VirtualAviator

If you're like me, you have probably been wondering why are the X-Plane 12 aircraft taking so long to come out. The answer is, every developer must now pay Laminar Research a developers fee of $659.00US to produce or upgrade XP12 aircraft. Just kidding. Seriously though, I recently read that LR has been upgrading their SDK kit and it will be releasing it soon (if not already). If I recall correctly I believe the new version is 4.0 (why recall when I can look it up? I couldn't find where on x-plane.com I read it. It was mentioned in the developer's blog, somewhere). Anyhoo, that, my friends, is why I believe we have not been seeing a flood of aircraft updates or new XP12 aircraft. OR? Perhaps I completely missed the boat plane and there's an entirely different reason.

The language above was copied from: https://www.x-plane.com/kb/using-x-plane-betas/ Where To Report Bugs Please do not report bugs by email. Please use Laminar Research bug report form to report bugs

I mentioned in a previous post that it was hard to discern the differences in X-Plane 11 and X-Plane 12 the first time I loaded up XP12. I can attest that there's definitely a difference. Some of the differences are subtle but some are obvious. I posted a comparison of the two sims using the C172. The weather engine in XP12 is perhaps the jewel of the sim (at the moment). The way XP11 cast the sun and shadows always impressed me. XP12 builds in this. The PBR is on magnitudes better in XP12, imo. The colors in XP12 isn't overly saturated and the overall scenes are much brighter than in XP11. If I may make a prediction, now that we know there is technology out there that will render 2d objects into 3d objects on a global scale, I believe it's only a matter of time before someone figure out how to make some of the ortho (from ortho4xp) objects 3d - or is this just wishful thinking? At the very least, figure out how to tell XP that if terrain is a certain color (in a specific region) then avoid placing autogen trees there - but I digress. Bottom line is that the more I get to know X-Plane 12 the more I can see it really is a different product than XP11. I can hardly wait until we start to see XP-12 naive aircraft (and XP12 compatible aircraft) dawn the horizon.

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?

Who makes a PC-12 NGX for X-Plane? Nevermind. The NGX doesn't use a G1000. It uses the Honeywell Apex Avionics suite.

That's crazy. I only wish I could get more aircraft and support outside of that site. Glad X-Aviation is here :-)

It is hard to tell if you're having a software or hardware issue based on your description. What troubleshooting steps have you taken?

Thanks! I can get a list of aviation acronyms here, but LCV wasn't in the list. I appreciate your explanation. Very informative.

I'm punching way above my weight class in learning to fly the CL650. Can someone tell me what is the APU-LCV button does? What does LCV stand for? (this is just one of the many Acronyms I'm seeing that I don't understand). TIA,

The main dev for hotstart has a discord channel. It's called Hot Start.

I own almost every GA aircraft that's available on X-Aviation. I recently upgraded my computer - a whole new computer. I didn't have a problem reactivating my aircraft with the new computer. I recall it was straight-forward.

Turns out I had to map keyboard shortcuts to pull the switch down to Stop. It's working. Before I end this conversation, I should verify that that's the way it's done, right? TIA,

I've heard that only a fool has a conversation with himself. At the risk of sounding foolish here's my answers to the questions: Part 60 - Piper Arrow III/V (P28R) - Justflight (It's one of my favorites - maybe not so study-level) Part 90 - TBM900 - Hotstart Part 135 - Challenger 65 - Hotstart (I haven't actually flown this but, WOW!) Part 121 - 737 ZIBO (Haven't flown this one either - but I've heard a lot about it.) You might have a different list.

Shouldn't I be able to use the Run-Crank-Stop switch to shut down the engines? I've been using the Main Valve as a work-around. I seem to recall being able to use the RCS switch to shutdown before the V2.02 update. TIA

I think we all know the answer to most of these questions; I'm going to pose them anyway. Part 60 - Private Pilot aircraft - (Generally low & slow - $100 hambuger flights) Part 90 - Private owned aircraft - (Owner hire and pays a commercial pilot) Part 135 - Charter operations aircraft - (Mostly aircraft that carry at least 12 passengers - highly regulated by FAA) Part 121 - Airline operations aircraft - (Scheduled flights offered to the public, i.e. Southwest Airlines) My question is, in each category which X-Plane 11/12 aircraft do you consider the MOST study-level?

Back a while I ago I helped start a VA whose model was (and still is) "Fly any aircraft, anytime, anywhere" It's run by a great gaggle of guys. Check out Virtual Sky Aviation.

I can see that. I've been flying the MU-2 by TOGA and it really reminds me of Dornier 228. The Dornier is much eaiser to fly, I believe. The MU-2 was developed by Mitsubishi while the Dornier was developed in India. For some reason, I rarely fly any of my seaplane variants of the aircraft I own - Beaver, Otter, Porter, or Caravan among others.

Do any of you guys have the profile numbers for Vatsim? I believe I can pull them out of the manuals but if you've already have them please share. Thanks!

Sounds like you have real-world experiences flying Diamond aircraft. Therefore, I respect your opinion and your feedback is duly noted. I hope Aerobask will address the issues you mentioned in the future. I've noticed that almost every X-Plane developer uses Laminar Research's implementation of the G1000 (to some extent). Unfortunately, it doesn't compare, feature by feature, to its real-world counterpart. I'm hoping LR will make the SDK for the avionics platform easier for developers to modify in XP12. Thanks for pointing out one of the shortcomings in the DA50RG. A good (sim) pilot is always learning.

Pardon me if I'm slow to appreciated what's being said. Let me try to recap on a 6th grade level. I think what I'm now hearing is that from a physics stand-point of view a real aircraft is modeled. However, it's being hidden and a different visual representation is overlaid to change the appearance. If this is correct then thanks guys for helping me understand.

So that leads me back to my original question.. how, on earth, can some of the more interesting plane-maker creations possible flight? Could it be that those folks are using the slew tool to drop them from altitude? The McDonalds aircraft (referenced in another thread) appears to be flying.

To recap what I think you're saying, in the visual 3D model you can make anything flyable, but not so much if you select the physics 3D model?

BET (Black Entertainment Network) - Just kidding. No I'm referring to Blade Element Theory. X-plane is based on BET, right? So how is it that folks can fly creations made in plane-maker that should never get off the ground. I was recently looking through this thread. I can see no way some of these interesting creations could fly. X-Plane 12 is supposed to dial in BET to simulate "1st principle" attributes. 1st principles relates to real-world physics. XP11 also incorporates BET which, to my knowledge, means that an aircraft needs an airfoil and thrust capable of creating lift to fly. I wonder if XP12 grounds (nixes) creations that do not meet criteria for true flight? Since I'm not a developer is there something I'm missing?

Thanks! Willco.

Going through the checklist I'm looking for a gauge that would let me know when the engine speed is between 103% to 106% for the overspeed governor check. I would assume the TORQUE (yellow range) would indicate my governor limits but I'm able to push way past it. I wasn't able to find much info on this manual. Thanks,