Editing Flight simulator (section)

{{Short description|Technology used for training aircrew}}
{{For-multi|the video game genre|Flight simulation video game|the Microsoft video game series|Microsoft Flight Simulator|other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2020}}
[[File:980310-N-7355H-003 Simulator Training.jpg|thumb|[[F/A-18 Hornet]] flight simulator aboard the {{USS|Independence|CV-62|6}} aircraft carrier]]

A '''flight simulator''' is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft [[flight]] and the environment in which it flies, for pilot training, design, or other purposes.  It includes replicating the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they react to applications of flight controls, the effects of other aircraft systems, and how the aircraft reacts to external factors such as [[air density]], [[turbulence]], wind shear, cloud, precipitation, etc.  Flight simulation is used for a variety of reasons, including [[flight training]] (mainly of pilots), the design and development of the aircraft itself, and research into aircraft characteristics and control handling qualities.<ref name="FAR121">{{cite web|url = https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/part-121/subpart-n |title = FAR 121 Subpart N—Training Program|access-date = 28 April 2013|last = Federal Aviation Administration|author-link = Federal Aviation Administration|date = 25 April 2013}}</ref>

The term "flight simulator" may carry slightly different meaning in general language and technical documents. In past regulations, it referred specifically to devices which can closely mimic the behavior of aircraft throughout various procedures and flight conditions.<ref name="AC 120-40">{{cite web|title=AC 120-40 Airplane Simulator and Visual System Evaluation|url=https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/about/initiatives/nsp/ac/120_40.pdf|publisher=Federal Aviation Administration}}</ref> In more recent definitions, this has been named "[[full flight simulator]]".<ref name="CS FSTD(A).200" />  The more generic term "flight simulation training device" (FSTD) is used to refer to different kinds of flight training devices, and that corresponds more closely to meaning of the phrase "flight simulator" in general English.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Definition of flight simulator from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus|url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/flight-simulator|publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref>