X-Plane 11

[pip t]

among all the hype about the excellent looking FS2020, anyone use X-Plane 11?

As someone locked in the Mac world it's my only meaningful option for flight sim, without going down the P3D route, or buying a powerful Windows machine for the sole purpose of running FS2020, which I can't really justify.

Having played the iPad version for a few years, I took the plunge before Christmas and bought the Mac version, and a joystick (first one I've owned since being a teenager!) - and it's fab! I had concerns over how well it would run, but my 16inch i7 MBP runs it on reasonable graphics settings (Only things dialled back a bit are antialiasing, reflection detail and filtering), with a healthy frame rate. Which was a pleasant surprise.

So now I'm looking at additions to it.... I have Orbx, and bought the north of England scenery (I have a bit of a penchant for flying between Scottish islands).....any other recommendations? Not really into military flying, more civil and general aviation...

[Zed Ed]

Always enjoyed the Flightfactor Boeing jets;757,767,777 particularly.

Navigraph Charts if you like navigation by the book.

I found scenery always a little difficult when it came to FPS.

7 happy years of xplaning on my iMac although it retired this year as FPS becoming too marginal.

[kowalski655]

XP11 is a great sim,can still be up there with FS2020 with add ons,like OrbX
Loads of free planes/scenery too
Plenty of suggestions on the YouTube, like
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wce_mQYfwZc&fe...

[LimaDelta]

XP11 is great, and I still use it. There is an iPad app which acts as an instructor station allowing you (or a particularly vindictive assistant) simulate sudden weather changes, system failures, bird strikes etc. You can also interface directly to SkyDemon on the iPad too for a very accurate moving map GPS.

The Carenado PC-12 is excellent (though has a few issues if you are a VR user), as are the JustFlight PA-28-181 and C-152.

Zones-Photo scenery is worth a look too - it is free European satellite imagery which can be downloaded at various levels of detail depending on your available storage.

[pip t]

Thanks for all the pointers chaps!

LimaDelta said:

You can also interface directly to SkyDemon on the iPad too for a very accurate moving map GPS.

I found something similar to this which works well, but sometimes seems a little off in terms of accuracy, so I’ll give it a look.
Edit - looks amazing.....but sweet lord the price! I’m sure it’s worth it if you’re flying for real....but I may live with what I have!

Has anyone managed to find an app that replicates the Garmin in the planes cockpit? I find it really fiddly to program on the laptop screen with a trackpad.

It’s great having things on the iPad rather than cramming it all onto a 16inch laptop screen....

LimaDelta said:

The Carenado PC-12 is excellent (though has a few issues if you are a VR user), as are the JustFlight PA-28-181 and C-152.

Yes, I’ve been eying up the PC-12. I splurged on the BN2 Norman Islander and a DH6 Twin Otter, which are both great. And a Saab 340. Maybe the PC12 is next after I give my wallet a break!

Edited by pip t on Sunday 3rd January 00:04