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Next Sunday, the first 200 FSA Captains to register will save more than $30 on ‘Entire Event’ tickets. Get your FlightSimExpo tickets early for the best prices! Plus, hotel, airfare, and car rental discounts are available now. FlightSimExpo 2026 tickets go on sale at 12pm CT next Sunday, December 14. An ‘Entire Event’ ticket includes all seminars and workshops, #FSExpoFriday, 3 days of exhibits—including the new Friday Exhibit Hall Preview—and exclusive access to post-event seminar recordings. Starting Sunday, December 14, the first 200 FSA Captains to register will have access to an FSA Captain Special: an ‘Entire Event’ ticket for just $50! If you’re not yet an FSA Captain, subscribe today at flightsimassociation.com . Non-Captains can buy ‘Entire Event’ tickets for $75, with single-day options also available. “We’re proud to share that – in a world where everything seems to be getting more expensive – we’ve been able to reduce ticket prices for FlightSimExpo 2026,” said FSA Co-Founder Phil Coyle. “Last year, an ‘Entire Event’ ticket was $84. This year, it’s $75—and you get 20% more time in the exhibit hall. Alongside hotel rates that are about 25% lower than in 2025, we’ve made the show even more affordable in 2026.” FlightSimExpo 2026 takes place June 12-14, 2026 at the Saint Paul RiverCentre, an 8-mile drive from Minneapolis/Saint Paul International Airport (MSP) and 20 minutes from the Mall of America®. For more details on all ticket options and pricing, visit flightsimexpo.com/register . Register to Sponsor and Exhibit at FlightSimExpo 2026. FlightSimExpo welcomes software developers, hardware vendors, communities, and other flight simulation organizations to participate as sponsors, exhibitors, and speakers. All exhibit booths include furnishings, internet, electricity, and event passes. Educational speaking opportunities are available at no charge. Details on getting involved are available at flightsimexpo.com/partner . Book your travel now. A detailed schedule and exhibitor updates are coming in 2026. Discounted hotel rooms and airfare deals from Delta, United, Southwest, and codeshare partners are available now. Make your plans early to take advantage of rates as low as $149/night plus tax. Details: flightsimexpo.com/travel . FlightSimExpo 2026 will feature product reveals, exhibits, virtual reality and training demonstrations, and how-to seminars from the biggest names in flight sim. For the first time, attendees will also get access to a Friday Exhibit Hall Preview immediately following #FSExpoFriday on June 12, 2026. An initial list of sponsors and exhibitors will be shared in March 2026. About FlightSimExpo. FlightSimExpo is one of the world’s largest flight simulation conventions. The event has welcomed almost 10,000 attendees to events in Las Vegas, Orlando, San Diego, Houston, and Providence since 2018. FlightSimExpo is produced by Flight Simulation Association, a community-driven organization of developers, simmers, and real-world pilots working to make it easier to get started in home simulation. Join the community today—free—at flightsimassociation.com for resources, learning content, webinars, and discounts on top add-ons and simulation hardware.

A simcade that lets players fly helicopters as we imagine them Helicopters are wonderous, highly flexible, complicated aerial vehicles that provide humanity with some of the most versatile mission sets possible. In order to fly these vehicles in the way we imagine them in our mind's eye, you would need a flight simulator that would let you take on sets of jobs helicopters are well known for. Immaculate Lift Studio seemingly created RotorSim to not only let people be enamored by the capabilities of helicopters, but also just enjoy the experience in a nicely packaged, accessible, adventurous experience. Looking at publicly available information, the developer is self-taught. They create games and functional apps for the Godot Engine. In fact, looking at their Gitbhub repositories, it seems like four key parts of Rotor Sim are readily available for use or to study. An indie developer providing the building blocks of their own projects, à la Why485 and Vazgriz , is somewhat uncommon, but great to see. Hopefully others feel a bit inspired to try and make their own projects. The earliest updates that can be traced through the Discord server and Itch.io at least goes as far back as May 23rd, 2024. The early builds of the game were available through Itch.io, but the version 1.0 release brought with it the release of the game on Steam on July 3rd, 2025. A demo of the game is also available on Steam, which is how I first interacted with this game, buying it shortly afterward. A sample of the in-game manual. Rotor Sim has two game modes. The Free Flight game mode, which, as you may have guessed, lets players fly in any condition with any aircraft in the game. An easy way to get familiar with the map. In the single player campaign, the player flies as a new pilot in AeroAssist aircraft utility services. The description of the company according to the in-game pilot manual (a stylish choice) describes the company in a well-grounded way: "AeroAssist began as a small venture aimed at providing crucial aerial support to inaccessible areas using governmental grants, at no cost to the affected region. Over the years, we have expanded our services globally, supporting disaster relief, medical transport, time-critical passenger movement and urgent supply delivery." AeroAssist operates from what looks like a slightly upgraded cargo ship with a helipad on the forward deck. Players operate from this ship throughout the course of their contract. At the start of each mission players lift off from the ship in a helicopter. The mission contract dictates whether it is one of three helicopters: the Sparrow (Robinson R-44 like), the Eagle (UH-1 Huey like) or the Condor (Mi-8 Hip like). Each of them with different, noticeable flight characteristics. After a mission is complete the level usually closes sending players to the menu to decide their next action, but by setting the Mission Completion Reset option to 'No Reset', players will have to fly back to the boat to complete the mission. The better option to really round out the experience in my opinion. It also increases the amount of flying players do, which is always positive. In Rotor Sim, all 30 missions of the single player take place in Windy Isle; a compact but diverse set of islands. There are mountains, a literal castle, an airport, a city, air traffic, sea traffic, docks, a shady research facility - just about everything you would expect from a decently populated area. Most important to the setting, the weather. From fog to rain to a full-blown storm that heavily reduces visibility an effect the way a helicopter flies. Coupling weather conditions with heavy cargo weights can be rather dangerous. Careful flying is required in such conditions. Just slowly trudging through low visibility situations while keeping an eye on terrain is sometimes the only path to success in some missions. This is about as dangerous as the environment gets, but the flight model is detailed enough to have a few more dangerous but realistic points. Rescuing passengers from a sinking ship. You can definitely tell that the seemingly casual flight model that can be enjoyed with a gamepad has a few simulator-like details specific to helicopters. From minor details like the cargo hook only able to pick up objects and a gantry that must be extended to lower a hoist to rescue people. To flight model specifics, I nearly failed a mission due to sudden episodes of Vortex Ring State and Rotor RPM Droop catching me completely unprepared. The momentum and weight these helicopters have with this flight model is manageable with a gamepad but can get out of hand if players are simply mashing the controls and throwing the stick around without a care in the world. Flying helicopters as you would within the real world is the best way to go. While doing research for this article I happened to come across the game's developer, who elaborated a bit more on Rotor Sim. Quoting them directly: "I originally started this project because I couldn't for the life of me find a simple heli sim that felt good to play without it being attached to something much larger and more complicated (like ARMA or GTA). I just wanted to fly around and do helicopter things. I've played basically every heli game that's come out in the last 10 years and most of them feel like asset flips, or at least not made with the attention that a true nerd would have. The control and feel of the helicopter was based on many years of flying in helicopters and wanting to recapture that sense of motion and chaos." All of this being done in a non-combat scenario may sound boring, but let me tell you, that is a major part of the enjoyment of Rotor Sim. Not constantly ducking between hills to evade ground fire or have a mission potentially fail because of a roving fighter jet gives players time to fully enjoy the flight model and immerse themselves in "helicopter things" as the developer puts it. Plucking people from dangerous situations with a hoist, delivering supplies, transporting VIPs, searching for lost hikers - a nice helicopter specific set of tasks. Example of the story driven campaign. Each mission has a small story within it and around it told by the contract description text and commentary from the characters during the mission. Working with different clients in this location gives one-off stories and a consistent storyline that is rather eyebrow raising from time to time. It is so interesting I do not feel like completely disclosing it in this article but know that there is intrigue abound. Mid-mission dialogue. Immaculate Lift Studio is already working on a sequel that is taking the concept of the original game even farther. Currently known as Rotor Sim World , some of the known details posted on the studio's Github mentions: Many more interesting helicopters (all shapes and sizes). Get out of your helicopter and drive cars, trucks, complete missions, and explore. 64km² world with cities, a coastline, forests, and secrets. Expanded mission types, such as firefighting, more involved and complicated cargo operations, and smuggling. NPCs! Thousands of citizens going about their daily lives and interacting with you. The story of AeroAssist continues, with new characters and some old favorites coming back. While I seem to have joined in to the Rotor Sim party a bit late, I am just on time for the pre-alpha phase of Rotor Sim World. I look forward to presenting my thoughts on the project so far and seeing where the developer takes it. Connect with 'Rotor Sim' Discord Github Itch.io Steam YouTube About the Writer Aaron "Ribbon-Blue" Mendoza Co-founder of Skyward Flight Media. After founding Electrosphere.info , the first English Ace Combat database, he has been involved in creating flight game-related websites, communities, and events since 2005. He explores past and present flight games and simulators with his extensive collection of game consoles and computers. [ Read Staff Profile ]

This past week, we have now gotten back into flying in DCS after what felt like an eternity. We had our reasons to do so, but most importantly, that period of time is behind us. While I was trying to come back and coordinate with the other Skyward boys on what to do in DCS, I was reminded that not everything in DCS has to be the same mission over and over again. That is when we decided to go and experience DCS multiplayer within the Rotorheads community. WHAT IS THIS SERVER ABOUT? This server has a very different focus than other sandbox ones, such as 4YA and Through the Inferno, due to the very clear and refreshing focus on rotary wing aircraft and their operations. On what seems to be a first, or at least a popular first, a server has decided that fixed wing aircraft will take a step back and leave the limelight to the helicopters and, surprisingly, the logistics focused C-130J (mod, for now). The server is organized in big campaigns that run for several weeks. Player action and decisions permanently impact the mission, and future operations through direct action. Troop deployments and an emphasis on coordinated multi-front engagements , the server does set itself apart from other more casual experiences, something that is made clear by the fact that you have to join their discord server and read their rules to even be able to join the DCS server itself. You are given a code that you will have to enter, otherwise, you will get removed from the server.

