Ashley's X-Plane Pages

Please note that the pictures show version 3 of X-Plane and do not do X-Plane justice. I will try and update these, check out www.x-plane.com for the latest screenshots.

X-Plane
X-Plane was the creation of Austin Myer, (a real-world pilot), who started development in 1988 whilst at college, in fact he spent so long working on it rather than his college work he was kicked out!! He then went to another college and passed his exams as well as developing X-Plane further, and now he has the best civil flight sim on the Mac and PC. It is currently up to version 5 It has textured landscapes and planes, and a photorealistic cockpit.

What makes X-Plane so good? Well, it uses complex mathematics to accurately simulate different aircraft aerodynamics so that when flying the plane, it acts just as a real plane acts. A 747 flies and corners slowly because it is heavy, just like a real 747. Even the fuel load can be changed to affect the flying performance and the fuel consumption (The more powerful the engine, the quicker fuel gets used). The weather can be varied, and mist, wind, rain, snow and thunderstorms can all be created. You can download a weather file from http://pc38.seva.net/~xplane which provides real weather for the world, as reported from the worlds airports, and literally fly in real world weather conditions. If its raining in Chicago, it'll be raining on your flight, along with the reported cloud base, winds and temperatures.

The terrain is generated from USGS DEM files which give 3d details of the world, so the hills and mountains you fly around are real, flying through the Grand Canyon is something I have always wanted to do, and get to do in X-Plane. Even the airports are in their real locations, from the big ones such as LAX and Heathrow, to the small civil and private ones such as Blackbushe. The Groom Lake runway has even been included, ID sign KUFO, (For those who do not know Groom Lake is home to Area 51, a top secret military test site reported to house UFO's !! Check out the movie "Independance Day").

The 3d flight path is excellent, it is a 'snail trail' showing your flight path and is useful for anylising your approach & landing, or just for fun. You can look at approach plates for the different airports and see locations and frequencies of radio navigation beacons and ILS frequencies (for letting the autopilot land the plane). These frequencies and beacons are all real and are used as practice for real pilots due to their accuracy.

One of the best parts about X-Plane though is the Plane Maker program included with the program & demo so that anyone can create or adapt an airplane and post it on the internet. X-Plane already comes with Cessnas, Boeing Jumbo Jets, sail planes (gliders), executive jets, miltary jets, Concorde, Boat planes (yes, you can even land in the sea!), experimental X-Planes, and a few favourites such as the DC-3 (Dakota), B-52, and the excellent Harrier jump jet. But thats not all, you can also fly helicopters such as the Bell Jet Ranger, Robinson R22 and a Sikorsky S-76B. Over the internet you can get the entire Boeing and Airbus family, a C5 Galaxy, an F117 stealth bomber and a host of other aircraft, both real and those designed by X-Plane pilots. The best place to get X-Plane craft is from the X-Plane registry, it also has links to global scenery files and custom objects.

You can even download the demo which is what I did and it got me hooked. X-Plane pilots can download scenery files for the almost the whole world, just imagine flying a 747 from New York to Heathrow, or perhaps an F117 stealth bomber over Moscow or Iraq, or flying a chopper through darkest Africa ! Let your imagination run wild.

You can order direct from Laminar in the USA via phone or post, I ordered my copy online from AV Shop over the internet for $175/£107 (but after tax & duty it worked out at £137), or in the UK from R.C. Simulations in Bristol (Tel:+011-44-1275-474550) for £150+p&p. The current price from Laminar is $200+p&p. This was for version 3.6, updates are downloaded free from his site. This is truly a program for flight sim fans. Eat your heart out Micro$oft!
Contact X-Plane

	X-Plane X-Plane was the creation of Austin Myer, (a real-world pilot), who started development in 1988 whilst at college, in fact he spent so long working on it rather than his college work he was kicked out!! He then went to another college and passed his exams as well as developing X-Plane further, and now he has the best civil flight sim on the Mac and PC. It is currently up to version 5 It has textured landscapes and planes, and a photorealistic cockpit.
	What makes X-Plane so good? Well, it uses complex mathematics to accurately simulate different aircraft aerodynamics so that when flying the plane, it acts just as a real plane acts. A 747 flies and corners slowly because it is heavy, just like a real 747. Even the fuel load can be changed to affect the flying performance and the fuel consumption (The more powerful the engine, the quicker fuel gets used). The weather can be varied, and mist, wind, rain, snow and thunderstorms can all be created. You can download a weather file from http://pc38.seva.net/~xplane which provides real weather for the world, as reported from the worlds airports, and literally fly in real world weather conditions. If its raining in Chicago, it'll be raining on your flight, along with the reported cloud base, winds and temperatures.
	The terrain is generated from USGS DEM files which give 3d details of the world, so the hills and mountains you fly around are real, flying through the Grand Canyon is something I have always wanted to do, and get to do in X-Plane. Even the airports are in their real locations, from the big ones such as LAX and Heathrow, to the small civil and private ones such as Blackbushe. The Groom Lake runway has even been included, ID sign KUFO, (For those who do not know Groom Lake is home to Area 51, a top secret military test site reported to house UFO's !! Check out the movie "Independance Day").
	The 3d flight path is excellent, it is a 'snail trail' showing your flight path and is useful for anylising your approach & landing, or just for fun. You can look at approach plates for the different airports and see locations and frequencies of radio navigation beacons and ILS frequencies (for letting the autopilot land the plane). These frequencies and beacons are all real and are used as practice for real pilots due to their accuracy.
	One of the best parts about X-Plane though is the Plane Maker program included with the program & demo so that anyone can create or adapt an airplane and post it on the internet. X-Plane already comes with Cessnas, Boeing Jumbo Jets, sail planes (gliders), executive jets, miltary jets, Concorde, Boat planes (yes, you can even land in the sea!), experimental X-Planes, and a few favourites such as the DC-3 (Dakota), B-52, and the excellent Harrier jump jet. But thats not all, you can also fly helicopters such as the Bell Jet Ranger, Robinson R22 and a Sikorsky S-76B. Over the internet you can get the entire Boeing and Airbus family, a C5 Galaxy, an F117 stealth bomber and a host of other aircraft, both real and those designed by X-Plane pilots. The best place to get X-Plane craft is from the X-Plane registry, it also has links to global scenery files and custom objects. You can even download the demo which is what I did and it got me hooked. X-Plane pilots can download scenery files for the almost the whole world, just imagine flying a 747 from New York to Heathrow, or perhaps an F117 stealth bomber over Moscow or Iraq, or flying a chopper through darkest Africa ! Let your imagination run wild.