally:

• Single Display – Widescreen/TV/Projector.
• Multiple Displays – Widescreen/TVs/Projectors.
• Virtual Reality.

Single Display Flight Simulator.

The single screen path is better if your Gaming PC is not a really high spec machine. Flight simulators generally require a very high-speed CPU to get the best performance but having said that the current main flight simulators have been advancing with core program features moving to more multi-threaded CPU performance and using new technology such as FSR 3.0 and DLSS 3.0 there are certainly ways to gain more performance than previously available.

Single Displays is obviously the least expensive and with the myriad of widescreen monitors available you can have a very satisfying experience. Combining the widescreen monitor with a head tracking option like Track IR 5 or FacetrackNoir and a few others are available. The head tracking options allow you to look around your environment quickly and easily no matter what flight simulator you choose.

A single UHD projector can also give a great experience as it can be projected on a flat wall or a curved surface with inbuilt software allowing you to wrap it around and remain the correct visual alignment. The difference is you need a darker area to really use these well and have the best quality picture available. Light leakage through curtains can prove to be an annoyance but with some planning it still can be a pretty good option.

Multiple Displays Flight Simulator.

Diving deeper into the rabbit hole of creating the best flight simulator setup possible is the multi-screen/projector option. Certainly, much more immersive with options to achieve 360 Degrees of visuals even above the player. These display setups require multiple graphics ports on a single powerful GPU such as the NVIDIA 4090 or the Radeon 7950 XT to achieve high resolution results. In addition to the multiple projectors or screens in the form of dedicated computer monitors or UHD TVs which are also popular with Sim builders.

The multiple projector or display options require quite a bit of extra planning with displays needing to be placed on a frame often which are also commercially available often making the job a lot simpler. The multiple projector option requires the building of accurately curved backdrops that will not be convenient should they need to be moved. Planning at this point is crucial for any future moves should you move homes. Taking the time to ensure joins are not visible.

If this is your chosen path plan, plan plan so as to reduce the chance of mismatch in equipment and building of what will be a much more capable flight simulator visually giving a much better immersion.

VR – Virtual Reality.

In today’s new world of Virtual Reality, we are being flooded with amazingly good option in this department. The latest and greatest VR headsets are delivering nearly human visual quality at the very top end of the market with these super expensive units. The consideration at this point is how many displays would I use if I went the display route and how much would I have spent there? If you then look at the VR options, you can see what you would get at the same price point and make a decision.

In reality there are also some very good mid tear VR headsets from $1000 USD to $1500 USD as well as entry level ones also offering a quality experience at the $500-$999 USD price range. The top end units which often are directed at business and training organisations can be quite a lot more in price than $2000 USD. To put this in perspective Motion Racing YouTube Channel spent over $10,000 on each of their three panel displays and over $100,000 in total on their sim setup. It simply depends on your budget as always!

Features like eye tracking are certainly a feature these days keeping the sweet spot in the vision where it needs to be. Hand tracking as well as see through make it possible to build a practical cockpit and be able to see it as well as interact with it while not having to remove the headset. This allows a very realistic environment with physical contact with the cockpit and 3D real world visuals immediately around the sim cockpit.

In my personal opinion it’s going to be VR for me every time. The sometimes-lower fidelity in a less expensive headset (RIFT S is mine) out ways a million percent the lack of stereoscopic depth perception and ability to look unhindered in a full 360 Deg sphere within the sim. There for me is no way to beat this but your welcome to take your path to flight simulator utopia.

What’s Your Game? – Airline/GA/Helicopter/Gliding/Air Combat?

Ok we have talked about visuals because they remain constant in this equation, but the next subject of flight simulator is not so cut and dried in my opinion. In the market right now, we have a number of options that cover the above topics for our flight simulator. It depends greatly on your desired experience. Is it going to be:

• General Aviation – Ultralight/Sport Pilot/Experimental/General Aviation/Single/Multi Engine aircraft/Gliders.
• Commercial Aviation – Multi Engine/Helicopter/Jet
• Military – Helicopter/Bomber/Transport/Fighter/Drone

These options leave us with a myriad of intertwining choices in flight simulation currently. So, let’s look at the Civilian flight simulator options first then the military options.

• Prepar3D
• Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 – 2024
• X Plane 12

I would consider these the only currently commercially available quality flight simulators. let’s briefly look at each as options. They all have a wide range of included aircraft with a very large additional payware as well as freeware mods available to fly plus additional scenery options as well. The list does not finish here but once you’ve chosen your option you will soon find out the expansive addons that you can add or create yourself if you have the passion to do so.

Prepar3d:

Prepar3D offers students and professionals a multi-domain platform to:

• Experience a scenario before it happens to increase effectiveness and reduce response time
• Learn and test their knowledge in the same environment in which they will operate
• Re-create scenarios with operational data and experiment with different variables
• Experience a learning lab where science, technology, engineering and math principles are taught in an immersive environment
• Train for scenarios in aviation, air traffic control, ground vehicle operation and disaster response
• Prepar3D furthers the development of Microsoft® ESP™ while maintaining compatibility with Microsoft Flight Simulator X, allowing many thousands of add-ons to be used within Prepar3D.

