Sierra touts Pro Pilot as the best program of its kind, a lofty claim for any program to make. But when that claim is made against Microsoft's Flight Simulator - the longest-running and best-selling simulation of all time - the claimant has a lot to prove. And while Pro Pilot bests the civilian sim classic in a number of specific areas, overall the program has an unfinished feel that ensures Flight Simulator won't be toppled from the top of the charts anytime soon.
Pro Pilot simulates five general aviation aircraft: the Cessna 172 Skyhawk and Beechcraft Bonanza V35 singles; the Beechcraft Baron and King Air twins; and the Cessna CitationJet 525 jet. The systems simulation here is superb, with unprecedented instrument panel detail. Before starting the engine, you'll need to set various power switches and select a fuel tank, functionality not present in competitors like Flight Unlimited II. All the requisite instruments - two COMM and NAV radios, ADF, etc. - are modeled. There's even a top-notch pop-up GPS (Global Positioning System); this is the first consumer sim with the now-popular navigation instrument built-in. VOR and NDB navigation beacons are present across the continental United States, which will make budding cross-country IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) pilots happy. Radios allow you to listen to air traffic control, airport information, and other aircraft, but communication isn't fully interactive as it is in Flight Unlimited II.
Unfortunately, while the cockpit simulation is arguably the best out there, aircraft handling is poor at best. Prior to the first patch, the planes felt like they were flying on rails, and basic operations like descending didn't feel right. The patch helps quite a bit, and handling is acceptable if you're just flying cross-country trips and don't try to push the plane's performance envelope. But just try doing a loop and watch things go awry. It's true that you wouldn't normally do aerobatics in these planes, but Sierra should also realize that sim pilots love to take risks you'd never dare try in real aircraft.
With over 3,000 airports included, virtual pilots who live in the continental US (or even parts of Canada) will likely be able to fly from their local airports, using the proper communication frequencies. Unfortunately, the airports lack taxiways and even runway numbers, making ground navigation problematic. (Not to mention the silliness of seeing a 747 sitting on the grass.) Ground terrain is properly height-modeled across the country, with hills and mountains that look much better than the giant pyramids of Flight Simulator.
Where Pro Pilot really falls down is in the graphics department - a vital area for virtual pilots who want to use the program for more than learning instrument navigation. The sim sports only a single graphics resolution (640x480, 256 colors) and has no support for 3D cards. The ground textures swim with a shimmering effect at high altitudes and degenerate into giant blocky pixels down low. There are some nice effects, such as vibration upon starting the engine, but the visuals are far behind the state of the art. On a related note, performance problems exist with some system configurations - without the patch installed, the sim is actually slower on a Pentium II/266 than on a Pentium 166.
A top-notch paper manual does a great job of explaining basic flight and instrument navigation, and 30 AVI videos provide good introductory material for beginning pilots. Unfortunately, only very skimpy online help is included for actual program operation and for flying the individual aircraft.
Pro Pilot shows definite signs of having been rushed to market for the holidays. With over 30 bugs fixed in the first patch, it's obvious that not enough time was spent in testing. Even post-patch, glaring problems remain: External views sometimes show stopped propellers even at full throttle, turbulence settings in the weather dialogue seem to have no effect, and the flight model goes haywire if you pull the nose up past 90 degrees. The sim's developers have committed to releasing patches every month or two to fix problems and add missing features, but is it fair of software companies to assume they can ship half-baked programs and finish them months later with patches?
With the glaring omissions fixed and a graphics overhaul, Pro Pilot could be contender. As it stands now, it's primarily of interest to potential student pilots looking for a good instrument flying simulator.
