Using the In-Game Menus

Although you can select Flight Simulator options from the game shell (the screen that you see when you start Flight
Simulator), most of the same options are available on the menu bar while you're flying.

To display/hide the menu bar



Press the ALT key.

Flight Simulator has six in-game menus: Flights, Aircraft, World, Options, Views, and Help. Keyboard shortcuts are
displayed next to some commands on each menu. Some simple menu items are explained completely below; more
complex features are explained fully in linked articles.

Note: Many dialog boxes accessed from the menus include Help buttons. Clicking the Help button opens a Learning
Center article about the feature you're accessing.

The Flights Menu

Menu Item Use This To...

Load

Load saved flight

Reset

Reset the current flight to its starting
location

Save

Save the current flight at its current
location with current conditions

Flight
Planner

Opens the Flight Planner

Navigation
Log

View the Navigation Log (when
you've created a flight plan). The
Nav Log is also displayed on the
kneeboard

End Flight End the flight without exiting Flight

Simulator

Exit

Exit Flight Simulator

The Aircraft Menu

Menu Item

Use This To...

Select
Aircraft

Select a different aircraft

Kneeboard

Display the kneeboard

Visual Flight
Path

Turn on the Visual Flight Path

Fuel and
Payload

View or change the fuel levels in
the currently-selected airplane

Smoke
System

Enable or disable the colored
smoke (for the Extra 300S
aerobatic airplane)

Realism
Settings

View or change realism settings

System
Failures

Set up instrument and system
failures

The World Menu

Menu Item

Use This To...

Time &
Season

Change the time and season

Go to Airport

Change location to a specific
airport

Map

Open the Map

Weather

Make changes to the weather

Scenery
Library

Open the Scenery Library dialog
box

The Options Menu

Menu Item Use This To...

Pause

Pause Flight Simulator

Simulation
Rate

Choose a simulation rate

Instant
Replay

Instantly

replays

the

last

few

moments of a flight

Flight Video Record a video of your flight

Flight
Analysis

See an analysis of your flight

Sound

Turn all sounds on or off

Settings

Choose options on the Settings
submenu. Set traffic, display, sound,
international, and general options

The Views Menu

Menu Item Use This To...

Full Screen Switch between full-screen and

windowed mode. You can also
press ALT+ENTER to toggle
between full-screen and windowed
modes

Air Traffic
Control

Open or close the ATC window

Instrument
Panel

Display various cockpit panels

New View

Open another view window

View Mode Choose which view is displayed in

the currently selected window. You
can also change views by right-
clicking a window and selecting
from the shortcut menu

Undock
View

Undock a panel or window in order
to drag it anywhere on your desktop
or to another monitor

Close View Close the currently selected view

Window
Titles

Display the title of the currently-
selected view in the window

Axis
Indicator

Choose an reference indicator to
use when the panel is hidden

Top-down
Orientation

Choose which way the top-down
view is oriented (north, south, east,
or west)

Window List The bottom of the Views menu lists

currently open windows and panels.
Click an item in the list to select that
window as the primary view

The Help Menu

Menu Item

Use This To...

Learning Center

Display the Learning Center
in a window

Flight Simulator on
the Web

Display an overview of the
Flight Simulator Web site,
with a link

Flight Simulator
Partners

Display page of our partners'
information, along with links to
their Web sites

Troubleshooting

Read articles to help find
solutions to problems

About Microsoft
Flight Simulator

Display your product
registration and version
number. You can also view
the credits and the end-user
license agreement