Flying in the real world is a costly task. You have to spend your fortune to get a license and fly an airplane.
But even if you go for real-time flying, you will be first asked to run a flight simulator. All the training will happen in a simulation and you will learn everything there in the first place.
Everyone can get a flight simulator game and enjoy virtual flying. Many real flight simulator games are available and some games such as the Microsoft Flight Simulator will give you almost real-time experience.
Here is a guide to set up a real flight simulator game with your PC and enjoy unlimited flying.
How to Play Real Flight Simulator on PC?
Setting up a real-time flight simulation game is very simple. Even with minimum specifications, you will be able to play the game. Here is a list of what you require to set up the game:
Choosing an Appropriate Simulator
There are many flight simulators available in the market and you can choose whichever suits your PC specifications.
Every manufacturer will have posted the minimum requirements to run the game and if it meets your PC specs then you can download them.
Some of the popular simulators are:
- Microsoft Flight Simulator
- Prepar3D
- X-Plane
- Digital Combat Simulator World
These simulators provide you with real-time experience with an aircraft. Also, the climatic and weather conditions of the earth are simulated in real-time when you play the game.
Almost all the simulators should be bought and they are at least 60$. You can also have add-ons with the simulator to have a more immersive experience.
If you have a high-end gaming PC, you can enjoy the ultimate experience with the simulator. Many pilots use these simulators to revise the basics of flying.
These simulators also have different aircraft and you can experience the difference in flying each of them.
Every simulator has its own flight physics. If you are just seeking entertainment, you need not worry about it. But pilots and hardcore simulator fans are particular about it.
Once you have chosen your simulator, buy it, download it, and install the game on your PC.
Flying Accessories
In order to get the ultimate real-time experience with flight simulator games, you have to invest in a good joystick.
Most aircraft are controlled with yokes which are similar to a steering wheel but can be lifted and pushed up or down.
While these simulators enable you to play the game with your keyboard and mouse, it will be quite unrealistic.
It is better to get a good quality yoke or at least a joystick which will help you to get a real flying experience.
Also, this joystick will be helpful for you to understand the flight physics easily and enables you to take off and land more professionally.
There are distinct joysticks available for flight simulations and you can get whichever suits your budget.
Apart from the joystick, you can also invest in a throttle quadrant, rudder pedals, and Headphones. The throttle quadrant will enable you to control engine power, flaps, brakes, etc.
Rudder pedals help you to control and steer the airplane. Headphones give you real-time radio experience which is very useful to get trained with the codes and commands.
According to your requirement and luxury, you can invest in any of this extra equipment. They will enhance your flying experience.
Installing Add-ons for Better Experience
The flight simulator you have is more than sufficient to fly an aircraft. But certain real-world aspects might be missing from it and they are provided as add-ons from the manufacturer.
These add-ons usually contain weather engines, airport scenes, terrain scenes, different aircraft, etc. Having these installed with your simulation will help you to get a more intimate experience with the simulation.
Weather engines help you to simulate real-world weather conditions and they provide you with different situations to fly.
Certain add-ons will give you beautiful sceneries which you can enjoy while you are flying the aircraft.
The simulators might come with limited types of aircraft and you may not have many interesting ones. With the aircraft add-ons, you will be able to fly many types of airplanes and understand the control of each of those planes.
Installing these add-ons is not necessary, but if you have these it will be a greater experience and an immersive one too.
That’s all! These are the necessary items required for playing a real flight simulator game on your PC. Now let us understand the specifications required for playing the game.
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What PC configuration is required?
The minimum requirements for running a flight simulator vary from each manufacturer. In general, you need at least the following configuration to run a flight simulator game on your PC:
- CPU – Intel Core i5-4460 or AMD Ryzen 3 1200
- RAM – 8GB
- GPU – AMD Radeon RX 570 or Nvidia GeForce GTX 770
- Direct X – Version 11
- Minimum Storage Space – 150 GB
With this spec, you will be able to play simulators like Microsoft Flight Simulator at its minimum to medium graphics settings.
Usually, the recommended specs are:
- CPU – Intel Core i5-8400 or AMD Ryzen 5 1500X
- RAM – 16 GB
- GPU – AMD Radeon RX 590 or Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
- Storage Space – 150 GB or more
With this spec, you will be able to play almost all flight simulator games at higher graphics settings and get a good flying experience.
Why flight simulator games are getting popular?
Flight simulator games give you almost the real-time flying experience. It enables you to fly different aircraft with their real set of controls.
The reality which the simulations reproduce is quite impressive which makes the people like these games more.
Nowadays these games can also be played with Virtual reality headsets which gives you a deeper flying experience with these simulators.
That is why you can see such games getting popular and flight simulators are one such kind that lets you fly airplanes.
Conclusion
Flying on an aircraft is not a difficult task nowadays. Also, you don’t have to empty your pockets to achieve that. With modern flight simulator games, you will be able to enjoy ultimate flying with various aircraft. You can easily set up these simulators with your PC and enjoy unlimited flying.
