Flight Simulator

Flight Simulator is a side-view flight simulator where you fly a small single-engine plane through 12 missions, from your very first takeoff to landing with the engine dead. The flight model is simplified, but it works on real ideas: lift grows with airspeed and angle of attack, the wing stalls past its critical angle, flaps add lift and drag, and the air thins as you climb. Play it free in your browser with a keyboard, a mouse or touch sliders. It is a simplified simulator made for fun, not flight training.

How to play

Pick a mission, read the briefing and press Fly. The instrument panel under the scene shows what the plane is doing.

• Pitch: Up or W raises the nose, Down or S lowers it. The elevator stays where you leave it; C centers it. On touch, drag the PITCH slider.
• Throttle: Right or D adds power and Left or A takes it away, or drag the THROTTLE slider. The engine gives less thrust high up, where the air is thin.
• Flaps: F lowers them a step (10 and then 30 degrees) and V raises them, or tap FLAPS to cycle. Flaps add lift, so the plane stalls at a lower speed, but they also add drag.
• Gear and brakes: G raises or lowers the landing gear (it stays down while you are on the ground), and holding B or Space, or the BRAKE button, brakes on the runway.
• Pause: P or Esc pauses, and the game also pauses if you switch tabs.

Reading the instruments

The panel has an airspeed indicator in knots, an attitude indicator that shows the nose above or below the horizon, an altimeter in feet, a vertical speed indicator in feet per minute and an angle-of-attack gauge with a STALL light. The last box shows throttle, flap angle, fuel and three gear lights. A small map in the top corner shows the airports and a dashed guide line down to your runway.

The green airspeed arc starts at the clean stall speed (about 50 kt with full fuel) and the white arc at the full-flap stall speed (about 44 kt).

The 12 missions

The first six missions teach the basics: First Takeoff (climb through 500 ft), Climb to Altitude (1,000 to 3,000 ft in five minutes), Level Flight (hold 2,000 ft and 90 to 120 kt for 30 seconds), Slow Flight (52 to 62 kt with full flaps), Stall Recovery and Steady Descent (level off at 1,500 ft, under 150 kt).

The next six are about landing: Approach and Landing, Cross-Country (take off and land 6 km away), Crosswind Gusts (in a side view, the gusts show up as a changing headwind and bumps), Short Field (a 450 m strip), Engine-Out Glide (glide 9 km from 3,500 ft with no power) and Free Flight over hills between three airports, where each landing refuels the plane.

How landings are graded

Every touchdown is scored on two things. Vertical speed: 150 fpm or less is smooth, up to 350 fpm is good, up to 700 fpm is firm, and anything harder is a crash. Touchdown point: the yellow bar on the runway marks the touchdown zone, and landing past the middle of the runway counts as long. Touching down short, nose wheel first or with the gear up also ends the flight, and you must stop on the runway. Your stars for the landing are the lower of the two grades, and your best stars for each mission are saved in your browser.

Tips

• Small inputs. The plane has inertia, so change pitch a little and wait.
• Watch the AoA gauge. A hard pull can stall the wing even at a decent speed.
• Glide at about 70 kt. With no engine, that speed gives the longest glide in this plane. If you are too high near the runway, lower the flaps and gear to add drag.
• Flare gently. About 20 ft above the runway, cut the power and raise the nose a little so the sink rate drops just before the wheels touch.

FAQ

Is Flight Simulator free?

Yes, with no account and nothing to install.

Is this a realistic flight simulator?

Only partly. It uses a real lift and drag formula, stalls, flaps, thinner air with height, wind and fuel, but it is a 2D side view with no turns, and the numbers are simplified. It is made for fun, not for flight training.

Does it work on phones and Chromebooks?

Yes. On a phone or tablet, use the PITCH and THROTTLE sliders and the buttons under the game. Touching the game won’t scroll the page. On a laptop or Chromebook, use the keyboard.

Want more flying? Try Plane Pilot for ring runs between runways, or Moon Lander for gentle touchdowns with limited fuel.