Fly! for Windows

It was obvious the first time flying this simulator that, with it's careful
attention to detail, Terminal Reality succeeded in raising the standard
of realism for PC flight simulation. Up to that point, I flew
Microsoft's Simulator '98 which was good in it's own right but lacking in
areas that it's new competitor was not.

The visual effects were so stunning, I considered upgrading my graphics
hardware just to exploit all Fly! had to offer. Although I had
difficulties, at first, getting it to work with my ATI Expert '98 video
card and Direct X software acceleration, my setup proved to be adequate
for appreciating the flight experience. Two types of external views or
cameras are available - a positionable spot plane and a fly-by. What I
liked most was the fly-by-cam which allows you to watch the plane fly
past a stationary flight-level camera that automatically advances to the
next fly-by opportunity.

The satellite photo-based scenery is well done and does a lot for
realism. Although Fly! does a good job in embellishing scenery with
prominent landmarks and detailed airports where appropriate, it is
confined to metropolitan areas designated for "dense" coverage. On
the other hand, Microsoft's Simulator '98 does a better job in spreading
it's scenery embellishments out over more scenery areas and airports.
This might be the tolerable result of a trade-off for all the supported
world airports and navaids in Fly!.

The most spectacular of environmental effects is Fly's rendering of clouds
as they should be - with fluffy texturing in three dimensions as if
looking outside the window of a real plane. This was apparently an
intense task for my video card since the frame rate slowed significantly
when close to or going through the clouds. In addition, rain was (as
expected) rendered to look and feel like rain - complete with the
sight of raindrops falling outside and the sound of rain hitting the
aircraft. There is even an interface to downlink real-world weather
information.

You can choose to fly either a Piper Malibu Mirage supercharged single
prop, Beechcraft King Air B200 dual turbo prop, Cessna 172R Skyhawk
single prop, Piper Navajo Chieftan dual prop, or Raytheon Hawker 800XP
business jet. The cockpits are well laid-out with comprehensive
instrumentation and aircraft exteriors are done with a high level of
detail. Unlike the Microsoft simulator, I can adjust how much of the
cockpit window or instrument panel is displayed on the screen with a
scroll of the mouse. However, there is a somewhat choppy feel when
scrolling the mouse across the cockpit to a gauge or radio. This made it
difficult to take "quick" looks at my instruments during critical phases
of flight. Usage of avionics fell short of my expectations as I could
tune radio frequencies without any problems but found it impossible to set
the OBS or course selector. This possibly could have been remedied with a
faster video card but was no consolation for having VOR effectively
taken away as a navigation option.

Another impressive feature of the simulation is it's "intelligence." Air
traffic control was realistic with smooth, accurate voice transmissions
and radio chatter. Air traffic was clearly visible and appeared to have
it's own respective itineraries. There is an autopilot add-on for
automatic landing and/or takeoff. Primarily useful for teaching novices,
I found it entertaining to sit back and watch the virtual pilot
communicate with controllers, taxi, and actually takeoff with
precision. Landings are handled in a similar fashion with the virtual
pilot following proper approach procedures. It makes its best attempt to
recover from whatever situation it's given and will execute a missed
approach if necessary.

Documentation and user interface are much better than that for
Microsoft's Simulator '98. Sectional navigation charts can be
installed and accessed at any time during flight. Aircraft control was
good and the sound effects added to the overall "feel" of flying.

I would recommend this simulator to anyone interested in flying. Whether
used for training or recreation, Fly! is a great value.