| Flight simulation software has come a long way from | | | | You will experience cities complete with high rise |
| the early versions of 25 years ago that had low | | | | buildings, parks, and homes as well as geographical |
| quality, herky-jerky pictures. Today's 3D high definition | | | | characteristics such as mountains, trees, and hills. |
| graphics make it almost hard to tell what's real. Part of | | | | Depending on how high you fly, the clouds might be |
| the reason is that today's computers are much more | | | | your only scenery, along with sun during the day and |
| powerful than before, allowing smooth streaming video | | | | the stars and moon at night. |
| without the bandwidth and latency issues. | | | | Manipulating the time of day while enjoying your flight |
| Computer graphics have had a profound impact on | | | | simulator scenery will give you a completely different |
| many different types of media, but especially on | | | | viewpoint of the same landscape. At night you can |
| computer gaming software. Animations that used to | | | | see the city lights as well as the approach lighting at |
| look more like a cartoon now appear convincingly real, | | | | the airport you choose to fly into. You can even see |
| thanks to the age of digital images and 3D computer | | | | the headlights of vehicles on major roadways. |
| graphics. Flight simulator scenery designers have | | | | Another cool thing about flight simulator scenery is the |
| certainly taken advantage of this area of scientific | | | | differences in the seasons, which you can control with |
| visualization. | | | | a click of your mouse. Whether you fly in the summer |
| Another technological advancement with flight | | | | during a thunderstorm or under heavy cloud cover on |
| simulator scenery is the use of VMap0 imagery | | | | a stormy winter night, you will feel the rush of power |
| mapping. Vector map level 0 is the National Imagery | | | | you have to control your aircraft. The sky is the limit! |
| and Mapping Agency's digital chart of the world. It | | | | If your desire is to work toward becoming a pilot as a |
| provides world wide coverage of vector-based | | | | career, flight simulation software is a great place to |
| geospatial data which can be viewed at 1:1,000,000 | | | | start. Flight schools actually use flight simulation in their |
| scale, resulting in an extremely detailed view of the | | | | training, so you can try out your skills without worrying |
| terrain. | | | | about any fatal crashes. You can try maneuvers that |
| So, when you choose the aircraft you want to fly, that | | | | you wouldn't try in real life until you became an |
| is just the beginning. You will have over 20,000 airports | | | | experienced pilot. |
| available to you to fly in and out of. Pick anywhere in | | | | So whether you are an armchair pilot or a serious |
| the world to visit, and you will see elements specific to | | | | aspiring pilot, you will have so many options you won't |
| that area close up or as a tiny speck at 20,000 feet | | | | know what to try next. You will enjoy hours of flight |
| altitude. | | | | simulator scenery that mimics the real deal with a small |
| Flight simulator scenery consists of a variety of terrain. | | | | investment, but with a big return. |