Replicating a Simulated ‘Queen of the Skies’ – FLYING Magazine

Childhood Dreams of Flying on a Boeing 747

Ever since I was a small child, my eyes and imagination were filled with one airplane: the Boeing 747. I believe it all started when I saw Airport 1975 on the big screen. That movie forever made a permanent impression on me and was responsible for my daydreaming, doodling, and not doing very well in school.

A real American Airlines 747-100 was used for the movie. Many of the flying scenes were real as well. After watching the movie, I knew I wanted to be an airline pilot when I grew up. That was the era of actually being able to go to any airport and see big, loud, powerful airliners up close and personal. My dad would often take me to Ontario, California (KONT), east of the San Fernando Valley where I grew up, to gawk, listen, and even climb onto jetliners in between flights.

Back in the 1970s, if a kid wanted to see a jetliner’s flight deck in person, all you had to do was ask. Today, kids aren’t even allowed to look at transport category jets up close, unless they’re a ticketed passenger. Even then, the design of today’s airline terminals, with more emphasis on shopping than watching, make this task difficult. I think airline terminals have been designed with the goal of preventing you from seeing anything outside. This result is that nobody cares anymore, there’s no excitement at hand, and the awe and privilege have all vanished into the past. Since 9/11, kids are not given the chance to enjoy aviation and, for the most part, are actually discouraged because of “security.”

I got my first ride on a 747 in 1976 on an all-charter 747-200 going to London from San Francisco. I recall the outside boarding experience, climbing up the massive stairway and gazing at the huge engine pods and fan blades up close. The graceful-yet-pudgy body of the jet was huge and massive. I imagined the noise, wind, and violence just outside the doorway where I stood that would soon be happening at 600 mph.

More than 40 years later, I am still in awe but frustrated at never having been lucky enough to have flown on a 747 since then. I never became a 747 pilot but am fortunate to have gone into corporate jets as a captain on a Bombardier Challenger 300. So now my joys turn to those replications on Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 or X-Plane. Let’s take a look at the current offerings and what might be the best.

MSFS2020 Default 747-8i

Microsoft has certainly knocked it out of the park with the visuals. All aircraft in MSFS2020 are photorealistic and accurately modeled with size and scale of individual parts and pieces.

The almost 3-year-old “new sim” has gone through some major updates. Just this summer the 747 has received a major realism upgrade to systems, avionics, and handling. This 747-8i Intercontinental has gone from a lightweight, simple aircraft that was mostly a visual model with not much else behind it to a quite sophisticated version.

Very close to detailed payware versions, this one is now complete with FMS that actually works the way it should. This is a hard thing for even commercial add-on companies to do, and Microsoft got some great programming by the folks at Working Title Aero to enhance the flagship Boeings (the default 787 has been redone as well to great standards). The performance loading, automatic V-speed, and N1 calculation is all done for you like the real thing. Approaches load automatically as well without having to tune radios. The avionics appearance, colors, and fonts have all been redone as well. Up-close viewing, the precision and quality is apparent. I am still dumbfounded at the visuals that can run at such high frame rates and smoothness.

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