Hellcat Ace is a 1982 combat flight simulator video game written by Sid Meier for Atari 8-bit computers and published by MicroProse as their first program.

In the first mission, Flying Tiger, the task is to shoot down a Japanese bomber which is placed directly in front of the player at the same altitude and thus easily shot down with a single burst from the guns.

He showed his first work, Hostage Rescue, to his parents; his mother became so engrossed that she had to force herself to drop the joystick and walk away.

Mutual friends knew of Meier's interest in flight simulators and introduced him to Bill Stealey, a former military pilot who then worked in strategic planning at the company.

[6] Many years later, the original MGM Grand Red Baron machine was tracked down with the help of Bally Midway executives, and installed in the MicroProse offices.

The reviewer praised the overall simulation, noting that "Fancy aerobatics are easily done; loops, barrel rolls, split 'S' and Immelman turns are all possible".

It concludes by saying the only obvious improvement would be better graphical effects, but that this did not detract from the playability, recommending it to anyone with an interest in flight simulators.