A new German sim picks up where Microsoft left off.
Microsoft quickly gave up on its Flight approach to flight simulations (see the July 2012 “Airware”). It’s product, a more casual clear that Bill Gates has bigger fish to fry in his push to maintain relevance in the competitive landscape of consumer technology. In 1981 Flight Simulator was one of Microsoft’s few products. In 2013 Flight barely gets a thought compared to Windows 8, tablets and enterprise databases. That’s why it’s fortunate that PC pilots can now play aerofly FS ($40, aeroflyfs.com), a German product with roots as a radio-controlled aircraft simulator that has evolved into a full-fledged flight sim.
Like Flight, aerofly FS gives the player a single detailed region of the world to fly in: a 15,940-square-mile area of Switzerland. It also has Flight-like missions and achievements that incrementally teach the simulation’s operation and flying basics, as well as reward accomplishments. Unlike Flight, aerofly FS isn’t free, but it gives players a decent stable of aircraft, including common types such as the Cessna 172 Skyhawk and Extra 330 LX, plus some interesting and rare sim birds like the Sopwith F.1 Camel and the Swift S-1 and Schempp Hirth Discus gliders. The McDonnell Douglas/Boeing F-18 Hornet is here too, but it’s an unarmed version, included for speed and aerobatics fun.
Overall, this is an impressive sim. Though it doesn’t have the same user interface polish that the Microsoft titles do, it’s well constructed, with stunning scenery and fully articulated flight surfaces. At times the controls are touchy, as if you’re flying a very light model plane. Rudder effects remain strong even when I expected them to be less so at high speeds. The damage model is not very detailed, especially in dealing with ground mishaps. But I liked that departures vary depending on the aircraft, and aerofly FS does a good job of giving each plane a distinctive character. Landing is difficult until you get the hang of each aircraft.
The Cessna seems to get one of the better treatments in terms of modeling, graphics and sound, while some other planes are less detailed. All have good virtual cockpits, although the amount of instrument modeling is not as robust as seasoned sim fliers may have seen in other packages.
Veteran sim pilots will miss the ability to fly anywhere in the world, configure weather conditions and use air traffic control. It’s unclear too if the game’s extensibility will inspire a third-party products market like Flight Simulator did. But aerofly FS isn’t without unique features, including the ability to turn on visual cues of thermal drafts, a handy aid for learning to fly the gliders. Sim controls are also accommodating and feature easily configured support for joysticks and the TrackIR head-tracking view system.
There’s room for growth here, but flight sim fans should be pleased with this plucky new entry.
Originally published in the July 2013 issue of Aviation History. To subscribe, click here.
