All flight simulators (sims) have one thing in common, they all make you a pilot. X-Plane is used by real pilots to hone their skills on the ground by using real world navigation (nav) aids and simulating poor weather conditions. Once you have X-Plane you do not really need anything else. You can just plot your destination on the GPS display, press NAV1 on the autopilot and it will take you to your destination. Once there you can dial in the relevant ILS frequency and have the autopilot land the aircraft, easy! But the real challenge in flying X-Plane is flying as if you are in a real plane. I have outlined some steps to take to try to acheive this goal, but I am not a real pilot, so I may not be completely accurate with my statements, please put me right if you know different.
Step 1 - Act like a Pilot
You may only be at your computer with a computer simulation emulating how a plane would fly, but you are a pilot, so think like one. Do not take risks, fly safe just as if you were in a real plane. Allow plenty of time for your approach, do not load the fuel tank to full for a short hop, use common sense.
Step 2 - Go to School
Read the lessons on the AXT site. Andrew Ayers has written an excellent set on IFR procedures which deal with reading enroute charts and approach plates, navigation using nav aids and landing procedures. These are the first steps to emulating real world pilots, and I can say I have learnt a great deal from them. George Scneider has also produced a similar sreies on how to fly helicopters in X-Plane, if you want to learn to fly choppers, read these lessons. The magazine "PC Pilot" has various tutorials onlearning to fly flight sims as well as articles on the latest sims and add-ons. sometimes with a CD-ROM containing updates and aircraft/scenery files.
Step 3 - Buy some Extras
One of the key things all pilots need are navigation charts. Andrews IFR lessons give full details on how to use these charts. The enroute charts are 'sky road maps'. You follow a 'road' to a nav aid to get to your destination. You then use the approach plate to see how to land at the airport. Think of them as large scale maps showing the motorways and small scale maps showing the street names. These charts show restricted areas to avoid such as military test ranges and built up areas. Although in X-Plane you can buzz the White House at 200 feet, in real life this is not allowed, and Secret Service agents will shoot you down to get the point across. Enroute charts & approach plates stop this happening, providing you follow them. Look at my charts pages for more details on the different types of charts you can get, and my Approach Plates page. To get any realism from X-Plane you must get some maps. Andrews lessons include a few such maps from his local area (Florida). One of the key chart makers is Jeppesen, (www.jeppesen.com), you can buy their charts from any good aviation store or via the web. In the UK you can buy them from the Transair Pilots Shop in London or at Fairoaks Airport. Call them on 01276-858533 to order a catalogue.
Step 4 - Flight Controls
I currently fly X-Plane using the mouse which I find OK, but some sims do not fly with the mouse but with the keyboard instead (such as Fly!2K). For better control you need a joystick. Any stick should do, but for the ultimate control try CH Products Flight Control System (FCS). This consists of a joystick with cooley hats and triggers just like real jet fighters, foot pedals and a throttle control. This will set you back around £250 but for the serious simmer it is worth it. If you fly helicopters it will be very worthwhile.
CH Products have just released (October 2000) their new USB flight column and throttle quadrant. This is a realistic aircraft flight column (yoke) with three levers on the side to adjust the aircrafts throttle, prop and mixture settings. There are also 'fire' buttons so you can still shoot things as well as program it to do other things.
Step 5 - Create some Challenges
Create a challenge for yourself such as a cross country flight such as LAX to Las Vegas, or perhaps Hawaii to LAX, (look at my flight adventures page for some suggested flight plans to follow). Work out the nav aids you will need to use (real charts will help you do this), calculate your fuel and check the weather before your flight (in X-Plane you can use the weather briefer). Work out an alternate landing site in case the weather turns bad, try using the real weather file which you can download from the X-Plane home page and try to make it as real as possible. Perhaps even join a virtual airline, check out Rezas Home page for details on the Hawaiian Shuttle service. Make it as real as possible, but remember to have some fun as well, and when you have successfully landed, make sure your family calls you Captain.