FlightGear . www.covermix.com

FlightGear is a collaborative project that aims to create a sophisticated free, completely open-source flight simulator framework.

The project was started in 1996, with the first release in 1997. The latest public release is 1.0.0 in December 2007, with specific builds for a variety of operating systems including Microsoft Windows (Win 32), Mac OS X, Linux, IRIX, and Solaris, although hardware requirements, especially OpenGL hardware graphics acceleration constrict systems capable of running Version 1.0.

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

History

Beginnings (1996, 1997-2001)

Development formally started in the late-1990s with an online proposal and code being written in 1996, but using custom 3D graphics code. Development of an OpenGL based version was spearheaded by Curtis Olsen starting in 1997, after the initial start in 1996. A large community response lead to many contributing to the project from its start in late '90s up to the present.

Rather than start entirely from scratch, FlightGear developers made use of the LaRCsim flight model from NASA, with OpenGL for 3D graphic code, and freely available elevation data. First working binaries came out in 1997, with an intense updating of newer versions for several years resulting in progressively more stable and advanced programs.

By 2001, the team was releasing new beta versions regularly (0.7.x, 0.8.x over 2001-2003). Later in the decade, the rate of final public releases slowed, but had larger amounts of content (0.9.8, 0.9.10, etc.). The maturity of software by 2005 lead to more widespread reviews, and increased popularity. The use of version numbers slowed dramatically after the late 2002 release of version 0.9.0. Versions 0.9.9 (2005) and 0.9.10 (2006) had about 8 all-new or redone aircraft adding to a total of 70-90 aircraft, while 0.9.11 has about 33 new or redone designs.

Version 0.9.0-1.0 (2002-2007)

FlightGear graphics are outdated in many respects compared to flight simulators such as X-Plane of the same period, but can compare well to older versions and to open source contemporaries such as ACM Flight Simulator or Vertigo. Also, the whole world is well represented using the freely available SRTM elevation data, and a number of special features are available, such as sloped runways. Over 20,000 runways, 3d clouds, multi-platform support, multiple open flight data model (FDM) choices, roughly 100 aircraft choices by version 0.9.10 provide a well-rounded feature set.

FlightGear is requires OpenGL and 3D hardware acceleration, with NVIDIA hardware and binary drivers having better support. Early versions had support for 3dfx cards, though this was dropped as hardware requirements increased.

Software

The simulation engine in FlightGear is called SimGear. It is used both as an end-user application and in academic and research environments, for the development and pursuit of flight simulation ideas.

This customizability of FlightGear is illustrated by the wide range of aircraft models that are available in FlightGear, from gliders to helicopters, and from airliners to fighter jets. These aircraft models have been contributed by many different people.

The FlightGear aircraft use one of three main data models JSBSim, YAsim, or UIUC as of version 0.9.10. Currently only one terrain engine is used, TerraGear. Weather effects include 3D clouds, lighting effects, and time of day.

Flight Dynamics Models

Flight Dynamics Models (FDM) are how the flight for an aircraft is simulated in the program. FlightGear uses a variety of internally written and imported flight model projects. Any aircraft must be programmed to use one of these models. Currently FlightGear is the only graphical flight simulator for which all the FDM are used, and UIUC and YASim were developed specifically for FlightGear.

Early version used an FDM based on LaRCsim by NASA, which was replaced with more flexible FDM.

FlightGear dependencies

Unlike commercial software titles, the main output of the project is simply the release of a collection of code. To turn it into a usable program it must be compiled for a given platform. The software libraries used to create FlightGear have varied over time. The main one is SimGear, which is the underlying sim engine for FlightGear. TerraGear is not a dependency, but simply a name for the default terrain data program in FlightGear. OpenAL is used for sound/audio software, including support for SDL (since 0.9.5). PLIB is used for hardware support routines, formerly used for sound support also which was taken over by OpenAL. OpenGL is used for its integrated 3D graphics routines, and other hardware acceleration (namely DirectX) is not supported. OpenSceneGraph is also integrated into FlightGear. Finally, Simple DirectMedia Layer is a software library which is used for compiling. Some of the dependencies vary depending on which platform the code is being compiled for. FlightGear users must either compile the code themselves, or find a third party to release a binary, if it is not among the ones available from the project.

