How do I Take Off in a Flight Simulator?
Taking off in a flight simulator is fairly easy. This tutorial uses FSX as an example. Commands for other simulators (X-Plane, P3D, online flight simulators, and even FS2020) may be different, however the same concepts apply for those simulators. For this tutorial, you will need basic knowledge on how to control your aircraft (the control surfaces and the throttle). Before we start, make sure you are spawned in a simulator, lined up on the runway. In FSX, you should automatically spawn in on the runway if you did not change your airport starting point. If you are not already lined up with the runway, do so now.
Before taking off, make sure your landing lights are on and that flaps are set accordingly. To turn on your landing lights, press CTRL+L. To lower your flaps, press the F7 key until the flaps are set accordingly. For a CRJ700, press the key 3 times. For other planes, don't lower them too much, but set them appropriately.
When you are ready to take off, advance the throttle (if you don't have a joystick axis set to it, use the F3 key) to about 60%. When it starts to stabilize at 60%, advance it to full (100%).
If you are in a small plane without jet engines, start to pull back on the joystick at 60-100 knots depending on the type of aircraft. If you are controlling a jet plane, the rotation speed will be over 100 knots. For a 737, for example, it would be a bit over 150 knots. For a 747, rotate at a speed about 165 knots. Once you are off the ground, check that both your speed and altitude are increasing. If so, bring the gear up (G key), and start to put your flaps up. Gradually keep pressing the F6 key until all your flaps are up. Continue your departure. Congrats! You have taken off!
