Microsoft has finally released the latest version of their enormously popular flight simulator, called simply Microsoft Flight Simulator, and the visuals are absolutely realistic down to the smallest detail. This is flight simulation evolving into a highly complex aviation training platform, and most certainly NOT a video game by any stretch of the imagination.

I am definitely going to need a computer upgrade to run this new simulator, and by God I will acquire one NOW, even it it entails selling off my mother-in-law for scientific research, to raise the money for my new rig. Check out this video teaser of the magic that is Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020.

All I can say is WOW !


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc793SLIm6E


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We1jDI1QPoY

Jakumo:
Microsoft has finally released the latest version of their enormously popular flight simulator, called simply Microsoft Flight Simulator, and the visuals are absolutely realistic down to the smallest detail. This is flight simulation evolving into a highly complex aviation training platform, and most certainly NOT a video game by any stretch of the imagination.

I am definitely going to need a computer upgrade to run this new simulator, and by God I will acquire one NOW, even it it entails selling off my mother-in-law for scientific research, to raise the money for my new rig. Check out this video teaser of the magic that is Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020.

All I can say is WOW !


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc793SLIm6E


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We1jDI1QPoY

Wait. You are a nerd? Never imagined that in a million years. A while back I wanted to be a pilot and flying is something that fascinates me like nothing else. With that being said, I am more focused on recreational and combat aircraft than on wide body jets. Ever paraglided or flown a microlight here? What's your current system specs please?

GabrielYulaw:


Wait. You are a nerd? Never imagined that in a million years. A while back I wanted to be a pilot and flying is something that fascinates me like nothing else. With that being said, I am more focused on recreational and combat aircraft than on wide body jets. Ever paraglided or flown a microlight here? What's your current system specs please?

Hello Gabriel and thanks for this reply. The imminent release of this new Microsoft Flight Simulator was only announced for the first time two days ago, and the release is slated for August 2020, next month.

Currently I run Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004, and for that platform I purchased several highly detailed, training-level Boeing aircraft packages from PMDG for the 737 and 747, along with Level D for the almighty Boeing 767-300ER. I fly these "heavy metal" Boeing aircraft almost exclusively, and my focus is always on final approaches and landings in bad weather with major destabilizing crosswinds dialed in for additional hand-flying challenges.

To improve the ground scenery, I also acquired detailed and realistic airport scenery for London Heathrow, London Gatwick, London Stanstead, Manchester Ringway, Liverpool John Lennon, Los Angeles International Airport, New York JFK Airport, Chicago O'Hare, Chicago Midway, along with Zurich Flughaffen and even the difficult Innsbruk in Austria, to list a few of my airport scenery collection favorites.

Despite all those realism enhancements I added to my 2004 vintage simulator, the videos already on Youtube do show that the realism of the imagery in this new evolution of the Microsoft Flight Simulator is a quantum leap above all that came before, so I will definitely snag a copy, and upgrade my PC as required, to enjoy this new platform.

Blue skies to you brother, and may all your landings be smooth, both in the virtual world, and in the real one.

Jakumo:


Hello Gabriel and thanks for this reply. The imminent release of this new Microsoft Flight Simulator was only announced for the first time two days ago, and the release is slated for August 2020, next month.

Currently I run Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004, and for that platform I purchased several highly detailed, training-level Boeing aircraft packages from PMDG for the 737 and 747, along with Level D for the almighty Boeing 767-300ER. I fly these "heavy metal" Boeing aircraft almost exclusively, and my focus is always on final approaches and landings in bad weather with major destabilizing crosswinds dialed in for additional hand-flying challenges.

To improve the ground scenery, I also acquired detailed and realistic airport scenery for London Heathrow, London Gatwick, London Stanstead, Manchester Ringway, Liverpool John Lennon, Los Angeles International Airport, New York JFK Airport, Chicago O'Hare, Chicago Midway, along with Zurich Flughaffen and even the difficult Innsbruk in Austria, to list a few of my airport scenery collection favorites.

