Flying your favorite aircraft in X-Plane?

About the add-on aircraft available

X-Plane comes with about 40 airplanes, but in the 20 years we’ve been doing this, no one has ever said “40 airplanes, huh? That’s probably all I’ll ever want to fly.” Of course you want more aircraft! More to the point, you want to fly the same aircraft in X-Plane that you fly in the real world. Luckily, X-Plane makes it easy to add an unlimited number of custom aircraft.

There are two varieties of aircraft available for the simulator: freeware planes (which are free) and payware planes (which—you guessed it—cost money). As with most things, you generally get what you pay for when it comes to these planes. Certainly there are many, many freeware planes that are fun to fly, with reasonably accurate flight models, but if you want the most realistic instrument panels and models, you’ll probably have to pay for it.

Where do you find free aircraft?

There are a few great places to find new aircraft. One is the X-Plane 10 Aircraft page on our fan site, X-Plane.org. (Note: Before downloading from X-Plane.org, you’ll need to create a free account there.) Another is the X-Plane France site.

Most of the airplanes on those sites are free (known as “freeware” in the flight sim world), but a small number require purchasing (these are “payware”). Hint: You can sort the aircraft on X-Plane.org by “highest rated” to get the best aircraft models first.

To get you started, here are a few more of my favorite freeware airplanes:

• Piper PA–28–181 Archer III
• Dassault Falcon 7X
• XtremeAir Sbach 300 Aerobatic Airplane
• Antonov An–2
• ICON A5 Amphibious Airplane
• Airbus A330–300
• AT–6G Texan Military Trainer
• Robin DR.221 Light Sport Aircraft
• Boeing B–17G Flying Fortress
• QPAC Airbus A320
• Eurocopter EC135 Helicopter

Where do you get the best aircraft for training?

When it comes to paying for the highest-quality aircraft, there are a few places that I would recommend looking first.

If you’re especially interested in practicing IFR approaches, check out the products from Fly This Sim. They sell a number of aircraft models with some of the most realistic avionics simulations available. Here are a few of my favorites:

• Garmin 430W and 530W simulators:
  • Cessna 172-P carbed, 172-R, 172-S injected, 182 Turbo, 182-T, 421C, and 414A, with high-quality Garmin 430W and 530W simulation
  • Beechcraft Bonanza A36, A36TC, Baron 58, Baron58TC, and Travelair, with high-quality Garmin 430W and 530W simulation and STEC55X autopilot
  • Piper Arrow IV, Archer III, Seminole, and Seneca V, with high-quality Garmin 430W and 530W simulation and STEC55X autopilot
  • King Air A100, King Air B200, King Air BE1900, King Air C90B, Pilatus PC12, and Piper Cheyenne, with high-quality Garmin 430W and 530W simulation and STEC55X autopilot
  • Diamond DA20 with dual Garmin 430 simulation and STEC55X autopilot
• Garmin G1000 simulators:
  • Cessna 182T Skylane, 172S Skyhawk SP, and 172R Skyhawk with high-quality G1000 simulation
  • Cirrus SR20, SR22, and SR22T with high-quality G1000 simulation
  • Cessna 350 Corvalis and 400 Corvalis TT with high-quality G1000 simulation
  • Beechcraft Bonanza A36/G26 and Baron 58/G58 with high-quality G1000 simulation

Note that all of the above models require that you first buy and install the $40 SimAVIO 2 panel. The models are all pretty pricey (ranging from an additional $30 up to $100), but the avionics are second only to having a dedicated $1000+ piece of real-world flight hardware connected to the simulator. (Note also that the SimAVIO aircraft above will only work in Windows.)

If you instead fly airliners, you’ll be interested in the following add-ons:

• CRJ–200 with in-depth systems and avionics modeling
• Boeing 787 (officially licensed model)
• Boeing 777 (officially licensed model) with realistic FMC
• Boeing 727–100, 727–200F, and 727–200Adv with detailed systems modeling
• “x737” Boeing 737NG
  • This is a free download with an very accurate flight model, but to get a highly realistic panel, you’ll want the payware x737 FMC add-on.

You downloaded an aircraft… Now what do you do with it?

When you download a custom aircraft from the web sites above, it will typically be in a compressed folder (usually a ZIP file) that contains the airplane and all its various paint jobs, airfoils, etc. Once that compressed folder is downloaded, you should be able to double-click on it to open or expand it.

