The maximum recommended altitude for a airliner or jet in Microsoft Flight Simulator is about 45,000 feet. That’s pretty high up there, but not even halfway to space. With the views that players are sharing, we can’t really blame you for wanting to get a view from way up there, particularly on a cloudy day. The good news is getting that high is possible. The bad news is that you can’t do it without cheating the system with some commands.
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How to Modify Your Altitude
Climbing to heights above 100 kilometers might not be possible in the planes that are offered in Microsoft Flight Simulator, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get there.
You’ll most likely just fall at a rapid pace due to how thin the air is until you reach a height that is sustainable for the aircraft, but if you’re interested in getting a view from up there, here’s how.
Once you’re in your plane and in control, make sure copilot is turned off, afterward simply hit Y and the game will become paused. This enables some kind of dev mode where you can control things like your planes altitude and rotation. To increase your altitude in this mode just hold F4. It’ll gradually increase and you can keep going up until you’re satisfied. After you’ve attained your desired altitude, let go and hit Y once again to go back into the simulation. Just be ready for the plane to not handle its new location very well.
You can also experiment with the other function keys which can be useful if you want to quickly stall out your plane by angling straight up or free fall by having it pointed vertically down.
We wish you luck on your almost extraterrestrial adventures and hope you have a better time at corralling a plane that is simultaneously stalling and going altogether too fast as it plummets towards the ground. At the very least you have a 100,000 meter runway to get things working again.
Reminder: Hit PAUSE To Enter Screenshot Mode
If at any point you find yourself wanting to look around, hit “Pause” and the game will stop completely aside from your propeller rotating. You can then do whatever you’d like. Try different camera angles to get a good screenshot, look at the environment below, or whatever else you can think of. You can even unlock the drone from your plane and fly basically anywhere you want!
And that’s it! Have some screenshots you’ve collected from flying high above the planet that you’ve shared on social media? Give them a link in the comments below! We’ll approve the ones after they’ve been manually verified to not contain spam.
If you’re new to the series, make sure to check out our Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 tips guide which will help get you up to speed and keep you from floundering without answers.