Despite all those realism enhancements I added to my 2004 vintage simulator, the videos already on Youtube do show that the realism of the imagery in this new evolution of the Microsoft Flight Simulator is a quantum leap above all that came before, so I will definitely snag a copy, and upgrade my PC as required, to enjoy this new platform.

Blue skies to you brother, and may all your landings be smooth, both in the virtual world, and in the real one.

Very nice. Realistically what kind of PC specs would you need to do this new game proper justice? And do you aim to build it yourself or buy a prebuilt PC?
I just wish there was a hand gliding school here like they have in Ghana. I am sure there are loads of suitable locations.

GabrielYulaw:



Very nice. Realistically what kind of PC specs would you need to do this new game proper justice? And do you aim to build it yourself or buy a prebuilt PC?
I just wish there was a hand gliding school here like they have in Ghana. I am sure there are loads of suitable locations.

My computer is so old I'd need to look up the specs. For Microsoft Flight Sim 2004, most modern desktop computers will run it just fine. When you try and move up to the 2010 Microsoft Flight Sim X, then the computer needs to be well appointed so as to produce smooth imagery with no stuttering and slow frame rates.

I fully understand your interest in Hang Gliding, though I have never tried it myself. Back in the day I used to go check out the hang gliders at Torrey Pines State Beach in San Diego. Anyone familiar with that area will know the REAL reason I frequent the place. The cliffs there are at least 300 foot high above the beach below, and those hang glider pilots just leap off the cliff and take to the air like seagulls. Amazing to watch for sure. Hang gliding is the closest thing to flying like a bird, for a human being.

Jakumo:


My computer is so old I'd need to look up the specs. For Microsoft Flight Sim 2004, most modern desktop computers will run it just fine. When you try and move up to the 2010 Microsoft Flight Sim X, then the computer needs to be well appointed so as to produce smooth imagery with no stuttering and slow frame rates.

I fully understand your interest in Hang Gliding, though I have never tried it myself. Back in the day I used to go check out the hang gliders at Torrey Pines State Beach in San Diego. Anyone familiar with that area will know the REAL reason I frequent the place. The cliffs there are at least 300 foot high above the beach below, and those hang glider pilots just leap off the cliff and take to the air like seagulls. Amazing to watch for sure. Hang gliding is the closest thing to flying like a bird, for a human being.

Yeah. Hand gliding is bae. That and powered paragliding. By the way, apart from flight sims do you play combat sims?
And if you need to build your laptop perhaps you could get in touch with BlivAK, now AKWan. Guy knows more about computers than God himself

Well done o Jakumo.
Can I see a picture of your simulation set up?

naturalwaves:
Well done o Jakumo.
Can I see a picture of your simulation set up?

My modest flight sim setup comprises CH Flight Yoke, Saitek Rudder Pedals, and a Boeing-style throttle quadrant made by a one-man workshop in New Jersey, called FXThrottles. This throttle quadrant also features operational thrust reversal levers to deploy on touch-down to slow that tonnage down as it thunders along the arrival runway under the decelerating auto-brake setting of my dialed preference.

To FEEL the rumble of those massive Pratt and Whitney jet engines as I spool up for the takeoff roll, I acquired the Butt Kicker sub-sonic pilot's chair shaker, to transmit the rumble of those giant turbines along my spine as the jet roars down the runway center-line.

http://www.chproducts.com/Flight-Sim-Yoke-v13-d-705.html

http://www.saitek.com/uk/prod-bak/pedals.html

https://www.fsxthrottle.com/#!/ProTek/p/78746119/category=0

https://thebuttkicker.com/buttkicker-gamer2/

My setup is basic compared to many on youtube, but with this minimalist hardware list, the flight sim pilot can learn to fly with one hand on the yoke to control elevator pitch and aileron roll, the other hand resting on the twin-engine throttle levers to modulate thrust, and his feet working the rudder pedals for ground steering of the nose-wheel before takeoff, coupled with rudder yaw control while airborne. Toe-brakes on the rudder pedals allow for realistic differential braking with toe pressure, to reduce the turning radius while slowly traversing taxiway treks to and from the runway.

