Flight Simulators

Hello,

I am looking to get a flight simulator for my grandfather who used to own a small plane but who has not flown in some time. The one that i was looking at was Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 (or whatever the most current offering is), ive looked into it a fair amount, but not being a pilot myself i wonder how realistic it actually is. any suggestions would be a great help; concerning this product or any other. i should mention that he is also getting a new computer specifically for running this, so system limitations are not a concern. we'll get whatever will be best for running whichever program we go with. also any recomendations for accessory items (flight sticks, etc...) would be appreciated as well. thanks for any help you all can offer.

 

Look into X-plane. I heard its slowly beating MS flight simulator.

 

I like MSFS 2004. One thing it doesnt get is the feeling of flying. Obviously, the motions arent there, but whats also missing is the field of view. For that you would probably need a whole bunch of monitors. Sure, you could press a button and the view switches to a side window view, but it doesnt seem like the same. I want to say that flying for real is almost esaier, in a way. (in a cessna anyway). None of this has caused me to stop using MSFS2004 though. I dont have any experience with x plane.

 

I've used Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 since it came out, and have been very pleased with it. X-Plane is also good, however it is not nearly as user friendly. It does have a plane maker which is kinda neat, you can design your own aircraft and test them out in the simulator. If your grandfather is not terribly computer savvy, I would suggest you go with microsoft.
Also, you can get a yoke and rudder pedals from CH (www.chproducts.com) that really add to the effect. The CH FlightSim yoke has all the buttons you need, gear and flap levers, throttle, mixture, and prop controls etc. The rudder pedals are a must if you get the yoke. CH also offers a bunch of other controls, and I've always had good luck with them holding up.
If he really wants to add a level of coolness to it, have him check out VATSIM (www.vatsim.net). It's an online air traffic control network which basically lets you get ATC from real people using an ATC radar simulator. (Warning... that gets addicting, I didn't sleep for 2 days after discovering this!) It does take some homework to get it running and to learn the ropes... while it's pretty similar to the way you would actually file and fly an ifr flight, there's all sorts of differences due to the fact that your atc is on a voluntary basis, so you may or may not have it in any given area.
If you want any more info on this stuff, I've helped many people set it up, and I love doing it, so I'm more than willing to guide you and/or him through it.
--Nick