It boggles the mind how much work went into creating a MASTERWORK that few ever saw and that will never be allowed to be seen again...unless you happen to own it.
In 2016 Dovetail Games released FLIGHT SCHOOL after getting the license to re-release Microsoft's Flight SimulatorX on the STEAM platform. They then released FLIGHT SIM WORLD in 2018. This blog entry is about FLIGHT SCHOOL and FLIGHT SIM WORLD we be covered later.
Dovetail Games was best known for Fishing and Train Simulation games yet still created a flight simulator that was; directly out of the box, beautiful and epic.
Flight School Contained the following content:
*Light Aircraft Pilot License Lessons: (1)Takeoff (2)Straight & Level (3)Climbs & Descents (4)Turns & Headings (5)Approach & Landing (6)Light Aircraft Pilot License
*Private Pilot Lessons: (1)The Traffic Pattern (2)Emergency Landings (3)Steep Turns (4)Power Off Stalls (5)Slow Flight (6)Radio Navigation (7)Solo Cross Country (8)Night Flying (9)Private Pilot License
*Multi Engine Piston Rating Lessons: (1)DA42 Checkout (2)Engine Out Landing (3)Engine Failure Takeoff (4) Skills test
*Missions: (1)Low & Slow (2)Short Hops (3)Time Pressure (4)Icing Conditions (5)At a Stretch (6)Abandoned for a Reason (7)Scud Runner (8)Burning the Candle (9)Low & Fast (10)Over Powered (11)Cross-Controlled, (12)Midnight Express
*Free-Flight: Entire Earth. 24,000 airports
*Planes: DA42, Piper-PA16, Piper-PA28
Shortly after the release of Flight Sim World all work stopped, the project was terminated and these titles became unavailable for any future purchase.
A short while after that Microsoft at E3 announced they would be returning to making Flight Simulators after 13 years and would be releasing a revolutionary and paradigm shifting flight simulator, MSFS 2020.
It is said that Flight School and Flight Sim World were just development tests and it was Microsoft that had Dovetail halt all sales of the simulators.
This author is very fortunate to have been flight crazy and all over the development of FS and FSW and was gifted full versions of both simulators.
FLIGHT SCHOOOL
No simulator I had tried up to that point had ever tried to teach you the basics of what you would get if joining a real flight school. None forced the required solo time needed to advance to your final Skills Tests or the final Checkride for your Private Pilot License.
As a struggling noob I found some of the lessons very hard but each one was very important. All of the additional missions had something to teach as well.
There was a great feeling of accomplishment after finishing Flight School and I wanted more! Lots more! Flight School had done what it was supposed to do and inspired me to get other simulators like X-Plane 11 and to keep learning. A desire to fly for real seemed so much more possible.
For what it was at the time it was released it is a MASTERWORK. It is a tragedy they chose not to let people continue to experience it up to the release of MSFS 2020.
I have re-loaded Flight School and have begun recording every lesson to post on
YouTube. I would like to do the same with all the missions and then record some of the beautiful locations.
YouTube Playlist Folder for Dovetail Flight School: