rec.aviation.simulators Frequently Asked Questions
rwit...@msu.edu
Posting-frequency: semi-monthly (5th, 19th)
Last changed: 2/21/96
rec.aviation.simulators
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
This FAQ is maintained by rwit...@msu.edu (Bob Wittick) and
is posted twice a month. Any comments, suggestions, additions or
corrections are welcome, so feel free to send me your ideas.
Similar to the FAQ on rec.aviation, there are |'s (pipes) at the beginning
of each line that contains new information. This way those of you with
'grep'-like utilities can immediately search this file for the new stuff.
Our "unofficial motto" (smiley-captioned for the humor-impaired):
"Any product (flight/computer oriented) that considers Angle
of Attack in an at least semi-realistic way is a sim, any other
a game." :)
-- Gary Cooper (not the dead one)
A special thank you is extended to John Mechalas, who founded this FAQ and
spent several years maintaining it. His many contributions to the Internet
flight simulator community have been invaluable.
Thanks also to: Glenn Wallace, Hayden Nanton, G. David Frye, Robert Dorsett,
Mark Strawcutter, Brooke Anderson, Jeff Beadles, Joel Murray,
Linda McGarry, Dan Sharpes, Bruce Jackson, Mary Shafer, Rob
Jones, Michael Jones, Stefan Frick, Gary Cooper, Jim Knutson,
Brian, Paulo Ney de Souza, Tim Tessin, Scott Chan, Brad Bass,
and Alan Epstein for their major contributions.
Also thanks to the countless others who have provided John and me with constant
feedback and other helpful hints.
Abbreviations you may see used on this news group:
3DAGS Amtex's ATP Companion: 3-D Advanced Graphics System
AAF or A&AF Mallard's "Aircraft and Adventure Factory" for MS FS4
ACM "Air Combat Maneuvers", a flight simulator for Unix
AOTP "Aces of the Pacific"
ASD or A&SD Microsoft's "Aircraft and Scenery Designer" for MS FS4
ATP subLOGIC's "Flight Assignment: Airline Transport Pilot"
AW Air Warrior
BAO The Bruce Artwick Organization
DOF Degrees Of Freedom (used in describing flight models)
F15III "F-15 Strike Eagle III"
F3 Spectrum Holobyte's "Falcon 3.0"
FAQ Frequently Asked Questions
FS "Flight Simulator", usually referring to Microsoft's
FSFS BAO's Flight Simulator Flight Shop
FS4 Microsoft's Flight Simulator, version 4
FS5 Microsoft's Flight Simulator, version 5
FTP TCP/IP "File Transfer Program"
FU Looking Glass Technology's Flight Unlimited
MS Microsoft
MS FS Microsoft "Flight Simulator", usually referring to the IBM
version
PC Personal Computer, not necessarily referring to IBM PC's
SB Sound Blaster sound card for IBM computers
SEE Mallard's "Scenery Enhancement Editor" for MS FS4 w/ A&SD
SGA or S&GA Mallard's "Sound and Graphics Upgrade" for MS FS4
USNF Electronic Art's "US Navy Fighters"
VLB VESA Local Bus (usually referring to the video card)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
INDEX
Section A: General information about rec.aviation.simulators
A1. What is rec.aviation.simulators?
A2. Is it okay to discuss games?
A3. Can I post binary files here?
A4. What posts *don't* belong here?
Section B: Flight Simulation Theory
B1. Where can I learn about flight simulation?
B2. What do you really mean by "realism" in a flight simulator?
B3. How does the flight model influence fidelity?
B4. What is a 6 DOF flight model?
B5. What is DATCOM?
B6. How "realistic" are the various PC based simulators?
Section C: PC-Based Products
C1. Which flight simulator is best for me?
C2. Can I maintain my FAA currency with a PC-based simulator?
C3. Will a FPU/Math co-processor improve my simulator performance?
C4. Are there any space simulators?
C5. What simulators are available for Unix or Sun systems?
C6. Are there any Air Traffic Control simulators?
C7. Where can I buy flight-related software?
C8. Are there any flight-simulator-related mailing lists?
C9 . Are there any magazines devoted to flight simulators?
C10. What new products are available or are expected?
Section D: Microsoft Flight Simulator
D1. What kind of performance should I expect from FS5?
| D2. How is the FS5.1 CD-ROM version different from the floppy disk version?
D3. What add-ons are available for FS5?
D4. What are the various "companion books" available for FS?
| D5. Can FS5.1 be used in Windows-95 protected mode?
| D6. Must Flight Shop be installed before I can use FSFS planes?
| D7. Why did FS5.1 lose all my scenery when I added some new scenery?
Section E: Specific Questions on Other Products
E1. Why doesn't my Sound Blaster card work with ATP?
E2. The KU antenna won't deploy in shuttle, and I can't de-orbit. Is
there a fix?
Section F: FTP and WWW Sites
F1. Are there any FTP-sites that have flight-sim related material?
F2 Is there a way to get flight-sim related materials via e-mail?
F3. Where can I get ACM, FltSim, and Aviator?
F4. How do I upload files to the various flight-sim FTP sites?
F5. Where else can I get flight-sim related materials?
F6. Are there any www sites devoted to flight simulation?
Section G: Misc.
G1. What happened to Mallard?
| G2. What happened to SubLOGIC and BAO?
G3. How do I submit comments, suggestions, or corrections to the FAQ?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Section A: General information about rec.aviation.simulators
A1. What is rec.aviation.simulators?
rec.aviation.simulators is one of many sister groups that are under
the "parent" group rec.aviation. This USENET news group is specifically
for the discussion of air and spacecraft simulators, whether they be
PC-based, Workstation-based, or "real". Mostly, you will see talk
about PC sims, since most of us can't afford (and consequently don't
have access to) the real things. For those that are interested in
discussing the theory of flight simulation, you may also want to
check out sci.aeronautics.simulation.
A2. Is it okay to discuss games like "Falcon" or "Hellcats"?