The muscle-memory required to master "hand-flying" of a real aircraft in all kinds of weather including violent storms and gusting crosswinds, can with this simple arrangement of manual controls, be acquired to a great extent by the sim pilot in the comfort of their own living room, and without ever leaving the ground. Obviously, a static (non-moving) simulator cannot match the experience of being in a full-motion Level D simulator as used to train airline pilots, but the desktop setup can be surprisingly immersive, especially when battling heavy crosswinds on final approach in a storm.

All flight deck instrumentation, switching and display panels remain in the "virtual cockpit" world of my laser projected image on the wall fifteen feet away, such that "keyboard entries" in the on-screen Flight Management Computer, as an example, are keyed in by mouse-click in the darkened projector room where I take to the virtual skies as and when the need arises.

Jakumo:


My modest flight sim setup comprises CH Flight Yoke, Saitek Rudder Pedals, and a Boeing-style throttle quadrant made by a one-man workshop in New Jersey, called FXThrottles. This throttle quadrant also features operational thrust reversal levers to deploy on touch-down to slow that tonnage down as it thunders along the arrival runway under the decelerating auto-brake setting of my dialed preference.

To FEEL the rumble of those massive Pratt and Whitney jet engines as I spool up for the takeoff roll, I acquired the Butt Kicker sub-sonic pilot's chair shaker, to transmit the rumble of those giant turbines along my spine as the jet thunders down the runway center-line.

http://www.chproducts.com/Flight-Sim-Yoke-v13-d-705.html

http://www.saitek.com/uk/prod-bak/pedals.html

https://www.fsxthrottle.com/#!/ProTek/p/78746119/category=0

My setup is basic compared to many on youtube, but with this minimalist hardware list, the flight sim pilot can learn to fly with one hand on the yoke to control pitch and roll, the other hand resting on the twin-engine throttle levers to modulate thrust, and his feet working the rudder pedals for ground steering of the nose-wheel before takeoff, coupled with yaw control while airborne. Toe-brakes on the rudder pedals allow for realistic differential braking with toe pressure, to reduce the turning radius while slowly traversing taxiway treks to and from the runway.

The muscle-memory required to master "hand-flying" of a real aircraft in all kinds of weather including violent storms and gusting crosswinds, can with this simple arrangement of manual controls, be acquired to a great extent by the sim pilot in the comfort of their own living room, and without ever leaving the ground. Obviously, a static (non-moving) simulator cannot match the experience of being in a full-motion Level D simulator as used to train airline pilots, but the desktop setup can be surprisingly immersive, especially when battling heavy crosswinds on final approach in a storm.

All flight deck instrumentation, switching and display panels remain in the "virtual cockpit" world of my laser projected image on the wall fifteen feet away, such that "keyboard entries" in the on-screen Flight Management Computer, as an example, are keyed in by mouse-click in the darkened projector room where I take to the virtual skies as and when the need arises.

Wow!
Thanks for this very detailed feedback. How much do one need to budget on the average to have this type of set-up?

naturalwaves:

Wow!
Thanks for this very detailed feedback. How much do one need to budget on the average to have this type of set-up?

I bought these controls bit by bit due to their cost if bought new, while I also found some components used on Ebay over the years.

Jakumo:


I bought these controls bit by bit due to their cost if bought new, while I also found some components used on Ebay over the years.

Wow.
Such a great job you've done o. Kudos!

Hi @ Jakumo! I actually thought you were playing the flight sim on a regular gaming desktop. I had no idea you were simulating everything as realistically as possible, from the controls to the jet movement. My bad.

but its not available in the market until august. currently i use xplane 11 and its the most amazing flight sim ever built, would love to try msfs 2020 but something inside me says that xplane 11 will still stand out

Jakumo:
Microsoft has finally released the latest version of their enormously popular flight simulator, called simply Microsoft Flight Simulator, and the visuals are absolutely realistic down to the smallest detail. This is flight simulation evolving into a highly complex aviation training platform, and most certainly NOT a video game by any stretch of the imagination.