In this sense, you could say that this emphasis on community curation does lead to a more focused and less casual community. Does this mean the community is closed to everyone but the most professional pilots? No, absolutely not.
GAMEPLAY AND WHAT WE GOT UP TO Since a mix of fixed and rotary wing operations are allowed, we decided to do some JTAC missions where I would designate from my Kiowa while RibbonBlue would engage from his Hornet while he used laser-guided Mavericks. It was very, very doable and sincerely, I had a lot of fun. Doing this on a normal server would have entailed starting a 1-hour-long journey towards the AO , with a possibility of our target being gone by the time I reached the agreed meeting point. In Rotorheads, the AO is 5 to 10 minutes away, which means that flying into combat is painless! This was such a nice change of pace and something that made our time during the server a much better one.

While we were doing our mission, it was very cool to have a lot of other people around us running their own. There were attack helicopters doing runs on enemy armor, transport helicopters running troop insertion and vehicle deployment, and also some dedicated and very organized cargo pilots setting up defenses and moving the front line forward.
RibbonBlue took note that Blackhawk and Chinook pilots were extremely proactive with unit deployment during one of our sessions, which left me quite impressed, considering that I thought that the Chinook player base was close to the double digits in terms of active users. Additionally, there is something very useful that this server runs alongside the mission: an active web-hosted heatmap that is pseudo-real time. You can find it here . This allows players and spectators to follow the flow of battle and see areas where enemies have been spotted, and where friendly pilots have been downed. Very neat, huh?
GO FLY IN ROTORHEADS This server is paradise to those of us that love our whirlybirds, but it also remains friendly to those that are scared of having their wings rotate. Everyone can find a way to have fun within this server, so I encourage you to come here and fly.}

The server is also running the AH-6, UH-60L and C-130J mods at the moment. This means that you will not have to buy any modules to enjoy it to the fullest. No excuses!

You can see the requirements to join their server by clicking the button below, there you will find all the details including the server IP. What are you waiting for? Join the fight, it's worth it!
About the Author Santiago "Cubeboy" Cuberos Longtime aviation fanatic with particular preference towards military aviation and its history. Said interests date back to the early 2000s, leading into his livelong dive into civil and combat flight simulators. He has been involved in a few communities, but only started being active around the mid 2010s. Joined as a Spanish to English translator in 2017, he has been active as a writer and the co-founder of Skyward ever since. Twitter  | Discord : Cubeboy

War Thunder can bring out the best and the worst in people, all at once. It is a glass bowl full of folded papers with emotions written on them, from which you draw a couple of strips every match to determine how you will feel during and after that match.
Sometimes it can be happiness and delight, sometimes it can be surprise and disappointment. It will all depend on what you play and with whom you play it with, as to say, that it is nothing but random chance if you will have a good time. That being said, there is a place many long-term players dread: top-tier matches. If you feel like subjecting yourself to the dread that can be induced by playing Air Realistic Battles, then now you can pay a pretty penny to get there without the multi-year grind by getting the Venezuelan Su-30MK2 for the Soviet/Russian tech-tree. This might not be the first time a top-tier premium jet is available for sale, but it is one of the first times that one can actually carry these many missiles.
TOP TIER: WHAT'S THE PROBLEM? There are so many little issues with top tier gameplay that going one by one would take as much space as a short movie script. So let's keep it short. Matches feel like a missile jousting simulator, and are usually just determined by who can get their missiles out first. A typical match, whenever you don't get uptiered, is composed of a mix of every nation's top tiers with a prevalence of US and Soviet jets. The US and Western aircraft have a clear advantage thanks to their AIM-120s and equal missiles having superior range to Soviet-made R-77s, leaving you with longer range but semi-active R-27R and R-27T.

This leads to you getting shot down before you even have the chance to launch your missiles into any sort of effective range, which ends in one of two ways:
You either avoid the oncoming barrage of enemy light poles and start terrain masking and play a different game until you inevitably get shot down
Or pray to the Snail that you will somehow avoid detection by terrain masking from the beginning, avoiding getting spotted and taking the enemy by surprise. The latter is the most effective on this Su-30MK2, but barely.
THE SU-30MK2, A CAPABLE PREMIUM SURROUNDED BY FEARFUL PEERS Almost every single aircraft around you, premium or not, will be as capable or more capable than you. This Flanker is not the most agile, since it doesn't have thrust vectoring or canards, but it does have the classic Flanker swiftness that we all know and, some, love.

While it can carry some interesting air-to-air and air-to-ground weaponry, it does seem to have a worse sensor suite than the ones present in other Flankers such as the Su-30SM or even the J-11B. Do not come in expecting this to be the best Flanker in the game, because it is most definitely not.

When facing enemies at BVR, you will have to rely on your radar's TWS HDN mode to guide the very mediocre R-77s home. In the hands of a competent pilot, the Su-30MK2's radar can be made to work, it is no AESA, but it can still detect targets at around 60 to 70Km away. Does that mean that you will be able to engage at those ranges? No, forget about it.

The longest range I would recommend you launch your R-77s would be inside 25Kms, since you would be lowering your hit chance by quite a bit were you to launch earlier than that. You can try lobbing the missiles to extend range by some kilometers, but forget about 70 to 80Km shots with these missiles. They do not guide reliably enough at such ranges. Example of such a trade. The Mirage 2000 (background) got downed by my R-77, but now I am about to meet their missile and my maker (foreground)
Even when I get a shot off that I know will hit, I usually end up trading or getting wrecked by some random guy that will call me names on the in-game chat for using the Venezuelan Premium plane. Something that I find quite amusing, considering that I am Venezuelan. SO, IS THIS FLANKER WORTH IT?
Short answer, no. Long answer, it will depend on how desperately you want to get to experience what top tier is like in War Thunder, or how hard you want to speed up your grind through the Soviet tech tree.

As a premium, it is excellent. It will help you unlock a lot of extremely fun aircraft that you will, most likely, enjoy even more than the Flanker. Even early jets can be extremely fun, ones such as the MiG-15 or even the early MiG-21s, a BR where missiles are still trash.

The core of what can be considered fun in War Thunder is directly proportional with how advanced they are on the tech tree. I have a blast with low-tier tanks and aircraft, so if what you want is a way to get to that fun the fastest, then this premium aircraft is for you. You will be able to unlock the entirety of the Soviet aircraft tech tree in no time, as long as you get consistent kills with the Su-30MK2.

Whether getting to those vehicles as fast as possible is worth 80 of your hard-earned dollars and selling your soul to the Snail? Well, that I cannot tell you; but remember that you also get 30 days of premium with this purchase, for as much as that is worth, anyway.
About the Author Santiago "Cubeboy" Cuberos Longtime aviation fanatic with particular preference towards military aviation and its history. Said interests date back to the early 2000s, leading into his livelong dive into civil and combat flight simulators. He has been involved in a few communities, but only started being active around the mid 2010s. Joined as a Spanish to English translator in 2017, he has been active as a writer and the co-founder of Skyward ever since. Twitter  | Discord : Cubeboy

