#Flight sim joystick for macbook air how to#
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#Flight sim joystick for macbook air mac#

Now you will need to change the permissions on the fgfs file so that it will run.

If you did place the FlightGear folder under your /Applications folder then you can type in the following: Now you will icdi (change directory) to your FlightGear folder. Obviously where iverni is you should see your login name.

You should see a prompt in the terminal window that looks like this: vern%.

For those of you unfamiliar with the terminal window or command line, the goal here is to get into the FlightGear folder via the command line and change some permissions so FlightGear will run. These instruction assume that you have done so. We suggest you put it in the Applications folder. Move that file into your FlightGear folder and move the FlightGear folder to someplace convenient. You will also find a file called fgfs-0.8.0-09.24.02, which is the executable file.

Installation: When Stuffit unpacked the base package, it should have created a FlightGear folder.

#Flight sim joystick for macbook air how to#

Note the comment about how to run FlightGear from the command line.

#Flight sim joystick for macbook air download#

Download: Go to the Download page at the FlightGear Web site, find the Macintosh OS X (10.2) Binaries, and click on the links for ithe latest version herei and ibase packagei.

If you follow these instruction exactly, you should be able to get FlightGear up and running in a few minutes. I think itis time to figure out how to configure the joysticks. Anyone standing on the virtual ground may have believed I was a stunt pilot, up until the instant I buried my Cessna in a corn field. I overcompensated, causing the horizon and sky to swap places several times. The horizon lurched upward as the number on the altimeter was decrementing faster than a shuttle launch countdown.

#Flight sim joystick for macbook air mac#

We suspect that FlightGear will run well on any Mac purchased within the last two years, as long as you have enough RAM. On a G4 450MHZ Cube with 512MB of RAM FlightGear ran smoothly when there was nothing else running. I am also assuming that you have some command line experience, but is not entirely necessary just type in the commands where I tell you, and you should be OK.ДЄs with most flight sims, the hardware you run it on will determine how smooth the sim runs. I suggest that you follow these instructions rather than the ones you find with the documentation. Since getting FlightGear installed can be a bit daunting, I decided to include installation instructions with this piece. For the more experienced, thereis a flying tutorial that, once FlightGear is installed and running, should have you dancing in the clouds in no time. Even so, there is lots of documentation, as well as a basic tutorial.

The instructions for installing FlightGear in OS X are generally useful, but those not used to poking around will throw up their hands in frustration because the instruction are not very clear in some areas, and nonexistent in others.

Also, while there is joystick support, you will still have to fiddle with configuration files to get your stick to work properly. Like many open-source applications, FlightGear requires that you not be afraid of the command line to get it installed and running. Thereis a version for Windows, Linux, UNIX, OS 9, and OS X. (Click the thumbnail for the full-sized image)ДЇlightGear is an open-source flight sim designed to run on multiple platforms. If you are the adventurous type, are low of funds, and have some time on your hands, there is another flight sim available to you, but youill have to work at it to get it running. You should go to the site and check out some of the photos of the experimental aircraft that have been modeled and pre-flown with X-Plane. It will cost US$99, cheap considering what you get. X-Plane is still in beta, with a release pending.

In OS X, one of the best flight sims is X-Plane, which has been used to train test pilots on new aircraft. Macs have always had several flight sims available. One of the attractions of early personal computing was the use of what would now be considered crude flight simulation programs. When many of us were kids, we dreamed of being pilots. I mean, itis tough to pilot a plane using a keyboard instead of a joystick. If anyone else were with me, theyid be depositing the contents of their stomachs into a barf-bag, but itis not my fault. It is always veering to the left, seeming to want to crash as it edges towards the ground whenever I bank a turn. If only this damned plane would let me! This aircraft seems to have a mind of its own. Below, the Earth is a patchwork of greens, browns, and yellows crisscrossed by thin black ribbons. The view from 3,000 feet is breathtaking huge white clouds like islands of Cool Whip are so substantial they look as if I could take a stroll on them.