Since the software market doesn't really differentiate between games
and flight simulators, we don't either. However, you are more likely
to find game-related simulators on the newsgroups
comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.flight-sim and comp.sys.amiga.games and others,
whereas discussion of "pure" simulators on here.
If you need help with a game, you are probably going to have better
luck (and more responses) by posting to the games newsgroups.
However, if your questions are about flight or combat technique,
flight modeling, realism, or other issues related to the software
you are using, then this is the best place to post.
A3. Can I post binary files here?
In the past, some uuencoded binary files have been posted to this
forum. In general, most of these files have been airplanes or
scenery for MS FS4 and such. Although there's nothing really wrong
with posting such files to the news group, use a little common sense
before doing so, and ask yourself the following questions:
* How big is the file? Whereas posting a 2k TRACON/ATC sector
is probably not a big deal, a 50k scenery file is probably
pushing things. Most administrators probably don't want to
store several large binary files in their news spool
directories.
* Would it be better to put it up for FTP? In the case of larger
files, it would be better to post the file to an FTP site
such as ftp.iup.edu or wings.ark.com, and then just
announce its existence on the news group, telling people where
they can find it and what it is. See Section F for a listing
of FTP sites that carry Flight-Sim related material.
A4. What posts *don't* belong here?
In general, if it's not related to flight simulation products or
theory, you're better off taking it somewhere else. This includes,
but is not limited to, political discussions, flames, chain letters,
government propaganda, and anything by Robert McElwaine or Melvin
Gladstone. Also note that requests for cheats, cracks, or other ways
of bypassing copy protection, are not welcome. *Several* major product
developers read this forum, and you're more likely to offend the
people that are trying to make their living than you are to get any
help in illegal activities.
Section B: Flight Simulator Theory
-----------------------------------
B1. Where can I learn about flight simulation?
For the actual flight dynamics, try the references listed below. You
would be best off reading books on computer graphics for handling the
graphic displays:
Foley et. al., _Fundamentals of Interactive Computer Graphics_,
Addison-Wesley. [Basics only. -R D Dorsett]
_Microcomputer Displays, Graphics, and Animation_, Bruce A. Artwick,
Prentiss-Hall, 1985, ISBN 0-13-039322-3. Previously published
as _Applied Concepts in Computer Graphics_.
_A versatile computer-generated dynamic flight display_, Bruce A.
Artwick, Aviation Research Laboratory, Institute of Aviation,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, prepared for Engineering
Psychology Programs, Office of Naval Research, May 1975.
_Flights of Fantasy_, by Chris Lampton, completely implements a PC
based flight simulator. While it isn't Strike Commander or Falcon
3.0, it _is_ much better than any other book on the market for
learning implementation details of 3d graphical games. [ -Brian]
The following references are mostly academic texts, and provide more
of introductions to dynamics and flight dynamics theory. Additional
references are listed in B4 and B5.
_Aircraft Control and Simulation_, by Brian L. Stevens and Frank
L. Lewis, John Wiley & Sons, 1992, ISBN 0-471-61397-5. This is
what a lot of people seem to think Rolfe's _Flight Simulation_
is. Develops a 6 dof F-16 flight model. [ -RDD]
"Modeling Flight," in _IEEE Potentials_., April 1990.
Performance-based model of bizjet-category airplane; Turbo Pascal
source available on various ftp sites as "SIMULATE.PAS"
_Simulation Of Aircraft_, Connelly, Mark E. Report 7591-R-1.
Feb 15, 1958, Servomechanisms Laboratory, MIT. It is a bit dated
but its what CAE Electronics used to throw at new graduates in the
Aero Group to educate them. [ -Iab Maclure]
J. D. Anderson, Jr., _Introduction to Flight_ (McGraw-Hill, 1989).
[A great intro to flight dynamics. Read this first before tackling
the more difficult texts that follow. -B Anderson]
C. D. Perkins and R. E. Hage, _Airplane Performance, Stability, and
Control_ (Wiley, 1949). [One of the best books I've found on the
gritty details of flight dynamics, including all of the complicated
effects ignored by all PC flight sims. Written by and for aircraft
designers. -BA]
B. Etkin, _Dynamics of Atmospheric Flight_ (Wiley, 1972). [A more
modern treatment. Relies more on linearization, which I don't like,
but the treatment is more well organized. -BA]
R. Von Mises, _Theory of Flight_ (Dover, 1959). [Another detailed
book like the one by Perkins and Hage. This one is even a little
more involved than Perkins and Hage's, and it's not suitable unless
you are comfortable with physics and math at the freshman or
sophomore level. However, since it's a Dover book, the list price is
only $13-- a steal considering that Perkins and Hage's and Etkin's
books cost about $90 each. -BA]
J. M. Rolfe and K. J. Staples, eds., _Flight Simulation_ (Cambridge
University Press, 1986), pp. 36-60. [This is a book about the
development of flight sims. Pages 36-60 (Chapter 3) contains
information on the quaternion formalism for representing an
aircraft's attitude. This is the way to do it in a flight sim. It
is much simpler and faster than the Euler-angle formalism (i.e., it
is much more suitable than using the gimbal equations). -BA]
Another excellent reference is _Spacecraft Dynamics_ by Kane, Likins,
and Levinson (McGraw-Hill, 1983). [Also details the quaternian
formulation, as well as gives transformation equations between the
various sets of parameters. Also lists transformation matrices for
several sets of euler angles. -JM]
If you want to see a flight model in action, you will definitely want
to check out the flight model used in ACM (a Unix-based flight
simulator for X11 environments. A separate FAQ for ACM is maintained
and posted periodically).
Tim Tessin writes:
ACM uses a 6 DOF model with roll, pitch and yaw modeled using
NACA stability derivatives. Also ACM actually models the spring
and motion damping effects of the landing gear struts, as well as
the contribution of ground friction by the wheels.
B2. What do you really mean by "realism" in a flight simulator?
Robert Dorsett Writes:
There are two major issues to consider: realism and fidelity.
