Getting it flying

The public download is paused while FlightCockpit is in beta. If you were invited, use the link you received. Otherwise ask in the Beta Discord (the invite is on your account page) or write to support@flightcockpit.net. The installer is digitally signed; do not install a copy from anywhere else.

Install the FlightCockpit desktop bridge on the Windows PC that runs MSFS 2020 and sign in with your account. The bridge reads simulator data through SimConnect and serves it on your local network — nothing is streamed through our servers.

Open the desktop bridge on your PC and click “Show pairing QR”. On the tablet, open FlightCockpit, tap “Pair with PC” and scan the code. Both devices have to be on the same local network, and your email address must be confirmed before pairing works.

MSFS 2020 on Windows 10 or 11, paired with an Android tablet or phone. The desktop bridge may be installed on as many PCs as you like — only tablets and phones count against your plan.

Both devices must be on the same network — a guest network, a second WLAN band with client isolation or an active VPN will break the connection. The tablet talks to the PC directly on TCP port 7979; nothing has to be forwarded in your router.

On the first run Windows asks whether FlightCockpit may communicate on your network. If that prompt was declined, or if your network is classified as “Public”, incoming connections stay blocked even though the app looks fine. Set the network to “Private” in Windows settings, or allow FlightCockpit for inbound TCP 7979 in Windows Defender Firewall.

Check in this order: the simulator is running and a flight is loaded, the desktop bridge shows a connected state, and the tablet is paired and on the same network. The dashboard tells you which case you are in — it marks the stream as stale or lost instead of passing off the last received numbers as current.

Free covers one tablet or phone, Pilot covers three. PCs are not limited. You can see and remove your paired devices in your account under Devices.

That happens after a plan change: if your plan covers fewer devices than you have paired, the extra ones are deactivated rather than deleted. Remove a device you no longer use to free a slot, or upgrade — the deactivated one then works again after pairing.

Remove it in your account under Devices. The slot is free immediately; the device has to be paired again to reconnect. Your flights and settings are not affected.

Use “Sign out everywhere” on your account page. The desktop app stays signed in on its own until then, so that is the way to cut its access. It signs you out of every device including this browser, and you sign in again where you still want access. PCs are not limited and are not listed anywhere — only tablets and phones count against your plan.

Everything runs through the billing portal, reachable from your account page. A cancellation keeps your access until the end of the period you already paid for.

Your account page shows a banner while a payment problem is open, and the billing portal lets you update the card. Stripe retries automatically for a few days before access changes.

Your account page has a delete section. It removes your account, paired devices and your flight logbook and cancels an active subscription. Billing records are kept for seven years because tax law requires it, but they are anonymised.

Account and plan data, paired devices, and the flights your desktop bridge records. Telemetry itself is not sent to our servers — it goes straight from your PC to your tablet. Your account page has a “Download my data” button that gives you all of it as one file; the privacy policy spells out purposes, recipients and retention periods.