Aviation Specials – May 2018

A

s a professional air ambulance pilot

for 20 years, I’ve seen my fair share

of airports and fl ight conditions that

have increased my heart rate. The fact that

highly skilled and qualifi ed aviators safely

fl y to these exotic destinations each day

remains a constant source of amazement

to me. But managing risk and balancing

demands with realities are what pilots

are trained for. Over the past seven years,

I’ve been writing a recurring series for

PC Pilot magazine, featuring some of the

world’s most challenging airports and

approaches, giving readers guidance on

how to duplicate operations on their home

PC simulators.

Simulator platforms

Personal computer-based fl ight

simulators have evolved continuously

since the 1970s, to the point where the

current crop of consumer software has

such incredible fi delity and graphics

that it can sometimes be hard to tell the

diff erence between the real and virtual

worlds. Indeed, many systems have been

modifi ed and certifi ed for professional

training, as well as for familiarisation

with both aircraft and operational

procedures. The add-on market

for aircraft, scenery and utilities is

enormous, generating millions of pounds

in revenue for companies specialising in

providing content.

The heavy hi ers are the venerable

Microsoft Flight Simulator X (FSX)

platform, Lockheed Martin’s Prepar3D

(P3D), and X-Plane by Laminar Research.

These three hold the lion’s share of the

civil aviation simulation market, and

each enjoys extensive add-on support

from third party vendors and enthusiast

communities. The most recent iterations

of these pieces of software are FSX-

Steam Edition, Prepar3D v4 and X-Plane

11; all have been released over the last

four years. Each new version increases

graphics capabilities, improves fl ight

dynamics and adds new features. And

with the recent advancements in virtual

reality headsets such as the Oculus Rift

and HTC Vive, the levels of immersion can

become deeper than ever.

So far, PC Pilot’s tour of the world has

brought me to some incredibly scenic

locations where half the fun is the

adventure of ge ing there. We’ve chosen

two to highlight the ability of PC simulators

to bring interaction with extreme airports

into living rooms.

VIRTUALLY

EXTREME

Few people will have the opportunity to visit the locations featured in Extreme Airports,

so Chris Frishmuth takes a ride into two of them on his PC to explain how it’s done.

FLIGHT SIMULATION

94 // Extreme Airports

BELOW: A Swiss

Air Force Pilatus

PC-6 Turbo Porter

takes to the slopes

at Corchevel.

(All illustrations

author)

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