Contents

Installation
1 Want to have a free flight? Take FlightGear!
 1.1 Yet another Flight Simulator?
 1.2 System requirements
 1.3 Which version should I use?
 1.4 Flight models
 1.5 To whom this guide is addressed and how it is organized
2 Building the plane: Compiling the program
 2.1 Getting a development environment under Windows
 2.2 Compiling FlightGear under Linux/Windows
 2.3 Compiling FlightGear under Mac OS 10.1
 2.4 Compiling on other systems
 2.5 Installing the base package
 2.6 For test pilots only: Building the CVS snapshots
3 Preflight: Installing FlightGear
 3.1 Installing the binary distribution on a Windows system
 3.2 Installing the binary distribution on a Macintosh system
 3.3 Installing the binary distribution on a Debian Linux system
 3.4 Installing the binary distribution on a SGI IRIX system
 3.5 Installing add-on scenery
 3.6 Installing documentation
Flying with FlightGear
4 Takeoff: How to start the program
 4.1 Launching the simulator under Unix/Linux
 4.2 Launching the simulator under Windows
 4.3 Launching the simulator under Mac OS X
 4.4 Command line parameters
  4.4.1 General Options
  4.4.2 Features
  4.4.3 Flight model
  4.4.4 Aircraft model directory (Only for the UIUC Flight Dynamics Model)
  4.4.5 Initial Position and Orientation
  4.4.6 Rendering Options
  4.4.7 HUD Options
  4.4.8 Time Options
  4.4.9 Network Options
  4.4.10 Route/Waypoint Options
  4.4.11 IO Options
  4.4.12 Debugging options
  4.4.13 Joystick properties
5 In-flight: All about instruments, keystrokes and menus
 5.1 Starting the engine
 5.2 Keyboard controls
 5.3 Menu entries
 5.4 The Instrument Panel
 5.5 The Head Up Display
 5.6 Mouse controlled actions
 5.7 Some further reading for pilot students
Appendices
A Missed approach: If anything refuses to work
 A.1 FlightGear Problem Reports
 A.2 General problems
 A.3 Potential problems under Linux
 A.4 Potential problems under Windows
B Some words on OpenGL graphics drivers
 B.1 NVIDIA chip based cards under Linux
 B.2 NVIDIA chip based cards under Windows
 B.3 3DFX chip based cards under Windows
 B.4 An alternative approach for Windows users
 B.5 3DFX chip based cards under Linux
 B.6 ATI chip based cards under Linux
 B.7 Building your own OpenGL support under Linux
 B.8 OpenGL on MacIntosh
C Landing: Some further thoughts before leaving the plane
 C.1 A not so Short History of FlightGear
 C.2 Those, who did the work
 C.3 What remains to be done
Index