Cannot recommend for $30. Its a $15 game at best.
It feels empty for a glider game. The fun of gliding is soaring around and enjoying the scenery but the scenery in this game is just bad. The whole map is flat. There are a few tiny hills off to one side but the scale is so off its just not enjoyable to fly around them. An alpine lake map would be amazing.
The cockpits in the game are pretty bare. There are panels that arent lit. At least put a GPS map on the screen! The cockpits arent interactive BTW which isnt a huge deal when dealing with the simple controls of a glider.
Theres just nothing to do unless you are with friends but even that might get boring quick.
I had no issues setting up my TM Warhog HOTAS and Saitek Combat Rudder pedals. Just make sure you use the Dev option in the control setup.

Over all I do like the controls, sounds, and physics. I think the biggest problem is there isnt much to do which i feel could be resolved with a better map with multiple airstrips. Maybe add a time trial mode.

This isnt a good start for the World of Aircraft series especially at this price. The whole point of the series was to give beginners the experience of flying but this just isnt enjoyable. Especially at this price point. I hope to see more features added like new maps or objectives. Time trial for multiplayer would be a good idea too.

This is way below the usual Aerosoft quality. It does not support Opentrack or similar camera control [EDIT: the developers promised an update for this], the option menu is very limited (no selection of time, or season), no winch launch, some planes can be started from the air only. The sky is full with birds (I have a few hours in gliders, and I have never ever seen so many birds around me in real life)
I hoped it will be a great product, but it is a huge disappointment. Should have spent my money on an MSFS addon instead.

[EDIT] Currently the weather settings are very limited. Season or daytime options / thermal activity settings would be great. Thermals are typically not as strong in the springtime, or on the evenings.
On the positive side, the aerodynamics simulation are good. I think this was the first time I have seen proper spin simulation, and it was very similar to real life experience.
I think I am not the target group of this product. It is too realistic for an "arcade style fun game", but too limited for a serious gliding simulation.

As a glider pilot myself I wouldn't recommend this simulator. Visuals and physics are alright however the choice of gliders, launch types, and locations is incredibly basic and gets boring pretty quick. UI is also very basic and so is the weather system. It being a gliding simulator I'd have thought there'd be more control over weather? If you want a gliding simulator get Condor 2!

Had high hopes for this, but unfortunately it just feels empty and is way overpriced for the content. £9.99 probably more suitable. Setting up controls was a lot harder than it should've been and even then, some inputs weren't recognised. No head tracking support which kills immersion. This might be on the roadmap, but i'd like to think it's core part of a flight sim. The option to fly the tug aircraft is a nice touch and the sounds are quite realistic. Physics are ok but nowhere near as polished as Condor. Might come back to this if it gets a major update in the future, but can't recommend in its current state.

Frustrating- scenery is flat & monotonous, no clickable controls, no weather control (for Gliders!), poor zoom, bindings on joystick glitchy, gaining height seems diifficult, does not have an involving feel, won't be using this much, will try again if updated for weather control.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaJdIwHfNAc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4jUbXp6fM0

World of Aircraft Glider Simulator from World of Aircraft Team aims to deliver a focussed and specialised flying experienced where the type of flying dictates what you will find in the sim.

This iteration is all about gliders, motorised, Sailplane and the tow aircraft which gets many of them in the air in the first place.

I can immediately confirm that Glider Simulator feels realistic, looks Great and sounds incredible and as such the immersion and realism levels provided in this sim are very high right from the start.

The tutorials are very clever in that they progressively add more complexity in small iterations, meaning that literally anybody can pick up and fly a glider within a few minutes depending how quickly they can adapt.

There is a small but varied selection of aircraft on offer ranging from sailplanes which require a powered tow aircraft in order to get them airborne, then there is the hybrid H36 Dimona which is a bit of a pig to fly and a bit of a pig to glide TBH and not a scratch on the vastly more impressive ASK-21Mi which has a centralised retractable prop engine allowing you to launch yourself and once retracted is agile enough to perform aerobatics at your leisure.

World of Aircraft: Glider Simulator is specialised and will appeal to those interested in gliding, the potential here is that a community can flourish and like-minded people can meet, chat & even transition to and from the real thing. The entire experience is realistic enough I think to allow professionals to practice manoeuvres and because you can Aero tow in Multi player it could potentially be a great tool for teaching beginners prior to a real flight.