Networking and multi-display

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 could be used for formation flight or control tower simulation. Multiplayer was soon expanded to allow playing over the internet. Other features include a Google maps based moving map that allows users to observe where other players are.

Several instances of FlightGear can be synchronized to allow for a multi-monitor environment. If all instances are running at the same frame rate consistently, it is possible to get good and tight synchronization between displays.

Additional software

There are programs that are either integrated into FlightGear (dependencies) or perform a function with it. Some of these are included in the release of FlightGear for a specific platform but made by the project, while others are independently distributed but are hosted by the FlightGear project.

One major additional software is the actual interface for launching an executable of FlightGear. For most of its early life FlightGear was only run through command line interfaces. However, the FlightGear Launch Control has been included with the FG launcher front-end since 0.9.3 in 2003. KFreeFlight is a launcher/front-end for KDE. FGTools is an alternative windows launcher front-end. FGKicker is a GTK+ based front-end.

Other significant programs include editors and projects for Terrain Data. Atlas is a chart/map support for FlightGear; Kelpie Flight Planner is a Java based flight planner for FlightGear. FlightGear Scenery Designer is a FlightGear scenery editor for working with terrain data. The World Custom Scenery Project is a project coordinating custom scenery efforts. Finally, Taxidraw is an editor for airport runways and taxiways.

FlightGear code vs. binaries

Unlike most commercial software, the project release dates only apply to a release of code, not an executable program. To create a runnable program the code must be compiled, which requires several specific libraries (see section of #FlightGear dependencies), including some general ones and, in some cases some platform specific ones. However, since this too difficult for most mainstream users, other contributors will work to make binaries available for a specific platform and operating system. These packages vary in their stability, performance, dependencies, and how up to date they are with the code base. For example, some older binaries work on Mac OS 9 but newer releases require specific Mac OS X versions.

For example, by late 2007 the latest code release was 0.9.11-pre1 (pre-release) and 0.9.10 (final). However, the actual binaries available vary significantly. Examples of actual binaries available a year after the release of the 0.9.10 code release:

By early 2008, many versions for 1.0.0 became available although older releases remained for several aforementioned platforms. Increased hardware requirements for 1.0.0 reduced performance on older systems.

Critical reaction

Although not developed as a game in the traditional sense, FlightGear has nevertheless undergone reviews in a number of online and offline publications. FlightGear 0.9.10 received many reviews, being highlighted as an accurate simulation but requiring patience and some pre-game work. PC Magazine noted how it is designed to be easy to add new aircraft and scenery.

In contrast, an older review some years early, a June 2002 review by FlightXPress, had been more critical, noting a lack of functions and the scenery (this would be for version 0.7.10 of FlightGear).

Release timeline

Final build code release dates by year. Prototype code using LaRCsim, OpenGL, USGS DEM data, and VRML were tested by July 3, 1997 by C. Olson.

Models & aircraft

FlightGear started out with an aircraft included in NASA's LaRCsim, a Navion, which was replaced by a Cessna 172 by 2000. UIUC as well as JSBsim development brought several more aircraft with them, as did the development of YASim which have since become the main FDM used in FG.

1.0.0 and earlier aircraft

The basic installer is limited to about 15 aircraft, with several dozen more official aircraft at varying states of development for download. The CD/DVD version includes all official aircraft and terrain data, though all the same material can also be downloaded for free. Non official aircraft from third-party sources also exist, but are not included here. Also included are a number of custom buildings, especially around San Francisco; a Nimitz class aircraft carrier is included as well (which aircraft can land on). In addition, several of the developmental UIUC aircraft developed in the late 1990s were still included but were not all maintained.

All Official aircraft for 0.9.10, with flight data model type and cockpit type listed for some such as found on the 0.9.10 CD release of FlightGear. Some aircraft are FDM only. Third party aircraft are excluded from the list (such as in additional add-ons). Aircraft in 0.9.10 installer are noted with a *, and ** for the 1.0 installer. New or heavily re-worked aircraft up to 1.0 public release, including some that came out with the 0.9.11-pre1 FlightGear (pre-release version) as well as 9.10 aircraft. Many aircraft that have not been updated no longer work, such as ones before .7.x/.8.x/.9.x as well as a number in the later releases that were not maintained to the current version depending on the model and its dependencies. Includes from about 0.7.0 to 0.9.10 and 1.0.0.

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