Reference

Sim Flying Hardware Glossary

Common terms you’ll see across sim flying hardware coverage. 46 entries.

ADI: ADI (Attitude Director Indicator) is an instrument that displays the aircraft's pitch and roll relative to the horizon, often with flight director command bars overlaid. It is the centrepiece of both analogue and glass-cockpit instrument panels.
ADS-B: ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast) is a surveillance technology where aircraft broadcast their GPS position, altitude, speed, and identification continuously. Ground stations and other aircraft can receive the data without needing to interrogate the aircraft first.
AOA Indicator: AOA (Angle of Attack) Indicator is an instrument that displays the angle between the wing chord and the relative wind, giving a direct measure of how close the wing is to its critical stall angle regardless of airspeed, weight, or bank angle.
Autopilot: An avionics system that automatically controls the aircraft's flight path by commanding control surfaces to maintain selected heading, altitude, vertical speed, or nav track. Ranges from a single-axis wing-leveller in light aircraft to fully coupled autoland systems in airliners.
Button Box: A generic term for a USB input device consisting of buttons, toggles, or encoders with no primary flight axis. Used to replicate cockpit overhead panels, center consoles, or any set of switches not included on a yoke or HOTAS.
Calibration: The process of telling software the minimum, centre, and maximum values of each hardware axis so inputs are interpreted correctly across the full range of travel. Skipping calibration often causes controls to feel off-centre or to not reach full deflection.
CDI: CDI (Course Deviation Indicator) is the vertical needle on a VOR or ILS display that shows how far left or right the aircraft is from the selected course. Full deflection typically represents two to five degrees off course depending on the navaid.
Cockpit Frame: A structural rig—ranging from aluminium extrusion profiles to full wooden shells—that holds monitors, peripherals, and seats in a fixed, cockpit-like arrangement. Improves immersion and eliminates the need to clamp hardware to a desk.
Condor: Condor Soaring Simulator is a dedicated glider-focused flight simulator featuring highly accurate soaring flight models, thermal and ridge-lift simulation, and competitive online racing. The go-to platform for virtual glider pilots and real soaring clubs.
DCS World: DCS (Digital Combat Simulator) World is a free-to-play combat flight simulation platform by Eagle Dynamics. Aircraft are sold as separate modules with varying fidelity tiers; the platform is known for its highly detailed clickable cockpits and study-level flight models.
Deadzone: A small region around the centre or limits of an axis input within which no output is registered, used to mask mechanical slop or imprecise centring in a joystick. Too large a deadzone makes controls feel sluggish; too small can cause jitter.
Density Altitude: Pressure altitude corrected for non-standard temperature, representing the altitude at which the atmosphere has the density currently experienced. High density altitude reduces engine power and lift, extending takeoff rolls and degrading climb performance.
Encoder: A rotary input device that reports relative rotation rather than an absolute position, meaning it has no start or end stop. Encoders are preferred for knobs that should spin freely, such as COM radio tuners, barometer sets, and FMS data-entry dials.
Eye Tracker: A peripheral that uses near-infrared LEDs and a camera to detect where the pilot's eyes are pointing, translating gaze direction into view movement without any head-mounted hardware. Products like Tobii Eye Tracker 5 are popular for sim use.
FlightGear: An open-source, cross-platform flight simulator maintained by a volunteer community. Offers a wide range of freely downloadable aircraft and scenery, and is often used for research, education, and by hobbyists who prefer an open ecosystem.
FMS: FMS (Flight Management System) is a computerised avionics unit that stores a full route of waypoints, SIDs, STARs, and approaches, and manages navigation, performance calculations, and autopilot coupling throughout the flight. Programming the FMS is a core skill for airliner sim pilots.
Force Feedback: A technology in sim hardware where motors in the joystick or yoke apply resistive or active forces to the pilot's hand, conveying aerodynamic loads, buffet, and control feel. Requires simulator support to transmit the underlying force data to the device.
FSUIPC: FSUIPC (Flight Simulator Universal Inter-Process Communication) is a widely used add-on for MSFS/P3D/FSX that exposes an extended API for hardware calibration, button mapping, and scripting. Many third-party tools and hardware drivers rely on it to communicate with the sim.
GPWS: GPWS (Ground Proximity Warning System) is an avionics system that monitors flight parameters and terrain proximity, issuing audio alerts such as 'PULL UP' or 'TOO LOW TERRAIN' when an unsafe condition is detected. Evolved into the more capable EGPWS with a terrain database.
Hat Switch: A small multi-directional switch on a joystick or throttle, also called a POV hat, that can register up to eight cardinal positions. Commonly used for cockpit view panning, radio switching, or trimming in sim setups.
Head Tracking: Any system that translates real-world movement of the pilot's head into an equivalent view shift inside the virtual cockpit. Solutions include IR clip systems, webcam-based software, eye trackers, and VR headsets.
HOTAS: HOTAS (Hands On Throttle And Stick) refers to a combined joystick-and-throttle set designed so all critical combat controls are reachable without leaving the two primary inputs. The term originates from real military aviation ergonomics and is widely used in DCS and IL-2 circles.
HSI: HSI (Horizontal Situation Indicator) combines a compass rose with a CDI needle and glideslope indication, giving the pilot a map-like view of their track relative to a selected VOR radial or ILS course. Replaces the separate DI and OBS of older panels.
