Flightle
| Author | kqr |
| Play | xkqr.org |
| HN Thread | Show HN: Flightle |
| HN Points | 3 |
| Date Added | 2026-02-27 |
| Tags | simulation |
About
Many sidescrolling 2D airplane flying games (even those branded as "realistic" "simulators") get fundamental flight dynamics wrong, e.g. in that a headwind slows down airspeed and forces you to throttle up to achieve more lift. This is completely opposite to how it should be. I could go on with other fundamental problems, but most of them boil down to this: the flight model is more that of a rocket than an airplane. I think it’s sad, because the idea holds promise. How hard can it be?
Flightle is a small-scale 2D sidescrolling flight simulator you play in your web browser. Your objective is to land safely as close to the destination as possible, within the scheduled arrival time, with minimal fuel consumption. As simple as it sounds, you might find yourself crashing a fair bit before you get into it. It helps to be smooth with the controls, and be mindful that the primary threat is the ground.
Unfortunately the source code has been lost. At some point I would like to re-create it and then I'd like to make it open source.