I am definitely going to need a computer upgrade to run this new simulator, and by God I will acquire one NOW, even it it entails selling off my mother-in-law for scientific research, to raise the money for my new rig. Check out this video teaser of the magic that is Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020.

All I can say is WOW !


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc793SLIm6E


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We1jDI1QPoY

GabrielYulaw:
Hi @ Jakumo! I actually thought you were playing the flight sim on a regular gaming desktop. I had no idea you were simulating everything as realistically as possible, from the controls to the jet movement. My bad.

There is truly a world of difference when realistic aircraft controls are used with a desktop flight simulator, as compared to making control entries via a keyboard or gaming console type control. By having the yoke, throttle levers and rudder pedals in precisely the same spatial location as they would be in a real aircraft flight deck, the sim pilot learns instinctively which lever is where, and thus becomes one with the manual hand-flying aspects of flying an airplane.

These simulators do, however, go a LOT deeper than merely replicating the hand-flying characteristics of real aircraft. Even the now ancient Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 that I use, offers progressively difficult theoretical and practical flying lessons that enable students to learn an easy 85% of the "ground school" aviation theory that is taught in real world flight academies that issue pilot's licences and ratings.

The PMDG Corporation is regarded as the gold standard, in the realm of Boeing-Certified aircraft simulator training packages. PMDG's Boeing 737 and 747 flight crew training packages are used by at least one Israeli airline as a component of their Boeing pilot type-rating curriculum, yet, this same highly detailed rendition of Boeing 73 and 74 series passengers jet liners, is available to the Average Joe with a home simulator, like me.

https://pmdg.com/all-products/


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVEi1_B8woM

Another much respected name in Boeing simulator packages, is of course the Level D 767-300R, a massively powered yet highly agile old-school, heavy-metal airliner, whose flight automation capabilities are such that an entire flight can be programmed into the FMS/CDU computer located in the center pedestal, to sequence all phases of flight, under full autopilot control from takeoff, climb out, cruise, descent, approach and landing roll-out, literally at the touch of various buttons along the way.

It is a thing of beauty to behold this lumbering decades-old bird settle down dead-center on the runway threshold "piano keys" in a cloud of burning tire-rubber, after executing a flawless ILS auto-land, enlisting all three autopilots working in concert, but with NO human hand at the controls, just as is possible with the real thing.

http://www.leveldsim.com/sevensix_home.asp

http://www.leveldsim.com/sevensix_products.asp


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOVDhw_I7YQ

Prior to the final closure of (VHHH) Hong Kong Kai Tak Airport in 1997, its infamous single runway 13/31, ranked among the most difficult approaches and landings to execute, on the entire planet. Here a very proficient Boeing 767 sim pilot glides the legendary "Checkerboard Approach" to VHHH Runway 13, screaming very low over the Hong Kong city-scape, before rolling into a steep right banking turn that lines the bird up for short finals.

Over the decades during which it operated flights, Kai Tak Airport's degree of difficulty resulted in several passenger aircraft skidding into the Hong Kong Harbor waters, after being unable to stop due to landing just a hair too fast. Despite Kai Tak being closed in the real world, it remains open forever in the virtual world of flight simulators, to test the skill of all who dare try this feat.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuT1AmZGU4g

Home simulator aviators who prefer to master the flight-deck protocol of the Airbus series of passenger jets are NOT left out, because Aerosoft offers a number of Airbus A320 and 330 series jet simulations whose complexity will impress even the most seasoned real world Airbus captain. All protection modes of the Airbus fly-by-wire, are fully implemented in these sophisticated packages which rival PMDG's Boeing simulator renditions, for realism and complexity.

https://www.aerosoft.com/en/flight-simulation/flight-simulator-x-steam/aircraft/1104/airbus-bundle?number=AS13238


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMmwFfJfL40

Jakumo:


I am definitely going to need a computer upgrade to run this new simulator, and by God I will acquire one NOW, even it it entails selling off my mother-in-law for scientific research, to raise the money for my new rig.