Realism is how "real" a system feels; fidelity relates to the actual
models used.
Realism is a highly subjective issue: a simulator might model each
blade of grass on the approach end of a runway, but if the user's
flying overhead at 37,000', that won't affect his perception of
*realism* at that point. Similarly, a graphics system might provide
a high- resolution database, but if it only uses an orthographic
projection, it won't win over many pilots!
Simulation is, therefore, the *art* of providing the expected cues
and response characteristics for a specified mission. Most military
simulators are so specialized that they're optimized for certain
missions or flight regimes; airline simulators tend to be much more
flexible (all regime). For each regime, appropriate feedback must be
maintained.
Real-world systems models are usually (but not always) the
cornerstone of high-fidelity simulation; final "realism", even in
airline simulators, is obtained only after an exhaustive survey and
fine-tuning process. The acceptance process for even a
production-run simulator can take up to a year.
A third issue is perception, and the intent of the game as an
entertainment product. For example, pilots realize that airplanes
are essentially very easy to fly and land: non-pilots may expect them
to be horrifyingly complex to fly, given a lot of the mystique
surrounding aviation, a lot of which has been enthusiastically
promoted by pilots themselves. :-)
All retail flight simulators are just games, and, to some degree,
help shape and feed off the perceptions of their users. So if the
users expect an F-16 to be almost impossible to fly, an F-16
simulator that IS almost impossible to fly wouldn't disappoint anyone
except real pilots. Conversely, a simulator that is actually easy to
fly might disappoint game-players as too easy, or "arcade-ish,"
because it IS too realistic.
In discussing "realism," one should really pay attention to three
factors:
1. The flight dynamics and flight instrumentation. (flight
simulator)
2. The visual system.
3. The systems support. (systems simulator)
The basis for such discussions in this forum should be from the
pilot, not entertainment, perspective.
B3. How does the flight model influence fidelity?
True fidelity in a flight simulator comes from the flight equations
used in the flight model. In general, the more complex the flight
model, the better performance you are going to get, though there are
instances where even a *good* flight model can lead to poor flight
simulation (more on that in a minute).
In general, most of the low-end, low-cost simulators on the market use
what is known as a "3 Degree of Freedom", or 3 DOF, flight model.
This means that the equations of motion only determine x, y, and z
displacements of the aircraft in space, and then use this information
to determine the flight attitude. The actual characteristics are
based on the so-called "performance" equations, which themselves are
usually only defined for steady-state situations. Various other
characteristics, such as roll rate, must be fudged by the author.
Some simulations don't even pay any attention to angle of attack,
using stick input or airplane pitch as the final determining
characteristic.
Most high-end simulators use a 6 DOF model, described below, and a
lot of PC-based simulators tend to ignore these kinds of models
completely, and rely on a "point-space" performance model instead.
The equations of motion do not make the flight model, however; they
merely set the limit on what is and is not possible. In order to
support these equations, you must also have good models for finding
the lift-curve slope, drag coefficients, stability derivatives, and
other parameters.
In addition, you have to decide how you want to calculate these
parameters. Should you calculate your lift on each wing
independently, or just the lift on the whole wing surface area? The
latter method would be faster and easier, but the former would allow
you to model such flight dynamics as the "Dutch roll" modes,
stall-spin conditions, and other common effects. How about downwash
effects, which alter the effective angle of attack of the tail?
There are several issues that need to be considered.
Finally, after you have your flight model together, you need to find
the parameters that fit your aircraft, so that your *plane* flies
just as realistically as your flight model does. For example, you
could have a high-end, 6 DOF flight model, but if your Cessna 172 has
the wrong wing area modeled, it won't *fly* like one.
B4. What is a 6 DOF model?
Robert Dorsett writes:
A 6 degree of freedom flight model provides for a fairly accurate
modeling of the motion and flying characteristics of an airplane.
It is generally used when the airplane is to be modeled as a "rigid
body." It considers both rotational (yaw, pitch, and roll) and
translational motion, both centered around the center of gravity.
Since there are three axes to consider in each case, this is referred
to as a six- degree-of-freedom model. This model actually considers
twelve variables, since both the instantaneous rate of change *and*
position have to be considered. These are referred to as the state
variables, which are applied to varying matrices of coefficients to
get the desired fidelity.
Several people recommended "Aircraft Control and Simulation," by
Frank L. Lewis and Brian L. Stevens (Wiley Interscience, 1992, ISBN
0-471-61397-5). It is a comprehensive work, using an F-16 model as a
case-study example. It includes FORTRAN code.
A couple of people recommended NASA CR-1756, "The simulation of a
large jet transport aircraft volume I: mathematical model," by C.
Rodney Hanke, March 1971. This deals with the simulation of a Boeing
747. I've found the second half, containing the aerodynamic data, is
all but impossible to find, however.
One of the more accessible references is J. M. Rolfe's _Flight
Simulation_, a survey of the art. It has a bottom-line description
of a 6 DOF flight model, adapted from the Hanke paper. It is more
useful for its insights into other aspects of system and flight
simulation.
One respondent suggested "A review of flight simulation techniques,"
by Max Baarspul, in _Progress in Aerospace Science_, Vol. 27, 1990.
This is a comprehensive monograph (120 pages), detailing the art of
simulation. Portions are reminiscent of Rolfe, but he develops a
flight model for a DHC-2 "Beaver" in much more detail.
Dan Sharpes dug up the following two:
_Aircraft Dynamics and Automatic Control_, by McRuer, Ashkenas, and
Graham, (Princeton University Press, 1973, ISBN 0691080836), which
apparently has a detailed DC-8 model at the end.
