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was a bug on my end Bulva. I tested for the "nav type" and accounted for VOR and ILS (LOC + GS), but "LOC" is its own separate "enumeration" in X-Plane when GS not present...in the XP radio ...and I simply forgot to add that to the list of navaids to test when the NAV is pressed. working for the 2.0.3 patch which I'm packaging up for X-A distro, pending their schedule...but at the least I plan to send it their way later today. TK

Laminar based their new windscreen effects on the pioneering work Saso has done with librain. In one of the interviews Austin (or Ben?) gave a few details, and it sounded to me like they used his open-source implementation, adapted it to Vulkan, and embedded it within their rendering chain. One of the improvements pointed out in that interview was that now it was embedded, it could make use of all physics data, including prop wash etc. to natively couple effects with XP's physics calculations.

Gizmo is unaffected by how many different copies of X-Plane you have installed. The Gizmo machine-id is generated using OS install markers.

We've waited for XP12 since the announcement. Thankfully it's finally here. Here are my initial thoughts. X-Plane is, and will continue to be, my sim of choice. When it first loaded up, other than the trees, I could see little difference between it and XP11. However, I noticed immediately that I was getting more FPS. BUT (there's always a but, right?), I did not have any plugins installed. Everything was/is default. VISUALS: X-Plane is not MSFS. The graphics will (probably) never match MSFS. I'm personally OK with that. However, I was a little disappointed that LR did not address the ground textures. But hey, they never said they would. I suspect the ground textures will improve over time. The airports are obviously the same as XP11. XP12 is supposed to have many more assets that can comprise buildings, cars, etc. With the 1000's upon 1000's of airports, perhaps LR is leaving it to the community to improve airports. However, it would have been nice to have improved airports out of the box. The trees look great. There's just not enough of them. Again, left to the community? Bear in mind that much of what's left to the community might come at additional cost. The cloud textures are fantastic. While they don't look exactly like MSFS's they are doable for me. There is room for improvement though. Polygons: LR talked about getting rid of the straight lines around lakes, beaches, etc. Perhaps this has yet to be implemented? There's a lot more I could say about the visuals but at the moment I prefer my XP11 textures with all its add-ons. I expect that XP12 add-ons will eat into FPS as I add them. I know there's a lot I didn't mention, like wet runways, and changing seasons. I'm delighted to see this stuff implemented. I'm hoping for undiscovered gems. AIRCRAFT: I haven't spent a lot of time here. I can say that I loved the Citation X. I have the payware version of the SR22 so it's hard to draw a comparison that's objective. I can say that the default SR22 lacks the depth of payware SR22. That's to be expected. The Evolution is a blast to fly. If Austin's Evolution performs like this one then I can see why he enjoys flying it. I'm not an airline guy. However, I heard that the flight computer on the Airbus is a big disappointment. I think the additional default aircraft more than justify the price of XP12. I've been spending so much time in the XP11 - CL650 (recently purchased) that I just haven't explored much of XP12's aircraft. FLIGHT DYNAMICS: This is where XP12 is suppose to shine. Quite frankly, I haven't been able to discern much difference from XP11 - yet. LR has devoted a lot of time explaining how 1st principles apply to XP12. I thought much of the same principles applied to XP11. There is a developers blog that talks about this flight modeling and Austin has talked extensively about it in interviews. I tend to think of flight dynamics as under-the-hood stuff. Its power will be revealed when needed. WEATHER: Two words: Love it. I hope LR will keep developing it. SUMMARY: XP is my sim of choice. During this beta period I'll continue to fly XP11 for the most part and build XP12 as add-ons and version updates become available. I'd hoped to see graphics and visuals closer to MSFS but LR is not Goliath. I trust that the sim only get better, graphically, with time. I don't feel like I wasted any money getting XP12; I believe LR has a long way to go, given that MSFS is a thing. What are your thoughts?

Agreed. THe clouds in the beta are wonky, they look like some kind of strange compositing is happening and the shadows are not as high res and crisp as I was hoping (either shadows of clouds or the sun cast shadows on aircraft). But this is a great beta and it will only get better.

The boys sent me some more today

If this is such a huge focus for you (you've mentioned doors multiple times now), you were never really the target customer for IXEG anyhow. Hate to say that, but it's true.

X-Plane 12 is in early access. It's a public beta. There will be many changes, some minor, some major. Laminar have had a private developers chat channel for months already. We've helped them work through a lot of bugs already. Opening the product to the public will find many more. When X-Plane 12 settles down and exits "early access" you're likely to see more products officially updated.

