Closing the program, we decided to sit down and discuss what we liked and didn’t like about ProPilot99. Here are the likes and dislikes about ProPilot99.

What we liked

• ProPilot99 offers a refreshing feel to flying. The controls are smooth and responsive, unlike the jerky FS98 controls. During stalls, aircraft ailerons are sluggish and unresponsive to controls.
• Cockpit detail is amazing. All aircraft start-up procedures follow the same checklists as do their real counterpart. All visible switches work, providing the proper functionality.
• Air Traffic Communications AND a co-pilot. Your co-pilot can take care of most menial tasks while you concentrate on flying including talking to the air traffic controller (ATC), changing NAV aids, and setting up your frequencies.

• The ATC can also give you detailed vectoring information. And it’s real, down from the weather information channel, right from ground control, air traffic control, departure control et al. You have communications with all flight service communication facilities during takeoff, cruising, and landing. And it’s done well.
• Gauges respond accurately to the environment as you climb and dive.
• Sounds were realistic, except for one part. However, all other acoustics will put a smile on your face.
• You are actually able to maintain straight and level flight, unlike FS98 where you’re constantly fighting with your trim to maintain altitude. Here is where ProPilot99 shines through. All available trim functions are visible and functioning.
• IFR and NAV flying are accurately done. Mapped terrain in ProPilot99 also contains all real life NAV and VOR beacons.
• ProPilot99 is more realistic to fly both internally and externally. The aircraft interacts with the outside environment in a more responsive nature. Turbulence actually looks like turbulence, it wobbles your plane around in the sky, not quick left and right jerks. Wind gusts moves your plane wings, requiring realistic aileron adjustment. Loose an engine in a twin, and your fighting to keep your plane in the sky, requiring immediate attention as your plane yaws towards the down engine. Rudder adjustments during this situation may correct your flight path, but your aircraft is suddenly sideways at an angle.
• Weather emulation of clouds is fantastic. Flying through clouds seems actually real compared to FS98 Lego blocks. This allows realistic IMC navigation with IFR navigation and landing. Cloud thickness is wonderfully simulated.
• External views at high altitude are done well. Graphics with 3D accelerated cards can take benefits of sun flares, wispy clouds, and maximum resolutions.

• Built in Flight Planner. This flight planner is neat. Plot all your waypoints. Where you want to fly. With what aircraft. Even generate weather for your flight for your departure and destination location. ATC will even vector you to your destination.
• Built in navigation aids. The program can help you set up for all types of navigation by auto tuning your NAV radios.

Click to continue . . .

What we didn’t like.

• Terrain is second rate. Up close, it lacks detail, detail, and detail.
• Cities look too much like copies of FS98. We were hoping for more realistic looking buildings and structures.
• Certain realistic flight characteristics were missing or just plain wrong. During a dive from high altitude, you can both pull back and climb out of the dive or your controls are ineffective. Neither was consistent which leads us to believe that it’s all luck if you put your plane into a dive, you can pull out of it. In real life, try to pull out of a dive in a King Air at 300 knots and you’ll either rip your wings or your tail off.
• Try flying upside down. Normally, you’ll starve your engines of fuel but in ProPilot99, they don’t cut out.
• The Overspeed horn was non-existent or just not working. We hope they fix this for the release.
• Stalls are modeled well, but spins are not. All the aircraft do not want to spin. Hopefully flight models are unfinished.

• Multiplayer has not been incorporated into this program. We'll find out if it's planned or not. If not, it should be, it's a hoot in FS 98.
• Damage modeling is non existent. There are no damage points on your aircraft. All crashes are simulated by a smashed and burnt cockpit view. With today’s damage modeling being a high priority for most simulators, why can’t the aircraft have break points on the surfaces?

Why can’t I damage my landing gear if I land too hard? I should be able to damage my control surfaces if I fly too fast and my flaps if I try to extend them at high speeds. But unfortunately, there is no damage modeling in ProPilot99.

During long distance traveling, I found that for some reason, the aircraft had an unnatural desire to climb. This was most noticeable after using the autopilot. This was a beta release so I can only assume this is fixed on the release. I’m searching here folks, but you know what, I can’t think of anything else that this game is missing.

Note from a reader: this is very accurate, as the plane burns off fuel, it becomes lighter and will climb on its own. For example, the Concorde will begin its cruise at around 50,000 feet, but by the end of its cruise it can be as high as 65,000 feet because it doesn't have tons of fuel weighing it down.

Know what this simulator needs? A full motion cockpit, 5 point harness, buttons above my head, and a stewardess tapping me on my shoulder asking me if I want the in-flight meal. Microsoft, be afraid, be very afraid.