FSX has no true target padlock view. Learn how to track your aircraft, follow AI traffic and look around the virtual cockpit instead.
FSX and FSX: Steam Edition do not have a true cockpit padlock view that locks your sight onto a selected aircraft. For the nearest equivalents, use Locked Spot to keep your own aircraft centred, Air Traffic view to follow AI traffic, or mouse-look and a hat switch inside the virtual cockpit.
Why does Ctrl+Q not activate padlock view?
Ctrl+Q is normally assigned to View track/pan toggle, not target padlock. It changes a supported camera between tracking its existing subject and manual panning; it neither selects another aircraft nor makes the cockpit camera follow one.
This distinction causes constant confusion because “track” sounds like target tracking. FSX Acceleration and FSX: Steam Edition use the same underlying camera behaviour and do not add a combat-simulator-style padlock mode.
If Ctrl+Q does nothing, the command may have been reassigned. Our guide to checking and changing FSX keyboard assignments explains where to verify it.
Which FSX view is the closest alternative?
Choose the replacement according to what you want the camera to follow.
| What you want to do | Best stock FSX option | Main limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Keep your own aircraft centred externally | Locked Spot | The camera is outside and follows only your aircraft |
| Watch another aircraft | Air Traffic view | It is an external traffic camera, not a cockpit padlock |
| Look towards traffic from the cockpit | Mouse-look or joystick hat switch | You must follow the traffic manually |
The word Locked in Locked Spot does not mean locked onto another aircraft. It describes the external camera's relationship to your own aeroplane.
How do I use Locked Spot view?
Open the Outside camera category and select Locked Spot to keep your aircraft as the camera's subject.
- Reveal the menu bar with
Altif FSX is running full-screen. - Select the camera through
Views > View Mode > Outside > Locked Spot. - Use the keyboard instead by pressing
Sto cycle view categories andAto cycle cameras within the chosen category. The corresponding Shift combinations cycle backwards. - Adjust the framing with your assigned zoom controls.
For the differences between cockpit, outside, tower and traffic cameras, see our guide to changing FSX camera views. The complete FSX view-control reference is useful if the standard shortcuts have been changed.
How do I follow another aircraft in FSX?
Use the Air Traffic camera when you want FSX to follow an available AI aircraft externally.
- Open the Views menu and enter the Air Traffic view category.
- Choose an available aircraft from the traffic entries shown by FSX.
- Change targets by selecting another listed aircraft or cycling the available views in that category.
If no aircraft is listed, there may be no eligible AI traffic in the session. Increase the airline or general aviation traffic settings, move to a busier airport, or allow time for traffic to appear. This view follows the selected AI aircraft itself; it does not show that aircraft from your own cockpit.
Can the virtual cockpit lock onto a target?
The stock FSX virtual cockpit cannot automatically lock onto and follow a selected traffic aircraft. Hold Spacebar and move the mouse for mouse-look, or use a joystick hat switch to keep the aircraft in sight manually.
Head-tracking hardware can make scanning easier, but it follows your head movement rather than an aircraft target. Ordinary camera-definition edits can create new viewpoints, yet they do not add target-selection logic; only an add-on that explicitly provides target tracking could supply true padlock-style behaviour. For the stock controls, our practical virtual-cockpit overview covers panning, viewpoint movement and useful control methods.