MICROSOFT FLIGHT SIMULATOR 2020 - WHAT PILOTS NEED TO KNOWAUG 14, 2020You've probably heard the buzz about Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, the first clean sheetsimulator in over a decade. The graphics look amazing and gamers all over the world areexcited to start flying missions. But what about pilots? Will it be valuable for training orproficiency flights? And how do you get started? At Sporty's, we believe this new programwill be more useful as a training aid than most perceive. Here's what you should know.

In 2005 Google Earth was released as a composite map of the entire world. You had theability to zoom in almost anywhere and get a bird’s eye view of the surrounding area andlandscape. Want to see the streets of Rome? No problem. Trip to a remote part of the countryand you want to see the road layout before driving in with printed map directions? Studyaway. Our grandparents’ desk globe had been digitized—and with remarkable detail—toallow endless hours of research and exploration. The only issue was a roughly 2,000-footview with no three dimensional depth of buildings or natural structures, but hey, it was 2005.Then in mid-2012 Google announced that it would start the process of auto-generating the 3Dmesh required to take the program to the next dimension. This was a great feature update, butstill limiting.

The next leap in digital world viewing is upon us with the release of the new Microsoft FlightSimulator program. Regular pilots will now have the ability to view the entire Earth (inbeautiful detail at that), from any latitude, longitude, and altitude. We’ll have the ability todictate the surrounding weather and time of day. In the mood to admire the beautiful rockformations producing Ha Long Bay in Vietnam? It’s only a handful of keystrokes away. Onceyou’ve taken in those sights, swing on by the Matterhorn in Switzerland and take in thesunset. The world will be our oyster.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020These digital experiences would be great if we were just typing in a latitude, longitude, andelevation; factor in that we can take in these beautiful sights from the front of a continuouslymoving airplane and we’ll watch as the reflection of the sun twinkles on the water. We canwatch cloud formations alter from ever-changing viewpoints. What sets Microsoft’s simulatorapart from other systems is the synergy of Microsoft’s very own Bing maps for 3D data andimagery and the flight simulator to create the aircraft's performance in this digital world.Either piece of this simulator by itself would be impressive, but to have both working intandem is supreme.

Microsoft is offering a beautiful new way to view the world, but that’s not even the best partof their 2020 Flight Simulator program. They’ve spent countless hours critiquing and alteringthe performance, sound, appearance, and even stall characteristics of the airplanes they’restocking in the system. Hours were spent scanning the interior of the included aircraft tocreate an authentic flight deck atmosphere, covering everything from the avionics stack all theway down to seat stitching. Depending on the version purchased, customers will havebetween 20 to 30 airplanes at their disposal, ranging from the light sport amphibious Icon A5all the way up to the widebody 787 Dreamliner.

Microsoft Flight Simulator airplanesAnd what’s better yet is they’ve programmed all of these aircraft to perform just like theywould in real life. V-speeds, avionics, cockpit configurations, weight and balancecharacteristics… they’ve left no stone unturned. Microsoft could have called it a day oncethey successfully mapped and designed the 3D globe. They would have had an interestingproduct, maybe by the name of “World Explorer” or something similar. But they went theextra mile, and then some, and made sure that our vehicles to explore this beautifullycompiled world are just as valuable, if not more, than the ecosystem.

If there’s an aircraft you wished would be on the list but isn’t—just wait. Hundreds ofvendors have signed up for the Microsoft Partner program to allow add-ons and complementsto the program. It’s just a matter of time before you’ll be able to install the airplane youearned your wings in, or the one parked in your hangar.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 cockpit sceneThis impressive system comes at a cost, and more than the $60 to $120 program price tag(depending on which version is purchased). In order to run this system in all its beauty andelegance, it’s imperative to have a computer that can meet the feature requirements. Think ofit as having a high-performance car: you don’t want to throw the lowest grade 87 octane gasin the tank, you want to make sure you get bang for your buck with the premium option. Thisis the same scenario.

Microsoft Flight Simulator will technically run on a low performance PC, but to reap thebenefits of this masterpiece, we have to spend a little bit on a computer. Microsoft hasoutlined what their recommended computer specifications are.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 specsTo most this may seem like a foreign language as it once was to me, but I’ll try and demystifywhat each row is indicating.

Min Operating System Version: This is somewhat self-explanatory—the program will onlyrun on Windows 10. Sorry, no Mac at this time.CPU stands for Central Processing Unit and this is the speed with which the computer canreceive your input, analyze it, and come to the conclusion of how it will affect the currentscenario. These tasks happen thousands of times a second but the faster CPUs increase thatfrequency exponentially. CPUs have different amounts of cores and the more cores yourprocessor contains, the faster it can handle the tasks simultaneously, which leads to smootheroperation.GPU stands for Graphics Processing Unit and this is the piece that is able to visually projectwhat the CPU has just relayed the changes to the scenario would look like. If there’s onefeature of a computer to splurge on, this is it. The last thing we want in a field built aroundprecision, is a lag or choppy field of view. If your computer comes in under budget and youhave some extra cash, this is the piece to invest in. VRAM is Video RAM and designates how much short-term video or imagery the computerstores, whereas RAM is how much short-term data the computer can store. Plain and simplethe more the better. HDD stands for Hard Disk Drive and is the amount of storage your computer has. You willneed a comfortable amount to backup and store sceneries, airplanes, updates, and portions ofthe globe for when you are flying. You probably need more storage space than yourealize—150 GB is a lot.Bandwidth is the speed with which your internet provider is providing information. Ahardwire is always better than Wi-Fi and these speeds really come into play if continuouslyreceiving data from the web (think live weather or multiplayer with other airplanes). A goodhome Wi-Fi system typically puts out 5-25 Mbps, but you can run a speed test online to seewhat your sytem is getting.In wrapping up, I like to think of these three columns in terms of percentages. The minimumspecs would serve as 33%, recommended specs are 67%, and the ideal specs are the full100%. When I built the simulator we use for testing at Sporty’s, we constructed a system Iwould rate around 92%. Not the top of the line but also enough power to work well and keepup with updates for a while.

Financially I like to associate it towards ringing out a wet rag. The first half requires littleeffort, but it gets more and more difficult as you squeeze out those last few percentages. Samewith the cost of a computer. It will get exponentially more expensive for each percentage youget closer to the ideal specs. For reference of how much it would cost to design a system likeours with a 92 point rating, ours invoiced for roughly $1600. As is with many things in theaviation industry, buy as much computing power as you can afford.

To say the least, the 2020 Microsoft Flight Simulator program is a beautiful andrichly-designed product. For many it will be a game, for some it will be a training tool. In atime when people are chomping at the bit to travel and take in distant views, this program

will bring us one step closer to that desired vacation. When pilots pack for their next flight,there’s usually an objective to accomplish, whether it’s taking the family to a new destination,traveling to a new airport to try the local cuisine, or flying to a familiar stomping ground totell lies in a hangar. Microsoft’s system can even function as a flight planning tool. If flying toan airport or part of the country you're not familiar with, jump in the simulated plane and flythe route or at least the last 30 miles to become familiar with visual cues and checkpoints. Wecan thank Bing Maps for the accurate portrayal of syncing what we’ll see in the simulator towhat we see in the real world. Microsoft may not be able to accomplish any of thosepreviously mentioned objectives, but they will offer the ability to explore our diverse world ina never before available clarity, and offer a unique training tool along the way.

Stay tuned for more articles on Microsoft Flight Simulator, including hardware options, VFRand IFR scenarios, and more. For now, check out these links to learn more: