Flight Gear

I have always been a fan of flying. As a child, I lived pretty close to all my relatives and never got the chance to take that thrilling childhood flight.

When I went to the army, though, I had to fly to my first duty station for Basic Training. So not only was I in for a lot of excitement with joining the military, I also got to take my first flight. I remember sitting on that plane from Pittsburgh to Atlanta and trying hard not to grin from ear to ear like an eight-year-old boy. But I just couldn't help it.

All these years later I would be hard-pressed to remember every single commercial, military or even helicopter flight that I took. Even today, though, I still get that little childlike thrill when the engines spool up and I start rocketing down the runway.

Since I don't have a lot of opportunities to fly these days what with work and lack of places to go on a plane, I decided to look into the narrow world of flight simulators. If I can't fly all the time for real, I might as well do it from my laptop.

I have already explained that I am not a big fan of paying for things. So the Microsoft side of this venture really didn't enter my possibilities. Once again, however, Google saved the day and found a free flight simulator called Flight Gear.

Flight Gear is an open-source program that you can download from the web. Free of charge. You can even download different aircraft and maps. I fly Boeing 787s, single-engine Cessnas and even a fully-stocked A-10 Warthog that gives one chills when the 30mm gun belches out its death-dealing wall of lead. Fucking incredible.

I have been playing this for a couple months now and it never gets old. I'm quite proficient with it now and, if the need ever arises, I feel pretty confident that I could get a real plane off the ground. Landing it, well, might be a problem. I still don't have that part down fully. I usually overshoot the runway and end up landing in the adjacent field. But I'm fucking bad-ass when it comes to taking off.

Try it out if you have the time and want to fly. Like I said, it's free. I'm not being paid to write this or anything. I just love it and felt like sharing.