Flight Simulation

Key.Aero is home to PC Pilot, the world’s favourite flight simulation magazine which brings sense and expert opinion to the exciting and often daunting world of flight simulation. Contributors include many real-world pilots and aviation professionals to ensure what you read is as real as it gets. Articles cater for those interested in both civilian and military aircraft and include news on the latest standalone and add-on software products, news and reviews of flight sim hardware, tutorials, features and interviews.

Hong Kong for X-Plane out now

Scenery developer, TaiModels has announced Hong Kong International Airport for X-Plane 11 and 12 is now available.

Review Premium

Exploring Buffalo Niagara Airport

In this review, we travel to Buffalo Niagara Airport and explore iniBuilds rendition of this popular tourist hotspot in X-Plane.  So, join us as we shuffle off to Buffalo.

Review Premium

Carenado’s Piper PA-28 Archer II review

The Piper PA-28 Archer II cuts an iconic figure when looking at the spectrum of light aircraft. In this review, we take Carendado’s rendition of this popular general aviation trainer for a spin.

MSFS touches down in Belgium

Scenery developer, MM Simulations has released EBLG Liège Airport for Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Review Premium

PMDG 737-900 and 900ER reviewed

The 737-900 is the last iteration of the popular baby Boeing from PMDG. We take a closer look at this long-range single-aisle airliner for Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Feature Premium

Back to Basics – Series 4, Lesson 7

Having successfully completed a simple VOR approach, in this lesson, we take it a level higher while introducing a nifty invention from Australia – the DME.

King Air 350 now X-Plane 12 compatible

Aircraft developer, Airfoillabs has introduced a major overhaul of its King Air 350 to make it compatible with X-Plane 12.

Review Premium

iFly 737 Max 8 review

The Boeing 737 Max 8 follows in the footsteps of one of the most successful aircraft in aviation history. We take a detailed look at the latest iteration of the 737 family for Prepar3D v5.

Maule for Microsoft Flight Simulator ready for take-off

Developed by Pilot Experience Sim, the single-engine Maule M7-235 utility STOL aircraft has been accurately recreated for Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Review Premium

Aerobask’s Epic Victory review

Many X-Plane pilots will be familiar with the Aerobask team. In this review, we fly their Very Light Jet – the Epic Victory for X-Plane 12.

All the latest news and updates from the world’s favourite Flight Simulators

Whilst flight simulators have been around for over a century in one form or another, it is only since the advent of the home computer that hobbyists and home users have been able to get a taster of what it’s like to fly the real thing.

Since before World War One, military commanders have been using land-based facilities to train their pilots, these mechanical simulators are now seen as the precursors for modern computer simulators. In the late 1970s, the very first flight simulators using 3-D graphics were launched and they’ve been a staple of the home PC market ever since.

With more than 4 decades of advancements in computer processing power, the flight simulators of today are almost unrecognisable compared to those early versions, but the principles remain the same. Modern flight sims bring photo-realistic graphics, realistic weather conditions and faithful recreations of an enormous range of aircraft including civilian, military and historic aircraft.

Key Aero is the only place you need to go to find out all the latest news, updates and big new releases from the world’s most popular flight simulators including Microsoft, X-Plane and Aerofly FS 2.

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator has been around since the early 1980s with multiple versions, making it a popular choice amongst home and pro users. The latest version of the famous flight sim has taken the whole industry to another level, faithfully recreating the entire planet down to an accuracy of a centimetre and delivering this level of data via an online streaming connection. Serving data via a streaming service also opens up more avenues including real-time weather conditions and up-to-date maps and locations.

Discover great articles about all the latest updates and releases from Microsoft Flight Simulator.

X-Plane

Since the mid-90s, X-Plane has separated itself from the competition thanks to its use of real-world physics. This implementation has made it one of the most realistic simulators in terms of weather conditions, aerodynamics and user experience. However, the same algorithms that have made it possible to recreate the physics of the real world also enable users to create their own hypothetical aircraft and environments. In fact, X-Plane has even aided in the design and development of aircraft in the real world.

Read more about X-Plane.

Aerofly FS 2

Aerofly FS 2 has delivered some truly stunning, photo-realistic scenery as well as incredibly detailed cockpits and controls. As a result, the user experience is second to none. Aerofly have also built-in support for Virtual Reality (VR) headsets, allowing the user to fully immerse themselves into the virtual world.

Browse our flight simulation articles to find all the latest news from Aerofly, including new releases, software updates and forthcoming releases.

Subscribe to Key.Aero

Become a part of our aviation community and subscribe to Key.Aero now. You can get all the aviation information you'll ever need, whenever you want, with access to all the latest aviation updates, news, events and more.