Found this... wait, where did I find this? XD


URL http://www.flightgear.org/

I like this one. The installation size ls less than 200M (M$ Flight sim requires 15 Gig...) It's GPL'd, so it's free. (M$'s is 50-ish I think?). However, everything has flaws; this is still beta software. On my installation it is pretty unstable, so IF you decide to try it, be VERY careful. (Don't use 3D clouds! They're buggy!)

The graphics engine is great with most planes featuring 3D instrument panels with click-able controls (They're actually useful, too. You can fly the plane with them and a mouse alone). The physics engine is good. Planes feel like they stall at the right speed and they fall nose first. The controls are super-sensitive, but this is true of all Flight sims, as with a real plane. It comes with a good variety of planes, but it's default scenery will need to be updated since by default it only has the San Francisco area. My estimate of total install size with a fair plane garage and full world scenery (Including antarctica) is about 5 gigs.

Another plus for me, it'll run on just about any OS and it's included in most Linux Distro's Default Package repositories.