Flight Simulator
The purpose of a flight simulator is to provide individuals with a replication or simulated experience of flying an aircraft. A flight simulator tries to be as realistic as possible to provide individuals with a challenging and thrilling experience. There are many types of flight simulators available today that range from video games to be played on home computers on up to full size cockpit replicas which move on a hydraulic platform to train the next generation of civil and military pilots.

In the aviation industry the flight simulator is used for three primary tasks. The first is the development, testing and verification of flight hardware. The second is testing and developing flight software. The third is to develop new cockpit displays to help with the crews situational awareness. For military pilots flight simulators help to train pilots, prepare for disaster scenarios and to aid in aircraft development. Flight simulators are used for a variety of tasks beyond simply training pilots and providing entertainment for individuals.

For early personal computers the flight simulator was a very crude design. Today the flight simulator for personal computers has advanced and is now almost as realistic as the actual simulators used to teach pilots in professional careers. Of course the majority of flight simulators available for personal computers today are combat flight simulators, but civilian flight simulators are starting to become available in a larger variety due to market demand.

By the 2000s the flight simulator for personal computers had become so realistic that journalists and experts speculated that they may have been used for the hijackers on September 11th to gain knowledge and training. However, this information also hurt the flight simulator since it caused many delays and changes in the civilian flight simulator.

While many personal computers today are powerful, many fans of flight simulators do not consider this to be enough. Therefore, many have resorted to building their own homebuilt flight simulators. These can often range from a flat panel screen with a high powered computer to a full motion simulator experience with switches and gauges in full size to resemble an actual aircraft cockpit.