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Anirog's first flight simulator was Flight Path 737 and it now shows its age against this their latest offering.

Vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft have always fascinated me and this simulator gives me a chance of get a taste of flying the real thing. As far as is feasible this is a true imitation of the Harrier, and so it should be because the programmer used to fly one.

The simulation starts on the deck of an aircraft carrier (near the Falklands?) and the idea is to take off, engage enemy planes and then return to refuel before going out on another sortie. Not as easy as it sounds.

Taking off is far easier than in Flight Path 737 and simply by following a few simple rules success is guaranteed. The problems start when you wish to land. The instruction manual strongly recommends that you practise landing before going on to engage the enemy and I'll drink to that.

Landing involves dropping around 50 feet when the screen display changes from a forward view through the cockpit window to a split screen view of the VTOL and the carrier. One gives the view from the side and the other gives a view from in front. With the landing platform highlighted in both views, the skillful pilot can accurately position the jet above the platform and land (anyone know where I can find a skillful pilot?)

Having mastered the gentle art of landing, you are ready to try a maiden flight. The highly instructive manual gives the technical details of how a VTOL repositions its engines to fly forwards and backwards and the simulator gives you a chance to put the theory into practice.

The control panel display has a very useful radar screen alongside the usual fuel and speed controls. A special attitude display shows the orientation of the plane's engines.

The radar shows the position of the carrier as long as it is in range and then logs the position whereit was last seen as a guide to relocating it later. Enemy aircraft are also shown on the radar until visual contact is made. At ths point engagement is unavoidable and a dogfight results. As well as trying to blast the enemy with your missiles you have to keep a weather eye out for altitude, speed and fuel level, and if that's not enough, the enemy shoots back!

The graphic displays are superb and the little bit of voice synthesis adds a bit of realism to the simulation. When the lowest level has been mastered, the higher levels can be attempted with ever increasing crosswinds and rougher seas which make landing even more of a nightmare than usual. Penalty signals are sounded for errors in flight and too many penalties results in a ducking. Of course the higher the level (denoted by rank), the fewer the errors which will be tolerated.

A worthy addition to the growing ranks of flight/combat simulators.