Author Ian Radcliffe has been flightsimming for a long time -- since 1984 and FS2 on a Commodore 64. In an effort to give something back after all these years of enjoyment, Ian has offered a series of articles that will offer hints, insights and suggestions to enrich the flight simulator experience. This installment looks at the challenge of dealing with crosswinds and flying in formation, and ends with a trip suggestion up the Hudson River.

Why do we fly? Dominic Smith shares a rather personal piece about the need to fly (simulated) and what makes it so special. He then shares a sample flight that shows some beautiful country where he loves to escape through the wonders of GA aviation.

Author Ian Radcliffe has been flightsimming for a long time -- since 1984 and FS2 on a Commodore 64. In an effort to give something back after all these years of enjoyment, Ian has offered a series of articles that will offer hints, insights and suggestions to enrich the flight simulator experience. This fourth article discusses "the impossible turn", a pet peive, some adventuresome flying and concludes with a trip suggestion.

Unlike computer games, flight simulators do not have a set path or goal so users have to figure out for themselves what to do with their sims. There are many answers to this, such as joining a virtual airline and in this presentation Sherman Kaplan presents a set of float plane flights the he and friends at DC3 Airways have developed. If you like wilderness flying and landing on water this just may be for you.

Flight simulation and aviation are filled with specialized language and abbreviations that are confusing to the beginner and hard to keep up with even for the more advanced sim pilot. In this article Paul Mort helps to clear up the confusion by offering definitions of a wide range of sim and flight lingo. Take a look and see how much you know. Confused by a term that's not included? Leave a comment with your questions.

Sound is a part of flight experience that is sometimes overlooked, but it adds an important extra dimension to the realisim that we all seek. For nearly twenty years Aaron Swindle (Skysong Soundworks) has been supplying the flight simulator community with improved sounds. In this article he discusses various aspects of audio and how it applies to flight simulation, from the early days of basic loops to the complex sounds cones of today.

The team at FlightSim.Com, would like to present a list of add-ons which we feel represent some of the best of 2018. These are our own personal picks, in consultation with our reviewers but we feel that while we may have missed other worthy add-ons all of these represent some of the best available for FSX, Prepar3D and X-Plane.

Allan Jones brings us a story that combines some real aviation history and some flight simulation. Learn about WWII pilot Joy Lofthouse and the Air Transport Auxiliary who delivered newly built military aircraft. Then take on the challenge of an FSX flight in WWII Great Britain, flying VFR only through limited "balloon lanes".

The Blackburn Firebrand is not one of the more famous planes of WWII, but it does have an interesting history and some interesting flight characteristics as well. Martin La Grange tells the story of how the Firebrand came to be and developed during use, and also introduces the Alphasim version that you can use in your flight simulator.