Reader Reviews

Flight Sims Yet to Reach New Ground

by Wesley Adams

You check your speed, your altitude. Everything looks good for landing approach, your in-flight tutorials and study of your flight manual being put to good use. The speaker gives a pleasant tone and then a message: "Passengers please observe the seatbelt lights are on. Cabin crew prepare for landing." You notice that you're coming in a touch too fast... "Hmm", you think as the ground gets closer. "This might be a little rough."

Your plane explodes. The thick smoke fading to give way to a black scorch mark where your plane first made contact with the ground.

This is a problem in nearly all flight sims. They all claim to be realistic ("Used by the real pilots at Top Gun!" and "Ultra accurate rates of acceleration!"). Yet most of them fail to represent physics on the ground. One small error and it's one big fireball of failure. Good luck next time.

Now let's imagine this "real life" scenario...

You have a private jet. Not only do you have no previous flight experience, but you've had a few drinks to "calm yourself down". After a miracle takeoff, you decide to land the plane on a busy highway strip to maybe pick up some smokes. You veer the plane to your landing destination and line up the now runway-converted road as you finish your martini. Your sorry excuse for a landing goes somewhat like this:

At first contact, the front gear compresses in, straining to cope with the weight and force of the plane. It quickly collapses like jelly, forcing it back into the compartment. The nose crashes into the ground, bounces upwards as the left wing gets torn off from a nearby light pole and flips behind the now spinning remains of the plane. The rear wheels are fully extended, elevating the rear of the plane as the nose points towards the tarmac. Eventually, the mangled wreckage grinds to a halt. Everything is silent, you see damage and warning lights all over the cockpit. But you are alive. Alive!

Real-life scenario? Maybe. But If you think that sounded familiar it's because what I have just described is totally possible in a 1996 game titled "A-10 Cuba"! Alcoholic beverages aside, a common dilemma is trying to land a damaged plane, contending with skewed flight controls, nervous hands and the strong desire to make it back alive.

Why developers have not followed suit is beyond me. A-10 Cuba was seven years ago and the majority of flight simulators seem to neglect forces on the ground. It's nearly 2004 - even first-person shooters have decent physics these days. We love realism because it's fun.

I see potential for a groundbreaking game here. After all, what's a great landing unless you can compare it to a disastrous one.