Ladies and gentlemen, welcome on board today’s flight from your usual place on the sofa to that long-held childhood dream of becoming a pilot.

Don’t let lack of opportunity or training hold you back. With these fantastic flight simulators you’ll be airborne in less time than it takes to turn off the seatbelt sign.

Buckle up, you’re in for a bumpy ride. As you try to get your head around the realistic controls and extensive array of buttons, things are going to get rough. Fortunately, before you’re let loose with a passenger plane, X-Plane Flight Simulator will send you off to flight school.

Here, in the relative safety of a propeller-powered Cessna you’ll be subjected to training drills around key skills such as taking off, landing and following a flight path. Each lesson is scored out of 100 and with a passing grade you move up through different aircraft and flying drills, all of which will come in handy when you move over to the free flight mode.

With RFS – Real Flight Simulator, take the skills you’ve learnt and explore the world. Here you can set your own flight paths (who wants to go to Rio?) as well as pilot real-world flights in real time. That 12.36 from Heathrow to Dubai that your friend is on? Now you can take to the cockpit and bring them home.

Between keeping an eye on your fuel consumption, speed and altitude, you can talk to other in-game pilots in real time and even interact with air traffic controllers. Over!

You’ve earned your wings, mastered the art of flight, but now you’ve got to pair that with a bit of business nous. That’s because in Airline Commander you swap your seat in the cockpit for one in the boardroom. You are tasked with growing your airline from its first commercial route to global domination.

As you’re hashing out new intercontinental routes, you’re given the chance to captain your inaugural flight. You will need to complete a series of challenges as you go, including handling emergency landings and dealing with weather that’s reflective of the real world.