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Here are details of a few flight simulation events that you can look forward to in the year 2012.

Royal Aeronautical Society’s 2012 Autumn Flight Simulation Group Conference is scheduled to take place at its HQ located at No.4 Hamilton Place, London W1J 7BQ, on 28 and 29 November 2012. Look up details on how to register for the event, the call for papers, venue details and much more at FSG Autumn 2012.

Event: ‘Flight Simulators’ - A technical presentation by Prof. David White of Thales Group at  Thales offices, Crawley, on 21 February 2012.

Flight Simulator Convention at The Helicopter Museum in Weston-super-Mare on 12 & 13 May 2012.

Here is a listing of helicopter schools in the UK. It is quite long, and covers all the regions of the UK.

You will be amazed at the variety of online and print publications available to the avid student or practitioners in the field of flight training.

Here are just a few of the current sources of useful information for aviation enthusiasts.

Aviation Magazines - You will be able to browse for issues online, and select the ones you need. You will get a detailed look at the contents of each periodical / magazine / issue.

World-Newspapers.com - Flying and Aviation Magazines – Access listings of the sites and links to the more prominent publications.

Flight Training Magazine – Look up reference material from the well known magazine of the US-based AOPA.

If you are keen on flying as a career or as a hobby, you will certainly like to find out what it would cost you to become a qualified pilot in the UK. Most flight school websites give you just an indication of the costs involved in ‘earning your wings’.

Here is a list of possible flight training costs (check flight school websites for current costs)

• Minimum course price for a certain minimum number of hours (45 hours). In the UK, it is near impossible to earn your PPL (Private Pilots Licence), so add a few more hours as margin.
• Ensure that the flight school’s price includes VAT and fits your budget.
• Factor in the costs of a headset, logbook, pens, pencils, kneeboard, charts, rulers, protractors, flight computers, theory books, airfield directories
• Include an amount for fuel surcharge per hour flown, charged by flight schools
• CAA fees – Each of the seven PPL Theory exams cost £25
• Actual licence cost – check from the CAA
• Landing fees at the end of each flight
• Accommodation, food and transportation charges during your flying course

Look up these details provided by a flying school - Total Cost of 45 hour PPL.

Flying by yourself, as opposed to travelling as an aircraft passenger, means freedom in three dimensions. The idea of flying can never be dissociated from the implicit emotional element of breaking through land-bound constraints. Flying as a career certainly means a lot of responsibility, and you need to plan very well for a such a commitment. One of the first steps to such a career is to train at the right place.

Here is a checklist for you to choose the right flight school.

• Set your aviation goals – whether you wish to learn flying for fun or for a career?
• Put together a list of possible flight schools by compiling enough material – brochures, details from websites, credentials, user experiences.
• Prepare a list of questions that (most likely will) arise in your mind.
• Make a visit to each of the flight schools that you have narrowed down to in your list. Seek specific answers to your questions.
• Get a feel of the professionalism of the schools, from the personalities you meet in each school, to gauge their confidence levels, pride in profession and passion for the chosen career.  personalities of the schools.
• Talk to other students and flight instructors.
• Decide on the school after making a rational choice.
• Ensure to enter into a written agreement that details the payment procedures.

Flight simulation experiences often figure in the corporate activity list, as a means of purposeful client or staff entertainment, team motivation and team building.

There are ever so many companies in the UK that offer rather realistic flight simulator experiences – for a price, of course. The simulators used are state-of-the-art machines that are actually used to train real-life pilots. The instructors are experienced professionals too, and that’s why flight simulator experiences are a popular means of entertainment.

Here’s one such flight simulation company that offers exclusive and tailor-made experiences for Client Entertainment, Team Building, Motivation, Staff Days Out, Incentives & Rewards, and even ‘Krypton Factor’ Challenges.

If you wish to gift flight simulator experiences, you are likely to find plenty of options online. Several simulation companies own and operate simulators with professional instructors.

One such is from a simulation company that offers a good bouquet of different flight sim experiences in commercial airline simulator and flight jet simulator, for individuals or pairs. Each experience consists of a pre-flight briefing followed by hands-on simulation activity for a good duration. The prices range from £149 for single-person experience to  £309 for a two-seat activity, aptly termed ‘for lads and dads’. Choose an experience depending on your budget, and your aircraft preference. You could buy gift vouchers too.

If you are an aviation enthusiast, you almost always look out for information on all aspects related to this engrossing  subject that advanced in leaps and bounds in the span of a century.

One such enthusiast has compiled a whole lot of useful data on UK airshows and all kinds of related information that range from UK weather to useful advice on family days out.

For flight simulator addicts, here are listing of the best flight sims for your PC.

If you are interested in pursuing a career in aviation, one of the resources that you can tap for information early in your efforts is Next Step career advice Airline Pilot – All Information. You can easily get a quick picture of the work involved, hours, income estimates, entry requirements, training and development, skills and knowledge, opportunities, and plenty of related information.

Your next step would be to familiarise yourself with the range of flight schools or other training institutions in your region.

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Here’s something exciting for simulator freaks to look forward to later this year. XTREME SIMULATION WEEKEND 2011 is planned a two-country event, when two shows will be conducted simultaneously at two places across the globe to create one extreme weekend of simulation.

The UK and Australia are to be linked through the internet for a duration of 48 hours, enabling virtual, nonstop fun and simulation experiences for all visitors . The venues for the event scheduled for 22 and 23 October 2011, are the RAF Museum Cosford in the UK and the Luna Park Big Top in Sydney, down under.