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.

Bergen for Microsoft Flight Simulator out now

Scenery developer RDPresets has announced ENBR - Bergen Flesland for Microsoft Flight Simulator is now available.

Feature Premium

Back to Basics – Series 4 Lesson 5

Having got to grips with the NDB and how pilots use it to navigate and approach airfields, our instrument flying series now turns its attention to a more common and accurate radio navigation aid - the VOR.

Review Premium

Orbx’s PAC P-750 XSTOL

In this review, we take Orbx’s rendition of the PAC P-750 single-engine XSTOL turboprop for a spin.

Review Premium

VelocityOne Flight Stick & Rudder Pedals review

In Issue 137 of PC Pilot, we introduced the new VelocityOne flight yoke and throttle combo from the San Diego-based Turtle Beach Corporation. They have now produced two more flight-related products: the VelocityOne Flight Stick and Rudder Pedals.

Review Premium

iniBuild’s Los Angeles Airport review

We explore iniBuild’s rendition of one of the more famous destinations in the US, Los Angeles Airport. 

Review Premium

Carenado’s PC12 review

In this review, we take Carenado’s rendition of one of the more popular single-engine turboprop aircraft on the market for a spin – the Pilatus PC-12.

Review Premium

Microsoft Flight Simulator World Update XI: Canada

In this review, we travel to Canada and discover what the latest World Update from Microsoft has to offer.

Microsoft Flight Simulator touches down in Detroit

The latest US destination from iniBuilds is Detroit Metro Airport (KDTW) for Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Microsoft reveals number of Flight Simulator downloads

Microsoft Flight Simulator is celebrating another major milestone as it reveals for the first time how many people have downloaded the latest version of the 40-year-old franchise.

Warhawk takes flight in Microsoft Flight Simulator

iniBuilds has announced the Curtiss P-40F Warhawk for Microsoft Flight Simulator is out now.

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.