Since I have my instrument evaluation this week, I decided to pick up a copy of Microsoft Flight Simulator X--after all, instruments are instruments regardless of whether you're in a Cessna, a Black Hawk, or an SR-71 jet.
Now, it's actually quite difficult to fly with the keyboard and perform the other functions of MS Flight Simulator at the same time--namely, talking to air traffic control--so I decided I needed to buy myself a joystick. Imagine my surprise when I learned that hardly anyone sold joysticks anymore. I guess everyone stopped buying joysticks shortly after Falcon 4.0 came out.
One interesting aspect of MS Flight Simulator is its authentic, real-time weather, updated from Jeppsen every 15 minutes. Behold Watertown International Airport in Sackets Harbor, New York where the current conditions are actually worse than MS Flight Sim's "Heavy Snow" default option. Great VOR and ILS approaches, though.
2 comments:
I hope the simulated weather gets better in the next edition of FS... it's a nice touch they way it's implemented, but with the way GPS and weather sources are integrated these days you know the technology is way farther ahead of where it was when MS put this in the program.
I'm so glad you write that about the keyboard!!!
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