How Low Can You Go?

In this post, I'll explain how much flight simulation costs, and what are the cheapest ways to get into this awesome hobby! Please share this post with anyone who might be interested, and let's get started.

How Much Does It Really Cost?

It all depends on your budget. It can be pretty budget-friendly if you are only buying the minimum things to serve the purpose of your flying, or it can be one of the most expensive hobbies (in my opinion) if you, for example, build an entire Boeing 737 cockpit. For me, I have spent $600 in total on this hobby, but many people spend more.

How Low Can We Go?

Okay, let's start trying to find the cheapest ways of doing this, while still keeping it semi-realistic. 

The Simulator

The first thing that is a must (quite literally) is the simulator itself. X-Plane 11 costs $60, which is my personal preference. On the other hand, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 costs $60 for the cheapest version but can get up to $120 just for the base simulator (YIKES!). So let's just assume that if you are trying to get the cheapest simulator, you won't buy the Premium Deluxe version.

The Hardware

The next is the hardware. You could easily skip this and just spend $60, but it is critical for a realistic simulator to have the right hardware. There are two options for the main flight controls: the yoke and the joystick/sidestick/stick. 

If you are planning on a yoke, then there is pretty much only one decent-quality, budget-friendly, well-known yoke. It is the $170 Logitech G Pro Flight Yoke which is very common and well known, although not in the greatest of ways. It is known to be a little stiff, having a large dead zone (the slight movements that are not picked up in the simulator), and having only 45˚ of turning room on either side. The main upside to this yoke is that it comes with a throttle (which is a big bonus).

If a joystick is more your style, then there are many other budget-friendly options. The first one is an $80 Thrustmaster T-Flight HOTAS 4 joystick. Like the yoke, it also comes with a throttle. To be honest, I don't know much about sidesticks or joysticks, because I do not like flying with them. Another option that happens to be the same price as the yoke is the Thrustmaster TCA Officer Pack Airbus Edition, which is absolutely perfect if you love Airbus aircraft.

So, to conclude, the total price if you are using a yoke or the Airbus joystick is $230. The total price of the other joystick is $140. If you are doing the most budget-friendly way possible, it would be $60 (without any hardware). Thank you so much for reading, please subscribe to my blog to be notified of the next post, and good night/good morning!