FlightGear
FlightGear
http://www.flightgear.org/
FlightGear Flight Simulator is a free, open-source, multi-platform, atmospheric and orbital flight simulator. Its flight dynamics engine (JSBSim) is used in a 2015 NASA benchmark to judge new simulation code to the standards of the space industry.
FlightGear Flight Simulator (often shortened to FlightGear or FGFS) is a free, open-source, multi-platform, flight simulator, created by volunteers.
FlightGear is an atmospheric and orbital flight simulator used in aerospace research and industry. Its flight dynamics engine (JSBSim) is used in a 2015 NASA benchmark to judge new simulation code to the standards of the space industry.
FlightGear 2020.3 has 700+ aircraft in launcher with 1-click install and update, that can be filtered by advancement level in flight dynamics model (FDM), systems, or art. The rest are available through 3rd party hangars or from development repositories.
Broad overview of features as of 2020: 3d buildings & roads for entire planet based on OpenStreetMap (OSM) data and automatic generation, terrain-driven weather simulation, addons, multiplayer environment, orbital rendering, a flexible and open aircraft modelling system, varied networking and interfacing options, multiple display support, multiple flight dynamics engines, multiple rendering pipelines, detailed weather visualisation with ALS renderer, a powerful scripting language, and other features suited for settings in research, industry, DiY projects, and desktop simulation, combined with an open architecture. Used professionally, as well as non-professionally.
Platforms: Windows, GNU/Linux, Mac, FreeBSD, others. Compiles for ARM processors, including Raspberry Pi.
See:
- Applications and usages
- Tours
- News
- Info, help, and contribution: wiki, forum, mailing list
- Quick aircraft recommendations - see screenshots and caption text in install aircraft page
Professional and Educational usages
The FlightGear project has been used in a range of projects in research and industry, including by NASA for both Earth and Mars conditions (e.g. in ARES glider design for Mars[1]. It has been used as a research and development platform by various agencies and universities.
Other than aerospace research and development, FlightGear is used in aviation or aviation-adjacent industries in various ways. For example, teaching student pilots procedures or handling in a simulator saving expensive flight time - e.g. FlightGear is integrated into various FAA certified training simulators[2], in contrast to use in full-motion (6-DoF) research simulators like at the University of Naples[3] where FlightGear is utilised for physics not just used for visualisation/interface. Similarly, FlightGear has been used to teach air traffic controllers (ATC)[4] and allows for dedicated ATC client/instructor interfaces as well as visuals using real-life ATC tools like binoculars or cameras - teachers can alter traffic, weather, re-create traffic patterns, and so on. Different forms of instructor stations are possible for different areas of instruction. FlightGear has also been used in general education e.g. exhibits in museums[5] and all sorts of DiY projects.
About the project
The simulator is created by an international group of volunteers, and released as free, open-source GPL software.
The goal of the FlightGear project is to create a sophisticated and open flight simulator framework for use in research or academic environments, pilot training, as an industry engineering tool, for DIY-ers to pursue their favorite interesting flight simulation idea, and last but certainly not least as a fun, realistic, and challenging desktop flight simulator.
Being free software, FlightGear has historically received development from the science and engineering community. Many contributors have had an academic background in engineering, maths, physics, or computer-science - in addition to some involvement or interest in aviation like being pilots (hobby, professional, test pilots, or retired). This is true especially among long-term contributors, and the academic insight has shaped the project's simulation standards.[6]
There are many exciting possibilities for an open, free flight sim. It is hoped that this project will be interesting and useful to many people in many areas.
History
FlightGear started as an online proposal in 1996 by David Murr, living in the United States. He was dissatisfied with proprietary, available, simulators citing motivations of companies not aligning with the simulators' users, and proposed a new flight simulator developed by volunteers over the Internet.[7] Development of an OpenGL based version was spearheaded by Curtis Olson starting in 1997. FlightGear incorporated other open-source resources, including the LaRCsim flight dynamics engine from NASA, and freely available elevation data. The first working binaries using OpenGL came out in 1997. By 1999 FlightGear had replaced LaRCsim with JSBSim built to the sims' needs, and in 2015 NASA used JSBSim alongside 6 other space industry standards to create a measuring stick to judge future space industry simulation code.
The FlightGear project has been nominated by SourceForge, and subsequently chosen as project of the month by the community, in 2015, 2017, and 2019.[8] [9] [10]
Licensing
License
Verified by
Verified on
Notes
License
Verified by
Debian: Markus Wanner <markus@bluegap.ch>
Verified on
18 March 2015
Notes
License: public-domain
public-domain These files are in the Public Domain, and come with
no warranty.License
Verified by
Debian: Markus Wanner <markus@bluegap.ch>
Verified on
18 March 2015
Notes
License: gpl-2+
License
Verified by
Debian: Markus Wanner <markus@bluegap.ch>
Verified on
18 March 2015
Notes
License: lgpl-2+
License
Verified by
Debian: Markus Wanner <markus@bluegap.ch>
Verified on
18 March 2015
Notes
License: bsd-3-clause
Leaders and contributors
| Contact(s) | Role |
|---|---|
| Curtis L. Olson | contact |
| Curtis L. Olson | Maintainer |
Resources and communication
| Audience | Resource type | URI |
|---|---|---|
| Download | http://www.flightgear.org | |
| Debian (Ref) | https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/flightgear | |
| Developer | mailto:flightgear-devel@flightgear.org |
Software prerequisites
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Required to use | OpenSceneGraph |
| Required to use | plib |
| Required to use | SimGear |
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