The X-planes are a series of experimental United Statesaircraft and rockets, used to test and evaluate new technologies and aerodynamic concepts. They have an X designator, which indicates the research mission within the US system of aircraft designations.
Most of the X-planes have been operated by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) or, later, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), often in conjunction with the United States Air Force. The majority of X-plane testing has occurred at Edwards Air Force Base.[1]
Some of the X-planes have been well publicized, while others, such as the X-16, have been developed in secrecy.[2] The first, the Bell X-1, became well known in 1947 after it became the first aircraft to break the sound barrier in level flight.[3] Later X-planes supported important research in a multitude of aerodynamic and technical fields, but only the North American X-15rocket plane of the early 1960s achieved comparable fame to that of the X-1.[citation needed] X-planes 8, 9, 11, 12, and 17 were actually missiles[4]:14,15,17,18,24 used to test new types of engines, and some other vehicles were un-manned (some were remotely flown, some were partially or fully autonomous).
Most X-planes are not expected to go into full-scale production; one exception was the Lockheed Martin X-35, which competed against the Boeing X-32 during the Joint Strike Fighter Program, and has entered production as the F-35.[5]
Not all US experimental aircraft have been designated as X-planes; some received US Navy designations before 1962,[6] while others have been known only by manufacturers' designations,[N 1] non-'X'-series designations,[N 2] or classified codenames.[N 3]
Type | Manufacturer | Agency | Image | Date | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
X-1 | Bell | USAF, NACA | 1946 | High-speed and high-altitude flight | First aircraft to break the sound barrier in level flight. Proved aerodynamic viability of thin wing sections.[4]:5–7 | |
X-1A X-1B X-1C X-1D | Bell | USAF, NACA | 1951 | High-speed and high-altitude flight | ||
X-1E | Bell | USAF, NACA | 1955 | High-speed and high-altitude flight | ||
X-2 | Bell | USAF | 1952 | High-speed and high-altitude flight | First aircraft to exceed Mach 3.[4]:8 | |
X-3 Stiletto | Douglas | USAF, NACA | 1952 | Highly loaded trapezoidal wing | Titanium alloy construction; Underpowered, but provided insights into inertia coupling.[4]:9 | |
X-4 Bantam | Northrop | USAF, NACA | 1948 | Transonictailless aircraft[4]:10 | ||
X-5 | Bell | USAF, NACA | 1951 | variable geometry | First aircraft to fly with variable wing sweep.[4]:11 | |
X-6 | Convair | USAF, AEC | 1957 | Nuclear Propulsion | Not built. The Convair NB-36H was a B-36 modified to carry a nuclear reactor and flew from 1955 to 1957.[4]:12[7] | |
X-7 | Lockheed | USAF, USA, USN | 1951 | Ramjet engines.[4]:13 | ||
X-8 Aerobee | Aerojet | NACA, USAF, USN | 1949 | Upper air research[4]:14 | Later models used as sounding rockets. | |
X-9 Shrike | Bell | USAF | 1949 | Guidance and propulsion technology | Assisted development of GAM-63 Rascal missile.[4]:15 | |
X-10 | North American | USAF | 1953 | SM-64 Navajo missile testbed.[4]:16 | ||
X-11 | Convair | USAF | 1957 | SM-65 Atlas missile testbed.[4]:17 | ||
X-12 | Convair | USAF | 1957 | SM-65 Atlas missile testbed.[4][4]:18 | ||
X-13 Vertijet | Ryan | USAF, USN | 1955 | Vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) | tailsitting VTOL flight.[4]:19 | |
X-14 | Bell | USAF, NASA | 1957 | VTOL | Vectored thrust configuration for VTOL flight.[4]:20 | |
X-15 | North American | USAF, NASA | 1959 | Hypersonic, high-altitude flight | First manned hypersonic aircraft; capable of suborbital spaceflight.[4]:21–22 | |
X-15 A-2 | North American | USAF, NASA | 1964 | Hypersonic, high-altitude flight | Major Pete Knight flew the X-15 A-2 to a Mach 6.70, making it the fastest piloted flight of the X-plane program. | |
X-16 | Bell | USAF | 1954 | High-altitude reconnaissance[4]:23 | 'X-16' designation used to hide true purpose.[8] Cancelled and never flew. | |
X-17 | Lockheed | USAF, USN | 1956 | High Mach number reentry.[4]:24 | ||
X-18 | Hiller | USAF, USN | 1959 | Vertical and/or short take-off and landing (V/STOL) | Evaluated the tiltwing concept for VTOL flight.[4]:25 | |
