# Passenger-perspective flight simulator

19 Hacker News commenters recommended Passenger-perspective flight simulator and 9 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 1 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a charming, detailed passenger-seat flight sim that helps non-flyers see what flying is like. Common caveat: crashes, freezes and slow performance.

## Why people recommend it

- Charming, detailed, fun to watch (4 comments): "the details speak loads about the hard work that you've put in" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49728186)) "Selfie mode was too funny these characters are ridiculous" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49722834)) "This is really neat! I loved flying from MDW to ORD" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49726815))
- Useful for teaching non-flyers (3 comments): "Hahaha this is awesome. I can teach what it's like to be on an airplane to my friend who has never flown before." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49722592)) "This might actually be pretty helpful for someone like me!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49742996)) "this might seriously be useful" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49694914))
- Relaxing enough to leave running (2 comments): "I could see leaving it up on another screen to enjoy while I go about my workday." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49707384)) "Crashed within 10 seconds on iPhone 17 Pro. Love the vibes" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49722442))

## What people warn about

- Crashes or freezes on devices (4 comments): "Looks amazing for the 2 seconds before it implodes on iPhone though." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49722693)) "Crashed within 10 seconds on iPhone 17 Pro. Love the vibes" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49722442)) "Stuck on 0h 01m elapsed after 12 minutes." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49723503))
- Slow and unoptimized, heavy RAM (3 comments): "This is brilliant. Run okay on my M5 mac air but not that smooth" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49726677)) "It uses too much RAM, it's vibe coded so makes sense" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49723079)) "this is so unbelievably unoptimized" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49723953))
- Sign-in box gets in the way (3 comments): "Yeah, not a great experience, but it will let you play if you just register with something random." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49722957)) "it covers half of my mobile screen and it doesn't seem dismissible" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49722380)) "you don't force people to sign in with the auth box always shown" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49724230))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Microsoft Flight Simulator](https://hackerapproved.com/p/microsoft-flight-simulator.md): 20 recommend
- [Comanche by NovaLogic](https://hackerapproved.com/p/comanche.md): 10 recommend
- [F-15 Strike Eagle II](https://hackerapproved.com/p/f-15-strike-eagle-ii.md): 10 recommend
- [Google Flight Simulator](https://hackerapproved.com/p/google-flight-simulator.md): 8 recommend
- [DCS World](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dcs-world.md): 7 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Passenger-perspective flight simulator", https://hackerapproved.com/p/show-hn-flight-simulator-where-you-are-a-passenger/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).