Here’s a chance to really test your flying skills in “Microsoft Flight Simulator.”
The company released a long-awaited “Top Gun: Maverick” expansion on Thursday that will have users conducting fighter jet maneuvers that truly tap into the “need for speed.” The free release is timed to the return of Tom Cruise and the new movie of the same name, 36 years after the original “Top Gun.”
The “Flight Simulator” expansion features a special livery for the F/A-18E Super Hornet; training missions to learn maneuvers such as unrestricted take-offs, split S maneuvers, and low altitude, high-speed maneuvering through complex terrain; use of a new hypersonic aircraft that can attain speeds of Mach 10 and altitudes greater than 150,000 feet above sea level.
Pilots will also get the chance to try to land on an aircraft carrier, which Microsoft calls “one of the most demanding operations in the world of military aviation.”
“Flight Simulator” is a classic franchise for Microsoft. The game returned in 2020 with its first full refresh in 14 years.