_Flight Stability and Automatic Control_, by Robert C. Nelson (McGraw
Hill, 1989, ISBN 0070462186). Dan transcribed the following
derivatives for a 747-100 or -200, on page 260:
Longitudinal
Mach Alt CL CD CLa CDa Cma CLadot CLq
.25 SL 1.11 0.102 5.70 0.66 -1.26 6.7 5.4
.90 40k 0.5 0.042 5.5 0.47 -1.6 0.006 6.58
Mach CMq CLM CDM CmM CL-De CM-De
.25 -20.8 -0.81 0.0 0.27 0.338 -1.34
.90 -25.0 0.2 0.25 -0.10 0.3 -1.2
Lateral
Mach Alt CyB ClB CnB Clp Cnp Clr Cnr
.25 SL -0.96 -0.221 0.150 -0.45 -0.121 0.101 -0.30
.90 40k -0.85 -0.10 0.20 -0.30 0.20 0.20 -0.325
Mach Cl-Da Cn-Da Cy-Dr Cl-Dr Cn-Dr
.25 0.0461 0.0064 0.175 0.007 -0.109
.90 0.014 0.003 0.075 0.005 -0.09
W = 636,600 lb
CG @ 25%MAC
S = 5500 ft sq
b = 195.68 ft sq
c-bar = 27.31 ft
Ix 18.2 E6 slug-ft sq
Iy 33.1 E6 slug-ft sq
Iz 49.7 E6 slug-ft sq
Ixz 0.97 E6 slug-ft sq
All derivatives are per radian.
For more aircraft models, check out the following references:
Robert K. Heffley and Wayne F. Jewell, _Aircraft Handling Qualities
Data_, NASA CR 2144, December 1972, 343 pp. Aircraft described are
NT-33A, F-104A, F-4C, X-15, HL-10, Lockheed jetstar, Convair 880M,
B-747, C-5A, and XB-70A.
G. L. Teper, "Aircraft Stability and Control Data, NASA CR-96008,
1969. Aircraft covered are A-7A, A-4D, F-106B, T-38, F-5A, F-104,
F-105B, B-58, Navion, and DC-8.
B5. What is DATCOM?
A description of DATCOM, from Dan Sharpes:
The Datcom is the short-hand title for the "USAF Stability and
Control DATCOM." It contains methodologies for determining the S & C
derivatives for just about any type of configuration. It does NOT
contain the S & C derivatives of aircraft (popular misconception!).
Here's what the Guide to Datcom says:
"Fundamentally, the purpose of the Datcom (Data Compendium) {OK, I
was wrong. Flame me!} is to provide a systematic summary of methods
for estimating basic stability and control derivatives. ... For
any given flight condition and configuration the complete set of
derivatives can be determined without resort to outside information.
The book is intended to be used for preliminary design purposes
before the acquisition of test data. ... there are many cases where
the Datcom can be used to advantage in conjunction with test data.
For instance, if the lift-curve slope of a wing-body combination is
desired, the Datcom recommends that the lift-curve slopes of the
isolated wing and body, respectively, be estimated by methods
presented and that appropriate wing-body interference factors (also
presented) be applied. If wing-alone test data are available, it is
obvious that these test data should be substituted in place of the
estimated wing-alone characteristics ..."
The Datcom has nine sections:
1) Guide to Datcom and Methods Summary
2) General Information (notation, parameters of wing, body,
section, and platform)
3) Effects of External Stores
4) Characteristics at Angle of Attack (static derivatives in alpha)
5) Characteristics in Sideslip (static derivatives in beta)
6) Characteristics of High-Lift and Control Devices (section and
wing forces and moments, including hinge moments)
7) Dynamic Derivatives (in p, q, r, alpha-dot, and beta-dot)
8) Mass and Inertia
9) Characteristics of VTOL-STOL Aircraft (thrust characteristics)
The methods are a mixture of theoretical and empirical equations.
Each section starts with a description of the aerodynamics that
contribute to the derivative as appropriate to the configuration.
The methods are then discussed with sample problems following. Next
are the references, the tables showing accuracy of the methods, and
finally, the charts. You'll probably recognize these - several
authors use them liberally in their texts.
Where to get DATCOM:
It's $175. It's distributed in four binders, is 3,200 pages, and can
be ordered from:
Global Engineering
7730 Carondelet Ave. #407
Clayton, Missouri 63105
B6. How realistic are the various PC-based simulators?
Robert Dorsett writes:
This is difficult to establish, since, again, user enjoyment of a
product isn't directly proportional to its realism. Also, different
users might prioritize different aspects of the simulator, which can
contribute to perceptions of realism. An instrument-rated pilot
might value the fidelity of the nav database; a VFR pilot might want
a detailed visual database and good "seat of the pants"
controllability. A combat pilot will want a challenging adversary,
whereas a would-be test-pilot would enjoy just flying the airplane.
So far, there aren't any "combat airplane" equivalents of MS FS,
which will just let one fly around a realistic civilian database in a
really high-performance airplane, so it's not really possible to talk
about "instrument" military simulators, even though a couple provide
"ILS" approaches.
Since "package" evaluations ARE a function of user expectations, take
the following with a grain of salt.
1. _Civilian_ Considering flight realism, database design and
fidelity, and instrumentation.
Realism: Elite (Mac/PC), without a doubt. Developed with a 6 DOF
flight model, very accurate. Followed by Microsoft Flight
Simulator 5 (PC), ATP (PC) and MS Flight Simulator 4 (Mac/PC).
Database: Elite, for its nav database; ATP and MS FS 5 for
their visual databases. Navaids modeled better in ATP.
Instrumentation: Elite (Mac/PC), without a doubt; ATP and MS FS
4 and 5 are about on par.
2. _Combat_ Considering flight realism, database design,
responsiveness, and challenge.
Flight: "Hellcats over the Pacific"'s (Mac) F6F feels the most
like any airplane, but its performance near the edges of the
envelope feels too stable. Next-up would be "Falcon 3" (PC),
idiosyncrasies and all; followed by "P-51 Mustang" (Mac), and
"Aces of the Pacific" (PC). Near the bottom of the list is
"Falcon MC" (Mac), with its horrible flight model.
