THE SPECTRUM GAMES DATABASE

FLIGHT SIMULATION

PUBLISHER
Psion Sinclair

AUTHORS
?

YEAR
1982

DESCRIPTION
Flight Simulation game.

CONTROLS
Cursor Joystick and/or Keys

Cursor up (7), Joystick forward, dive.
Cursor down (6), Joystick backward, climb.
Cursor right (8), Joystick to right, bank to right.
Cursor left (5), Joystick to left, bank to left.
Z, Rudder control left X, Rudder control right
P, Increase Throttle O, Decrease Throttle
F, Increase flap extent D, Decrease Flap extent
G, Lower gear if up. Raise gear (undercarriage) if down.
B, Change beacon sequentially
M, Switch from cockpit display to navigational Map or
back to cockpit.


ORIGINAL INLAY CARD TEXT
Popular Computing Weekly said of Psion's Flight Simulation
on the ZX81 "No words can do justice to this most elegant of
programs ... You will not see a better computer game till
Psion produce one for the Spectrum". Here it is. Learn to
fly, bank, dive and climb, see the world outside through the
cockpit windows, land and take-off with the aid of the many
cockpit instruments.

Sinclair ZX Spectrum with 48k RAM
FLIGHT SIMULATION from PSION

Load and run by typing LOAD "flight"

Over the last decade, with the increasing power of computers,
pilots have been trained to "fly" new airliners on large
scale, computer-controlled simulators on the fround. Even on
a samll microcomputer like the Sinclair ZX Spectrum the
essential parameters of flight, the dynamics of the airplane,
the navigation of the airpline, the main instruments and the
representaion of the outside world can be portrayed in real-
time. "FLIGHT Simulation" includes these effects and
represents a small, high-performance, two-engined, propeller-
driven airplane.

ASPECTS OF FLYING
The essential controls of an airplane include the joystick,
flaps, rudder and engine power. Moving the joystick sideways
affects the ailerons on the wings causing the plane to bank
to the left or right. Moving the joystick forwards and
backwards affects the elevators on the tailplane so that the
nose of the airplane moves down or up respectively. The
aerodynamics of an airplane are extremely complicated.
Changing one control usually has more than one effect. For
example the ailerons do not simply cause the plane to roll,
but produce a sideways airflow which causes the plane to
turn as well. You may learn and experience these effects in
the simulation.
The attitude and motion of an airplane is shown by many
instruments and navigational aids in the pilot's cockpit, as
discussed below. The pilot needs to use these instruments to
navigate his airplane on to the right line or vector for
approach to the runway, to fly his airplane on the right
heading or bearing along that vector and to approach the
runway with the right speed, altitude and descent angle to
land the airplane. Typically, the correct approach angle of
descent should be about 3deg which implies an attitude of
about 6,000 feet at 20 miles out, 3,000 feet at 10 miles out
and 1,000 feet at just over 3 miles from the runway. The
rudder controls can contribute to the turning of the
airplane. When on the ground, while taxi-ing the rudder
controls also steer the direction of the airplane.

FLYING ON THE ZX SPECTRUM
Flight Simulation on the Spectrum is a full-feature program
which mimics the piloting of a small airplane in real-time
and in considerable detail. The detailed dynamics of an
airplane are included and even looping the loop and rolling
may be performed. You may land at either of two runways,
take-off, navigate with the aid of beacons and in flight view
the features of the world outside through the cockpit
windows. The main display is the pilot's cockpit view with a
detailed instrument panel in the lower half of the screen
and a view of the world outside through the cockpit windows
in the top half of the screen. Through the cockpit windows
you can see the horizon formed by the light sky and dark
ground, the runway lights in three-dimensional perspective if
you are in the vicinity of the runway, and features on the
ground such as lakes, etc. As you bank, dive and climb, so
the horizon and features on the ground will move accordingly
through the cockpit windows.
You may switch the dive however, to a navigational chart or
map showing the beacons, runways and other features to help
you navigate and land the plane.
After the program has been loaded from cassette, a menu will
appear asking you whether you wish to take-off, start in
flight or practice the final approach for landing. Press the
keys 1, 2 or 3 respectively. You will be asked whether you
want to include the effects of wind. Answer yes if you are
skilled and can cope with the effects of wind both in landing
and navigation.
Otherwise press "n" for no. The program will then change
immediately to the pilot's cockpit window.