A generation of gamepad style flight controllers takes shape It seems like the Yawman Arrow may have been the first shot in a volley of handheld flight controllers. In the year 2023 the concept of a handheld flight controller was undoubtedly seen as an anomaly in flight simulation hardware. However, with two new prototype handheld flight controllers appearing at multiple flight simulation conventions in 2025 and now a confirmed release date for one of these controllers at the end of the same year, it is time to talk about this upcoming era of handheld flight controllers. Perspective As we start, I would like to establish my perspective and experience with the concept of handheld flight controllers. In the context of this article, the discussion of handheld flight controllers starts in 2023 with the debut of the newly established Yawman flight peripheral company and their Arrow flight controller. This gamepad style controller immediately started a conversation of the validity of this type of device in flight simulators. Arguments against the concept these specialized controllers can be summarized as: Concern about similar price point to existing entry level yokes and rudder pedals. The utility and value of a gamepad controller that is only designed for flight simulators. Gamepads for game consoles and personal computers have been pressed into service for flight games in the past. Why get a specialized device that is not a traditional flight peripheral (HOTAS, yoke, etc). Skyward Flight Media (Skyward FM) made initial contact with Yawman during their debut in 2023 at Flight Sim Expo (FSE). Our contact with the Yawman team eventually led to a review unit of the Arrow being sent to Aaron "Ribbon-Blue" Mendoza for a launch review of the controller in early 2024. Our review process took the Arrow far beyond its tailor-made use in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and X-Plane 12. We took the Arrow from high fidelity general aviation simulators to AMRAAM slinging BVR engagements. From World War I flight arcade dogfights to alien world space station freight delivery. By the end of the review process, we found that a handheld flight controller does have a legitimate place in even the most experienced flight simmer's collection. It certainly does not replace hardware to the point there is no purpose in purchasing a dedicated trim wheel or throttle quadrant for higher fidelity flight simulation. However, this type of controller and its backend support did make it very easy to access higher quality flight simming without needing to bring out a full sim rig each time. For over a year now, many of the games and simulators Skyward FM has interacted with have been flown with the Yawman Arrow in varying degrees. Perhaps not every single flight done with the controller, but it was plugged in and assessed to see how feasible it would be for whichever title is being played. From there the Arrow would be used in a rotation that made sense. Skyward Flight Media has been classified as a power user of the Arrow by Yawman themselves, taking into account everything that was previously stated. All of that to say that the Skyward FM perspective of the handheld flight controller concept is shaped by the realities of best case and worst-case use from a wide array of flight titles while understanding the limitations of these devices compared to traditional flight simulation hardware. Yawman Arrow To the established flight sim market in 2023, a daring new yoke design is seen as a safer bet in comparison to a true unknown like the Arrow was. The concept of a flight simulation peripheral in the form factor of a game console controller was a wildcard at the time. 2024 graphic. The design of the Yawman Arrow has remained unchanged since release in January 8th, 2024. Its straightforward design incorporates an instrument six-pack button layout which can double as button modifiers to layer controls in simulators. Its sliders on the bottom right faceplate and vernier poles on the underside of the controller are axises that can be reassigned to whatever is needed depending on the simulator it is used on. The built in trim wheel on the bottom left is also a solid addition that is placed far from where the most common button presses and finger sweeps occur. Arguably the Arrow's signature feature is its patent pending mechanically linked triggers which act exactly as full-size rudder pedals. The consistent stiffness of the triggers improves the precision of rudder controls of aircraft flown in simulator. However, that same stiffness is somewhat of a hurdle for users that use them roughly. In the Skyward FM review of the Arrow, I made a note of the potential danger of multiple rapid full force trigger pulls. While the core of the linked triggers inside the body of the controller is rather well built, there are cases of the plastic finger pads of the triggers snapping under consistent, vigorous use. During my conversation with the Yawman team at FSE 2025, they have guided customers through processes to repair or replace parts on the controller, though these did not sound like they were regular occurrences. At launch the price point of the Yawman Arrow in comparison to other traditional flight controllers was a hurdle for potential customers who saw prices of more entry level yokes being close to what Yawman initially offered. The first batch of Arrow controllers sold out on launch day, January 10th, 2025. A second batch of controllers was made ready by January 15th. A price drop from $250.00 USD to $199.00 USD was announced on January 18th, but it does not seem to be something that was done because of commercial failure. Yawman goes deeper into the reasons in their blog post  about it, but the Arrow has continued production and sales since its launch day with Yawman developing new projects. Reviews of the Arrow have continued to be mostly favorable even now. Most pushback against its design centers on the somewhat unflattering visual design, desire for more tactile feedback when pressing certain buttons and higher quality material used on certain parts like the vernier poles at the bottom of the controller. But complains of the device being totally unusable and completely failing are few and far between. Though, as of November 18th, 2025, it seems like the design of the Arrow will need to be reviewed by the Yawman team to remain competitive with the next gamepad style flight controller. Honeycomb Aeronautical Echo It just so happens that while I started writing this article earlier this week, Honeycomb Aeronautical released the reveal trailer for their Echo Aviation Controller with a general release date of December 2025. Talk about good timing. To have such a well-established company like Honeycomb Aeronautical actively develop a controller like this is rather interesting. The Echo Aviation Controller first appeared at the Honeycomb Aeronautical Industry Preview Days hosted in London in July 2025 with the public able to try the prototypes at FlightSimExpo 2025. While Skyward FM did have some time with the controllers at FSE 2025, frankly the Echo has undergone such a considerable change as seen in the November 18th trailer, I had to re-write this entire section of the article. My initial observations and concerns about the mid-2025 prototype of the Echo centered around the positioning of the four levers in the middle of the controller, the size of some of the flight controls at the bottom of the controller and on the face of the controller. My concerns were about the difficult of sweeping fingers over dense clusters of controls and the somewhat unusual placement of things like the trim hat switch and a few of the other non-gamepad standard buttons across the bottom and the top right of the faceplate. However, the Honeycomb team seems to have taken all of the feedback from industry insiders and flight simmers to heart. In terms of customization, the Echo has a pretty much set in stone design with exception to the four controller levers / axises that can now have their caps replaced with color coded knobs. This lends these levers to then become functions like fuel mixture, separate engine thrust levers, etc. The Bravo Throttle Quadrant from Honeycomb has the same capability. Something that has inspired similar General Aviation yoke and throttle combos like the Turtle Beach VelocityOne Flight Universal Control System. The presence of mechanically linked triggers acting as aircraft rudder pedals was one of the most eyebrow raising parts of the Echo for me. This type of control system is the signature feature of the Yawman Arrow. Such a specialized mechanism both needs to be sturdy enough to handle long term use while frequently being held within very specific positions. All without the device losing tension or becoming detrimental to minute flight inputs during maneuvers. For Skyward FM this is all said from the outside looking in for now. With the redesign of the Echo having a general release date of December 2025, it seems like we will be able to go hands on sooner than later. MeridianGMT X-Ray Flight Sim Controller This company was founded on March 12th, 2025, by former Honeycomb Aeronautical Founder, Nicki Repenning. One of the main messages MeridianGMT has been pushing is modular or expandable design in all of its hardware. Rather than purchasing a single yoke that may cover functionality of a small selection of aircraft, in theory a Meridian yoke could have specific parts of it physically removed and replaced with other modules by the customer themselves. A yoke initially purchased in a single engine light aircraft could be reconfigured for other aircraft types. Of their initial products they have showcased, the X-Ray Flight Sim Controller is a gamepad patterned flight controller with multiple flight focused physical inputs. Official graphic. The X-Ray follows the MeridianGMT theory of as much modularity as possible giving the consumer the ability to quicky swap out modules without hand tools. When imagining a handheld controller you can reconfigure, devices like SCUF gamepads, Thrustmaster eSwap and Turtle Beach Victrix Pro come to mind. On the face of it (literally!) the faceplate of the controller can be pulled from the frame of the controller with a new faceplate inserted. A United States Coast Guard faceplate was show at one point. That level of aesthetic customization is nice, but not required per se. Moving deeper into the controller, the promotional material and the physical prototype, the X-Ray comes with eye catching inputs like spring-loaded flap levers, separate rudder triggers and mentions of a collective/cyclic hub for rotary-wing aircraft. On the back of the controller are extra programmable buttons for specific buttons or input combos. Upon seeing them I think of modifier buttons immediately. MeridianGMT claims that the controller is currently in development with support from Microsoft and Digital Combat Simulator developers. On personal computer plug and play use prioritized. At FlightSimExpo 2025, MeridianGMT announced that they secured a deal with Microsoft to ensure their products to Xbox game consoles. Considering the existence of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, that is a fair point. It does make you wonder if a similar deal would need to be signed with Sony to ensure device compatibility with MSFS 2024 on the PlayStation 5. Key Points Going Forward When I combine hands on experiences at trade shows, extensive presentation watching and my own long-term use of handheld flight controllers. There are a few key points that need to be achieved for the success of, let's call them, the first generation of flight controllers. Acknowledging the wide reach of Microsoft Flight Simulator and ensuring their controllers are game console compatible to reach the now well-established game console flight simulation demographic.
Ensuring the pursuit of incorporating traditional flight simulation controls (levers, hat switches, trim wheels, etc.) do not clutter the controllers to the point it negatively impacts user experience during flight.
A moderate degree of button customization via software to allow players to assign custom key binds or specific in-simulator functions reliably.
The price point of these controllers being equal to or slightly below the cost of entry level flight yokes, rudder pedals, etc. to further entice potential first-time buyers.
Controller connection method being either wired or preferably wireless to match what consumers already expect from what is considered standard for gamepads these days. Personally, I find myself being very excited at the prospect of handheld flight controllers becoming a long-term part of the now well-established game console demographic. Hopefully controllers like this could get a new wave of simmers to make the next big step towards getting more advanced flight simulation gear but also enable already established simmers to increase how much they fly thanks to ease of access or add a new portable controller for travel. It just so happens that I was already working on an updated review of the Yawman Arrow over a year after consistent use with it. I look forward to adding a review for Honeycomb's Echo as well. About the Writer Aaron "Ribbon-Blue" Mendoza Co-founder of Skyward Flight Media. After founding Electrosphere.info , the first English Ace Combat database, he has been involved in creating flight game-related websites, communities, and events since 2005. He explores past and present flight games and simulators with his extensive collection of game consoles and computers. [ Read Staff Profile ]

