This paper summarizes the current state of affairs in the area of paralel mechanisms, their overall properties, kinematics, dynamics and workspace analysis; and makes suggestions on possible research areas that have not been explored yet. Piloting trainees train on flight simulators before flying the actual aircraft, so that training time and losses are minimized. It is vital for piloting trainees to sense the translation and rotation motions of the simulator just as they would in a real aircraft. The motion that a pilot would be exposed to while flying a real aircraft is provided by a paralel mechanism placed under the simulator. A slightly modified version of the 6 degree of freedom paralel platform mechanism suggested by Stewart in 1965 is used for this purpose. Due to their architecture, paralel mechanisms have higher natural frequencies, stiffness, speed, nominal loading capacity and precision, when compared to serial mechanisms, whereas their workspaces are smaller than those of serial mechanisms. The Stewart Platform Mechanism (SPM), is comprised of a hexagon shaped fixed base platform and a movable platform linked via six legs whose lengths can be changed using prismatic joints. The legs can be attached to the platforms using revolute or spherical joints, though universal joints are often used. The actuators that change leg lengths are on the base. SPM can move in three translational and three rotational directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]