![](\"/media/f6f958acbd869d1ec31a4d2d5e0b034364b386f5_7ac492f8d112.jpg\")
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nUK 1985
When I was on AOL in the early-mid \u201890s flight simulators were still a big, if then legacy and not headline thing. There were forums where people would team together into \u201cairlines\u201d and do (and post replay data of) 4-hour cross-country flights several nights a week. They would have custom controller \u201ccockpit\u201d setups. They would trade mods that let them play audio clips telling passengers to return their seats and tray tables to the upright and locked position at the appropriate time.
It is weird to recall how much \u201cpiloting an airliner\u201d was a prominent fantasy \u2013 the trope of the private pilot passenger who has to take over and land when the crew is incapacitated. I learned to fly single-engine planes, and I knew what to do if that ever happened \u2013 set the radio to 121.5 and ask for instructions on turning the autopilot on
Then Microsoft Flight Simulator finally dominated the genre and aside from 9/11 shenanigans we never heard of it again
", "thumbnail_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com/media/f6f958acbd869d1ec31a4d2d5e0b034364b386f5_7ac492f8d112.jpg", "thumbnail_width": 735, "thumbnail_height": 1118}