Additionally, organizers announced that sponsor and exhibitor registration has begun. Flight sim developers of all sizes are encouraged to see how they can support the show by visiting flightsimexpo.com/partner The Flight Simulation Association (FSA) announced that, in response to attendee and partner feedback, FlightSimExpo 2026 will feature a Friday exhibit hall for the first time! The event will also be offering new single-day ticket options for flight simmers who can’t attend the full, 3-day event. Friday Exhibit Hall Access New in 2026, the exhibit hall will be open from 4:30pm – 7:00pm on Friday, June 12. The doors will open immediately following the conclusion of #FSExpoFriday’s product reveals and developer updates. “We’ve heard from attendees and developers that their favorite part of FlightSimExpo is the chance to interact with developers and try the latest software and hardware,” said FSA Co-Founder and VATSIM controller Evan Reiter. “This change allows us to offer attendees 20% more time in the exhibit hall without changing the overall travel footprint for our partners.” #FSExpoFriday 2026 will begin at 12pm CDT, one hour earlier than last year. Attendees can expect the same weekend schedule as in previous years, including announcements, hands-on exhibits and demos, product updates, developer Q&As, workshops, and more happening on Saturday and Sunday. “At our past shows, attendees have enjoyed behind-the-scenes access to air traffic control towers, airports, museum visits, and more,” says FSA Co-Founder Phil Coyle. “We’re working on offering similar experiences for FlightSimExpo 2026’s attendees, with more details on these to come early in the new year.” For the full event experience, attendees should plan to arrive in Saint Paul by Thursday, June 11 and leave on Monday, June 15. More Single-Day Ticket Options will be Available for 2026 Organizers are also happy to share that more single-day ticket options will be available for flight simmers who can’t attend the entire 3-day show. “Based on the popularity of our ‘Sunday-Only’ option in 2025, we’ll be offering single-day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday ticket options in 2026,” says FSA Co-Founder Phil Coyle. “While the best experience is always for those who can attend the entire show, these new ticket options will make it easier for people who can’t attend all three days, especially for those local to the MSP area.” Organizers will be sharing details and pricing on the new ticket options in the FSA Discord . Attendee registration opens in December. As in previous years, attendees unable to make the in-person event in Minneapolis/Saint Paul have the option to watch the event online via the FSA Captain subscription or a one-time $15 purchase. FlightSimExpo Partner Registration is Open Now FlightSimExpo welcomes software developers, hardware vendors, non-profits, and other flight sim organizations to participate as sponsors, exhibitors, and speakers at the 2026 event. It’s easy to have an exhibit booth: the show’s all-in options include furnishings, internet, electricity, and event passes starting at just $750. Educational speaking opportunities are available at no charge. Anyone interested in sponsoring, exhibiting, or speaking at FlightSimExpo 2026 show can see all the details at flightsimexpo.com/partner . The Venue FlightSimExpo 2026 will be held at the Saint Paul RiverCentre, an 8-mile drive from Minneapolis/Saint Paul International Airport (MSP) in Minnesota. MSP airport offers more than 130 non-stop destinations across the country and around the world. Saint Paul is also served by Amtrak's Borealis and Empire Builder routes. Amongst many other attractions, the Saint Paul RiverCentre is just 20 minutes from the Mall of America®, a leading retail, entertainment, and attractions destination, welcoming millions of visitors from around the world since 1992. Discounted hotel rates are available for FlightSimExpo attendees. Attendees can also use links from the FlightSimExpo website to save on airfares from Delta, United, Southwest, and codeshare partners like Air Canada and WestJet. Details at flightsimexpo.com/discounts . Attendee registration opens in December. ### About FlightSimExpo FlightSimExpo is one of the world’s largest flight simulation conventions. The event has welcomed almost 10,000 attendees to events in Las Vegas, Orlando, San Diego, Houston, and Providence since 2018. FlightSimExpo is produced by Flight Simulation Association, a community-driven organization of developers, simmers, and real-world pilots working to make it easier to get started in home simulation. Join the community today—free—at flightsimassociation.com for resources, learning content, webinars, and discounts on top add-ons and simulation hardware.

There are only a couple of flight worlds in VRChat where there's not only aircraft variety, but also all the aircraft made are designed and modeled in-house by the world creator. One of these worlds is Gomasaba Archipelago by Yakisaba .

This world just celebrated its first anniversary , so we thought it would be a good idea to come back and revisit this world with a new pair of eyes. We also convinced some of our friends and partners to tag along, which made the experience a lot more social and dynamic.
WORLD LAYOUT AND IDEA This world is made to be explored, as it consists of many small, disconnected islands that could or could not have something for you to discover on them. There are a plethora of different vehicles and ways to move around, as well as a couple of static hot air balloons and a dirigible platform for those that would just like to take in the views instead. There is a port area, two dedicated airports on different islands and a road circuit around one of the main island. This allows anyone to just grab the type of aircraft, car or boat they want, and enjoy the world the way they want. This type of experience is quite rare in VRChat, and is quite refreshing to see that it is still getting some love even a year after its release.
AIRCRAFT AND VEHICLES The focus of the world, more than in its terrain or architecture, lies on its aircraft and ground vehicles. The main aircraft and the most representative of this world is the Ri-Gou . A twin-engine amphibious float plane, this plane can carry 10 players if you include pilot and co-pilot positions. It can be quite fun to just fly your friends around, an idea that I can get behind as our very own Dragonfly has the same design philosophy.

The other pure floatplane is the Rogou-2 , which can also be quite fun to fly! There are also some other two-seaters around, such as the Gunnel Biplane, Nigou-ko monoplane and the Nu-gou PC-21-styled Turboprop. All of these aircraft offer a variety of flight experiences and sensations, so I recommend you give them all a try!

Another aircraft that is available is the To-gou , a Coaxial Kamov-style helicopter that is impressively fast. It is also float-capable, which means that you will be able to land wherever and whenever you want. In another unique note, all the aircraft present in this world are for sale on the author's Booth page, which you can find here . TRY THIS WORLD OUT! If what you want is to chill out and just enjoy some combat-free flying in VRChat, then Gomasaba Archipelago is the right place to go. We will continue visiting this world in the future, and we will most likely post about that in our socials, so keep an eye out! About the Author Santiago "Cubeboy" Cuberos Longtime aviation fanatic with particular preference towards military aviation and its history. Said interests date back to the early 2000s, leading into his livelong dive into civil and combat flight simulators. He has been involved in a few communities, but only started being active around the mid 2010s. Joined as a Spanish to English translator in 2017, he has been active as a writer and the co-founder of Skyward ever since. Twitter  | Discord : Cubeboy

Where are we now? How does this work? An invite to indie developers! Hello, everyone! Aaron "RIbbon-Blue" Mendoza here with an update for the Indie Highlight Series here on Skyward Flight Media. While there is no release planned in November 2025 for this indie flight action game focused interview series, there are good reasons for that. Meanwhile, this month progress is also still being made for the longevity of the series. We do not want to leave you wondering about what is going on, so let us discuss what is happening this month. SERIES HOME PAGE For anyone unaware, the entries of the ongoing Indie Highlight Series can be found in two locations. On the home page for the series and in a secondary tab on the Indie Flight page of our website. Screenshot of home page. 'FAN' ON BUSINESS Anyone following the series has probably picked up on the general pattern for releases. Usually something happens around this time of each month. A teaser post on a Monday with the next entry of the series posted on the Saturday of the same week. This month the lead interviewer of the series, Matthew "FlyAwayNow" Nguyen (FAN), is on a business trip. This is the primary reason there is not an entry of the series being posted this month. Sometimes it is as simple as that, isn't it? While there is no entry to be released in November 2025, things are still moving in the background to keep the series going. BACKGROUND PROGRESS This was mentioned in the July 21st announcement to formally begin the series, but let's go into a bit more detail about how the series is currently operating. 'FlyAwayNow' is the primary means of contact for indie developers that are featured in the series. Skyward Flight Media staff operates in a support role for all other facets of the series. Once an indie developer has been contacted and an agreement to include them in the series is made, a Google Drive folder is created with permissions for access given to all parties involved. With a set of questions proposed by FAN and some follow up questions proposed by Skyward, the words and media gathered during the interview process are put into the GDrive. The content is assembled by Skyward staff and formatted with any extra needed media gathered from the internet or directly from publicly accessible builds of games or demos. Once a final draft is approved, it is ported to the website with social media posts created. Thus far this team approach has yielded great results for all parties. There are interviews with eight indie games and solo developers so far: Aggressors Fantasy Air Combat Delivery Must Complete Kirk Woodes Modern Jet Fighters Online Nova Squadron Project Fairy Supermaneuver Zakon PUBLIC INVITATION TO ASPIRING DEVELOPERS There are already confirmed upcoming interviews with yet to be announced developers going into 2026. The process to figure out which developers are to be contacted next is usually handled privately with communications made in emails, direct messages or voice calls. Starting this month, we are making a public facing addition to the process. We are putting out an open invitation to indie / grassroot developers creating flight action games . Take a look at the aforementioned developers we have interviewed in the Indie Highlight Series thus far to see if your project would fit. You can contact us in the following ways: FlyAwayNow Bluesky FlyAwayNow X.com Skyward Bluesky Skyward Discord Skyward Email Skyward X.com Keep in mind that even if your particular game does not 100% match up with what this series is currently focused on, Skyward Flight Media as an organization has covered indie flight games of all types since 2020. There is still a good chance that we will cover your project outside of the Indie Highlight Series. All you have to do is shoot your shot and see what happens! Thanks for checking in with the Indie Highlight Series. See you in December with the next release. About the Writer Aaron "Ribbon-Blue" Mendoza Co-founder of Skyward Flight Media. After founding Electrosphere.info, the first English Ace Combat database, he has been involved in creating flight game-related websites, communities, and events since 2005. He explores past and present flight games and simulators with his extensive collection of game consoles and computers. [ Read Staff Profile ]

