While FlightSim.Com maintains a record of pretty much 100% up time, on occasion we do have to take the site offline to do some work. On Tuesday at 9 am EDT we will be moving the site to new servers as a planned upgrade. While the change is being made the site, including FlightSim.Com, TrainSim.Com and the FlightSim.Com Store will be offline. Update: Now complete, please report any problems.

Today we celebrate the first flight of the Aerospatiale Gazelle. The Gazelle is a French five-seat helicopter, commonly used for light transport, scouting and light attack duties. The first prototype SA 340 flew for the first time on 7 April 1967 and initially flew with a conventional tail rotor taken from the Alouette II.

Today we celebrate the first flight of the English Electric Lightning. It is a British fighter aircraft that served as an interceptor from the 60's to the 80's. It remains the only UK-designed-and-built fighter capable of Mach 2.

Today in aviation history marks the first flight of the Avro Anson, a British twin-engine, multi-role aircraft developed in the 1930's. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the RAF, RCAF and numerous other air forces in the WWII era. Several videos are available showing their history, as well as freeware flightsim versions you can download and fly.

Today in aviation marks the anniversary of the first flight of the CP-140 Aurora. The CP-140 Aurora is very similar externally to the Lockheed P-3C Orion but is different internally, using two sets of mission systems. The aircraft's sensors are primarily intended for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) work but are also capable of maritime surveillance, counter-drug and search-and-rescue missions.

Today in aviation marks the anniversary of the first flight of the Convair CV-240, an American airliner that was manufactured from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement for the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. Watch the video and then fly it yourself in FS2004 or FSX.

These days with modern GPS equipment navigation is pretty easy. A hundred years ago, things were a bit different. thecorporatepilotdad looks at charts and navigation in the 1920's and 1930's and what it would be like to fly to what was then the world's busiest airport.

Today in aviation marks the anniversary of the first flight of the Fairey Battle, a British single-engine light bomber from WWII. The Battle was powered by the same high-performance Rolls-Royce Merlin piston engine that powered various contemporary British fighters like the Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire. We've included a link to a video of the flight and a link to an FSX/P3D version you can fly.

Today we celebrate the first flight of the Sikorsky H-34. The "Choctaw" (company designation S-58) is a piston-engined military helicopter originally designed by American aircraft manufacturer Sikorsky as an anti-submarine warfare aircraft for the US Navy. It has seen extended use when adapted to turbine power by the British licensee as the Westland Wessex and Sikorsky as the later S-58T.

Navigraph is of course well known for supplying charts for flightsimmers. They've recently published a tutorial video showing how to read an airport chart. It covers the Jeppesen chart layout and how to read the heading section of the airport chart.

On this day in 1945, the McDonnell FH Phantom made its first flight. The Phantom was a twinjet fighter aircraft designed and first flown during World War II for the United States Navy. The Phantom was the first purely jet-powered aircraft to land on an American aircraft carrier.

Ten years ago, author Chris Liddell made the leap from flightsimming to flying real aircraft, and shared his training adventures with us in a series of articles under the banner "Going Solo". He's still an active PPL and has increased his flying skills over the years and now shares his next big adventure: instrument training. Training is now complete and time for the big test!

Ten years ago, author Chris Liddell made the leap from flightsimming to flying real aircraft, and shared his training adventures with us in a series of articles under the banner "Going Solo". He's still an active PPL and has increased his flying skills over the years and now shares his next big adventure: instrument training. Training continues here in Part 4 including talk about holds and a side trip in a seaplane.

What Is RonTom? The authors are two "Old Timers" with a passion for aviation and a penchant for telling stories. The result is some aviation / flightsim storytelling based on some real world locations that they think are fun and interesting. This edition takes you to the oldest airfield and a major city airport with an interesting history.

Ten years ago, author Chris Liddell made the leap from flightsimming to flying real aircraft, and shared his training adventures with us in a series of articles under the banner "Going Solo". He's still an active PPL and has increased his flying skills over the years and now shares his next big adventure: instrument training. Training continues here in Part 3.