IAS vs TAS: IAS (Indicated Airspeed) is what the airspeed indicator reads from dynamic pressure; TAS (True Airspeed) is the aircraft's actual speed through the air after correcting for altitude and temperature. The gap between them grows significantly at high altitude.
IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles: A World War II combat flight simulation series by 1C Game Studios covering the Eastern Front, Pacific, and Western Front theatres. Praised for its flight model fidelity, damage modelling, and career mode, with a strong online multiplayer community.
ILS Approach: ILS (Instrument Landing System) approach is a precision instrument procedure that uses a localizer for lateral guidance and a glideslope for vertical guidance to guide an aircraft to a runway in low-visibility conditions. Pilots intercept both beams and track the needles to touchdown.
MFD: MFD (Multi-Function Display) is a reconfigurable cockpit screen that can show navigation maps, engine data, systems synoptics, checklists, or radar imagery depending on the mode selected. Typically used alongside a PFD in glass-cockpit aircraft.
Microsoft Flight Simulator (MSFS): A civilian flight simulator franchise by Microsoft, with the 2020 and 2024 editions using Bing Maps satellite data and Azure AI to generate a photorealistic world-wide scenery mesh. Supports general aviation, airliners, and helicopters with an active third-party add-on ecosystem.
PFD: PFD (Primary Flight Display) is the main glass-cockpit screen that consolidates attitude, airspeed, altitude, vertical speed, and heading into a single integrated instrument. It replaces the individual analogue gauges of the traditional six-pack.
Prepar3D: A commercial flight simulation platform developed by Lockheed Martin, evolved from Microsoft FSX. Widely used in professional and military training as well as the enthusiast community; supports legacy FSX add-ons and advanced weather and AI systems.
Rudder Pedals: Floor-mounted pedals that control the aircraft's rudder, enabling yaw input and coordinated turns. Most sets also include toe brake axes for independent left and right wheel braking.
Sensitivity Curve: A mapping that translates raw hardware axis input into simulator output in a non-linear way, typically making the centre region more precise while allowing full deflection at the extremes. Adjusting the curve is one of the first tuning steps for any new control.
Side Stick: A compact joystick mounted to the left or right of the pilot's seat rather than center, used to control pitch and roll. Associated with fly-by-wire airliners such as the Airbus A320 family and many modern fighter jets.
SimConnect: SimConnect is the official SDK interface built into Microsoft Flight Simulator and Prepar3D that lets external applications read and write simulation variables in real time. Used by hardware panels, co-pilot tools, EFB apps, and cockpit-builder software.
Six-Pack: The informal name for the classic set of six analogue flight instruments—airspeed indicator, attitude indicator, altimeter, turn coordinator, heading indicator, and vertical speed indicator—arranged in a standard two-row grid in most light aircraft.
Throttle Quadrant: A hardware unit with one or more lever axes representing throttle, mixture, propeller pitch, spoilers, or thrust reversers. Standalone units plug into USB and are mapped inside the simulator to the corresponding aircraft controls.
TrackIR: A brand-name infrared head-tracking system that uses a camera clipped to a monitor and reflective clips on a headset to translate real head movement into in-cockpit view movement. The product name has become a common shorthand for any clip-based IR head tracker.
Transponder: An avionics radio that receives interrogations from ground radar or other aircraft and replies with a coded squawk identifying the flight, along with pressure altitude in Mode C or extended data in Mode S. Required for flight in most controlled airspace.
Trim: The process of adjusting control surfaces or their neutral points so the aircraft maintains a desired attitude without continuous pilot input. In practice, trimming offloads stick or yoke pressure during cruise, climb, or approach.
Trim Wheel: A dedicated rotary wheel peripheral that simulates the aircraft's pitch-trim wheel, allowing the pilot to relieve sustained control pressure. Some units include detents and resistance to mimic the feel of a real trim mechanism.
UFC: UFC (Up-Front Controller) is a hardware panel that replicates the scratchpad and preset buttons found directly in front of the pilot in military jets such as the F/A-18 and A-10. Used in sim rigs to enter radio frequencies, waypoints, and other data without touching a keyboard.
V-Speeds: Standardised reference airspeeds defined for a specific aircraft, such as Vr (rotation), Vx (best angle of climb), Vy (best rate of climb), and Vref (approach speed). Knowing and respecting V-speeds is fundamental to safe operations in any aircraft type.
vJoy: A free virtual joystick driver for Windows that creates software game controllers, allowing applications like Joystick Gremlin or TARGET to combine, remap, and split hardware inputs before they reach the simulator. Essential for advanced axis and button mapping workflows.
VR Headset: A head-mounted display that renders a stereoscopic 3-D cockpit environment and tracks head rotation and position six degrees of freedom. Provides the strongest sense of scale and spatial awareness in a sim rig at the cost of higher GPU demand.
X-Plane 12: A professional-grade flight simulator by Laminar Research that calculates lift and drag from actual airfoil geometry using a blade-element theory engine. Known for accurate flight models, Linux/Mac support, and a large freeware and payware add-on library.
Yoke: A control input device shaped like a half-wheel or aircraft steering column, used to control pitch and roll. Common in general-aviation and airliner sim setups, it mounts to a desk or cockpit frame and typically houses additional buttons and switches.