However, World of Aircraft: Glider Simulator is not without its issues and limitations.

I’ve been playing the preview version and I would hope the vast majority of the issues that I encountered will have been fixed before release or soon after. The intention behind World of Aircraft: Glider Simulator is to keep the costs low, so there is a potential financial barrier restricting what features will be added and what long term support the game will have if sales don’t meet expectations (only time will tell).

1. Right now the Manuals are only available via the Aerosoft forums & you will have to create and account to get access to them (when I looked they weren’t there) but it seems a little unnecessary and in my mind they should be available locally.

2. Launch Winches are not currently in the game but are set to be added at a later stage.

3. I’ve had consistent Controller issues whenever I return to the game, with cascading input overrides and mixed input configurations requiring a full rebind each time I fly. Now I fly with a mixed HOTAS system via a HUB, so this might be a configuration to avoid.

4. The Game has crashed on me twice, there seems to be no replication here so I suspect memory leaks or bugs within the system, not uncommon for BETA releases and I suspect they will identified and quashed quickly.

5. Unfortunately there is no support for Headtracking, nor does there seem to be any real impetus to suggest there ever will be, the game is so immersive already adding Headtracking will definitely add to immersion; so I hope this is something they reconsider (same applies to VR support but with even less likelihood of it ever materialising).

6. Despite there being Multiplayer support I don’t believe you can fly tandem, again if not included I hope this is something that is added at some stage as it would really bolster tutorial and training opportunities.

7. The map is based quite realistically on the Herrenteich airport on the borders of the Rhine river, close to Speyer airport which is included.
a. It is a 50 kilometre squared area
b. Ground modelling and textures are very good, not quite MSFS standard (but that is way ahead of the curve)
i. Certainly competes with XP11 and the like.
ii. tens of thousands of trees, houses and commercial buildings.
iii. A 30-centimetre ground image provides a perfect backdrop for the area.
1. As you reach the limits of the map texture quality drops off, I’ve not had my flight reset yet,
a. but I imagine there is a limit as to how far outside of the map you can travel

8. The simulated atmospheric conditions are pretty impressive too:
a. thermals are indicated by birds (a feature I wish we could turn off or adjust because there are a lot of birds) but this is a nice and natural way to indicate thermals & I quite like it.
i. Max Thermals heights do not appear to be mentioned anywhere but I managed to cap out just before 10,000
ii. Thermals model based on real life flight test data
iii. Thermals emerge, dissipate with time, get blown away with the wind
iv. Velocity gradient across the upstream of thermals (so you can feel at which side of your aircraft the lift is highest
1. Results in some turbulence effects, again with great audio accompaniment.

9. Windsocks and ground traffic, including shipping are both animated to a nice degree and it looks and feels pretty realistic all over.

For me it is the audio which makes this feel so authentic, closely followed by the Flight model and handling.

I really do think this is going to be a great addition to the Glider fanatics arsenal and if you are a real life glider pilot I would be so grateful if you could share your thoughts below, as in my mind (despite not being a pilot) I think World of Aircraft: Glider Simulator has really hit the mark and will impress.

Lots of fun, gives a great feeling. Bit outdated patch wise. keeps crashing on my Win11 PC. Will try re-installing. Amazing if someone could VR Mod it for 2024 play.

Wouldnt recognise my X56 Joystick.

I checked the settings, tried the default, X56 (which is my Joystick) and the x52 for good measure and still didnt work. Also then mapped the Axis myself.

Also discovered that i cant launch the ASK21 from the ground only from the air which is kinda the only glider i cared about. I checked to see if there was a road map and i couldnt find one.

In short, couldnt get it to work properly and I can only fly the glider i want to fly from one position so its a no from me. I know i may be being unfair as i didnt really play but if it put me off that quickly it might put some other people off too.

It's actually quite cathartic to play it, a break from high octane combat sims. I've done 15 hours of real glider time and this sim does provide the sensation of gliding pretty well. The interface and options are somewhat more basic than one would come to expect from a modern sim and the lack of weather and thermal options point to a cut down sim but it's still enjoyable to play. As other users have said I don't think it's a £25 game more like £14.99. I picked it up cheaper on a third party steam key site.

This game is Great for Any person How Dreams to Be A glider Pilot.

Well Well this it is fun but You Sorta Need A good PC i have a Imac with Boot camp its runs around 35FPS

Would recommend Very Fun.