Prepar3D can be used for a wide range of learning scenarios including vehicle procedures training, cockpit familiarization, flight planning, air traffic controller training and emergency response preparation. As a commercial-off-the-shelf product, Prepar3D provides a cost- effective training platform that evolves with technology. Take your training to the next level with Prepar3D!

Prepar3d.COM

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020.

Microsoft Flight Simulator is the next generation of one of the most beloved simulation franchises. From light planes to wide-body jets, fly highly detailed and stunning aircraft in an incredibly realistic world. Create your flight plan and fly anywhere on the planet. Enjoy flying day or night and face realistic, challenging weather conditions. Offering multiplayer flying with friends, DLSS support this simulator has AI generated scenery from satellite imagery which makes the sim incredibly realistic visually.

Microsoft Flight Simulator – The next generation of one of the most beloved simulation franchises

X Plane 12

Math and Physics Make the Difference

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Our commitment to realism in the X-Plane flight simulator starts with first principle physics, a mountain of math, and decades of real-world flight experience. Our development team has spent 30+ years refining the rendering engine and mechanics for a blisteringly authentic flight experience.

You’re in complete control inside the cockpit: fly any aircraft, anywhere in the world, in any type of weather conditions. We’ll provide an ultra-realistic combination of lift, drag, wind, turbulence, scenery, flight controls, and more. Feel every force acting on every piece of the aircraft in real-time. It’s something you can’t replicate in a free flight simulator or even the most cinematic airplane games.

X-Plane 12 runs on Mac, Windows, Linux and mobile platforms. X-Plane.com

What should I Buy? It’s a Harrowing Delema!

The differences between these different flight simulators will make it a very personal choice which way you go. Prepared 3D is backed by Lockheed Martin as their preferred flight simulation and flight training platform. Although originally being a licenced version of Flight Simulator X many years back this giant of an aircraft company has done amazing things with this flight simulator and now at version 6.o you could certainly not be disappointed choosing this sim.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 is certainly an amazing product visually so if visual representation is your highest requirement, then this would be the best choice. It has incredible graphical representations of nearly the whole world but with it announced they will be delivering a fully new version of Flight Simulator to be known as Flight Simulator 2024 the platforms days may be numbered in its current form. The platform has shown limitations that Microsoft want to address and to do this they require a full new platform to do it.

X Plane 12 is the continuation of the Laminar Research flight simulator created by Austin Meyers who remains the driving force along with his team. New versions of X Plane appear about 4-5 years as was the step from X Plane 11 to 12. Arguably the best and most realistic flight model amongst them all (in my opinion) this is the pilots flight simulator if physics fidelity and flight models are what pushes your button. Graphics are not comparable to MSFS 2020 to be sure but again like life it’s a balance of what you want and what can be delivered in a specific flight simulator.

Military Pilots Ahoy!

Falcon BMS

The options in the military flight simulator arena are extremely good and there has been some great news with Microprose reacquiring the Falcon series licence recently and now planning to produce a much-improved modern-day version of the much-loved Falcon series originally by Digi Tech. This series has been kept alive by the Falcon BMS team for many years and have grown this sim extensively although its graphics engine is very old the game play is exceptional. Falcon BMS is the ONLY combat simulator publicly available to have a fully Dynamic Campaign. Yes, this dynamic campaign works in absolute real time and every win or failure by real players or AI effects the day-to-day results overall!

DCS World

DCS world is an incredibly good combat simulator which actually does not restrict you to just aircraft. It has ground unit options as well as troops and logistical aspects now being part of the upcoming 2.9 release. A multi-threaded CPU simulator with DLSS being added in the upcoming 2.9 release this combat flight simulator by Eagle Dynamics is innovating at a very fast pace currently.

A wide range of maps as well as combat aircraft/helicopters/military trainer aircraft and ground units with the Combined Arms module make to quite the simulator. This is not classed as a game in the since War Thunder is more arcade like. There are some very thick manuals for the aircraft, and it will take time to excel.

Ther multiplayer player vs player and player vs Environment make the simulator great for single player mode or Multiplayer mode. No dynamic campaign but many campaigns available.

Rise Of Flight – IL-2 Stormovick.

These are also some popular flight simulators with their settings in WW1 and WW2 respectfully. These flight sims are very popular and are as all the previous flight simulators VR capable natively and provide quite a lot of entertainment with PVP multiplayer servers available and a lot of passionate players. I can’t speak for the flight models or graphics but are quite entertaining 1player and PVP platforms from what I’ve seen on YouTube.

Cockpit or No Cockpit.

The best flight simulator setup often also includes an interactive cockpit with full instrumentation and system switches to operate everything as per a full GA/Military aircraft simulator. Certainly, the work required to deliver such a simulator is extensive or expensive if you wish to buy a commercial model. There are a few very good aftermarket simulator cockpit producers out there making dedicated F-16/F-18/F-35 cockpits as well as GA and airliner cockpits and or parts for them to be assembled.