You should move the contents of that compressed folder into the folder called “Aircraft” within the X-Plane 10 directory. If you followed the instructions in the previous email I sent, you should be able to find the X-Plane 10 directory on the Desktop. So, to install your custom aircraft, just:

1. Double-click on the X-Plane 10 folder on the Desktop.
2. In that folder, double-click on the “Aircraft” folder.
3. Open the compressed folder that you previously downloaded and drag-and-drop its contents into the window that you opened the “Aircraft” folder in.

Be sure to place the new aircraft files in a folder with the name of the aircraft—for instance, for a newly downloaded Piper J–3 Cub, the folder path in Windows might look like this:

C:\Documents and Settings\User\Desktop\X-Plane 10\Aircraft\Piper Cub 

With the new aircraft in the proper directory, open up X-Plane. In the aircraft selection portion of the Quick Flight Setup window, you can now click on the aircraft you just added. Cool!

At this point, all that’s left is to go flying

See DLCs for more info

Shooting Approaches

Fly a better approach using a flight simulator

Today, I’d like to help you fly a final approach to an airport. Doing so will allow you to keep your stick-and-rudder skills sharp, and also practice landing in rough weather. Moreover, we know of CFIs who recommend that their pilots practice just like thisbefore coming in for a flight review—it saves the pilot money, and it saves the instructor time that they can be using with other students.

The beauty of practicing in a flight simulator is that we can have the sim instantly transport us to the airport we want to land at, and we can instantly set up an approach to a particular runway there. This means you can spend more time practicing the approach itself and less time setting it up.

Note: If you haven’t already, you’ll want to get X-Plane set up, with your yoke or joystick working properly. This means installing the free X-Plane 10 demo (if you don’t have X-Plane already) and setting up the controls by following the instructions in the section “Configuring Essential Yoke/Joystick Functions” of the user manual. You’ll also want to choose an airplane, per the instructions in the section “Setting Up a Flight.”

Choosing an airport

First things first—we need to choose the airport that we’ll fly in to, and get ourselves a few nautical miles away, lined up with the runway.

If you’re new to X-Plane, you have probably used the Quick Flight Setup feature to choose your airport. However, this isn’t the only way to do it. In fact, using the following method, you can select not just which airport you go to, but also where in that airport you start.

So, move your mouse to the top of the screen (causing the menu to appear). Click on Location, then Select Global Airport. Just like in the Quick Flight Setup window, you can search for an airport either by name or by ICAO identifier. Unlike in the Quick Flight Setup window, though, the bottom half of this window displays rows of “quick start” buttons. The buttons in the “Takeoff” column (on the far left) will transport your aircraft to the specified runway—we don’t want to use these right now. Instead, to the right of the Takeoff buttons are the “Final Approach” buttons. Clicking one of these will transport your aircraft to the specified distance away from the runway indicated on the button’s left.

So, let’s fly a full final approach. Search for KSEA (the default airport, included with the demo), and click one of the buttons labeled 10 nm. X-Plane will put your airplane 10 nautical miles from that runway, at a decent altitude. Note: If your aircraft is moved to an area that does not have any scenery installed, you will see nothing but water and maybe a small runway. Since the demo doesn’t include the global scenery (which is only available by buying X-Plane 10), you probably want to stick to the default airport in Seattle (whose identifier is KSEA), where you do have scenery installed.

Changing the weather

For your first approach in the simulator, you probably want to stick with nice weather without much turbulence. In the future, though, you can set a crosswind or even bring up a storm! For a detailed breakdown of how the weather in X-Plane can be controlled, check out the section “Setting the Weather” in the X-Plane 10 manual.

Flying the approach visually

At this point, you should be 10 nautical miles out from the airport, in line with whichever runway you chose. Your goal is to slowly descend down to ground level, while keeping your airplane lined up with the runway. If you’re in a small, general aviation airplane (like the Cessna 172SP), you want to keep your speed a bit above stalling speed. (For the 172, stalling speed is about 65 knots, so aim for 90 knots or so, lowering your speed as you get closer.) By the time you get to the runway, you want to be right at stalling speed, with your power at zero and flaps at full. Follow a shallow glide path in to the runway—that is, point the nose down between 3 and 5 degrees. Right before the craft reaches the ground, raise the nose up to about 7 degrees for a gentle touchdown.

Did you make it?! If not, just reload your approach (using the Select Global Airport dialog just like before) and try again!

Flying on instruments

If you’ve gotten the hang of the visual approach, you might be interested to try an instrument approach. You can find all the details in the portion of the X-Plane 10 manual titled “Flying an Instrument Approach in X-Plane.”

Using a flight simulator as a training aid

In the last few years (and especially since publishing the FAA-Industry Training Standards, or FITS), the FAA has placed a greater emphasis on using simulation throughout all stages of flight training. A growing number of research studies using this philosophy show marked gains in student performance. There has never been a better time, then, to start improving your own skills using a flight simulator.

