Serious simulators--they can teach you to fly

Flight Journal, Aug 2001 by Lert, Peter S

A downloadable demo is available at www.jeppesen.com.

Elite

Windows or Macintosh

One of the first "high-end, highfidelity" flight simulation packages, Elite was written in Switzerland at the behest of the Swissair training department. It's still used there; in fact, the original Swissair product was used primarily as a DC-9 procedures trainer. Like most other Swiss products, it's very well made and a little pricey.

Its structure (and, for that matter, its marketing) differs from that of other simulators; for $199, you get the basic software kernel and one airplane (a Cessna 172R). From there, you can add airplanes that include highperformance singles, twins and turboprops (Beech King Air 200). Other add-ons include more highly detailed terrain views and electronically stored approach charts similar to Jeppesen's SimCharts (this time, however, U.S. Government approach plates, for obvious copyright reasons). All of these goodies can only be bought online, from www.flyelite.com.

(As usual, there's a downloadable demo, too.)

While Elite follows the same PCATD path as its competitors with various software/hardware packages available online, it offers more sophisticated (and more expensive) systems as well; these include an integrated system called iGATE, multi-monitor outside-- view systems and even-at the highest level-motion systems. At this point, the line between PCATDs and fullscale simulators blurs. Obviously, such systems are too expensive for individual users and even for most flight schools; the Elite website offers lease options as well as purchase plans.

744 PS 1.3

Aerowinx; DOS or Windows

I often wonder whether Aerowinx's Hardy Heinlin isn't the German counterpart of Laminar Research's Austin Meyers, as the original development of this almost unbelievably sophisticated Boeing 747-400 procedures trainer was pretty much his solo effort (he has since added quite a bit of expert input from real-world 747-400 crews). Moreover, in an era of "bloatware," in which even a word processor requires half a gigabyte of disc space, Precision Simulator (PS) 1.3 runs very well indeed under DOS (or in a DOS window under Windows), even with the DOS constraints of limited RAM size.

By the time you get your hands on a 744, you should already be instrumentrated and have a pretty good handle on the basics of instrument flying. Thus, while PS 1.3's flight dynamics accurately re-create the handling and, in particular, the performance of Boeing's mighty jetliner, it really shines in its totally accurate depiction of the airplane's systems and avionics, which include its glass cockpit and elaborate flight management system (FMS).

Despite being a DOS program that lacks access to the latest whiz-bang Windows video drivers, PS 1.3 does an excellent job of depicting the big jet's instrument panels, right down to an accurate re-creation of the brown color Boeing's industrial designers decided pilots would like. The default display includes the captain's primary flight and navigation displays, the central multifunction engine instrument and crew alerting system (EICAS) display and the FMS screen. A mouse-click brings up any required segment of the big overhead systems-control panel; any systems changes are reflected on the EICAS, just as they are in real life.