This will very much be a personal choice on how far you take this process. I have s friend who loves the whole cockpit building experience and many love this aspect. It’s the same with experimental aircraft where people love to build them but only fly them a minimal amount before selling and starting again. It’s a very personal choice on which path you take to achieve the best flight simulator setup for you.

It could be said that in VR there is no need to build a physical cockpit. With the full immersion of a complete 3D visual cockpit, I know I often just forget it’s a VR representation and try and put my arm on the windowsill there isn’t one. It’s pretty funny but the immersion of VR personally does not require the inclusion of a full cockpit build. It’s very personal what’s going to do it for you.

Gear Choices for Best Flight Simulator Setup.

Now we get the fun part for many and that’s choosing the myriad of Controllers and instrument options available today. The only negative is that there are nearly no force feedback controllers on the market at the moment. The range of Yokes for General Aviation aircraft, joysticks as well as throttle quadrants, HOTAS systems is just mindboggling. There are many direct copies of airliner as well as military joysticks available to make your experience as authentic as possible. There are also mounts for many of these units to be attached to desks for those not owning a full cockpit as yet.

Your choice if controller will likely be dependent on your Genre of flying. With a lot of replica controls out there from WW2 to current modern fighters as well as Airbus sidestick and throttles the world is very plentiful with available options to make your simulator exactly how you want it.

The abundance of screens allows us also to directly pull out the instruments and place them on a separate display to act as a full cockpit instrument panel. This is certainly possible with X Plane 12 which can be very useful if placed on an IPAD so the screen can be manipulated still. X Plane also has an instructor app which is available on iPad allowing you or a friend to generate emergencies as well as adjust weather without stopping the simulation. Pretty cool.

Best Flight Simulator Setup Options.

Motion Platform Options – You Move Me!

An aspect many sim flyers miss out on is the movement and tactile feel of flying. There are several options to rectify this deficiency in the feedback loop real pilots experience in a normal flight. The option to create a sim with a motion platform is certainly an appealing option. Six Axis (6DOF) Motion Base Platform – Basics A six axis motion base platform has the following axes: roll, pitch, heave, yaw, surge, and sway. You can certainly buy a complete motion platform but obviously cost is a factor. One way if your creative is to build your own system. You can purchase components from companies such as companies like Servos & Simulation which I found researching this topic. There are likely a few companies ready and willing to help you so do your research if this is an exciting path you wish to take.

There are some interesting products available, and the cost varies wildly but if you want to purchase a complete unit then I ground this company ready to help you. (Not a sponsored link) and they look pretty interesting. FULL MOTION SIMULATOR offer from 2 DOF right through to 6 DOF packages ready to be shipped. Again do your research as all I’m trying to achieve is give you options.

DOFReality.com

Tactile Feedback Options.

So, we have movement happening in our sim but is that enough? Maybe you can’t afford a 6 DOF Sim platform which is honestly most of us. Not complaining if you can and do get one! Kudos to you and I hope you really enjoy it! So, what about items that give you some feedback like a but kicker set up and other options. Let’s look briefly at what’s available now!

Products like the Butt Kicker send tactile feedback literally from your but so you feel engine vibrations and a whole lot more to make that experience yet more immersive.

Force feed joysticks use to be plentiful and having owned one they were pretty incredible. Feeling the cracks in the taxiway to changing control forces as you changed speed and much more made the flying experience amazing. There unfortunately are not many flying joysticks available currently so choices are limited, and availability also can prove to be an option. CLS-E is a company making force feedback flight simulator options, but they are quite expensive at over $2000 USD each.

THe Haptic gloves were aimed more at VR users allowing them to feel the non-existent cockpit they were flying in. These have seemed to go quiet on the market with the ability to hand track being more popular although the feedback is not existent you can still manipulate controls in your real-world cockpit as well as virtual one.

Mission Complete.

I hope I have been able to show you what’s possible in the home sim world. Creating or purchasing cockpits as well as instruments and then getting amazing visuals to immerse yourself in the whole experience. Options like motion platforms are expensive but there are those more creative that have built their own units for much much less than purchasing them complete. If the engineering challenge appeals to you, I’m sure you can get quite a good rig setup for sure.

I wish you all the best in your flight sim adventures no matter your genre is and your choices of screens, projectors oe VR to make it happen.

Author.

Brendon McAliece is a multi-lingual expat who brings over three decades of flight simulator/PC building experience as well as over two decades of real-world jet fighter experience as a weapons/egress technician. He holds a sport pilot certificate giving him real-world flying experience. Hi travels have taken him from Europe to the Middle East, Asia and his home of Australia. He has a passion for travel, languages, Flight simulation as well as Guitaring and Coffee. You can read more in his blogs below.

Learn More @ DreamingGuitar.com – DreamingCoffee.com – LetsFlyVFR.com

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