From Flyout to Aviassembly and everything in between , we have always had a predilection for covering build-your-own-plane flight games. But, when covering this peculiar genre, there’s always been one game we’ve mentioned, yet never covered on its own; the benchmark, the standard, the one all are compared against. And, alongside the more space-focused KSP, it could be argued it’s what started this genre to begin with. I’m talking, of course, about SimplePlanes. Released in 2015, SimplePlanes did not feature impressive graphics or super detailed flight simulation mechanics. What it did offer, however, was an extremely flexible building system which put almost no bounds on players’ creativity, as well as means to share these creations. The end result is that across its 10 years of existence, SimplePlanes has seen thousands of creations uploaded by its player community, covering everything from airplanes to cars, ships, and even functional, fully articulated mecha. On a personal note, many years ago I was a small part of this playerbase - and though my take on Santos-Dumont’s Demoiselle was once featured on the game’s home page, I never considered myself anywhere close to being one of the best creators out there. The level of quality and detail some folks managed to achieve is truly mindblowing (check out this nearly simulator-level F-5E , for instance!), and while I’m sure the developers could never have anticipated their game would be used in such a way, they did support this community with a great deal of updates designed to give players even more ways to explore their creative madness. So it should come as no surprise when Jundroo announced they would be doing a week-long open playtest of its sequel, we were excited to try it out! Rising Up to the Challenge Of course, there’s a problem with sequels in gaming. A sequel has to at least equal, and hopefully surpass, its predecessor; and when the predecessor in question is a creative sandbox with thousands of user creations attached to it and a highly dedicated player base, that bar is very high. Too often, we see games that either fail to rise up to the expectations set by the original entry, turn out to be a mismanaged mess, or both; and after the catastrophic failure of Kerbal Space Program 2, I’ll admit that I was worried when Jundroo first announced SimplePlanes 2. I had several doubts regarding some of the proposed features, and despite my appreciation for the developer’s work in the original game - or perhaps exactly because of it - I approached this new entry with more than a healthy degree of skepticism. I’m happy to report that this playtest demo has addressed the majority of those doubts. There’s real effort and care put into this game, and the result is very promising. Some key features were not yet available, therefore some questions still linger; but overall, this was a great experience. Cleared for Startup Upon starting the game, you are greeted by the game’s new mascot, Major Chad. He also serves as the avatar for the player and was one of the changes I was deeply worried about but ended up being positively surprised with; we’ll get back to him later. The menu UI is pretty simple and easy to navigate, and upon hopping into the builder/aircraft editor, a list of default crafts built using SimplePlanes 2’s new features is available. Some of the base game vehicles available. Many of these crafts were built by longstanding members of the community which were invited by the developers to participate in internal testing; a showcase of the developer’s engagement with the player base. Unfortunately, players were not able to interact with the game’s building system in the demo; thus, all that was left to do was pick the game’s standard F4U Corsair replica and step into the cockpit. When the scenery loaded up, I was suddenly hit by this strange feeling - the UI was familiar, but much easier on the eyes. The visuals were completely different, yet they still reminded me of the original game somehow; and to top off the cozy atmosphere, the game’s brand new, 80’s-infused soundtrack shows off one of the tricks up its sleeve - it changes dynamically during gameplay! I wasn’t expecting this much effort to be put into the music for a plane builder game, but I’m glad it was - it pairs with the game very well, and while I eventually got tired and switched to my own playlists, that only happened after a few hours of continuous flying.

