Flight simulator
A flight simulator is a system that tries to replicate, or simulate, the experience of flying an airplane as closely and realistically as possible. There are various different types of flight simulator, ranging from home entertainment software packages, right up to fullsize cockpit replicas mounted on hydraulic rams, controlled by state of the art computer technology.Flight simulators are extensively used by the aviation industry and the military for pilot training and disaster simulation. In the early 2000s, even home entertainment flight simulators become so realistic that after the tragedies of September the 11th 2001, some journalists and experts speculated that the hijackers might have gained enough knowledge to steer a passenger airliner from packages such as Microsoft Flight Simulator.
It should be pointed out that the advent of flight simulators as home video game entertainment has propelled many users to become airplane designers for these systems. As such, they may create both military or commercial airline airplanes, and they may even use names of real life airlines, as long as they don't make profits out of their designs. Many other home flight simulator users create their personal, virtual version of their favorite real world airline, and so virtual airlines such as Virtual Delta, Mexicana Virtual, Virtual Aeroflot, Viasa Virtual and so on can be found online.
Home flight simulation software
See also: Avsim.com
