One of the world’s most-trusted free flight simulator portals — built by simmers, for simmers.
From a hobby project in 1999 to a global community of 200,000+ PRO members, we’ve spent over two decades championing flight simulation across every major platform.
27Years online
200K+PRO members
24,300+Freeware add-ons
3TB+Of free files
170K+Q&A forum posts
Cited as an authority on flight simulation by
The New York Times
ABC News
BBC
Our mission
We believe there should be a dedicated, complete and fully featured website covering every aspect of flight simulation across every major platform and simulator package — one place where simmers, from first-timers to airline captains, can find what they need.
Our promise: a complete, ad-supported (and ad-free for PRO) portal that respects your time, your privacy and your hobby. No registration walls. No predatory pricing. No bait-and-switch downloads. Just the best of community flight simulation, curated and tested by people who fly — in the sim and in real aircraft.
Our story
Fly Away Simulation traces its roots to a single bedroom in 1999. Here’s how it became one of the largest flight simulation communities on the web.
1999
RB’s Aircraft Hangar is founded
Founder Ryan Barclay launches RB’s Aircraft Hangar — a static HTML site offering add-ons for Microsoft Flight Simulator 98 and FS2000. Hosted on Ryan’s home PC behind a dynamic IP using Microsoft IIS, it grows quickly through the “Top Site” listings that dominated the early-00s niche web (SimFlight, FlightSimNet, BestAviationSites). The hangar regularly tops them all.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 98 — the era we started in.
2002–2003
Fly Away Simulation launches
The site rebrands as Fly Away Simulation in 2002 on a shared domain, then moves to its permanent home at flyawaysimulation.com in 2003. With the release of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004, the file library is born and quickly becomes the most popular section of the site, overtaking news and press releases.
Fly Away Simulation in its earliest days, circa 2003.
2006
Microsoft FSX launch partner
A breakout year. Microsoft selects Fly Away Simulation as an official advertising launch partner for Flight Simulator X — running campaigns on Microsoft’s behalf. The library grows past 15,000 files, mostly covering FSX add-ons.
2009
Beyond Microsoft
We expand coverage to X-Plane, FlightGear and other platforms — aircraft, scenery, utilities and tools across the full open ecosystem. The site grows steadily through the 2010s, evolving from its early-2000s layout into the modern portal you see today.
Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) — a generational leap.
2024
MSFS 2024 arrives
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 releases with its career mode, helicopters and global enhancements. Our team is there from launch — reviewing, covering and growing a new freeware library around it.
Today
One of the largest free flight sim portals on the web
Twenty-seven years on, we maintain a library of 24,300+ freeware add-ons across every major simulator, with 200,000+ PRO members fueling continued growth and the day-to-day editorial work that keeps the site running. We’re not entirely sure where flight simulation will be in the next decade — but you can be sure we’ll be at the forefront of whatever comes next.
The team
Fly Away Simulation is run by a small, hands-on team. We’re simmers first — with real-world aviation experience to match.
Ryan Barclay
Founder & Director
25+ years simming
Real-world pilot
Quoted in NYT
Ryan founded the site in 1999 and remains lead developer today. Many of the design changes, decisions and ideas are still dreamed up by him. He’s been simming since Microsoft Flight Simulator 5.0 on DOS, and flies real aircraft — including a Cessna 152 and a Piper PA-28 — out of his local airfield, Stapleford (EGSG). Ryan has appeared on ABC News, been quoted by The New York Times as a flight simulation expert, and provides technical assistance for the simulator-training facilities at Stapleford.
Ian Stephens
Editor-in-Chief
10+ years on team
PPL holder
Simming since FS95
Ian leads editorial — writing the bulk of the news, features and reviews you read on the site, and moderating community discussion. He’s been simming since FS95 and has hands-on experience with every major simulator since: the entire MSFS range, X-Plane, FlightGear, and even the obsolete “Fly!” series. Before joining full-time he ran the well-known FlightSimmer blog. Ian holds a Private Pilot’s Licence (PPL) and regularly takes to the skies in real aircraft.
Adam McEnroe
File Library Manager
Tests every add-on
PPL trainee
Scotland, UK
Adam runs the file library — moderating, publishing and sourcing add-on packages across every category we cover. He personally tests files before they’re added to the site and creates the screenshots and videos that demonstrate them in action. Adam writes editorials for popular downloads and is working towards his Private Pilot’s Licence in Scotland, UK.
Editorial standards
How we keep the site trustworthy, and what you can expect from every page we publish.
Independent testing
Every add-on is downloaded, installed and tested by Adam before it appears in the library. We don’t accept unverified uploads or paid placements.
Real-world aviation
Ryan and Ian are both real pilots. We don’t describe what a 737 should do — we know what it does. Adam is training for his PPL, so accuracy is checked by people who fly.
Author transparency
Every article carries a byline from a real, named member of our editorial team — with bio, credentials and contact email on this page. No anonymous AI content.
Community moderation
Comments and Q&A discussions are moderated by Ian. We use Akismet to filter spam and review reports daily. Disagreements are welcome; abuse isn’t.
By the numbers
A snapshot of where we are today.
200K+PRO members and counting
24,300+Freeware add-ons across MSFS, FSX, P3D, X-Plane & more
3TB+Of free mods & add-ons available to download
170K+Q&A forum discussion posts
27Years online — founded 1999
What our community says
Independent reviews from our PRO members and free users, on Trustpilot, Sitejabber and Reseller Ratings.
