Flight simulators
Posted: October 8th, 2019, 2:23 pm
Many years ago, I used to enjoy the flight simulator that Microsoft made. It was the FS 95 version, released in 1996, and I thought it was miraculous. Mind you, the only one I'd used previously was that on my ZX Spectrum, which I think was designed by the same people who designed Teletext, so it didn't take an awful lot to impress me!
But like most such things I gradually stopped using it, and haven't used one - or even thought about using one - for about 20 years or so.
However, I recently came across a YouTube channel called The Flight Channel. They basically use flight sims to recreate various aviation incidents, and I'm totally hooked on them. A typical one is this, which relates to an accident involving an Indonesian airline a few years ago - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiTO42q1Zt4
Apart from being gripping to watch, and interesting to find out both why the accidents happened and what was done about them, one of the most remarkable aspects for me is the brilliant quality of the graphics. At times it's hard to distinguish the sim from the real thing.
Which led me to have a look at what modern flight sims offer, and I was astonished by how much they've advanced since `the old days'.
MS are about to launch their 2020 flight sim, and this is a trailer, demonstrating the quality of the graphics, which is just astonishing - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD2_zzQi7bQ The commentary is somewhat geekish, but it's worth watching, not just for the realism of the aircraft but the remarkable accuracy with which the landscape is now rendered.
Unfortunately, I daren't buy it, as I can envisage it being one of the greatest thieves of time ever invented!
But like most such things I gradually stopped using it, and haven't used one - or even thought about using one - for about 20 years or so.
However, I recently came across a YouTube channel called The Flight Channel. They basically use flight sims to recreate various aviation incidents, and I'm totally hooked on them. A typical one is this, which relates to an accident involving an Indonesian airline a few years ago - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiTO42q1Zt4
Apart from being gripping to watch, and interesting to find out both why the accidents happened and what was done about them, one of the most remarkable aspects for me is the brilliant quality of the graphics. At times it's hard to distinguish the sim from the real thing.
Which led me to have a look at what modern flight sims offer, and I was astonished by how much they've advanced since `the old days'.
MS are about to launch their 2020 flight sim, and this is a trailer, demonstrating the quality of the graphics, which is just astonishing - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD2_zzQi7bQ The commentary is somewhat geekish, but it's worth watching, not just for the realism of the aircraft but the remarkable accuracy with which the landscape is now rendered.
Unfortunately, I daren't buy it, as I can envisage it being one of the greatest thieves of time ever invented!