THE INSTRUMENT PANEL
In the lower half of the screen in the pilot's cockpit view
in the instrument panel. There are five clock-like dials, a
number of gauges, warning lights and a variety of digital
read-outs. The five "clocks" from left to right are the
instrument landing system (ILS), the airspeed indicator,
the radio-direction-finding equipment (RDF), the altimeter
and the rate-of-climb indicator (ROC).
RDF CLOCK is the large dial in the centre of the instrument
panel. A small airplane is drawn in the centre of the dial
and points in the direction or heading of the plane. A
digital reading on the clock gives the heading in compass
degrees of the airplane. The RDF is the most important
navigational instrument. At any stage the plane is logged on
to one of a number of beacons on the ground. The position of
the current beacon at any stage relative to the direction of
the airplane is represented on the RDF clock as a flashing
dot near the circumference. If you wish to head directly for
a beacon, bank the airplane until the flashing dot moves
round the circumference to the "12 o'clock" position.
AIRSPEED INDICATOR is a clock with one needle immediately to
the left of the RDF. The needle points to the airspeed of
the airplane measured in knots x 10.
ALTIMETER is a clock with two needles immediately to the
right of the RDF. The small needle gives the height in units
of 1000 feet and the longer needle gives the next digit as
hundreds of feet.
ROC or rate-of-climb indicator is the clock-like dial on the
right-hand side. It measures the vertical speed of the
airplane in units of 1000 feet per minute. When the needle
points upwards above the 0, the plane is climbing and vice
versa.
POWER guage on the bottom right measures the extent of the
throttle. The thrust of the engines increases with throttle
but reduces in the rarer atmosphere of higher altitudes.
FUEL guage displays the fuel remaining in the tanks
FLAPS shows the angle of extent of the flaps. The needle
points downwards with maximum flap and is horizontal with
flaps retracted.
GEAR has a green and red panel. When the undercarriage or
gear is up this will be indicated in the red panel,
otherwise "down" will appear in the green panel.
BCN RGE BRG is a digital readout giving information on the
current logged-on beacon. BCN gives the beacon call sign of
the logged-on beacon.
RGE gives its range in nautical miles and BRG gives the
bearing of the beacon in compass degrees relative to the
airplane.
ILS is the Instrument Landing System dial on the left of the
panel. It is a guidance system which aids the pilot in the
approach to the runway. A radio beacon at the start of the
runway emits a signal, the position of which is displayed on
the ILS as a flashing dot. When the airplane is on the
correct approach to the runway, the flashing dot will be at
the centre of the ILS. If it is not at the cente, you the
pilot should steer towards the dot. Thus if the dot,
representing the runway is on the left, the pilot should bank
to the left until the dot moves to the centre. If it is
above the centre, the plane is too low and the joystick
should be pulled back. Ra or Radio altimeter is a digital
readout and part of the ILS system. A reflected radio signal
=66rom the ground measures the height in feet of the airplane
=66rom the ground to the wheels. It gives a precise measurement
for landing.

THE PILOT CONTROLS
JOYSTICK - The joystick of the airplane is represented on
the keyboard of the ZX Spectrum by the cursor arrows (keys 5,
6, 7 and 8). Press <Cursor left> (key 5) to bank left. Press
<Cursor right> (key 8) to bank right. Press <Cursor up>
(key 7) to move the joystick forward and point the nose of
the plane down for diving. Press <Cursor down> (key 6) to
pull the joystick towards you so that the nose of the plane
goes up for ascent.
RUDDER - The rudder on the tailplane can help to turn the
plane and is controlled by the keys "Z" to turn left and "X"
to turn right. Whilst taxi-ing on the ground, the gear is
steered by the rudder controls.
POWER - The engines' thrust or power is controlled by the
keys "P" and "O". By pressing the key "P" the throttle is
increased and the engines give more power while pressing key
"O" reduces the throttle and engine power (note "O" is to
the left of "P")
FLAPS - The extent of the flaps on the wings is controlled
by the keys "F" and "D". Press the key "F" to extend the
flaps furthure and press the key "D" to retract, or
partially retract, the flaps (note key "D" is to the left of
key "F"). The flaps can be extended or retracted to a varying
degree (as shown on the guage) and should only be fully
extended for the final stage of landing to avoid stalling at
reduced speed. With the flaps retracted, the stall speed of
the plane is 80 knots, while with full flaps, the stall speed
is 60 knots.
Extending the flaps whils the plane is at high speed could
possibly damage or tear off the wings of the plane.
GEAR - the gear or undercarriage can be extended by pressing
the key "G". If the gear is down pressing the key "G" will
retract the undercarriage. The undercarriage should not be
dropped at high speed as apart from increasing the drag on
the plane you may damage or destroy the undercarriage.
BEACON - To change the current logged-on beacon, press the
key "B". So long as you press the key "B" the current beacon
will change sequentially until you obtain the navigational
beacon you require.
MAP - Press the key "M" to switch the display from the
cockpit pilot's display to the map or to switch back from the
map to the cockpit pilot's display.
You may press several keys simultaneously.
NEVER PRESS THE BREAK KEY.

THE MAP

If you press the key "M", the display will change to a
navigational chart or map showing the runways, features on
the ground such as lakes and the position of the navigational
beacons. The map shows the four compass points of NORTH
(N-0deg), EAST (E-90deg), SOUTH (S-180deg), WEST (W-270deg).
There are two airports, a large international airport called
MAIN and a small local airport called CLUB. MAIN has a
long runway of over a mile in length and is therefore easy
to land on in a small plane. CLUB however is a small local
airport and therefore has a short runway of some 800 yards.
The runway of MIAN lies along the line east to west
(90deg-180deg). Therefore on your final approach for landing the
plane must be travelling on a heading of exactly 90deg or 270deg.
The runway of CLUB on the other hand, lies along the line
north to south.
The maps also shows the position of the various navigational
beacons and a variety of landmarks and features on the
ground. Near the airport MAIN, there are two beacons some
three miles beyond each end of the runway with call signs of
ME and MW. Airport CLUB has two beacons CN and CS two miles
beyond each end of the runway. There are three other
navigational beacons 0A 0B and 0C.

