What is a Flight Simulator?

In broad terms, a flight simulator is defined as;

“a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and the environment in which it flies, for pilot training, design, or other purposes. It includes replicating the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they react to applications of flight controls, the effects of other aircraft systems, and how the aircraft reacts to external factors such as air density, turbulence, wind shear, cloud, precipitation, etc.”

(source: Wikipedia)

However, the types of simulator that will be mainly featured here fall into the realms of amateur flight simulators, which aren’t quite as rigidly defined.