The ability to fly has fascinated mankind since time immemorial.  Just over 220 years ago, the first balloon flight took place.  Just over 100 years ago the Wright brothers along with many other pioneers took to the air in the first powered airplane flights.  Since then, the field of aviation has exploded.  For those who want to fly but are unable for some reason or other, or for just practicing when not in the cockpit, the advent of personal computers brought us Flight Simulator for the PC.  The latest version of this software is Flight Simulator X by Microsoft.  With this version, you can now experience the flying of and systems of aircraft from the simplest ultralight to the most complex airliner, all in the comfort of your living room.  And thanks to the expandability built into the software and the hard work of many, many enthusiasts, the realism of the systems, flight models, and scenery has grown tremendously.  Flying'sCool! uses an enhanced version Microsoft Flight Simulator combined with educational tools and hardware which simulate the controls of an airplane to introduce its customers to what it is like to fly an airplane and what they need to know to do it.

Compiled here are lists of available aircraft, hardware, and scenery addons to enhance the New England, USA area in Microsoft Flight Simulator X. I have deliberately tried to show only those addons I use or know to be best in class, so as not to flood you with more options than you can imagine.   There is also a list of links to many web sites run by enthusiasts and companies, offering for free or for sale, software which further enhance Flight Simulator. Finally, a number of tutorials on how to use and enhance Flight Simulator have been included.  These pages are updated frequently, so come back often.  And if you have any questions regarding anything about Flight Simulator, from flying to installation or if you are searching for a particular scenery file, don't hesitate to join us either at the forums or contact me directly by email.

Thanks to Microsoft's development team, however, while many of these addons were designed for the last version - Flight Simulator 2004, you may find they work better than they did in FS2004. Also, the available default aircraft list is quite different from that in FS2004. But if you own a copy of FS2004, you can use those missing aircraft from FS2004 in FSX.

With each class, you'll get a free DVD with much of this software ready to install on your system, and directions on how to obtain and install the rest.

Flying'sCool! is not associated in any way with Microsoft (tm) or its product groups.