x-plane

[DD.ivanov]

Can someone tell me what x-plane is about and can someone tell me where I can get it.

[Skypoet]

Hi!

X-plane is a versatile flight simulator by Austin Meyer (Texas). It allows you to create your own virtual airplanes and then fly them. M$ F$2004 also allows you to create your airplanes but in a more complicated fashion.

With M$ F$2004 you have to create the visual model, animations and textures AND THEN "create" the flight model - that means you have to input the aerodynamic parameters of your plane in the sim, which is always complicated because in the case of an imaginary plane you have to make a wild guess about the aerodynamic constants, and in the case of an existing plane, well... the same constants aren't very available either

But with X-plane all you have to do is create the airplane's geometry, select the animations from pre-built animations and here you go! X-plane does the "rest" for you (it calculates how the geometry you created actually behaves in the air). Of course you can make your own textures in X-plane as well, it doesn't hurt.

So what you get in X-plane is faster virtual aircraft development. And roughly more accurate, as well.

M$ F$2004 is a little better from the graphical standpoint I must admit.

But there is a little difference in the means employed to make those two sims:L X-plane is made by a very small team (they're less than five!) and M$ F$2004, well... is made by a big company, and somehow subcontracted!

Try:

Commercial website to buy X-plane

Or:

Non-commercial website with free aircraft addons to see the sim's possibilities

You can also try to snag your own copy through a "torrent" or P2P... but X-plane isn't hugely popular.

Cya!

[Skypoet]

Oh yes and I forgot to mention that some people (and even companies) seem to us X-plane to try their prototypes "virtually" before they actually build them... So from this point of view X-plane is fun... but MS FS2004 looks better. You choose!