Database: "Hellcats," again, the most detailed, modeling
everything from moving aircraft carriers to the ammo cans on
anti-aircraft batteries. "Falcon" (3 and MC) are mediocre
seconds.
Challenge: "Falcon 3's" probably the best, due to the necessity
of learning and using the various types of weapons systems.
"Hellcats" arguably provides the best air combat maneuvering guns
environment, although enemy aircraft don't die easily enough when
hit point- blank. "P-51" has a difficult ACM environment, but is
only 1:1. However, when one wins, one has a real feeling of
accomplishment.
Section C: PC-Based Products
-----------------------------
C1. Which flight simulator is best for me?
The answer to this question, like all others of this type, is "it
depends on what you want to use it for". There are a number of
flight simulators out on the market, and they are (mostly) broken
down into the following categories:
* Cheap games -- These would be programs that aren't really flight
simulators at all, but rather programs that have an airplane or
some such thing in them. They are not intended to be flight
simulators, any more than DOS's EDLIN and Mac's TeachText are
intended to be word processors.
* Flight Simulation Combat -- This category would include games
like Falcon, Aces of the Pacific, Hellcats, and others. Some
of these have better flight models than others, some have better
combat modeling. It's really difficult to point out which of
them is the best, since it all depends on what kind of planes you
want to fly, and how complicated a program you want.
* Low-end Simulators -- This category includes FS 5 and ATP, and
consists of programs that are really intended to be basic flight
simulation "games" (and I use that term loosely). You get a
fairly good flight model at low cost, and also good graphics.
They are usually intended for VFR flight, and not for serious IFR
practice.
* High-end Simulators -- This category includes software packages
like Elite and IFT-Pro. They typically will have a 6 DOF flight
model, realistic performance, high fidelity, and are designed to
provide existing or future pilots with serious IFR practice.
They are also considerably more expensive, ranging from $150 to
$1,500 or so.
C2. Can I maintain my IFR currency with a PC-based simulator?
There is no PC-based program that can, at the present time, be used
to log IFR hours. However, the following products are recommended
for serious IFR practice:
"Elite" by Aviation Teachware is an extremely expensive, but highly
realistic IFR trainer that is available for the Mac and IBM. There
are several different versions out, depending on what type of
computer you have, and they all require a flight yoke of some kind or
another. Elite is not a toy, and is probably the most accurate and
realistic PC-based simulator, both in terms of flying
characteristics, and instrument panel simulation. The list price for
Elite varies from $400 to $700, depending on which version you
purchase.
"Instrument Pilot" by Precision Training is an IBM (386 or better)
based integrated instrument rating instructional simulator. It comes
with speech generation hardware to simulate communications and
includes all equipment necessary for instrument training ground
school. List is about $495, and it can be purchased directly from
the company at (800) 452-0465.
"IFT-Pro" from Flight Deck is also a good choice. Though not as
complex as Elite, it still offers a high level of instrument and
flight realism, and is an excellent package. It's also a lot
cheaper.. list is somewhere around $350. It is available for IBM
systems.
| "FS200", by Jeppesen, is an IBM PC-based (486 or better)
| flight sim that is intended for IFR training, and has a "pilot
| console" that attaches to your serial port. The console has switches
| for nav/com radios, throttle/prop/mixture, flaps/gears, etc..
| Databases constructed from Jepp NavData are available for $75 each.
| Prices range from $800 to $1,500 and up depending on the hardware,
| databases, and software options selected. FS200 can be purchased
| directly from Jeppesen at (800) 732-2800.
C3. Will an FPU/Math co-processor increase my simulator performance?
Robert Dorsett writes:
Most flight simulators, as with most games, use fixed-point
integer arithmetic. They do this both because most production
machines, until recently, haven't had an FPU, but they also do it
because this approach is significantly *faster* than FPU
performance.
This approach is also used by real-life avionics and simulator
manufacturers, and obviously is not a "limitation." A common
misconception is that an FPU adds more "precision," and leads to
greater "realism." This is wrong.
A simulator must explicitly code for FPU use. Thus, simply by
adding an FPU, one won't see any magical speed changes.
So unless a simulator explicitly *requires* an FPU, or *states*
that it will benefit from an FPU, don't bother buying one, unless
you can use it elsewhere.
Simulators that don't use an FPU:
Hellcats over the Pacific (Mac)
Leyte Gulf (Mac)
ATP (IBM)
FS4 (IBM and Mac)
FS5 (IBM)
Simulators that do:
Elite (all versions, IBM and Mac)
Falcon 3.0 (req'd for High Fidelity model, IBM)
C4. Are there any space simulators?
Virgin produces a simulator simply entitled "Shuttle". It is by far
one of the most complex, detailed, and realistic simulators available
for the PC, Amiga, and Atari ST.
Another, older, program, called "Orbiter", is available for Mac
systems.
Microsoft's Space Simulator is a more recent entry into the space
simulator product set. It was written by BAO, the designers of
Microsoft's Flight Simulator. Nick Dargahi writes:
Space Simulator is the most advanced and complex simulation program
ever created for the PC. The program combines the awesome photo-realistic
graphics engine of Flight Simulator 5.0 with a newly created orbital
dynamics simulation, so that you can actually recreate the motion of
spacecraft in outer space. Spacecraft can rotate and move in three
dimensions, planets can rotate along their axes and move in their
assigned orbits. Well-known comets, such as Halley's, Swift-Tuttle,
Kohoutek, and West are plotted accurately, as are some of the larger
asteroids of the solar system. Twenty-one nearby star systems have
been recreated with imaginary planetary systems that you can visit with
your spacecraft. It is also possible to take intergalactic trips to
visit 21 deep space objects, including galaxies, nebulae, star clusters,
and black holes. Because even at light speed, or 300,000,000 meters per
second (186,000 miles per second), journeys of such vast distances can
take thousands of years, Space Simulator gives you the option of
accelerating and decelerating the passage of time. This means that
you can fly to the heart of the our Milky Way Galaxy and return to Earth
in time for lunch.