Oga, why sell off your mother-in-law when you have your own mother, are you underestimating your mother's market value ni?

MrPresident1:


Oga, why sell off your mother-in-law when you have your own mother, are you underestimating your mother's market value ni?

Ha ha Presido. I like your business model. Mom had best remain on good behavior, so as not to give me ideas.

Jakumo:


There is truly a world of difference when realistic aircraft controls are used with a desktop flight simulator, as compared to making control entries via a keyboard or gaming console type control. By having the yoke, throttle levers and rudder pedals in precisely the same spatial location as they would be in a real aircraft flight deck, the sim pilot learns instinctively which lever is where, and thus becomes one with the manual hand-flying aspects of flying an airplane.

These simulators do, however, go a LOT deeper than merely replicating the hand-flying characteristics of real aircraft. Even the now ancient Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 that I use, offers progressively difficult theoretical and practical flying lessons that enable students to learn an easy 85% of the "ground school" aviation theory that is taught in real world flight academies that issue pilot's licences and ratings.

The PMDG Corporation is regarded as the gold standard, in the realm of Boeing-Certified aircraft simulator training package. PMDG's Boeing 737 and 747 flight crew training packages are used by at least one Israeli airline as a component of their Boeing pilot type-rating curriculum, yet, this same highly detailed rendition of Boeing 73 and 74 series passengers jet liners, is available to the Average Joe with a home simulator, like me.

https://pmdg.com/all-products/


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVEi1_B8woM

Another much respected name in Boeing simulator packages, is of course the Level D 767-300R, a massively powered yet highly agile old-school, heavy-metal airliner, whose flight automation capabilities are such that an entire flight can be programmed into the FMS/CDU computer located in the center pedestal, to sequence all phases of flight, under full autopilot control from takeoff, climb out, cruise, descent, approach and landing roll-out, literally at the touch of various buttons along the way.

It is a thing of beauty to behold this lumbering decades-old bird settle down dead-center on the runway threshold "piano keys" in a cloud of burning tire-rubber, after executing a flawless ILS auto-land, enlisting all three autopilots working in concert, but with NO human hand at the controls, just as is possible with the real thing.

http://www.leveldsim.com/sevensix_home.asp

http://www.leveldsim.com/sevensix_products.asp


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLhxWlM-jfI

Home simulator aviators who prefer to master the flight-deck protocol of the Airbus series of passenger jets are NOT left out, because Aerosoft offers a number of Airbus A320 and 330 series jet simulations whose complexity will impress even the most seasoned real world Airbus captain. All protection modes of the Airbus fly-by-wire, are fully implemented in these sophisticated packages which rival PMDG's Boeing simulator renditions, for realism and complexity.

https://www.aerosoft.com/en/flight-simulation/flight-simulator-x-steam/aircraft/1104/airbus-bundle?number=AS13238


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMmwFfJfL40

Much thanks for the very detailed response.

GabrielYulaw:


Much thanks for the very detailed response.

You are welcome brother man. I am repeating the link to this decade old youtube video, because it shows the Level D Boeing 767-300ER, my favorite simulator aircraft despite its age, taking the challenging "Checkerboard Approach" into Hong Kong Kai Tak Airport Runway 13, in a visually stunning descent over a highly detailed rendition of Hong Kong Harbor and the surrounding metropolis.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuT1AmZGU4g

The video resolution now available with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 is nothing short of breathtaking. Check out this latest video created and posted online depicting a flight by an Airbus A320 flying from Brussels to the mountain city of Innsbruck, whose landing approach is in a narrow valley high up in the Alps, and is renowned as one of the most difficult and demanding landing approaches of any airport worldwide.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wwt7m9C5PgE