The X-Plane flight simulator has been used for flight training and engineering purposes by organizations such as:

• Piper Aircraft
• Cirrus Aviation
• Fidelity Flight Simulation
• Japan Airlines
• Cessna Aircraft
• NASA
• Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
• United States Air Force
• National Test Pilot School
• Boeing
• Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
• Iowa State University

Who should train in a flight simulator?

Student pilots

If you are a student (or pre-student) pilot, a flight simulator can provide a safe environment for learning procedures and building basic stick-and-rudder skills. Under the guidance of a certified flight instructor (CFI) or a training curriculum like Bruce Williams’ “Scenario-Based Training with X-Plane and Microsoft Flight Simulator,” you can get most of the benefits of training in a real aircraft without the associated cost or stress. Furthermore, because you control the simulator world, you can minimize distractions from whatever you’re currently practicing, such as bad weather, other aircraft, and so on. Then, once you’re actually in the air, you’ll be more prepared and more confident—you’ll spend less time in the air (saving you money) and you’ll be safer doing so.

Private pilots

If you’re a private pilot, staying current and proficient—whether for a flight review, instrument proficiency check, or simply your own peace of mind—is very important. Using a flight simulator, you can practice takeoffs and landings, instrument navigation, using an autopilot, and so on. Furthermore, you can prepare for tricky or dangerous situations: instrument failures, crosswind landings, navigating storms, and more.

One of the more often overlooked features of a flight simulator is the ability to play back a flight or visualize its trajectory. Doing so allows you to evaluate your takeoffs and landings after you’re through.

Flight instructors

If you’re a flight instructor, you can assign “homework” to students so that they’re better prepared at your next meeting. You can even test student knowledge of the procedures you’re going to fly

What do you need to get started?

In order to practice with a home flight simulator, you’ll need a few things:

• A fairly new, fairly fast Mac or PC
• A yoke or joystick
• Flight simulation software

You may also want an iPhone or iPad, which you can use as an EFIS flight display with the Xavion app. This is especially true if you use Xavion in your real aircraft as an instrument backup, synthetic vision system, or emergency lander. (Xavion even interfaces with X-Plane for training!)

What kind of PC do you need?

Many flight simulators can run on older computers with the bare minimum level of performance and visuals. However, you’ll want a relatively fast computer to achieve the highest realism. We recommend the following system specs or better:

• a 3 GHz, multi-core CPU,
• 4 GB of RAM,
• a DVD-ROM, and
• a DirectX 10-capable video card with 1 GB of on-board, dedicated VRAM.

The 27-inch iMac from Apple has these specs, as does the high-end Macbook Pro laptop. For Windows PCs, the Asus Republic of Gamers laptops have excellent specifications, as do the high-end CyberPowerPC desktops.

What kind of flight controls should you buy?

While you can use a flight simulator with nothing but your mouse and keyboard, this can be cumbersome and unrealistic (for obvious reasons). We strongly recommended, though, that you use at least a joystick or yoke.

We recommend choosing between a joystick or yoke based on the type of flight controls found in the aircraft you typically fly. Thus, if you typically fly a Cessna 172, you probably want a yoke, whereas if you fly a Cirrus SR22, you want a joystick.

If you don’t have flight controls, we recommend Saitek’s X52 joystick and throttle system, as well as CH Products’ Flight Sim yoke.

Where should you buy flight simulator software?

Since Microsoft stopped work on their Flight Simulator line, X-Plane is the only general-purpose flight simulator still under active development. In fact, we publish new updates and improvements (including new features and aircraft models) to the simulator every few months.

You can find X-Plane 10 Global (including over 40 aircraft models and the full global scenery package) at X-Plane.com.

If you don’t have it already, you can download the free X-Plane 10 demo from our web site. That demo is almost identical to the full version of X-Plane, except that it will stop accepting input after 15 minutes of flight (after which you’ll be forced to restart the simulator in order to fly more). It also includes scenery only for the Seattle-Tacoma area, rather than the full global scenery.

 If you don’t have X-Plane already, be sure to install the free X-Plane 10 demo. You may also want to sign up for guide for new users of the simulator.

PS: All subsequent tutorials and newsletters will be posted in the "Guide" Page

X-Plane 10.25 Update!

X-Plane 10.25 Beta 3

This fixes a missing file at KSEA in 10.25b2.

X-Plane 10.25 Beta 2 (DOA)

X-Plane 10.25 has a defect and will be replaced shortly with beta 3!

This build adds art file updates.