Other features of the program include: choice of spacecraft and space
stations astronomical observatory, external chase and internal
cockpit 3-D view windows with auto-tracking and panning capabilities,
video recordings/ space photographs/ situation recorder, autopilot,
flight computer to link together autopilot commands, and both
space shuttle and Apollo 17 LEM landing missions. [-Nick Dargahi]
C5. What flight simulators are available for Unix systems?
There are currently three flight simulation programs that you can run
on a Sun workstation running SunOS/Unix, or on X-Window systems:
Flight Sim (fltsim.tar.Z) -- A flight simulator for Sun systems. No
documentation, only some notes on what systems it has been run on
(Sun3, 4, 386, IPX with 8-bit color). [Latest reports suggest that this
file is no longer available. Does anyone know of another source?]
Air Combat Maneuvers (acm-4.0.tar.Z) -- A LAN-based combat simulator
for the X-11 window environment. It simulates F-16 and Mig-23
aircraft and is a client/server package, meaning that several players
can fly against one another when connected to the same server. A
separate FAQ is maintained for ACM by Brad Bass (ba...@convex.com), and
is posted here periodically.
Aviator (???) -- Stefan Frick writes:
I think it started as a demo-project by two SUN-employees to exploit
the performance of the GX-graphics-accelerator. One of them is Bruce
Factor, can't remember the other one...[The other is Curtis Priem
- Paulo Ney de Souza] A couple of years ago, you could get the program
for free from your local sales-rep., but the authors formed their own
company, called 'Artificial Horizons' and it became a commercial
product. The simulator models the FA-18, X-29 and Boeing 727.
Is uses terrain-data from the US Geological Survey and it gives at great
sense of realism. The cost of Aviator is $40 (US) for the license + $8
(US) for the media.
Scott Chan writes:
Silicon Graphics workstations come bundled with a flight simulator
located in the demos. One can take-off, land, and dog fight in a
Cessna 150, B747, F15, P38, etc. Flight characteristics "seem" pretty
good; frame rate is good, but depends on hardware platform and detail
selected. Scenery is somewhat sparse. Instruments are useful but not
realistic. There is also a heads-up display instrument panel.
Dogfighting takes place against other employees goofing off over the
network. I have no idea if it's been ported to other platforms which
have OpenGL...
C6. Are there any Air Traffic Control simulators?
The newest addition to this category is "Tower" which was released
by BAO in the Fall of 1995. Tower offers three different airports
from which to control the traffic: (1) Canyon, a fictitious polygon
based medium sized airport, (2) Washington's National Airport, and
(3) Chicago's O'Hare International. The last two contain photo
realistic graphics.
"TRACON II" by Wesson International is available for many platforms.
It is an excellent simulation of ATC, and the PC version can even be
linked to Microsoft Flight Simulators for multi-player interactive
flying and ATC. There are several variants available, including
TRACON for Windows, and TRACON Pro (suitable for training real ATC
personnel).
C7. Where can I buy flight-related software?
Here are several good places to try. I am sure there are more, but
these companies really stand out (feel free to add to this list):
Chips and Bits (800) 699-4263
DataWings (713) 431-1079
Electronics Boutique (800) 800-5166
Egghead Software (800) EGG-HEAD Software of all types.
Flight Computing (800) 992-7737 Flight-related software and
more. Very aviation-
oriented.
Flight Sim Central (800) 477 SIMS Software and hardware for
flight simulators.
C8. Are there any flight-sim-related mailing lists?
The Flight Simulator mailing list is mostly centered around MS FS,
but is not restricted to any particular product or class of
products. To subscribe send a message to <mail...@grove.iup.edu>
with "subscribe flight-sim" in the body of the message.
Falcon 3 users can join the Falcon mailing list by sending a
message to "majo...@falcon3.k9.com " with the line "subscribe
falcon3" in the BODY of the message.
Air Warrior mailing list can be subscribed to by emailing
"list...@cactus.org" with "subscribe 666th-etal <user>" in the
body of the message.
C9. Are there any magazines devoted to flight simulators?
There are several magazines published that focus on flight simulators.
Two of the more commonly available are:
MicroWINGS Magazine
Official Magazine of the International Association of Aerospace
Simulations
381 Casa Linda Plaza #154
Dallas, Texas 75218
USA
The subscription rate for MicroWINGS is $49/year; it is published
bi-monthly. No telephone number given.
Full Throttle
The Microsoft Flight Simulator Pilot's Journal
Published by The Cobb Group
9420 Bunsen Parkway, Suite 300
Louisville, Kentucky 40220
USA
The subscription rate for Full Throttle is $39/year; it is published
bi-monthly. You can call them at:
800-223-8720
or
502-491-3300
C10. What new products are available or are expected?
The latest version of the Microsoft Flight Simulator is
version 5.1. There is both a disk version and a CD-ROM version. This
version includes better ground texturing, a visibility weather
option, a scenery management system, and better autopilot capabilities.
The CD-ROM version includes close to 200 additional airports as well as
major mountains around the world. A scenery designer for FS5 was also
alluded to in the readme file for FS5.0, but this product has yet to be
| officially announced. The latest scenery set for FS5.1 is the
| Microsoft Hawaii scenery.
| BAO released Flight Shop late in 1995. It allows you to design new
| aircraft for FS5. It also will convert FS4 aircraft to FS5, provided
| you have the original crated file. It has adventure capabilities
| similar to but more extensive than those offered in AAF for FS4. There
| are now several hundred Flight Shop aircraft and adventures available
| at the various FS archive sites.
| BAO also released Tower toward the end of 1995. This is described in
| section C6.
| AMTEX has released ATP Companion: 3-D Advanced Graphics System. 3DAGS,
| as it is called, is an addon to ATP and it changes the scenery to 256
| color, gives new instrument panels for all the A/C including high tech,
| glass cockpits for the A320/B767, realistic day/night visual transition,
| gradual visibility changes while going into/out of clouds, a new
| auto pilot for the A320/767 and 3D viewing with special glasses.
| Flight Unlimited has been released by Looking Glass Technologies. It is
| a high resolution, aerobatic flight simulator. It models five aircraft:
| Bellanca Decathlon, Pitts Special S-2B, Grob G-103A Twin II Avro
| Sailplane, Sukhoi SU31, and an Exta 300S. It requires a lot of computer
| power for the higher graphic resolutions, but it appears to have
| excellent flight models.
