FS2004 vs X-Plane

I started flight sims with "Night Flight" by Hewson Consultants which ran on a 16k ZX81.

After various sim games on the ZX81, through Spectrum, C64, Amiga and then later the PC, I had something with Chuck Yeager's name attached to it. Then came the Microsoft flight sim versions.

The only other flight sim I touched since Flight Simulator 2 was launched was X-Plane. This stood above the Microsoft offering in the physics department giving magnificently realistic flight models. I think I started with demo versions of X-Plane 4.

When X-Plane 7 came out I bought the CD's from the 'States. 4CD's of scenery didn't even come close to the Microsoft offering of their default scenery but the physics still was head & shoulders above.

Well now X-Plane v8 has been out for a while ... *and I finally got the DVD today* and am installing it now 😀 It has photographic scenery for all of the US and generic for the rest of the world (previous versions didn't even have this and you could find yourself on a runway just a few hundred feet above the sea, no land or anything!!). Now it even has undulating runways!!!

Anyway, this new version promises to be even more incredibly realistic and looks fantastic. X-Plane also has FAA approval for training towards an airline transport certificate!

However Microsoft's might prevails and it is still the one everyone thinks of. I'm going to try X-Plane 8 and I think it'll not disappoint.

Have a look at some of the new features of v8 here; http://www.x-plane.com

Dave