NAVIGATION

The most difficult part of flying is the approach and landing
at the airfield. You can experiment with the controls in
varying the speed, altitude and direction of the plane at a
reasonably high altitude without worrying about the
navigation, If you wish to land the plane, however, you will
have to navigate the plane on to the right vector and on to
the right course, and you will have to approach the runway at
roughly the right glide angle. This is a difficult task and
requires a lot of practice and experience before you can
achieve landing successfully.
The map and instruments will help you to determine your
position precisely. You will then need to think of the
approximate manoeuvres and course to approach the airfield on
the right flight path. The runway of airport MAIN lies east
to west in the simulation on a line (or vector) from 90deg to
270deg or vice-versa. You may approach the runway from either
end. For example, if you wish to approach the runway from
the east to the west, you must first manoeuvre the airplane
far to the east of the runway. If you use the beacon ME you
will need to fly the plane until the beacon is on a bearing
(or vector) of 270deg. If you then bank on to this bearing on
a course or heading of 270deg you will be flying on exactly
the right flight path for your approach to the runway. As you
fly towards the beacon ME, to keep on the right flight path
you must ensure that both the heading and the beacon coincide
at 270deg. As you fly over the beacon in the later stages of
the approach, the bearing of the beacon will of course change
to 90deg. Similarly, you may use any of the other beacons to
set a course for a particular flight objective. When heading
directly for a beacon, remember that your heading and the
beacon bearing must always coincide precisely. Flying is
difficult for the uninitiated and if you have trouble
navigating yourself to the runway for final landing you can
always use the option at the beginning of the program to
give you an automatic approach and allow you to experiment
with the final touchdown.
Once you have touched down, you must reduce the power to zero
to bring the plane to a halt. You may taxi and steer using
the rudder controls and take off again.


Key Pilot Control
[Cursor Up] Joystick forward (dive)
[Cursor Down] Joystick backward (climb)
[Cursor Right] Joystick to right (bank to right)
[Cursor Left] Joystick to left (bank to left)
Z Rudder control (left)
X Rudder control (right)
P Increase throttle (more power)
O Decrease throttle (less power)
F Increase flap extent
D Decrease flap extent
G Lower gear (undercarriage) if up
Raise gear (undercarriage) if down
B Change beacon sequentially
M Switch from cockpit display to navigational
Map or back to cockpit

Copyright 1982 Psion Ltd.
Made in UK



HINTS/CHEATS

RELATED GAMES
Take your pick of flight simulations...

SCORES
Sinclair User, 6/10
Softwords (magazine of The Microcomputer Software Club) 8/10
(this correlates to 3/5 in 'The Good Software Guide' book)

Johnathan Davies in the 'Complete YS Guide to Flight Sims' in
YS Issue 58 (Oct 90)

"THE FIRST FLIGHT SIM EVER - Ha. This one's easy. It was
Flight Simulation, one of the first games that ever came out
on the Speccy. It was also the first game I bought. (Aargh!
The secret's out.) It was one of those Psion games which came
out on Sinclair's own label, and despite the mind-numbingly
tedious piccy on the box (the instrument panel of a plane) it
hung around near the top of the charts for years. In actual
fact, Flight Simulation is a conversion of a ZX81 game of the
same name. Yikes. We'll take a closer look at this one later
on." ...

"FLIGHT SIMULATION Psion
As we found earlier, this was the first Speccy flight sim
ever, and it shows. It comes on a cassette with the game on
one side and 'Blank Tape' conveniently written on the other.
See which one you prefer. It actually looks quite promising
(the inlay card is massive, with loads of miniscule
instructions) and, despite the fact that it's largely written
in Basic, the game moves along at a fair old rate. The
problem is the scenery. All there is to look at on the ground
(which is blue) is the runway, Lake Orb (which is round),
Lake Tri (which is triangular) and some hills (which you
can't actually see at all, but you'll know if you crash into
them).
The plane responds very sluggishly, but luckily you don't
have to use them very much because a 'flight' generally
consists of taking off, pointing the plane towards the other
airport, coming back three and a half hours later and
landing. If you crash there's a lengthy disaster effect and
then you're asked if you want another flight. Press N and the
program stops. Hmm. A legend in its own time, but a bit crap
in this one.
The View [graphics]: 25%, Realism: 31%, Dakka
Factor [guns]: 0%, Net Weight [amount of junk packaging]: 45%
Overall: 35%"

URL
ftp://ftp.nvg.unit.no/pub/sinclair/snaps/games/unsorted/
f/flightsi.zip

FACTS
Other than being the first Speccy flight simulation ever,
it's also one of those games with the mythical quality of
being amongst the first batch of games released for the
Spectrum.

NOTES