Paragliding and hang gliding simulator: Flight Club

To play, visit Dan Burton’s homepage. Not being updated, so may not work in newer browsers

Thanks to Dan Burton you no longer have to sneak out the office back door to get your quick fix. Just turn your screen away from curious eyes and fly away…

Introduction

Welcome to Flight Club, an online gliding simulator.The gliders look a bit like hang-gliders. However, imagine them to be paragliders or sailplanes if you prefer; the same rules apply…
Thermals

Cumulus clouds are fed by bubbles of warm rising air, called thermals. By using thermals, glider pilots are able to fly long distances. When you fly into a thermal you should circle to stay in the lift and climb upto cloud base.Your vario will start beeping when you are in a thermal.

Ridge Lift

Hills produce lift as the wind flows over them. A glider may ridge soar by flying back and forth in the rising air in front of the hill.Glider pilots also like hills because they function as reliable thermal triggers.

Your Mission

Fly as far as you can. When the sun begins to set the last cumulus clouds will evaporate. So fly fast to maximise your distance whilst the sky is working.A note on navigation: The wind is blowing from the south. You should follow the road that runs north. You have a compass bottom right, next to your vario.

Points of View

Drag the mouse to rotate the camera position. You may switch between points of view using the number keys…

<1> focus on your glider
<2> watch the gaggle
<3> the view from 10,000 meters above
<4> the view from 8km away to the south east

Try pressing space to pause the action and then switch between the different points of view. Dragging the mouse whilst the action is paused gives a ’bullet time’ effect.

Dan died at the age of 35 in June 2005, but his inspiration and software live on. At first sight Flight Club appears to be a simple game to race 100km as fast as possible. However Dan in his wisdom leaves us with this quote from flying instructor Jocky Sanderson that encapsulates the driving force behind Dan’s remarkable life…

Remember, the best pilot is the one that is having the most fun’ – Jocky Sanderson’

More Quotes

Simon Dykes, the artist, stood, rented glass in hand, and watched as a rowing eight emerged from the brown brick wall of one building, slid across a band of grey-green water, and then eased into the grey concrete of another building. Some people lose their sense of proportion, thought Simon, but what would it be like to lose your sense of perspective ?’ – Will Self (from Great Apes)

’Emphasize everything and you emphasize nothing.’ – Gill (the font designer)

Thank You

Thanks to Soda and Urban75 for hosting copies of this applet. Thanks to Murray, Romy and Oscar for putting up with my late night hacking. Thanks to everyone who has emailed me with feedback concerning this applet.

Latest update: 01 mar 2002 by Dan Burton

Updated January 2011

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