Gone are SP1’s flat oceans and smooth terrain; water now features dynamic waves (which, besides being eye candy, actually affect ships and seaplanes) and clouds are now volumetric, instead of a flat skybox.
Comparison between the water in SP2 (left) and the original SimplePlanes (right).
The brand new map features greatly improved terrain, both in terms of modelling and textures; airports and towns are decorated by lovingly crafted 3D models which match the game’s visual identity perfectly; and trees now populate the previously barren grasslands, making low-level flying feel much more dynamic. Unfortunately, only a small area of the map was accessible in the demo, encompassing a single island; however, we know Jundroo is working on a much bigger map, full of locations to explore - just like in the original game. But going back to low-level flying, what happens if one of your wings has an unscheduled meeting with local vegetation? Well, the trees have hitboxes, so the result is almost certainly going to be a fireball. If you’ve played the original SimplePlanes, you’re probably expecting the cockpit piece - the part which defines the player’s POV, so often scaled down to 0.1% in order to visually hide it in custom builds - to go flying off to the stratosphere. But this is where Major Chad steps in. Even in craft where the new player character doesn’t show up visually, once the player’s vehicle is destroyed Major Chad jumps from the explosion like an action figure hero, and the player’s controls and POV switch from the vehicle to the character. Even upon being launched towards the ground at 600 knots, the Major will effortlessly come to a standing stop without a scratch, like he’s an anime protagonist or something. Bro’s built different. The player is then free to walk around the scenery, and either respawn the craft (either at the initial or present location) or just wander around. Players may also elect to exit their craft to explore on foot at any time: Major Chad can run, swim, and even push your vehicle around - which comes in handy for smaller airplanes if you need a little pushback in a remote grass strip. Players also have several customization options for their character, which serves as their avatar in multiplayer. This player character was one of my main concerns going into SP2; it is such a major departure from the original game’s concept. Yet, having seen how it’s been implemented firsthand, I can now confidently say this is a great feature and was a smart move by the developers. After testing out the game’s default vehicles and their showcasing of the game’s new features - the new wings with built-in flaps, the targeting pods, the improved aerodynamic simulation system which results in far more believable handling qualities. These are all marked improvements over the previous game; but they are not the game’s most impressive feature. It was time for the real test: Backwards compatibility. Some creations made for the original SimplePlanes are absolutely stunning, such as this bushplane by TheCatBaron As advertised, players would be able to import creations from the previous game into SP2 - a huge deal, since there are literally thousands of them. But with core systems such as the aerodynamic simulation changed in this new game, I wondered how they would behave - it’s no use being able to import a design from SP1 if it is completely non-functional, after all. I open up SimplePlane’s website and look at my creations: Uploaded six years ago. It’s been that long? Holy smokes. I should be worried about this thing’s compatibility with the latest SP1 updates, let alone SP2! I reckon if this works in the new game, anything will. What shall be my airframe of choice for this stress test? My eyes immediately turn their gaze to the most cursed option available - the asymmetric S. Ca. 163 Quimera. It’s got a bunch of custom systems made from SP1 parts - custom landing gear, custom cannon, custom missiles. Most importantly, it is an affront to basic aircraft design principles, has very temperamental handling characteristics, and had several quirks even in its original game. In other words: it’s perfect. Behold. my most adorable abomination! With a certain degree of hesitation, I load it into SimplePlanes 2. It loads into the game’s aircraft editor - immediately, SP2’s new shaders means it looks better than it did in SP1. But will it fly? I take the clumsy bird to the runway, throttle up, rotate… and an ear to ear grin grows on my face. Lo and behold, the imported aircraft work great! Sure, there are a few quirks with very complex designs, but overall, craft imported from SP1 behave just like they did in their native installment. It lives! Look at how happy it is! This is, to me, the very best feature of SimplePlanes 2 ; considering so many of the systems (aerodynamics, construction) are either brand new or thoroughly revamped, it would have been far easier for the developers to just make it a completely separate game. But instead, they deliberately took the extra effort to make the game backwards compatible with the legacy systems of SP1, allowing players to enjoy their old creations alongside SP2’s new toys. This decision highlights the passion the developers have for this project, and the regard in which they hold the community which has formed around their game; it acknowledges the thousands of creations players have made, and shows respect and admiration for the thousands of collective hours spent on them. Instead of being relegated to obsolescence, all of these little products of human creativity are now given a second chance to shine in a brand new stage. I cannot overstate how praiseworthy this is; it is rare to see developers put this much care into acknowledging player’s effort and time, let alone making sure virtually all content from their previous game gets carried over to the sequel. Well done, Jundroo. Airliners, Airships, and Armageddon Unlike its predecessor, SimplePlanes 2 features multiplayer support from the get-go , without any need for mods - and I was very surprised to see it already implemented in this demo. Could use an ATC feature though, I'm not sure this is FAA compliant... Flying your creations (or the standard craft) alongside your friends in SimplePlanes is great - there is nearly unlimited potential for all sorts of silliness and debauchery. For this purpose, SimplePlanes allows you to create private lobbies, from which you can invite your friends via Steam. However, public lobbies are also a thing. What happens when you give people nearly unlimited creative power, weapons which can be XML edited to have ridiculous stats , and the opportunity to use these tools against their fellow humans in a virtual environment? Average day on an SP2 multiplayer server. It doesn’t take a lot of thinking to conclude the answer is pure, utter and unbridled chaos, with so many megatons of explosives being dropped each minute it’d make MacArthur blush. There’s also the players with absurdly overpowered spaceships with auto-aim insta-kill lasers - although admittedly it was fun hunting them down with a bog standard 4th generation fighter. So why on earth would you want to play multiplayer SP2 in a public lobby? Well, because if you happen to come across some people who aren’t solely looking for a power trip, there’s cool interactions to be had. Jundroo knew this would happen, which is why lobby owners can select the “Peaceful Mode” option, which disables weapon damage. Ill-intentioned players can still ram others, or just be a nuisance by causing huge explosions which drop everyone’s frame rate, but these cases can be easily dealt with by kicking the offending players from the lobby. Escorting a Mriya flown by a random player online. In the few hours I spent in peaceful public lobbies, I flew formations with complete strangers, landed a pre-WWI aircraft on top of another player’s sci-fi spaceship carrier, buzzed a player who was drifting their car in the touge-like circuit of the woodlands, and generally got to see a plethora of different vehicles I would have never seen otherwise. The future meets the past: I coordinated this landing with the ship's owner, which walked out to meet me. Another noteworthy feature is the event system - players can start events such as races (both for cars and aircraft), team deathmatches, and even co-op combat events, such as intercepting AI bombers or fighting against an invasion of AI mechs. Get that Gundam out of here, air power is still king! These events can be started both in single and multiplayer, and in the latter case players who do not opt into the event won’t be affected by it. In my opinion, this is a great way to implement this system and I’m eager to see what new events show up in the final product! When in an event, participating players on your team turn blue on the HUD. Outside the Test Envelope Let’s talk about some of the features which were not yet available in the demo, because there are some pretty big items on the list. The first and biggest of them all is the in-game builder itself. In the demo, players were able to access a pretty good selection of default/example vehicles, as well as import creations from SP1; however, all builder features were disabled, meaning there was no way to try out the new parts and building system of the new game. This leaves a lot of questions open: how similar (or different) is it to the original? Are crafts made in SP1 editable in SP2, and if so, how easy will it be to retrofit them with SP2’s new wings, for instance? And most importantly, how on earth did they make the demo aircraft look so beautifully smooth? So smooth! And then there’s the new wings. SP2 uses a completely new wing modelling system, as described in the game’s news hub. This should, in theory, make it a lot easier to get the shape and look you want, without employing the various subterfuges which were necessary in SP1; but crucially, the physics modelling has also been rebuilt from scratch. The new system features a vastly improved drag model; and now accounts for things such as spanwise lift distribution, induced drag (with the associated wingtip vortices!), and control surface moments - which alongside accounting for the effects of flap deployment on the wing’s Cl-Alpha curve, means we finally get flaps which actually work like flaps! All of this sounds very exciting, and has been extensively documented and explained by the developers in their dev blog - a fact I greatly appreciate - and we were indeed able to get a small taste of this new system with the game’s preset aircraft. However, in the demo, this system was a black box - you could not modify or create new wings, so just what new possibilities will be opened by this new implementation are yet unknown. Finally, there’s the new engines and transmission systems. They are now simulated in much greater detail, which should improve the immersion and fidelity of car designs. Players will be able to change the number of cylinders, their sizes, and other such configurations; again, we weren’t able to play around with this, but the game’s default cars do suggest this system is implemented and working. The base game sports car is pretty fun to drive around! The long-time reader may have had a sense of déjà vu with SP2’s new wing and engine systems; and that would be no coincidence, because the procedural systems used for them are a lot similar to what Flyout has implemented (at least on the user-facing end). And thus, the big question is: How easy (or not) will these new systems be to use? While they offer players a lot of new options to play with, SimplePlanes’ greatest strength has so far been its relative simplicity: it strikes a balance between Aviassembly’s casual gameplay and Flyout’s aerospace engineering freshman complexity. It is very approachable at first, and becomes as intricate as your creativity allows. Flyout has also arguably already captured the more hardcore, super-in-depth audience for aircraft building games (a niche within a niche!). It’ll be interesting to see the direction SimplePlanes 2 ultimately takes in this respect. Conclusions When it was first launched, SimplePlanes was criticized for its flat graphics and lack of personality. In other words, it didn’t truly feel like a game; and while I’d argue the community that formed around it is proof that the game found its niche and the early critics missed the point, SimplePlanes 2 does feel like a welcome injection of game-iness into the original concept. With its renewed visuals, charming soundtrack, and lovingly crafted terrain and buildings, the game has a much more interesting atmosphere than the original; and the built-in multiplayer system gives players a whole new dimension to explore that world in. If SimplePlanes 1 was more like an engineering proof-of-concept, SimplePlanes 2 seems to be shaping up to become its final product, the result of a decade of user feedback and developers’ work. The effort and passion the developers have poured into this game is evident, and the retrocompatibility with SP1 ensures the new game can tap into an entire decade of the collective playerbase’s efforts in content. Even though the demo’s gameplay was limited, and some of the new features remain to be seen, it was enough to give the impression SimplePlanes 2 will be what so many sequels fail to: Just like the first one, except better. About the Writer Caio D. "Hueman" Barreto An incurable aviation fanatic since childhood, fascinated by the design and history of practically anything that flies. A long-time fan of flight games, he holds a bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering and pursues his hobbies of drawing, writing and flight simulation on his spare time. See Staff Profile .

Appreciating a DCS World Content Creator As we mentioned roughly a week ago , the former "Creator Highlight" series here on Skyward Flight Media focused on discussing content creators making flight related content is being revamped. As we find our way forward with the series, including searching for a new series name, we take a look at by far one of my favorite Digital Combat Simulator content creators, Venom Cinematic . Without naming names here, for anyone that has watched DCS gameplay video for a few years now, there is a certain pattern that is followed. Well scripted cinematic videos crafted to show the in-combat actions of a specific aircraft or long casual livestreams that last a few hours. This makes creators that have a different variety to their content rather appealing if you know what you are looking at. Within the last six months or so, Venom Cinematic has been hitting that sweet spot in DCS World content for me. May 9, 2025 This YouTube channel started posting videos as early as May 2022. During the first year of its operation, you could tell that the two reoccurring personalities, one of them being named 'Venom', were relatively new to DCS, but quite invested in learning more about the simulator and jumping into player vs player (PVP) multiplayer servers. While there was a minor variation in content in the beginning as the direction their channel would take, by the time the YouTube channel reached 1000 subscribers on September 7th, 2022, it seemed like more traditionally edited gameplay videos would be the main focus of the channel. Venom Cinematic once had active profiles on Twitch, Twitter, TikTok and Instagram between 2022 to 2024, but while those gradually ebbed and flowed Venom decided to gradually shut those down while maintaining activity on the YouTube channel and letting himself be found in Discord servers attached to DCS multiplayer servers he frequents. Why is that? Who can say. Venom Cinematic has certainly found success in their current video format and approach within the DCS world online community. For example, the first video from this content creator that caught my attention was an official pre-release preview video for the Heatblur F-4E Phantom II for Digital Combat Simulator. A major achievement for a creator of this size. May 17th, 2024 Objectively speaking, this was a notable product preview video as it was not a clinical clickthrough of every switch in the cockpit, but a high energy demonstration of a Pilot and Radar Intercept Officer flying and fighting in the aircraft with live communication, working the instruments as needed to survive and win. At a glance a majority of the videos up to 2024 focused on fixed-wing fighter operations on well-known DCS World multiplayer servers like BlueFlag, BuddySpike, Contention, Enigma's Cold War Server (now Heatblur Simulations Cold War Server), Grayflag, Growling Sidewinder and Tempest's Blue Flash to name a few. What I appreciate is how Venom Cinematic shows experienced, expert level flying in the simulator, while being able to communicate in required brevity for air operations in multiplayer and use casual commentary in between. All in videos much shorter than livestream VODs; between 7 minutes to 30 minutes depending on the video. November 1st, 2025 However, Venom is also fully capable of flying more than just the newest fixed-wing fighter added to the sim. Venom is competent enough to fly missions with multiple different types of aircraft. From Cold War era sweethearts to slightly more unusual aircraft for the simulator like the JF-17 Thunder. It is great to have variety. October 20th, 2025. Further adding to the variety is other people that appear in his videos are either players known to him or complete strangers he works wish to finish the task at hand. This leads to some pretty interesting combinations of aircraft working together. This is exemplified in the videos where Venom is utilizing rotary-wing aircraft working alongside fast jets and combined arms vehicles. Venom is one of the few DCS content creators out there still producing engaging videos of the OH-58 scout helicopter. March 3rd, 2025. Today Venom Cinematic has an engaging blend of well edited gameplay footage from online servers or some limited scenario PVE co-op missions that now incorporates cinematic camera views you would expect from amazing set pieces from other content creators that only make heavliy scripted, mini-movie style videos. Shoutout to Venom for finding their way and keeping the variety going! Connect with 'Venom Cinematic' Instagram YouTube Linktree About the Writer Aaron "Ribbon-Blue" Mendoza Co-founder of Skyward Flight Media. After founding Electrosphere.info , the first English Ace Combat database, he has been involved in creating flight game-related websites, communities, and events since 2005. He explores past and present flight games and simulators with his extensive collection of game consoles and computers. [Read Staff Profile ]