“
“This web site is first class, it has been well set up and well maintained. Anything I have downloaded or added to my computer has been trouble free and the particular addons I have used have been really first class. I would have no hesitation in recommending the use of this site to others.”
“I always look forward to my weekly update from Fly Away. 9 times out of 10, there’s some gem of a shareware/freeware add-on that I might have missed — or one that I’d already had but forgot to reinstall after some sim upgrade. It’s an invaluable service — and very easy to use. Keep up the good work!”
“Fly Away Simulation has everything needed to enhance your flight simulator. Easy to find what you are looking for. Downloads are quick and easy — be it scenery, aircraft or panels. I use it for all my downloads.”
PRO is our optional paid membership that unlocks the most demanding features of the site — for less than the cost of a coffee per month. Revenue funds the hosting, bandwidth, editorial and developer work that keeps Fly Away Simulation completely free for everyone else.
Unrestricted speeds — up to 1 Gbps, no throttling
Multiple parallel downloads at once
Ad-free across the entire site
Profile, rank & avatar in comments & Q&A
Exclusive discounts on selected payware
24/7 support for account & billing issues
Is this a scam? Do you make money?
Fly Away Simulation launched over 25 years ago as a completely free flight simulator portal — a hobby project of the founders, paid for out of their own pockets as a gift to the community.
Today, every penny from PRO memberships goes directly back into running the site: server hosting, global CDN bandwidth, editorial salaries for the writers who craft our news, features and reviews, and the exclusive videos and screenshots we produce on our YouTube channel.
Additional revenue funds promotional campaigns for freeware add-ons via Google Ads, Facebook, X and YouTube — which directly helps the community developers whose work we showcase reach more simmers.
Why do we charge for faster downloads?
In one word: bandwidth. Flight simulator add-ons have grown enormously as the sims themselves evolved — a modern MSFS scenery package can run to several gigabytes. Because we serve simmers worldwide, we also use a CDN to ensure fast access from any country.
To put real numbers on it: in January 2021 alone we transferred ~201 TB for free downloads and ~325 TB for PRO downloads — ~525 TB total just for the add-ons library that single month. Using Google Cloud’s calculator, that bandwidth alone equates to ~$20,580 per month, before storage fees on our 3+ TB library.
PRO membership lets us cover those costs while continuing to offer a completely free download tier for users who can’t (or don’t want to) pay. Free downloads run at up to 2 Mbps; PRO unlocks unrestricted speeds up to 1 Gbps per user.*
* These estimates assume a stable connection and are limited by the user’s available bandwidth from their ISP.
The same model as other freeware sites
This two-tier (free + paid-faster) model is the same or very similar to most other freeware flight sim websites you may know or use. It’s nothing unusual or deceptive — it’s standard practice in the industry and what keeps most of us able to continue offering what we do, in the way that we do.
In fact, our 2 Mbps free tier is faster than several other freeware sites we’ve tested. And importantly: you don’t need to register or share any personal information to download for free — just click and download. Many other sites require even free users to sign up first.
Ready to fly faster?
Join 200,000+ PRO members. Less than the cost of a coffee per month. Cancel anytime.
The site that became Fly Away Simulation was founded by Ryan Barclay in 1999 as “RB’s Aircraft Hangar.” It was rebranded as Fly Away Simulation in 2002 and moved to flyawaysimulation.com in 2003, where it has remained ever since — making it one of the longest-running flight simulation portals on the web.
Are the add-ons free to download?
Yes. Every add-on in our library is free to download. We’ve maintained that promise for over 20 years. Free users get download speeds of up to 2 Mbps with no daily limits.
PRO members get unrestricted speeds (up to 1 Gbps), parallel downloads and an ad-free experience — revenue from PRO funds the hosting and editorial work that keeps the site free for everyone else.
Do I need to create an account to download?
No. Free downloads do not require an account — just click the download button. No email, no sign-in. You only need an account if you want to comment, post in the Q&A forum or upgrade to PRO.
What flight simulators do you support?
We cover every major flight simulator on PC: Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020 and 2024), FSX, FS2004, X-Plane (11 and 12), Prepar3D, DCS World, FlightGear and Microsoft Train Simulator. Each platform has a dedicated section with sub-categories for aircraft, scenery, missions, utilities and more.
Are the files safe? Are they tested for viruses?
Every file in our library is downloaded and tested by our file library manager, Adam McEnroe, before it appears on the site. Files are scanned for malware, tested in the relevant simulator, and only published once they install and run as advertised. We don’t accept unverified third-party uploads.
How does Fly Away Simulation make money?
Revenue comes from three sources: PRO memberships, on-site advertising for free users, and our payware brand SimShack. All revenue is reinvested into hosting, bandwidth (we shipped ~525 TB in January 2021 alone), editorial salaries, video and screenshot production, and promotional campaigns to support freeware developers.
Fly Away Simulation began as a hobby project paid for out of the founders’ pockets — it has grown into a sustainable business, but the model is still community-first.
Can I submit my own add-on to the library?
Yes — we welcome submissions from developers. Please email Adam at adam@flyawaysimulation.com with your file, a description and screenshots. Every submission is tested before it’s added.
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
Find us elsewhere
Follow Fly Away Simulation on social media for daily add-on highlights, news and behind-the-scenes content.