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.

Thumbnail Review Premium

FlyJSim BOEING 727 SERIES V2

The Boeing Whisperjet

Thumbnail Feature Premium

Challenging Airports - Skiathos (LGSK)

Over the span of our Challenging Airports series, often the airports we’ve looked at are carved out of difficult terrain to allow access to popular tourist destinations. Such is the case with the beautiful Greek isle of Skiathos.

Thumbnail Feature Premium

Flight Sim Q&A

You’ve got the questions?We’ve got the answers! ...

DCS: Spitfire LF Mk. IX

Eagle Dynamics has announced that DCS: Spitfire LF Mk IX is available...

Thumbnail Review Premium

Flight Sim Labs A320-X

The A320 is an incredibly complex aircraft and to try to replicate that inside FSX is insanely difficult. Working backwards to produce a flyable aircraft is rather like herding cats – potentially fantastic, but probably a bit fruitless. Flight Sim Labs however like fruitless. The question is, how good is its A320?

Thumbnail Feature Premium

Worldflight 2016

Team Jet Sim took on a challenge to virtually circumnavigate the globe in a full-sized Boeing 737-800 simulator in seven days

Gazelle out now!

For helicopter fans out there, MP Design Studio has released the Aerospatiale Gazelle SA342 for FSX and Prepar3D.

Thumbnail Review Premium

sim-wings MALAGA X

The long-awaited rendition of Malaga Airport

Thumbnail Feature Premium

Cockpit Building

In this issue, Jessica takes a look at the Pro Sim: A320 cockpit...

Thumbnail Review Premium

Carenado DO228 100 HD SERIES

The aircraft that can go anywhere!

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.