Dovetail Games Flight School

I went into Dovetail Games Flight School expecting a watered-down tech demo with a tutorial slapped on top. What I found is something more considered than that, even if it never quite outgrows its training-wheels brief. Dovetail acquired the Microsoft Flight Simulator X technology and rebuilt the engine as a fully 64-bit platform, which is a meaningful upgrade under the hood even if the visual results won't make your jaw drop today. The core structure follows two real-world licence tracks: the LAPL (Light Aircraft Pilot's Licence) and the PPL (Private Pilot's License), spread across 15 missions that take you from basic takeoffs and landings through navigational instruments and cross-country flying. You get a small but specific aircraft roster, most notably the Piper PA-18 Super Cub and the Piper PA-28 Cherokee, with a third plane rounding things out. Free Flight mode is also present for unguided solo hours once you want to stretch beyond the structured path. The lesson design does a solid job of telling you what control inputs to make, though it falls short on explaining the why behind the procedures, which will leave anyone hoping for real aeronautical grounding a little frustrated. Technically, the experience is bumpy in places. Multi-monitor mode had documented issues at launch, and some players reported fullscreen toggling behaving erratically. The UI, while clean and professionally laid out, leans toward a touch-friendly aesthetic that feels slightly out of place on a mouse-and-keyboard setup. Visually, the aircraft models are competent but flat. Material variety in cockpit textures is limited, and exterior lighting at night is noticeably rough. None of this breaks the sim, but it does reinforce the sense that Flight School is a foundation product, not a showcase. Hardcore flight sim veterans will find almost nothing here for them. If you have logged real hours in FSX or any modern equivalent, the mission count and aircraft selection will feel embarrassingly sparse. This is not a criticism of the design direction so much as a clear statement of audience fit. For someone who has always been curious about flight simulation but bounced off the complexity of a full sim, Flight School earns its pitch as a genuine on-ramp. The structure is coherent, the progression feels earned, and the FSX-derived flight model, even constrained to light aircraft, behaves with enough authenticity to build real habits. In a landscape where Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 (and beyond) now exists as a free-to-try proposition with far superior visuals and scope, the value case for Flight School has objectively weakened since its 2016 release. It still works as a purely structured beginner course with a tangible licence-track framework, but that selling point now competes with much heavier hitters. Approach it as an introductory classroom, not a destination.

Alex · Scout Team

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