Section D: Microsoft Flight Simulator
--------------------------------------
D1. What kind of performance should I expect from FS5?
The faster your machine, the better off you will be. Although a
386 is the minimum recommended processor on the box, you will find
that you'll want a 486DX *at least* if you want to use most of FS5's
features and still get reasonable frame rates. To give you an idea of
the "low end" computers, John's former 386DX/25 gave a frame rate of
between 2 and 5 fps at Chicago with the following configuration:
ET4000 video card, 320x400 VGA (256 colors)
Textured sky, gradient horizon
Textured ground
Normal scenery density
No dynamic scenery
No shadows
No building textures
No aircraft texture
Airport lighting on
"Enhanced readability" instrument panel
No image smoothing
Low instrument update rate
He could increase this frame rate to about 3 to 8 fps by removing the
textured ground. Removing the textured sky further increased frame
rate, and switching to the 16-color mode essentially turns the graphics
display to FS4 levels, but with a slightly lower frame rate than FS4
(this last one is difficult to measure accurately). These frame rates
were playable and acceptable to him.
When he upgraded to a 486/25, (same video configuration), the frame
rate was roughly twice that of the 386/25.
A 486DX2/50 or higher will (in most circumstances) allow you to run
with all the special effects turned on with more acceptable frame
rates.
You'll find that your video card will make a big difference, especially
if you are running VLB. Configuring for large disk caches (1 MB to
2 MB) will further increase performance, and FS5 prefers EMS to XMS.
The main thing to remember is that you can't expect to turn on all the
display options and dense scenery and still get high frame rates,
especially if you have a slower processor. FS5 is essentially a 486 or
Pentium program, and unless you turn down the details to match your
processor, you will not be happy with the results.
D2. How is the FS5.1 CD-ROM version different from the floppy disk version?
| The CD-ROM version of FS5.1 contains about 180 additional airports from
| all over the world. Note, however, that these airports only include
| runways and fuel boxes. The CD-ROM version also has better coastline
| definition, and major mountain ranges included.
D3. What add-ons are available for FS5?
There are several sets of scenery disks that have been published
by BAO or Microsoft. The scenery sets that have been released
so far include: San Francisco, New York, Paris, Washington DC, Japan,
Caribbean, Europe I, Las Vegas, and Hawaii. Some of these sets are very
graphic intensive, and have been known to give frame rates in the 1-2 fps
range with all scenery options turned on. This has been a particular
problem using the photo-realistic scenery sets. San Francisco, Washington
DC, and Las Vegas were photo-realistic scenery sets distributed by BAO.
This type of scenery requires a lot of hard disk space (around 17mb for
each) and looks very blurry from low altitudes, but from high altitudes
it is much more realistic than the synthetic scenery (all the others),
which require much less hard disk space (between 3 to 6 Mb per set) and
offers better resolution at low altitudes.
| A new version of the Aircraft and Scenery Designer has been expected for
| some time, but no formal announcement of the product's release has ever
| been made. Several freeware scenery compilers are presently available.
| They include: BGLGEN, BGLTOOLS, SCASM, AIRPORT, and FSASM. They are
| available at ftp.iup.edu. They are not as easy to use as the A&SD for
| FS4, but I have used BGLGEN, BGLTOOLS, and SCASM in designing my Hong Kong,
| Scotland, and Michigan scenery for FS5, and they do work well, once you get
| used to the edit-compile-test-edit-compile... cycle that is needed to use
| them.
| BAO's Flight Shop has also been released. This product is described in
| section C10.
D4. What are the various "companion books" available for FS?
Here are three currently available books for FS5:
Dargahi, Nick. 1994. _Microsoft Flight Simulator: The Official
Strategy Guide!_. Prima Publishing, Rocklin, CA.
Stern, Jonathan M. 1995. _Microsoft's Flight Simulator Handbook_.
Brady Publishing, Indianapolis, IN.
Trimble, Timothy. 1994. _Adventures in Flight Simulator,
Version 5_. Microsoft Publishing, Redmond, WA.
These three can be used with either FS4 or FS5:
Calfior, Fred, and Douglas Miller. 1994. _Flights of
"13MIKE"_. CalMil Publishing, Prescott, AZ.
Calfior, Fred, and Douglas Miller. 1994. _IFR Flights of
"13MIKE"_. CalMil Publishing, Prescott, AZ.
Calfior, Fred, and Douglas Miller. 1995. _Airienteering
with "13Mike"_. CalMil Publishing, Prescott, AZ.
These two are for Microsoft's Space Simulator:
Barba, Rick. 1994. _Microsoft Space Simulator: The Official
Strategy Guide!_ Prima Publishing, Rocklin, CA.
Dargahi, Nick. 1994. _Space Simulator Strategies and Secrets_
Sybex.
D5. Can FS5.1 be used in Windows-95 protected mode?
| The answer to this question is: maybe. That is, it will work depending
| on your hardware configuration. I am able to use FS5.1 in Win-95
| protected mode, but others have complained that it won't work for them.
| If you want to try it, take a look at Microsoft's FS5.1 FAQ, which is
| available at http://www.microsoft.com/kb/faq/home/flight/all.htm.
D6. Must Flight Shop be installed before I can use FSFS planes?
| Yes, all planes designed by Flight Shop require a module in FS5 before
| they can be used. This module is copied to FS5 at the time Flight
| Shop is installed.
