FlightGear

FlightGear

Cockpit View of A320neo in FlightGear 3.7
Original author(s)	David Murr, Curt Olson, Michael Basler, Eric Korpela[1]
Developer(s)	FlightGear Developers & Contributors
Initial release	July 17, 1997 (1997-07-17)
Stable release	2017.2.1 / May 22, 2017 (2017-05-22)
Repository	git.code.sf.net/p/flightgear/flightgear
Development status	Active (1996–)
Written in	C++, C[2]
Operating system	32-bit & 64-bit Windows Linux Mac OS X FreeBSD Solaris or IRIX
Platform	Cross-platform
Size	1.54 GB (Main files)
Available in	English (Translations Available)
Type	Flight simulator
License	GNU General Public License
Website	flightgear.org

FlightGear Flight Simulator (often shortened to FlightGear or FGFS) is a free, open source multi-platform flight simulator developed by the FlightGear project since 1997.^[3]

David Murr started the project on April 8, 1996. The project had its first release in 1997 and continued in development. It has specific builds for a variety of operating systems including Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, IRIX, and Solaris.

FlightGear code is released under the terms of the GNU General Public License and is free software.

Some commercial products—Earth Flight Sim, Flight Pro Sim, Flight Simulator Plus, Pro Flight Simulator, Real Flight Simulator, Virtual Pilot 3D, and others—are copies of old versions of FlightGear, see Commercial redistribution. They are not endorsed by the FlightGear project.^[4]

History

FlightGear started as an online proposal in 1996 by David Murr. He proposed a new flight simulator developed by volunteers over the Internet as alternative to proprietary, available simulators like the Microsoft Flight Simulator. The flight simulator was created using custom 3D graphics code. Development of an OpenGL based version was spearheaded by Curtis Olson starting in 1997. FlightGear incorporated other open-source resources, including the LaRCsim flight model from NASA, and freely available elevation data. The first working binaries using OpenGL came out in 1997.

In June 2014 Honda lawyers issued a takedown request in which it was claimed that the HondaJet model in the simulator infringes on Honda's trademarks. Subsequently, HondaJet became the first model removed from the simulator due to legal reasons.^[5]

Multiplayer

Several networking options allow FlightGear to communicate with other instances of FlightGear. A multiplayer protocol is available for using FlightGear on a local network in a multi aircraft environment. This can be used for formation flight or air traffic control simulation. Soon after the original Multiplayer Protocol became available, it was expanded to allow playing over the internet.

Several instances of FlightGear can be synchronized to allow for a multi-monitor environment.

Critical reception

Wright Flyer in 0.9.9, which uses the UIUC FDM

Although not developed or typically analyzed solely as a game in the traditional sense, FlightGear has nevertheless undergone reviews in a number of online and offline publications, and received positive reviews as a flight simulator game.^[6] FlightGear 1.0.0 was noted as being impressive for a game over a decade in the making, with a wide variety of aircraft and features.

PC Magazine noted how it is designed to be easy to add new aircraft and scenery.^[7] Linux Format reviewed version 2.0 and rated it 8/10.^[8]

Applications and usages

FlightGear has been used in a range of projects in academia and industry (including NASA) and even home-built cockpits.^[9]

Commercial redistribution

FlightGear Flight Simulator version 1.9.1 has been actively marketed over the Internet by third parties under several aliases and product names, such as Earth Flight Sim, Flight Pro Sim, Flight Simulator Plus, Pro Flight Simulator, Real Flight Simulator, Virtual Pilot 3D.^[10]

Companies

• Aeronautical Development Agency, Bangalore, India.
• Veridian Engineering Division, Buffalo, NY.
• MathWorks FlightGear to Simulink interface.^[11]
• NASA/Ames Human Centered System Lab - 737NG full scale cockpit simulator^[12].^[13]
• Pragolet s.r.o. for light and ultra-light sports aircraft.^[14]
• ATC Flight Simulator Company, FAA approved flight simulator^[15]
• ActiveFly paragliding simulator^[16][17]
• Robert Heffley Engineering^[18]
• PAL-V Europe NV^[19]
• Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Germany, HeliLab^[20] and MPI CyberMotion Simulator^[21]
• Institute for Scientific Research^[22]
• Simuladores Guaraní, Argentina^[23]

Endless Runway Project

Endless Runway Project, consortium of several European aerospace institutes.^[24][25]

Universities

Africa

• Minia University, Egypt^[26]

Asia

• The Department of Aircraft and Aeroengine from the Chinese Air Force Engineering University^[27]
• Universiti Teknologi Malaysia^[28]
• Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China^[29]
• Indian Institute of Technology^[30]
• Shenyang Institute of Automation, China^[31]

Australia

• RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia^[32]

Europe

• Institute of Aerospace Engineering at the RWTH Aachen^[33]
• University of Naples, Italy^[34]
• University of Wales Intelligent Robotics Group, Aberystwyth, UK^[35]
• Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands^{[36][37][38][39]}
• Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Germany^[40]
• Technical University of Munich^[41]
• Czech Technical University in Prague^[42][43]
• French Aerospace Lab (ONERA) and University of Toulouse, France^[44]
• Pázmány Péter Catholic University and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences^[45]
• University of Sheffield, England^[46]
• Supaéro^[47]
• Durham University, England^[48]

North-America

• University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, USA^[49]
• Simon Fraser University, British Columbia Canada.
• Iowa State University, USA
• University of Minnesota, USA
• University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, USA^[50]
• Department of Aerospace Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University, USA^[51]
• Northeastern University, Boston, USA^[52]
• Arizona State University, USA^[53]
• University of Montreal, Canada and the University of Toulouse, France^[54]
• The Center for Coastal & Ocean Mapping/Joint Hydrographic Center at the University of New Hampshire, USA^[55]
• University of Michigan, USA^[56]
• University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies, Canada^[57][58]
• Purdue University, Indiana, USA^[59]
• University of Arizona, USA^[60]

South-America

• Aeronautical Engineering University, Argentina^[61]
• Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil^[62]

Home built applications

• Team Viper^[63]
• John Wojnaroski's 747 cockpit^[64]

See also

• Microsoft Flight Simulator
• List of open source games
• X-Plane (simulator)
• youbeQ
• GEFS-Online
• YSFlight
• Lockheed Martin Prepar3D

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to FlightGear.

• Official website
• FlightGear on SourceForge.net
• About FlightProSim, Flight Simulator Plus, ProFlightSimulator and EarthFlightSim