Great Flight Sim
At first I was considering Flight Simulator X, Microsoft's latest version, but after trying the Demo and talking to some flight sim fans, I decided against it. X really taxes your system and lags a lot. (If you saw the commercials on TV, they even showed a bit of lag). FS 2004 is the next-to-latest version an d boy does it deliver. Not only does it have your usual mix of props and jets, it also throws in a handful of classic and historical aircraft to try your hand at. There's a whole section of the game devoted to these planes and their history. You can read articles about each of them and the game has dozens and dozens of real-world flights these planes made. Want to try your hand at Lindberg's flight across the Atlantic in 2-hour bursts? You can do it! Want to see how the mail was flown from New York to Chicago in the 1920s? They have that too. You can even try your hand at the Wright Flyer to see where it all began.
Besides the historical flights, there's also a hefty bit of flight lesson content in the game. Articles complete with mini-videos cover almost all the aspects of flight. Everything from landings to navigation to airspace are covered in easy to read articles with plenty of graphics to accompany them. There's also a full set of flight lessons you can take which are fully narrated and are a great teaching tool. I found them particularly helpful since Im starting flight school soon.
The only downside to FS 2004 is that the graphics aren't the best. Of course, imagine how bad the game would chug if it did have life-like graphics. They do the job, however, and you can easily load up your local airport and fly around and recognize the area. Things like railroads, highways, radio towers, lakes and mountains are all there and bigger cities include multistory buildings to add to the atmosphere. Keep in mind though, that flying at 5,000+ feet you can't really notice all the buildings on the ground (even in real life) so its not that big of a deal.
This sim sells for about 20 bucks at your local WallyWorld, so there's no reason not to pick up this great sim if you're a fan of aviation.