D7. Why did FS5.1 lose all my scenery when I added some new scenery?
| There is a bug in FS5.1 that sometimes causes this to happen. The best
| way to minimize the impact of this bug is to save a copy of your
| WORLD.VIS file (found in the \FLTSIM5\SCENERY directory) before you
| add any scenery. If the scenery add operation is not successful, you can
| copy back the WORLD.VIS file and restore your system to the way it was
| before you began the change.
Section E: Specific Questions about Other Products:
----------------------------------------------------
E1. Why doesn't my Sound Blaster card work with ATP?
If you are hearing only the first word of every ATC message through
your sound card, it is generally cause by an improper setting in the
SETBLASTER line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT.
Linda McGarry writes:
I had the same problem with only 'Los' spoken from my Soundblaster
card. After a few phone calls to my supplier, I found out that
there is another option to the SETBLASTER environment variable that
is not mentioned in the leaflet that comes with the upgrade, the T
(type of soundblaster?).
I have: SETBLASTER=A220 D1 I5 T1 (??)
(I believe that the recommended value of T for current soundblaster
cards is T3).
Hope this helps!
E2. The KU antenna won't deploy in Shuttle, and I can't de-orbit. Is there
a fix?
Joel Murray writes:
There is a bug-fix available directly from Virgin. All you have to
do is send them a letter stating that you want the fix and enclose
the UPC code from the back of the box. I did and have experienced
NO problems since installing the fix.
By the way, if you type SHUTTLE /ALL (I think), all of the missions
become available to you.
Section F: FTP and WWW Sites
---------------------
F1. Are there any FTP sites that have flight-sim related material?
There are several places you can go (IP addresses are subject to
change. Please use the alias/name if possible):
ftp.iup.edu (144.80.128.8) Mostly FS5 files. Most new
(This is a VAX/VMS machine) files are in flight-sim/uploads
Wings.ark.com (204.50.2.23) A new ftp site with a lot of
FS5 files (scenery, FSFS planes
utilities, etc.)
F2. Is there a way to get flight-sim related materials via e-mail?
In addition to anonymous FTP, the Internet flight simulation file
archive at ftp.iup.edu may be access with the mail-based server
mail...@ftp.iup.edu. Commands go in the message body, not the
subject. Try HELP to get started.
F3. Where can I get FltSim, ACM, and Aviator?
The following sites are taken from archie as of 2/17/94:
acm-4.0.tar.Z -- ftp.x.org /contrib
pdq.coe.montana.edu /pub/mirrors/X11-contrib
sunsite.unc.edu /pub/X11/contrib
theta.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp /pub1/contrib
ftp.luth.se /pub/X11/contrib
Aviator can be purchased from QUALiX (yes, that's a lower-case "i")
for $48 (US):
QUALiX GROUP, Inc.
1900 S. Norfolk St., Suite 224
San Mateo, CA 94403
Phone: 1-800-245-UNIX, 415-572-0200
Fax: 1-415-572-1300
E-mail: in...@qualix.com
A Windows port for ACM is under construction currently, and a demo
of ACM for Windows is available at ftp.iup.edu in the FLIGHT-SIM.ACM
directory. It requires a 386/7 for the floating point power, and runs
as a native Windows App.
F4. How do I upload files to the various flight-sim FTP sites?
The incoming/uploads directories for some sites are given below.
Read the README files at the particular site for details on the
upload procedures.
Site Directory Comments
---------- ------------- -------------
ftp.iup.edu UPLOADS: Note the colon
after the directory
name-- it's needed.
[for alternate methods of submitting files to ftp.iup.edu please
see the file [anonymous.flight-sim]00readme.txt on ftp.iup.edu.]
ftp.ulowell.edu /pub Archiver puts new
files out every
month or so. Mail
to archiver after
uploading.
wuarchive.wust.edu /pub/MSDOS_UPLOADS/games
Remember to always send mail to the archiver after uploading a file.
F5. Where else can I get flight-sim related materials?
One other source, if you don't have Internet access, is to check out
FSFORUM on CompuServe. The libraries and forums there cover flight
simulation of all types, from games to simulators like FS to air
traffic control and more. [Does anyone have information on Prodigy
or Genie? --JM]
F6. Are there any WWW sites devoted to flight simulation?
Yes, there are many with new ones cropping up every week. Here is a
list of a few of them that are either flight sim related or have links to
flight sim pages:
Comox Valley http://www.ark.com
CH Products http://www.chproducts.com/
Thrustmaster http://www.thrustmaster.com/
MicroWINGS http://www.microwings.com/
Full Throttle http://www.zdnet.com/~cobb/fullthro/
BAO http://www.bao.com/
TekMate http://rampages.onramp.net/~tekmate/
E-Flight Center http://chantry.clever.net/e-flight/
Flight 642 http://www.flight642.com/
FS Aircraft http://www.intr.net/theduke/
FS5 Scenery Design http://www.pix.za/0/business/a.bruton/scenery.html
FS News Online http://user.aol.com/fsnews/
Looking Glass Tech http://www.vie.com/lgt/
FS User's Guide http://www.surf-ici.com/fishman/fs51/default.htm
NettWing's Faves http://www.flylnx.com/miahub/nuttfave.htm
FS Uploads http://www.naples.net/~nfn00200/iup.html
Flying High BBS http://www.mcs.net/~teleman/flyhibbs.html
Aerodrome http://www.zdnet.com/~complife/
World of FS5 http://www.st.rim.or.jp/~kkitamur/fs5.html
General Aviation http://aviation.jsc.nasa.gov/simulators.html
Section G: Misc.
-----------------
G1. What happened to Mallard?
Mallard was a publisher of software titles for the flight simulator
community. However, they fell on financial hard times and went out
of business early in 1994.
G2. What happened to SubLOGIC and BAO?
| In the Fall of 1995 SubLOGIC was purchased by Sierra and BAO was
| purchased by Microsoft. Microsoft has indicated that its first
| new product will be FS6 for Windows 95. They announced that it
| should be available by the end of 1996.
G3. How do I submit comments, suggestions, or corrections to the FAQ?
Send email to rwit...@msu.edu
----------------------------------------------------------------------------