Steam Edition and P3D also include this feature but if you really want to enjoy flying from carriers – you need to install several add-ons. I was flying Wildcats and Corsairs again – with much better graphics and realism than in 1942 Pacific Air War.įlight Simulator X introduced carrier operations in Acceleration expansion pack. Later came Pacific Fighters from the Il-2 series. I spent countless hours flying F-14 in the Top Gun Fire at Will and learned how to land it on the carrier. Today you may laugh watching this minecraft-like terrain but back then – it was a breakthrough in terms of mesh design. Additionally – Top Gun Fire at Will boasted the best graphics of all aviation related games I had by this time. Short movies at the beginning of each flight featured real actors – including James Tolkan who played the CAG in Top Gun the movie. Like many other PC simulation games in the 90s – it was a story based game/sim. It was the Top Gun Fire at Will that made me really love naval sims.

But after some time I managed to master carrier landings in Zeros and Wildcats. And I found the option to end my missions before landing very helpful. To be honest – I preferred to fly from land bases than from carriers. My next encounter with naval aviation started when I discovered 1942 Pacific Air War. Later I tried to go back to FD but the graphics scared me off. For the first time I had to read the whole manual to be able to fly it properly and being eleven – I gave up. But the Fleet Defender was a different animal. I was a capable F-16 pilot in Strike Commander.

I clocked hundreds of hours in Air Combat and received nearly all medals in F-15 Strike Eagle III. I was not a complete newbie at this time. Back in 1990s it was advertised as the most realistic naval flight sim with unprecedented carrier operation simulation. My first serious carrier flight was in the Fleet Defendera. Freeware guide.Ī bit of history – carrier aviation on PC Carrier operations in FSX – which carriers and aircraft should you install and how to find a carrier in the middle of the ocean.

Fsx acceleration missions list