Sorry gents was going to post this on the thread about how sad flight simmers are ,but that thread has closed, just came across this,
By Matthew Barrows
Bee Staff Writer
(Published May 29, 2001)
Two years ago, a 24-year-old U.S. Navy ensign from Maryland named Herb Lacy stunned his flight instructors when he earned a near-perfect score the first time he flew a plane.
Lacy's secret: a computer game.
He had familiarized himself with the Navy's T-34C training aircraft by logging nearly 50 hours on a game by Microsoft called Flight Simulator.
The Navy was so impressed with Lacy's preparation that the game the ensign picked up for about $50 is now part of the training regimen for young pilots at the naval air station in Corpus Christi, Texas.
As the Navy discovered, video and computer games aren't just kids' stuff anymore.
The technology is more sophisticated, the images more lifelike, and games once limited to the playroom are finding their way into the classroom, the medical training room and police proving grounds.
Ask California State University, Sacramento, senior Chris Barnett about the potential of video-game technology, and he'll tell you the sky's the limit.
For his final computer science project this spring, Barnett and three other students linked Microsoft's Flight Simulator with realistic cockpit controls from LAS, a Cameron Park company that designs flight-training devices.
Barnett said Flight Simulator usually is played with a computer keyboard, but its value for pilots soars when paired with actual controls -- in his case, controls for a Boeing 737.
"A pilot isn't going to be flying the plane with a keyboard," Barnett said. "So we had to figure out how to connect Flight Simulator with LAS hardware. We were basically the middleman."
The project earned the four students top grades in their class, and job offers from simulation-software companies are starting to pile up.
For Barnett, there was an added bonus:
"I've always wanted to get my pilot's license," he said. "In order to fly the Flight Simulator for the project, I really had to get familiar with the controls."
Patrick Lyons, of LAS, said aviation enthusiasts, flight schools and airlines are interested in flight simulation because the real thing has grown so expensive.
"Fuel prices make practice flying cost $150 to $200 an hour," he said. "Simulation is a much cheaper way to weed out pilots. For a fraction of the cost, you can cover the same type of training on the ground."
From takeoff to landing, flight-simulation software available today also has become remarkably realistic.
The latest version of Flight Simulator -- due this winter -- allows aspiring pilots to fly into thousands of airports worldwide, includes chatter from air-traffic-control operators and has details right down to glare off the chrome of the engine.
"The amount of detail is stunning," said Darryl Saunders, a Microsoft product manager and a pilot with 25 years of experience. "You're going to be able to understand how the whole process works from beginning to end."
Sorry if this has been posted before, it just seemed pertinent to that thread.
There semed to be a awful lot of hostility to a harmless pastime like flight sims.
[This message has been edited by tony draper (edited 29 May 2001).]