Originally Posted by iaflyer

Flight Sim 2020 is very realistic - realistic enough that it's easy to crash, much less get off the runways if you don't have an "easy" mode turned on. There are half a dozen airplanes in the basic model, from the basic 152/172 Cessna up to an A320 and 747.

The graphics are downright amazing - and it does need some powerful hardware to look great.

At 13, I'd tell the father/mother to buy him a private pilot ground school book and maybe an intro lesson or two at the local flying school. Enough to see how much he likes it. 13 is a bit early, he's can't solo until 16 (but he can solo in a glider at 14 I think). If the kid really likes it, a flight sim setup would be an inexpensive way to fly around and have fun. There is a lot to learn from a Flight Sim like that, especially if he reads some of the PP handbook too.

PiloytJ3's computer is high end - I think for $1,000-1,200 you can buy a decent computer to run Flight Sim 2020 with good graphics. I have a two year old computer that's mid-level spec that runs FS pretty well. It might bog down occasionally, but it's good enough for flying around and seeing things.