• Global natural terrain improvements.
• New urban textures added for dry climates.
• Bogus library entries removed from KSEA demo area.
• Global airport taxi sign typos fixed.
• 3WO renamed to KEZS.

Bug fixes:

• This build uses more modern code to launch the installer. The old code only crashed inside the installer itself, but we are trying to use the latest code everywhere. IF the app crashes trying to launch the installer (to check for updates) please let us know.

• X-Plane 10.25 Beta 1

  X-Plane 10.25 Beta 1 updates a number of the art assets in X-Plane, and also ships a few bug fixes.
  New Stuff:
  • This update contains 3-d buildings for over 250 airports, contributed by the X-Plane community. This is our first update to ship community-built airports using the X-Plane 10 airport building library. We will continue to ship updates to these airports as more contributions come in.
  • A large number of natural terrains are updated. There are 103 new textures (+30%), which now represent tropical, partly subtropical and many other landclasses entirely new. This comes along with a great number of improved, enlarged or changed former textures. V10 has now a consistent look around the globe.
  • New urban base terrain for wet climates. We are working on dry climates and may have them for a future beta, but for the wet climates this should make a nice improvement in views of cities from the air.
  • Airport library and art decals have texture updates.
  • The default libraries have paths marked as deprecated or private where appropriate; when using WED 1.2.1 beta 1, old and private library paths are hidden, simplifying the library.
  Bug fixes:
  • Fixed network data output to ForeFlight.
  • Fixed scroll wheel operation on Windows.
  • Fixed ACF panel import in Plane-Maker.
  Datarefs:
  • New datarefs to control the aircraft carrier and frigate with an override.
  • Cinema verite can be set by dataref.
  • Read-only access to whether HDR is on.
  Airports:

  08R 0B7 0B8 1B9 28M 2B2 3WO 40N 4B6 4B8 4V8 6B0 6B9 6D6 6S8 7B9 8D4 9WN1
  BGBW BGGH BGKK BGMA BIAR BIBA BIBD BIBF BIBK BIBL BIBR BIBV BIDV BIEG BIFF BIFL
  BIFM BIFZ BIGH BIGJ BIGR BIHK BIHL BIHN BIHU BIIS BIKL BIKP BIKR BIMK BIMS BIOF
  BIPA BIRF BIRG BIRK BIRL BISF BISI BISL BISR BISS BIST BITE BITH BITN BIVI BIVM
  BIVO CYJN CYQT CYRO CYXY D25 E70 EDHM EDHS EGYP EHTE KABE KACK KALS KAPA KAQO
  KAST KATL KATW KAVX KBAZ KBDL KBGM KBID KBOS KBST KBTV KCDA KCEF KCEZ KCLI KDDH
  KEEN KEFK KEGV KETB KEVW KEWB KFLD KFLL KFMH KFMN KFSO KGCN KGFL KGON KGPI KGRB
  KGSP KHFD KHVN KHWY KHZL KIJD KIZG KJMS KLDM KLEW KLUF KLVK KMAL KMDS KMKE KMKG
  KMMK kmpv KMRY KMVL KMVY KOQU KOWD KOXC KPAE KPBG KPKF KPNE KPSO KPTN KPVC KPVD
  KPYM KRHI KRKD KRME KRUT KSAW KSBA KSFF KSFZ KSKX KSLC KSLH KTAN KTCY KTOA KTTD
  KUUU KVSF KWRI KWST KXLL L52 LFHN LFHS LFLY LGKR LNMC LSXB LXGB MKJP N82 NY54
  NZAR OR10 S83 SA07 SA7Q SA9E SAVD SAZY SBAR SBBP SBCO SBFN SBIH SBNT SBPA SBPC
  SBPK SBPR SBRP SBST SC1A SCAK SCAP SCAS SCBB SCBI SCCC SCCM SCCR SCCU SCCY SCDQ
  SCFM SCFT SCGA SCGB SCGY SCHR SCIH SCII SCKO SCKT SCLB SCLD SCLY SCMF SCML SCNM
  SCOH SCOL SCON SCOO SCPC SCPF SCPH SCPI SCPK SCPL SCPQ SCPU SCPV SCPY SCQC SCQI
  SCQK SCQY SCSH SCTA SCTN SCTO SCTR SCVI SCVL SCVO SCXR SDCR SDIM SDOB SDTB SDVH
  SJRG SMTO SNDV SNEJ SNFL SNGX SNJK SNJM SNKF SNKI SNMF SNOF SNQV SSCC SSMW T82
  UGSB VT46 W23 Y55 YARM YAYE YBAS YHOT YMAV YTDN YTNK YTWB ZSPD