FlightGear Docs

This is how to make FlightGear on Linux look better and easier to control: with real aerial imagery, a sharp Earth from orbit, corrected water and your own Python scripts. You can copy the commands directly. I tested the scripts and start commands with FlightGear 2024.1.7 on Debian 13. I did not repeat the large downloads and the complete first installation on a fresh system.

The scripts come from a German project, so their names, options and messages are in German. Linked background articles are in German as well.

The same spot near Leipzig: default scenery on the left, aerial imagery on the right.

Basics

• Installation
  • Required packages
  • Download FlightGear and its data
  • Extract
  • Get the tools
  • First start
  • Add aircraft
  • Next step
• The overlay
  • Change a file yourself
  • Undo
• Control with Python
  • First script
  • Good to know
  • Find property paths
  • Example: wait for the landing

Better visuals

• Real aerial imagery
  • Get started
  • Size and sharpness
  • Add your own area permanently
  • Add a new source
  • Turn off trees
• Earth from orbit
  • Space and time
  • Download the images
  • Build and install
  • Turn on Earthview
  • Pitfalls
• Fix green water
  • Green lakes
  • Green at low sun
• Weather with an add-on
  • Create the files
  • Turn it on
  • Clouds in space
• Frame rate
  • My settings
  • The biggest lever: multi-core mode
  • What the settings gain
  • Pitfall: the preset overrides options
  • What really helps
  • Measure it yourself

Aircraft and add-ons

• Airbus A320
  • Installation
  • Autopilot buttons
  • ILS approach
  • Master Caution after a restart
  • Results
• Smoother G1000
  • With the patch
  • By hand
  • Measure it yourself
• Dash 8
  • Installation
  • The fixes in detail
  • Tip for your own scripts
• Radio with Red Griffin ATC
  • Installation
  • Start
  • The two fixes
  • Radio calls from your own scripts
  • Pitfalls
• Check taxiways
  • Scan the ground
  • Find a route
  • Correct the network in your own script
• Space Shuttle
  • Launch
  • OMS: don’t forget the heating
  • Turn before entry
  • Entry point
  • Add a landing site
  • Master Alarm

Video

• Recording with OBS
  • Setup
  • For recording
  • Don’t forget the credits

Help

• Troubleshooting
  • The log
  • Typical symptoms
  • Crash in the graphics driver
• Sources and licenses
  • NASA
  • Deliberately not used
  • FlightGear

Tools

All scripts from these docs are available together in flightgear-werkzeuge.zip. They are released under the MIT license.

More

Background and measurements are in the articles on the FlightGear project page (German).