Flight Simulator 2002
Now like most 'real' aviators (I'm a 90hr PPL) I've got a few flight sims on my PC for fun but appreciate that unless you've got a few hundred million to splash out on a full size, multi-axis 777 jobbie it's never going to like the real thing.
I'm also deeply suspicious of those 'simmers' who join those 'virtual airlines' and actually sit in front of the screen for ten hours at a stretch as they 'fly' from London to Los Angeles. That smacks to me of needing a good beer or preferably a good night out that ends with a gutter, hooker or police cell.
Such is why I thought long and hard before splashing out £70 on FS 2002. But eventually I succumbed, and I'm rather glad I did.
FS 2000 was always good for IR stuff, instrument scan and the like, but not much cop for visual flying as the perspective never 'felt' right. That big panel dominates the view, to the point where you fly the panel rather than the aircraft. Also because it was all rather jerky then you'd be over-correcting the jerks rather than your own flying.
But, at least in my machine, FS 2002 seems to have addressed most of those faults. The whole thing is much smoother, the ground effects are more polished, and it has this fab 3-D thingy where you can swivel round the F/D in real-time, which gives you a much better perspective of the landing 'picture.'
But the thing that they've included now that really makes it is ATC. You can now file a flight plan anywhere, and get full ATC coverage along the route with vectors to an ILS or visual approach. You can call missed and get vectored round again, receive traffic alerts, airspace transitions and more.
I just wish they'd brought this thing out when I was doing my GFT!
At last it seems MSFS has moved out of the realms of greasy hair and underdeveloped social skills into the realms of a useful training and refresher tool!