A Critical Eye of a Series Classic I’m not sure you could make Ace Combat 04 today.  Ace Combat 04 (2001) is an axiomatic military techno-thriller wrapped in a character documentary; a time capsule of a popular interpretation of western military organization and professionalism put through an obsessive Japanese lens surrounded by the post-postmodern framing of a classic war movie. A melting pot of Allied heroism of World War II powered by the echoes of post-Gulf War UN Coalition victory and a recent historical Cold War lens. It hearkens to a time when right made might. But does this even vibe with today’s post-truth forever wars? With Ace Combat’s hell-bent insistence on a postmodern bend through what now makes up the vast majority of its chronology, the classical interpretations of 04 not only feel dated and quaint, it almost seems alien. It feels so distant now that it’s hard to believe we could have ever related to its sincerity. In fact, it seems bizarre to believe that this game was the one that launched the Strangereal universe we follow today. The AC04 Project had its work cut out for it to come off the heels of Ace Combat 3 (1999). Neutered in its export release, it took a few years for the internet to mature for us to understand what we missed in that drop. But for what we had in our hands, it was… kinda strange. Even today it still acts as much its own game outside of its series and can be appreciated as a singular entity. It’s a rather strong (if derivative) cyberpunk postulate disguised as a war game. If we were to be realistic about this game’s western demographic skewing younger than the “teen” ESRB rating would have wanted, Ace Combat 3 probably wasn’t very accessible by the majority of its players. That would change with Ace Combat 04. The 2000 TGS trailer presents a bleak but familiar setting, panning over what you learn to be Newfield Island while a static-stricken pair of aviators speak through. Modern-day aircraft cut through the air as the high-energy trailer unfolds and the music rises in what resonates in desperation while the AWACS and pilot vector to engagement. A flash of light at the end and a receding shot of Anderson Crater, delivering the backdrop of a planet rocked by a cataclysmic event and foreshadowing the world-class visual storytelling to come. It could probably be surmised that Ace Combat 04 was developed in the zeitgeist of the World War II shooters of the time, with the cinematic and story-driven Medal of Honor defining the atmosphere. Project Aces would dip into this type of inspiration many times over the next few years with varying levels of success. UI/UX Design The acuity of Ace Combat 04’s aesthetic delivers an emulsification of digital and analog presentation, almost as though they recognized the end of an oncoming era. On a CRT of the time, the artificial scan lines and faded colors presented a traditional warmth in sharp contrast with Electrosphere. There’s no flash of action here. Just simple options to select, and a muted backdrop. The range of cool blues meet a digital teletype font that feels straight out of the movie WarGames . The distinctive sound of a thrashing hard drive and a flash lamp powering up for each briefing across a simple lined overlay and vector-inspired map invokes a well-equipped but aging technological atmosphere. Music The motif of the Independent State Allied Forces is presciently represented in just about every piece of music that the game presents. The ISAF theme proper itself presents in a triumphant symphony during the introduction of the war’s catalyst, properly driving home the importance of the military alliance that you fight to defend and avenge. Sitting Duck takes the theme and within the short time you hear it provides a trifecta of atmosphere, combining a down tempo electronic/brass introduction and a desperate cadence as it climaxes into a high action guitar. Motifs continue to play an important role in story immersion, with Stonehenge’s theme prominent whenever you are threatened by the turret network’s onslaught in the early game. The theme proper makes an explosive entrance in mission 12, never letting up on the horror of the machination that you are there to destroy. The music expands beyond the tactical into the strategic—once you’ve turned the tide, Second Strike blankets your briefings going forward, injecting fresh energy into the offensive phase of the war. Each time it fires up it enhances the power fantasy that the game builds to with your avatar. The game concludes with the epic symphony and choir of Agnus Dei, revisiting the ISAF motif for a penultimate time in such a massive cacophony that it may not immediately be identifiable to the untrained ear. It succeeds in spades no matter your decision to extend the fight in your engagement with Yellow Squadron or to desperately remove the final Ulysses threat from your fragile victory in Farbanti. Cutscenes It’s remarkable how serious Ace Combat 04 presents its story and its hard to explain how respectful the game treats its outlook on war. Devoid of humor and drowning in melancholy, the intertwining story and themes presented in the narrative interludes weaves brilliantly with Mobius One’s airborne exploits. The hand-drawn, hand-colored illustrations that chronicle the Continental War are presented in the style of a graphic novel while the audio, reminiscent of a radio drama with vocal narration peppered with an effective sound set, follow the experiences of the narrator living as a child in an Erusian occupied San Salvacion. From the first moment we are taken into a very consequential world—kicking the story off with an understated personal tragedy and an enigmatic vow. It carries a quote that is also rather profound:  “War was an abstract idea, nothing more than a show on TV … something that happened in a faraway land.”  Obvious perhaps, but almost deliberately understated. It sets the tone going forward so presciently.  Each cutscene carries purpose and vision, often expressed with poetic resolve. The narration’s gloomy tone never lets up, yet never feels melodramatic or boring. This presentation is world-class, and is just as fitting as a standalone story that remains under-appreciated for video games in the present day, let alone during its own time. It carries multiple themes of resistance, capitulation, self-doubt, and resilience. It slowly interweaves your actions into the story about one-third of the way through as Yellow 13 calls you out, and your actions start having more direct consequences by the halfway point when you down his trusted wingman. This trickle of narrative interplay is key to the atmosphere of the game and carries half the weight of the power fantasy build up that encompasses the mythos of Mobius One—you. The Heroic Ace  Ace Combat 04 introduced the now ‘series standard’ concept of the player becoming a heroic ace pilot in a modern battlefield. In Ace Combat 1 (1995) and Ace Combat 2, we play as barely referred to mercenary forces, who even in the final stages of these games, are not receiving direct name appreciation. The full story of Ace Combat 3 is an abstract concept removed from a traditional war setting with players playing as an artificial intelligence named ‘Nemo’ (Greek for “Nobody”). While their actions impacted the story they were really more of a pawn in an elaborate plot than anything else.  It is not until Ace Combat 04 that the name brand hero tradition begins. Whether it was the silent burning admiration of an opposing squadron or friendly rifleman yelling over the radio in celebration, the ‘legendary’ Mobius One was known to be flying above the battlefield. This same pilot would go on to appear in future releases as easter eggs and standalone game modes in future Ace Combat games. All player controlled protagonists after Ace Combat 04 would be built around common plot points that take them from relatively unknown individuals to known by name heroes that were the sole deciding factor in the ultimate outcome of a war.  While that is great for Ace Combat and the “Ace-like” genre the series has spawned, these days, even the World War coded concept of ace pilots being public facing figures changing the tide of battle and inspiring nations is lost in the modern perception of armed conflict. For example, the same weekend the Ghost of Kyiv was introduced as a staunch defender of Ukrainian skies in 2022, it could be seriously argued that the international view of the existence of such a pilot on a modern battlefield was never fully accepted as fact. It just seemed impossible today. However, when we turn to movies and generation defining flight games like Ace Combat, the belief of the war winning, ode worthy ace pilot still outshines the reality of the conditions such a pilot would exist in.  Control and Gameplay Ace Combat 04 is a return to tradition away from Ace Combat 3, taming turning recoil to such a degree and restoring complete analog control that the only limitations to your capability are yours and yours alone. With a limited selection of aircraft available to you each aircraft feels properly unique in the way it handles. Turn rates have just enough variety as you advance through your hangar selection that you will want to advance your collection. However, roll rates in late-model aircraft will feel exaggerated, with complete rolls being possible in what feels like a split second. Combined together, as mobility stats increase, aircraft tend to exhibit a prominent tailslide which can betray you in a low-altitude pull, with the Su-37 being egregious in this regard. However, between a combination of the modest acceleration and a working low-speed angle-of-attack physics you’ll find that it almost grants you passive post-stall mechanic. The analog triggers of the PlayStation 2 are in full display here, granting fine control of both throttle and yaw. This is best demonstrated when performing carrier ops, where careful manipulation of the throttle provides a modest simulation of a flared nose on takeoff and landing. Though there are clear flaws in the handling mechanics of Ace Combat 04, it retains a unique character that merges Newtonian flight mechanics with arcade feel in ways that no release that followed it provides. All this comes together to provide the familiar gameplay loop we’re used to. The refinement of it perhaps--though Ace Combat 2 defined the base mechanics that we’re used to, Ace Combat 04 solidified it, providing the combination of aircraft, secondary weapon, and livery that persists throughout the series and it’s contemporaries. Mission Design It would be hard to explain that the cliché of the back from the brink bomber intercept didn’t exist in quite the same way as it does today. At the time, Sitting Duck was breathtaking. If you subscribe to the interpretation that Ace Combat 04 is actually a soft reboot of Ace Combat 2 (1997), the implications are self-evident; a graphics and sound uplift rivaling that of the new generation of fidelity that the Playstation 2 represented over it’s predecessor. Combined with the desperation of the muted color palette, music, and voiceovers, what is effectively a simple tutorial mission becomes a perfect jump point for the story. This extends into Imminent Threat, which provides a soft but comprehensive familiarization for ground attack mechanics and a chance to use the secondary weapon that was teased to you in the hanger. It also presents a subtle but important detail of the thought put into what each mission represents tactically. Take out the substation, Mobius One. Deep Strike is still unparalleled in how it hid the fact that it is the representation of the typical canyon strike mission that remains a staple of the flight arcade genre. It also subverts the genre in that it provides story-based context for why you can’t exceed the altitude of the canyon walls as Stonehenge unleashes its fury against you and your comrades. All this wrapped within a rational mission objective that is actually quite satisfying to practice your gun marksmanship on. Comona remains the pinnacle of arcade furballs and has not yet been succeeded, despite valiant efforts in every game following. Fast paced with multiple objectives, its all-air-to-air, all-the-time, with only the most skilled players succeeding in clearing the map of threats. Backed by a screaming rock guitar and offering a plentiful array of targets, this remains the Ace Combat standby for a no-holds barred de facto air skirmish mode. These mission types build upon themselves as the missions go on. One could probably make the argument that Ace Combat 04 is the only video game ever made where the escort mission archetype is actually entertaining to play, though it’s something of an escort-in-name-only as even modest skill will keep your charge from falling to the enemy. Admittedly the mission Broken Arrows might be the only low point in mission design, being both the most egregious filler mission, though still strategically sound for the campaign as a whole. It’s a frustrating tail chase against cruise missiles that bleeds frustration rather than fun. Though it traces its roots back to Ace Combat 2’s late-game missile chase, this is one homage that should have probably stayed tabled. The Death of the Rational War     In the modern day, particularly from a Western perspective, the ISAF almost seems hyper-competent, and unapologetically so. Each mission’s reason and purpose is clearly communicated during each tightly packed briefing. Any wartime concept the player might be unfamiliar with is laconically described and actually seems to require a novice understanding of real-world military strategy. ISAF pilots and ground forces seem highly competent and well-motivated to perform the missions required of them. The grand strategy to eliminate Stonehenge and advance on Farbanti is layered out and each tactical objective seems to lead into it. There’s no in-flight questioning of the politics of the banner you’re fighting under, just what feels like a unified fight to stop the Erusian war machine.     Whether it’s the explanation that Operation Bunker Shot is required due to Stonehenge covering any possible port landing sites or the push to interdict enemy petrochemical supply lines while covering your own alliance’s build out of space-based intelligence operations, the ISAF’s push into the mainland after the destruction of Stonehenge feels justified and satisfying. Something that doesn’t seem to carry over to later parts of this series. At one time it was said that the general banter in Ace Combat 5 (2004) wouldn’t be tolerated due to its politically charged, over-explained, emotionally-driven dialogue. It was “unrealistic” compared to its predecessor.  Perhaps in today’s geopolitical climate the opposite is now true. It would be extremely naïve to think that Ace Combat 04 is nothing but romantic in its portrayal of warfare. Actual combat, no matter what nation partakes, in the air and on the ground, is messy and filled with confusion and chaos. But there was a vestigial aura left over from news, movies, radio, and books that portrayed well-coordinated and well-communicated tactics and strategy from wars fought in the 20th century--A time when wars between powers were as much battles of wit, chivalry, conventions, treaties, and science. A time when wars actually… ended. Looking back on any real-world conflict with rose-tinted glasses probably eschews nothing but privilege, but from the perspective of “the show on TV” that Ace Combat 04 intuitively touches upon, it’s hard to see the action and dialogue in Ace Combat 04 resonating with a young person who might only have experience and memories of a post GWOT-world. Ace Combat 04’s greatest strength and greatest weakness is the swan song that is the portrayal of warfare as a series of rational actions. Even with the interplay between the homefront portrayed in the cutscenes, it can’t help but feel like Ace Combat 04 is now unrelatable. About the Writer T.J. "Millie" Archer T.J. "Millie" Archer is Life-long realist and aviation enthusiast. Once the co-founding Administrator of the Electrosphere.info English Ace Combat Database. In the present day he is freelance, roving the internet in search of the latest aviation news and entertainment. [ Read Staff Profile ]

