Category: MSFS 2020
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Written by Author
Terrain, Turbulence, and Tight Margins: Ten Challenging Regional Airports
Landing at the world’s most dangerous regional airports requires pilots to carefully consider a combination of environmental, technical, and operational factors. Many of these airports, including Aspen-Pitkin (KASE) and Toncontín (MHTG), are situated in extreme terrain such as deep valleys, high mountains, or narrow atolls, which demand precise approach and departure paths. Pilots must account…
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Model Matching Masterclass: Choosing the Best Air Traffic Solution
As a real-world airline pilot, I often joke that flying a jet at Mach 0.78 across the North Atlantic can sometimes be less complex than configuring flight simulation software. We live in an era where simulators are so immersive that the difference between “believable” and “make-believe” often comes down to what aircraft you see taxiing…
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⭐ Optimization Guide: Performance Boost Tricks for MSFS
This article will be updated regularly as new tricks to improve MSFS 2024 (and 2020) performance are discovered, so stay tuned. Recent new tricks were added on Thursday, October 16, 2025, and are marked with the ⚠️ icon. Applying various tricks and tweaks to Windows 11 (and 10), as well as to Microsoft Flight Simulator…
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Inside the Developer Stream: Roadmap, Features, and Future of MSFS
Microsoft Flight Simulator’s Developer Stream has become a cornerstone of the simulator’s community-facing communications. For long-time simmers and newcomers alike it’s the place where the team behind the sim — Microsoft and Asobo Studio — step outside the studio walls and talk directly to the players: showing roadmaps, explaining technical choices, answering community questions, and…
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Flying the Forecast: How MSFS Recreates the World’s Weather
Weather is the single biggest variable that makes Microsoft Flight Simulator feel like the real world. Clouds, wind shear, sudden thunderstorms, and subtle surface winds turn a textbook approach into a real challenge — and behind that illusion in MSFS sits a partnership: Asobo/Microsoft use Meteoblue’s forecast and analysis systems to populate the sim with…
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VATSIM or IVAO: Real-World Pilot’s Deep Dive
When I first discovered online flight simulation networks, my sim experience changed forever. Suddenly, I wasn’t flying through a sterile, empty world anymore — I was sharing the sky with hundreds of other pilots and live air traffic controllers. I was listening to real phraseology, following real clearances, waiting in virtual holds, and dealing with…
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Written by Author
Flying Smooth or Stuttering: MSFS 2024 Ready to Replace 2020?
Don’t forget to study one of our most-read article, Performance Boost Tricks for MSFS, to make your flying much smoother. Every pilot knows the truth: airplanes live and die by reliability. I’ve flown across oceans in heavy jets, through unpredictable weather systems, and into congested airspaces where every detail matters. In those environments, you don’t want…
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Written by Author
Keeping It Real: Why Navdata Matters in Simulators
Navdata (navigation data) is the standardized digital database that provides the essential information an aircraft’s navigation systems need to operate safely and efficiently. It contains details such as waypoints, airways, airports, runways, Standard Instrument Departures (SIDs), Standard Terminal Arrival Routes (STARs), instrument approach procedures, and restricted or controlled airspace. Without accurate navdata, aircraft could deviate…
