Top
Best
New

Posted by rkotcher 1 day ago

Show HN: I made a flight simulator, except you're just a passenger(inflightsimulator.com)
Buckle your seatbelt, secure your tray table, and open your window shade. Now you can simulate flying anywhere in the world as a commercial passenger, from takeoff to touchdown. Terrain, weather, and realtime sun position included. Don't worry, the latest release now features legs, so you can get up and go to the bathroom on longer flights. Enjoy!
161 points | 69 comments
drayfield 2 hours ago|
Or you could check out the non-vibe coded Airplane Mode from 2020:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/931310/Airplane_Mode/

NietTim 32 minutes ago||
> Mixed - 67% of the 355 user reviews for this game are positive.

And 10 euro, lol. I'll just go with the free one, thank you.

apexalpha 2 hours ago||
That's... why?

I can understand slow games like EuroTruck or Farming Sim. But what's the point of this?

rogual 1 hour ago|||
These days it's pretty unusual to think of an idea that hasn't been done yet, so when you do, I guess you just don't think too much and go make it.
lIl-IIIl 54 minutes ago|||
Might be helpful for people who have never flown.
lejeanvaljean 1 day ago||
You know what? I had fear of flying. I did a training with a pilot in a simulator, but it was in the cockpit. I don't have fear of flying in a simulator or in the cockpit. I have fear of flying as a passenger, I'm sit in a chair. That's what I would have liked during my training. I told that to Air France and they did not understand but this might seriously be useful.
lubujackson 3 hours ago||
Also useful for people who want to ride along with someone currently on a plane. "Honey, you are over Kansas right now!"

Useless things tend to be deeply useful to a select few.

I am loving this "re-weirding" of the internet. For the younglings, this is very much the sort of pet project that would bubble up in early internet days. No startup raising money, no pain point necessarily being solved, just one person's idea lovingly rendered to life.

CamperBob2 3 hours ago||
Don't try to build something for everyone, build something that's everything to someone. - paraphrasing Ferry Porsche
aaronbrethorst 4 hours ago|||
UAL used to let you listen into the cockpit to ATC chatter: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17656352 — I understand this was really helpful for calming some passengers' nerves during flying.
ryukoposting 2 hours ago||
I really appreciate it when I get a pilot that actually tells us wtf is going on.
password54321 1 day ago|||
I don't think you can completely eliminate this as people naturally don't like giving up their agency which is usually going to produce at least a low level of anxiety.
recursivecaveat 3 hours ago||
Agency and information in a way. I actually feel safer in a tiny 4 seater plane than a jet, even though objectively that's probably backwards. Being able to look at all the parts of the plane, how the movements derive from the pilot's actions, actually see out the front, it is more reassuring. More similar to being a passenger in someone's car. It probably doesn't hurt that it is easier for my mind to imagine a Cessna gliding gently to earth than a passenger jet.
rkotcher 1 day ago|||
Interesting, thanks for the idea. Would be pretty cool if this app did have some real-world applications, beyond being a bit of a meme app. Thanks for the comment!
sublinear 3 hours ago||
This is going to sound insane, but something like this for the backseats of various common, and maybe even exotic, cars would be cool too.

I have similar problems being a passenger in an uber for more than 15 mins. I lose my mind on roadtrips when it's not my turn to drive.

tosti 42 minutes ago||
I'm not afraid of the flight, for me its customs and surrendering all my data. They even want my balls ffs.
etatester 3 hours ago||
Crashed within 10 seconds on iPhone 17 Pro. Love the vibes
minikomi 2 hours ago||
You have to turn on airplane mode
tosti 49 minutes ago|||
It's slow in FF, too. Cool for a flight simulator to crash, but it should simulate a plane crash. Not crash the simulator itself :)
vlabakje90 5 minutes ago||
Immediately crashes my FF on Windows 11.
djmips 2 hours ago|||
ahhh your phone crashed! I was a bit confused for a moment... Could you imagine if the airplane crashed like 1 in every million plays?! :O
gizajob 2 hours ago|||
Looks amazing for the 2 seconds before it implodes on iPhone though.
PUSH_AX 1 hour ago|||
It uses too much RAM, it’s vibe coded so makes sense
sdcfgy 3 hours ago||
Yeah same here.
gabriel666smith 9 minutes ago||
This is fun. I would love if it used real flights, and filled the cabin with the avatars of anyone else "on" that flight.
GreyMolecules 2 hours ago||
Hahaha this is awesome. I can teach what it's like to be on an airplane to my friend who has never flown before.

Currently playing on my usual route, ICN -> HKG. The flight path is too ideal. Due to airspace restrictions in china, almost every flight has to divert over taiwan in real life, but this one cuts thru mainland china.

mikeshi42 2 hours ago||
3 overhead reading lights for a 2-2 configuration? On a trans pacific flight? Literally unplayable.

Would love to see this open source and extended!

flawed_crater 3 hours ago||
Please remove the login screen. Is love to try this.
jameson 3 hours ago|
Hrm. I can play it without logging in
freak42 3 hours ago||
I can't it covers half of my mobile screen and it doesn't seem dismissible.
SparkyMcUnicorn 2 hours ago|||
It's almost comical how annoying it is. I just want to try it.
DrSiemer 1 hour ago||
Yeah, not a great experience, but it will let you play if you just register with something random.
ryukoposting 2 hours ago|||
Likewise.
kinduff 2 hours ago||
I asked for beef, they only had chicken. 10/10, average flight experience.
Walf 41 minutes ago|
Beef or cow?
thoughtsimple 4 hours ago||
Seems to hate not having location access on iOS. Keeps refreshing until eventually Safari just gives up.
jolmg 12 minutes ago|
Stuck on 0h 01m elapsed after 12 minutes.
More comments...