On October 18th, 2025, Skyward Flight Media posted its 500th release. Founded on March 24th, 2020, this organization has truly come a long way. As we reached and passed this milestone (the article you are reading now is our 503rd release), we take a moment to look back at some of the notable points in our journey so far. Decision Height The organization that preceded Skyward Flight Media was named Project Lighthouse (2017-2019). This community was created with a focus on all things about the Ace Combat series from Bandai-Namco. After two years of operation, there would occasionally be content created about games outside of that series, but not in a substantial way. Project Lighthouse would secure two pivotal interviews in 2019 that would begin a shift in how the content creation branch of that organization would approach future efforts. Their first indie game interview with Johan Persson from Muddy Pixel, developer of Worlds At War and Ace Combat Series Brand Director Kazutoki Kono at PAX South 2019 during the launch weekend of Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown. Finally having the potential to be recognized as a media entity in a more substantial way, the rebranding in 2020 would be influenced by these two interviews. The new organization, Skyward Flight Media, would become highly diverse in the type of content it would create within the flight game and simulation genre with a more standard game journalism style approach. Frecce Tricolori Virtuali A major part of defining the content the newly formed Skyward Flight Media would produce came from our coverage of the activities of Freccee Tricolori Virtuali . In May 2020, our interviews with this virtual air demo team was our first major coverage of content related to Digital Combat Simulator by Eagle Dynamics. While discussing airshow flying and aircraft module development on this platform, our connection with certain individuals that founded IndiaFoxtEcho would also lead to future coverage of their modules in DCS and Microsoft Flight Simulator in the future. Our work with Freccee Tricolori Virtuali would kickstart our Digital Combat Simulator coverage, which would act as a sort of "counterweight" to our still noticeable Ace Combat series focus within the first 10 months of our foundation. Creator Highlight Month 2022 While 2021 was mostly spent trying new types of content, monitoring audience reception, adjusting our social media trends and refining creative processes, one of our defining moments in 2022 was Creator Highlight Month . CHM was a new effort to start covering content creators that interacted with simulated flight operations on their own media channels. The mixture of well-known video content creators and unusual developers successfully opened a new avenue of content. From that time forward discussion of content creators did start on Skyward Flight Media, albeit not in a reoccurring month-long series, but rather multiple single creator focused articles spread out over time. As of October 2025, the Creator Highlight concept is being reviewed for a potential restart as a formal, consistent series with an altered name to deconflict with another series on the website. VRChat Aviation: In Game and Beyond VRChat Aviation had a profound impact on Skyward as an organization and on an individual level. As an organization, our involvement with this subject started in 2020 during the height of COVID 19 lockdown as coverage of flight simulation in a rather unexpected place. Years later, Skyward has become a staple of airshows, tournaments and media coverage for aviation across the entire platform. This includes a level of ' virtual aircraft development ' by two members of the staff designing original aircraft and 3D modeling them from scratch to then fly them in various VRChat worlds. The personal connections with people we have met have spawned many new opportunities. Some of the VRChat focused world developers have started pursuing game development. One of the Skyward staff members found employment as a 3D modeler for an in-development flight game and government contract work. Another staff member has used their passion and skill as an aeronautical engineer to see some of their designs take to the virtual skies. Some of the partnerships Skyward has made on this platform have also created cross community events on other flight games and in-person meet ups. Flight Sim Expo Media Partnership Our involvement with Flight Sim Expo , North America's largest expo focused on flight simulation, was a huge move for us. By May 2021 Skyward Flight Media had found its footing with a rather eclectic mix of content focused on flight games and simulators. Wanting to further expand our content reach, Skyward made contact with the Flight Simulation Association and became a formal media partner for Flight Sim Expo. Since then, Skyward has made it a point to register for each event as media partners and attend as many of these events in person as possible. The experience of meeting so many individuals and companies within flight simulation has been a deeply impactful experience and has changed the way Skyward operates. Indie Highlight Series When deciding what the identity of Skyward Flight Media would be after the rebrand in 2019, we took note that other established flight focused media outlets focused at least 80% of their coverage on two to four flight simulators. Skyward then endeavored to establish itself as an indie flight game supportive platform from its first day of operation. Whether it was the smallest, one-off game created for a game jam or an indie game that reached game consoles, Skyward would be interested in covering it. Looking for a way to further increase our indie content rotation, the Indie Highlight Series was started on May 17th, 2025. The original concept for this series was to create compilation articles that would discuss many indie games per release. Each game mentioned receiving a paragraph or two of coverage within the articles. Release 001 followed this concept. Shortly after the series started discussions with Matthew "FlyAwayNow" Nguyen ( Project Wingman producer / co-writer , flight game focused producer) about his inclusion into the series began. An agreement was made to have FlyAwayNow join the Indie Highlight Series on July 21st, 2025, with a new focus on interviewing upcoming indie developers creating the next generation of flight games. To date, this has been one of the most successful content series in Skyward Flight Media's history. About the Writer Aaron "Ribbon-Blue" Mendoza Co-founder of Skyward Flight Media. After founding Electrosphere.info , the first English Ace Combat database, he has been involved in creating flight game-related websites, communities, and events since 2005. He explores past and present flight games and simulators with his extensive collection of game consoles and computers. [Read Staff Profile ]