"Top Spin" wrote:

My grandson will be 8 in a month. He loves airplanes. He is also
pretty good on the computer. I was thinking of getting him a copy of
FS for his birthday, but after lurking on this ng for a few days, I am
concerned that the game is too complicated for an 8 year old.

In my opinion, an eight year old kid shouldn't stay alone with a computer.
If your daughter/son thinks the same, she/he could help him to set up
the sim or flight. If your grandson will find himself back on the runway,
with started engines and full flaps, be sure he will get up to the sky
somehow.

I would appreciate any opinions on the appropriateness of FS for an 8
year old boy. If FS is not a good choice, I would appreciate
suggestions for other games involving ariplanes that would be.

As I said before, if your grandson will get some support from his
parents, there should be no age-limitation to start using a computer or
aircraft (imo), as long as you consider the age-recommendation
of the games publisher or your countries law. For this reason, if I
were you, I would not think about war-games for young children.

Besides, a simulation like the MS-FS9, can really improve your
grandsons geography-skill :-). Even my son, who is just three years
old, tooks the first steps, to be a great armchair-pilot, like his daddy
already is...

Sorry for bad english and grammar,
Jan