Naturally the cockpit is the place where the fighting cocks do battle. Pilots are nothing if not proud coxcombs, strutting about with their chests thrust forward, crowing their prowess. And to compensate for flaccid, diminutive flesh, the cockpit is equipped with a stiff torque-tube of aircraft-grade aluminium, rising through the floor between the pilot's legs, with a form-fitting handgrip on the end; this joystick, for so it is called, controls the elevators and ailerons of the aircraft and thus its evolutions in the air when manipulated in conjunction with the rudder pedals.

Cockpit is the usual nomenclature when talking about small aeroplanes and military aircraft, especially combat aircraft. In the world of civil aviation, large passenger carrying aeroplanes in particular, it is customary to speak of the flight-deck rather than the cockpit. A flight-deck is usually a roomier place of work for the captain, co-pilot, and, sometimes, flight engineer.

When simulating an aircraft is is vital to replicate the cockpit because any irregularity will be instantly obvious to the flight-crew long accustomed to flying the real thing. Often a manufacturer of flight simulators will use the cockpit or flight-deck of a crashed aircraft, if it is not too badly damaged¹.

Nowadays, all essential controls and displays are arranged ergonomically within easy reach of the pilots. Military and civil flying controls and displays are divided into two categories for purposes of flight simulation: primary controls and secondary controls. Both military and civil flight simulators are equipped with radio and navigation systems. Military simulators have a variety of offensive and defensive weapons systems, the exact nature of which depends upon the specific mission of the aircraft being simulated.

Filght simulator cockpits are often mounted on articulated platforms to simulate the motion of the aircraft, and equipped with a visual system to provide a view to the pilots of the simulated exterior environment in which they are flying.