Every operation will be somewhat different of course.... Once we complete the last leg of the day and the shutdown check is complete, one of us is immediately getting up out of the seat to open the cabin door and go verify chocks are in place, the nose doors are opened, and 5 pins are inserted. Of course if our last leg is a passenger leg - they are disembarked first. One pilot typically stays with them for the walk to the vehicles or the FBO - while the other pilot heads to the interior of the baggage compartment to pass the bags to line crew. That pilot then comes through the cabin to check for forgotten personal items - concluding with a thumbs up to the pilot adjacent the vehicles. If they walked inside - typically a text is sent between pilots that the cabin is clear (or isn't). At this point the pilot with the airplane will coordinate with the line crew re: required services - verifying chocks are in place - then retrieving the pins and inserting them. Different operations have different philosophies/standards regarding nose doors opened or closed. At our home base - we will always open the doors and insert 5 pins. Away from home while on the road we can exercise discretion to leave them closed. In a location with security concerns, or if there are any concerns regarding tugs, line crew, etc - we may elect to go with 3 pins and leave the doors closed. I'd say in our operation the doors are left open with 5 pins the majority of the time. Under no circumstance will we leave the nose doors open without inserting the 2 additional pins. Once pins are inserted and we're both back on the jet - it's time to start cleaning up and preparing for the next flight. Garbage is gathered, old coffee is dumped, drinks in the drawer with paper labels are removed from the ice bins - leftover catering is emptied from the chiller and either given to line crew as trash, as a gift, or to be stored in the FBO fridge. If the cabin needs to be vacuumed - we vacuum while power is still on. Tables and surfaces are cleaned at this point, seatbelts are cleaned and put back into presentation , the sinks and lav are cleaned and while this is happening - line crew is probably performing the lav service. Dishes and linens are given to line service as well. We like to keep power on until all of that is finished so we can check the lav - that enough (hopefully clean) water has been put back in and its back to smelling/looking fresh. We also have to restock from the storage drawers in back. Things like snacks, drinks, chips etc - all have to be replenished. If 15 minutes has gone by - one pilot is checking/servicing the oils in the utility bay. If temps will dip towards or below freezing - we purge the potable water system. This is often done at TOD depending on circumstances to avoid dumping 10 gallons of potable water on an FBO ramp which will turn into an iceberg. Water lines must be purged on the ground which is similar to prepping a recreational vehicle or boat for winter storage , minus the antifreeze, although there's different techniques there too. Sometimes during all of this we may also fuel for the next day's flight - circumstances of course dictate when we would do this as there are considerations to keep in mind leaving the jet with a lot of fuel. We also will consolidate crew baggage and put it in the baggage door opening in preps for offloading. We ensure the garbage, catering, fridge items, etc - are indeed all off. The parking brake at this point has probably long been released since chocks were verified - and the signs put in the cockpit windows indicating the jet is safe to tow. We verify one of us has recorded the 'numbers' from the FMS for the trip paperwork. (OFF/ON/FLIGHT times and OUT/IN Fuel) Suction cupped iPad mounts are removed from the windows, the Sentry is verified as off and packed up so it can be charged at the hotel if needed. If it was a night flight and next flight is day, and we're about to secure the airplane - lights will be brought back to a daytime config (full bright). If it's a hot and sunny location - cabin window shades are closed and cockpit reflective covers are put in place. We also have a pin to secure the emergency exit in the cabin that gets inserted. At this point we verify requested services have been received/completed and we check with the other crewmember or crewmembers that they are done with cabin power. From here one of us typically runs the securing checklist and shuts down the APU. But we aren't done yet. Our bags get unloaded at this point and we build our 'pile'. All external panels are locked. A thorough post flight walk-around is completed, typically by both of us. Covers are put on all 3 pitots, both ice detectors, the AOA cone and both AOA vanes. Both batteries are disconnected. Whichever pilot didn't do the cockpit securing - must 'check switches' to make sure all is where it should be. Now it is finally time to make sure everyone is 'done inside' and the door gets closed/locked - and now - we can walk into the FBO, or to our rental car which has been brought planeside. We check in at the CSR desk regardless - providing contact info, verifying the schedule and services requested. This is a great time to make sure we go over the 'stuff in the fridge, the lav service, hangar arrangements, etc etc'. Only after this is all done do we leave the airport and head to the hotel where the trip PIC does 'the paperwork' which in our operation is electronic and must be submitted in a reasonable amount of time after the flight. At home base our operation has a cleaning service that will take care of many of the above tasks, and since another leg often isn't happening the next day - we're off the airplane pretty quickly. Hope this helps understand some of the things that go into this side of the business. On an international arrival after a long day mid-trip- it wouldn't be uncommon for the crew to take 30-45 minutes to do all of the above correctly.

In some instances, flaps control is a "pilot 2 action" in the checklists (after takeoff, after landing, possibly go-around?); but for people who have a hardware flaps lever, it would be interesting to be able to override this behavior so that all flap actions must be performed by the pilot flying -- without having to manually edit the checklist files. Rationale: avoiding a desync between the hardware and actual aircraft's flap lever position, which could possibly lead to confusion during an important flight phase Note: a checkbox to enable/disable this behavior would be more flexible than auto-detecting whether an axis is assigned to flaps in X-Plane. Rationale: non-standard hardware and/or situations where a custom plugin is used to read the axis value and set the flaps indirectly, rather than the native X-Plane flaps axis assignment. Regards, Tim

Hi Tim, A checkbox would be useful. I am unsure as to how changeable the pilot actions are on the fly, but I have made the request. Brgds