Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: 20 Years of Flying History

For the ACES team, covering a wide range of historic aircraft was quite a stretch, albeit incomparable to the eventual longevity of their end product.

In 2003, the ACES team found the perfect opportunity to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' first powered flight with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004.

With improvements to visuals, weather, navigation, ATC, the GPS and more, FS2004 represented yet another step forward in the evolution of the most popular flight simulator franchise, with an FS9.1 patch bringing missing bridges, as well as performance improvements.

And despite the game's age, a very large repository of add-ons and a dedicated userbase help keep FS2004 in the air for years to come. FS2004's ability to run on lower-end hardware also helped in this regard, attracting even the most frugal of users.

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Author's note: FS2004 was my first ever Microsoft Flight Simulator, having played it since 2008. And despite my occasional shifts to FSX, I'd still somehow return to FS2004, which is currently my main sim again since 2019. It's the most recent MSFS that runs the best in my rig, even with add-ons installed.

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Camera: FS Recorder 2.18 alpha

*subject to change

#fs2004 #microsoftflightsimulator #flightsimulator #msfs #fs9 #anniversary #flying #aviation #gameplay

[implicitmotorsports]

this was my very FIRST flight sim, so many fond memories if fliying the historic planes around and totally botching airline flights going both too fast and too high

[rookiespence]

Still use FS2004 to this day with the CalClassic freeware. Along with Ultimate Terrain and so many other enhancements - it’s still as fresh as when I started playing it 20 years ago. Never gets old. Must’ve spent hundreds of £s over the years on this game…

Really beautiful video. Seeing all those default aircraft brings back so many good memories ❤

[PinniplaneWings]

Wow, This video is beautifully made, It's very unexpected to see a Cinematic FS2004 video in 2023, I'm very glad that someone still made a video celebrating the 20th Anniversary of this old but still excellent simulator!

I got FS2004 back in July 2009, It was my second simulator overall after FS2002, today FS2004 is still my most favorite flight sim and I still play it a lot more than modern titles like X-Plane 11 or FS2020.

The amount of freeware planes and scenery in FS2004 just can't be beaten, and it's a lot more stable than FSX, These are FS2004's greatest strength and it's what keep me attached to this sim.

[cruisertechgt]

Fs2004 was a great first sim, giving us great history of the century of flight

[anels]

Wonderful video and tribute to this wonderful sim. I’m quite attached to fs2004 as it truly was the sim that made my love for planes and everything aviation confirmed.

Like you I was switching to fsx every now and then but fs2004 has been my main stay and will be for years to come as long as I have a computer and the OS supports the old game.

Long love FS2004/FS9

[blackproject]

Beautifully Done. Very proper tribute to FS2004 and all of what it brought to the table for so many of us. Lots of memories there to be certain. Thank you!

[Joshomoore]

Beautiful work! Brings back many memories

[matthewjohnson]

Classic flight sim my original flight simulator use to play it for hours when I heard about the anniversary update on the 2020 version I was so happy

[LaminarBubble]

20 years later, this "game" is the reason I'm at USAF pilot training

[FoxHoundCReatorFS]

Gosh, I love the view of Wittman Regl with those static GA aircrafts. I used to take the Cessna 172SP out and pretend that I'm one of the many flyers parking for the Oshkosh airshow

[mileshenessey]

My first flight sim was FS95, and escalated from FS2002 to this one. The funny part? when i discovered FS95 i was 12 years old, but it was nowadays on 2018 when modern flight sims already existed, i couldn't believe that it was my first flight sim and now i feel like a grown man with an unexistant memory of me playing FS95 in 1994 lol

[thewatcher]

Wow, That's A Great Tribute! I Wish Mine Looked That Good! Thank You. (Like #243)

[ratatattater]

Seeing this brings back so many memories. I love FS2004.

[lightningbottle]

great video, the graphics looks awsome, I still fly my fs9 and still cant make it look this great even with a high end graphic card

[Simulators]

The thumbnail is magnificent! And the video too!

[p]

MS really peaked with FS2004. Still on my machine today fabulously tweaked and added to. Much of it freeware too. Not so easy with the newest iteration sadly. The community really made the sim as much as MS and retail companies.

[gusthesailor]

Well done ! from a FS2004 aficionado 😀

[SNONE]

Same with the other guy. This is also my very first flight simulator although I did get it later than it was initially released (like 2016) My last flight with this sim was going to Shannon on a Ryanair flight until my hard drive crashed and took away everything, including all my files in this sim.

[robinmeyerowitz]

Thanks so much for this. It's amazing that 20 years has gone by, & FS2004 is still valid & well supported. Any chance of that 20 year old splash screen? I've just put together 2 more FR2004 installs, a Golden Wings version, that I'll set up as a Ford Tri-Motor install (the late Garry Smith's stuff is stunning, & a was a beta tester for him, & a Silver Wings version. I also have a ' normal' version as well, all using most of your recommended downloads.

[LeonelEBD]

And edetroit keeps making videos with it 😂 and still looks amazing. Wish it had some update for newer sceneries. Still got my copy.