When planning to build an aircraft simulator, everyone faces the same difficult decision: what type of tool should be used to create the application?
There are three different types (or categories) of tools on the market: game, shareware and professional tools. With hundreds of flight simulation tools available on the market, how does one decide which is best? The decision should be based on the users goals and specific needs.
Written by Roy Aircraft & Avionic Simulation (RASS), the purpose of this article is to help users in their selection by providing technical facts with which to base their decision. Three use cases are presented to help developers and end users come to their own conclusions about various aircraft simulation tools, and allow them to choose the most appropriate solution. The use cases are meant to help engineers avoid making premature decisions or imposing these on upper management.
