US Navy to use Microsoft Flight Simulator

A flight student in Florida learned so much from Microsoft's Flight Simulator that the Navy are planning to use the software to train other fledgling pilots.

Ensign Herb Lacy customised the program so that he could fly a T-34C Turbo Mentor, which the Navy uses for primary flight training. After clocking up 50 hours of simulated flight, Lacy climbed into a real T-34C and soared to the top of the class.

"I can't think of a single person who has tried it and had anything negative to say," said Lacy.

As a result, the US Navy will begin operating six T-34C simulators running on Flight Simulator at Corpus Christi Naval Air Station in Texas. Each system will consist of a box resembling a cockpit, aircraft controls, a PC and a 21-inch monitor and will weigh in at around $6,000. The cost of a conventional military flight simulator is somewhere around the million-dollar mark.

Computer games are good for you - it's official.