The community survey for the Flightsim Awards 2026 is now live, marking the opening of the official nomination phase for next year’s awards. 

The survey allows simmers to nominate projects, developers, creators, and long-term contributors they believe made a meaningful impact on the flight simulation scene in 2025.

The nomination phase plays a key role in shaping the final shortlist, covering a wide range of categories across aircraft, scenery, tools, freeware, hardware, innovation, and community contributions. 

Participants are free to nominate in as many or as few categories as they wish, with no requirement to complete the entire form.

All submissions will be reviewed and passed on to the Flightsim Awards organising board and jury, alongside nominations gathered from invited content creators and media outlets. The goal is to ensure that the final voting slate reflects a broad community sentiment, rather than a curated selection.

Criteria

All entries are evaluated according to shared principles:

• Release Period: Products or projects must have been released or received a significant update within the previous calendar year.
• Availability: Entries must be publicly available to the community.
• Platform Relevance: Submissions should be intended for use within flight simulation software or hardware.
• Quality & Impact: The work should demonstrate excellence, usability, and meaningful contribution to the simulation experience.
• Fair Play: Only original work is eligible.
• Community Focus: Positive and lasting impact on the community is a key factor.

Flight Sim Awards 2026 Categories:

• Best Freeware Tool or Utility
• Best Freeware Aircraft (Per Sim)
• Best Freeware Scenery (Per Sim)
• Picassonissimo Award – Best Aircraft Painter
• Best Customer Support
• Best DIY Hardware

• Rising Star Award
• Innovation Award
• Community Contribution Award
• Outstanding Hardware
• Best Aircraft Add-on (Per Sim)
• Best Scenery Add-on (Per Sim)
• Outstanding Product Update
• Best Tool or Utility
• Hover Award
• Lifetime Achievement Award

The survey is being distributed jointly by Threshold, FSElite, and Cruiselevel, who together organise the Flight Sim Awards. Public voting will follow later in the process, with a jury step only used in cases of ties or irregular results.

Nominations are open until the published deadline, with eligibility limited to products and projects released or significantly updated in 2025. 

The winners will be revealed during the Captain’s Dinner at FlightSimWeekend 2026, on Friday, March 20.

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Take the nomination survey here.

You can read more on the Flight Sim Awards website. Tickets to FlightSimWeekend 2026 and the Captain's Dinner can be found here.

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Join the Flight Sim Awards Discord and be a part of the Awards community!

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