X-19 | Curtiss-Wright | Tri-service | 1963 | Tandemtiltrotor VTOL[4]:26 | XC-143 designation proposed.[9] | |
X-20 Dyna-Soar | Boeing | USAF | 1963 | Reusable spaceplane | Military missions.[4]:27 Cancelled and never built. | |
X-21A | Northrop | USAF | 1963 | Boundary layer control[4]:28 | ||
X-22 | Bell | Tri-service | 1966 | Quad ducted fan tiltrotor STOVL[4]:29 | ||
X-23 PRIME | Martin Marietta | USAF | 1966 | Maneuvering atmospheric reentry[4]:30 | Designation never officially assigned.[10] | |
X-24A | Martin Marietta | USAF, NASA | 1969 | Low-speed lifting body[4]:31 | ||
X-24B | Martin Marietta | USAF, NASA | 1973 | Low-speed lifting body[4]:32 | ||
X-25 | Bensen | USAF | 1955 | Commercial light autogyro for downed pilots.[4]:33 | ||
X-26 Frigate | Schweizer | DARPA, US Army, USN | 1967 | Training glider for yaw-roll coupling Quiet observation aircraft[4]:34 | ||
X-27 | Lockheed | None | 1971 | High-performance fighter[4]:35 | Cancelled and never flew. | |
X-28 Sea Skimmer | Osprey | USN | 1970 | Low-cost aerial policing seaplane[4]:36 | ||
X-29 | Grumman | DARPA, USAF, NASA | 1984 | Forward-swept wing[4]:37 | ||
X-30 NASP | Rockwell | NASA, DARPA, USAF | 1993 | Single stage to orbitspaceplane[4]:38 | Cancelled and never built. | |
X-31 | Rockwell-MBB | DARPA, USAF, BdV | 1990 | Thrust vectoringsupermaneuverability[4]:39 | ||
X-32A | Boeing | USAF, USN, USMC, RAF | 2000 | Joint Strike Fighter[4]:40–41 | ||
X-32B | Boeing | USAF, USN, RAF | 2001 | Joint Strike Fighter[4]:40–41 | ||
X-33 Venture Star | Lockheed Martin | NASA | N/A | Half-scale reusable launch vehicle prototype.[4]:42 | Prototype never completed. | |
X-34 | Orbital Sciences | NASA | N/A | Reusable unmanned spaceplane.[4]:43 | Never flew. | |
X-35A | Lockheed Martin | USAF, USN, USMC, RAF | 2000 | Joint Strike Fighter[4]:44–45 | ||
X-35B | Lockheed Martin | USAF, USN, USMC, RAF | 2001 | Joint Strike Fighter[4]:44–45 | ||
X-35C | Lockheed Martin | USAF, USN, USMC, RAF | 2000 | Joint Strike Fighter[4]:44–45 | ||
X-36 | McDonnell Douglas | NASA | 1997 | 28% scale tailless fighter[4]:46 | ||
X-37 | Boeing | USAF, NASA | 2010 | Reusable orbital spaceplane[4]:47 | Drop test performed in 2006. Five flights since 22 April 2010. (Four launches on Atlas V; one on Falcon 9.) | |
X-38 | Scaled Composites | NASA | 1998 | Lifting body Crew Return Vehicle[4]:48 | ||
X-39 | Unknown | USAF | Classified | Future Aircraft Technology Enhancements (FATE) program.[4]:49 | Designation never officially assigned.[10] | |
X-40A | Boeing | USAF, NASA | 1998 | 80% scale Space Maneuver Vehicle X-37 prototype.[4]:50 | ||
X-41 | Unknown | USAF | Classified | Maneuvering re-entry vehicle.[4]:51 | ||
X-42 | Unknown | USAF | Classified | Expendable liquid propellant upper-stage rocket.[4]:52 | ||
X-43 Hyper-X | Micro Craft | NASA | 2001 | Hypersonic Scramjet[4]:53 | ||
X-44 MANTA | Lockheed Martin | USAF, NASA | N/A | F-22-based Multi-Axis No-Tail Aircraft thrust vectoring[4]:54 | Cancelled, never flew. | |
X-45 | Boeing | DARPA, USAF | 2002 | Unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV)[4]:55 | ||
X-46 | Boeing | DARPA, USN | N/A | Unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV).[4]:56 | Naval use. Cancelled, never flew. | |
X-47A Pegasus X-47B | Northrop Grumman | DARPA, USN | 2003 | Unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV)[4]:57 | Naval use. | |
X-48 | Boeing | NASA | 2007 | Blended Wing Body (BWB)[4]:58 | ||
X-49 Speedhawk | Piasecki | US Army | 2007 | Compound helicopter Vectored Thrust Ducted Propeller (VTDP) testbed.[11] | ||
X-50 Dragonfly | Boeing | DARPA | 2003 | Canard Rotor/Wing[4]:60 | ||
X-51 Waverider | Boeing | USAF | 2010[12] | Hypersonic scramjet[13] | ||
X-52 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | Number skipped to avoid confusion with Boeing B-52 Stratofortress.[10] |
X-53 | Boeing | NASA, USAF | 2002 | Active Aeroelastic Wing[14] | ||
X-54 | Gulfstream | NASA | N/A | Low-noise supersonic transport[15] in development. | ||
X-55 | Lockheed Martin | USAF | 2009 | Advanced Composite Cargo Aircraft (ACCA)[16] | ||
X-56 | Lockheed Martin | USAF/NASA | 2012 | Active flutter suppression and gust load alleviation | Part of the high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) reconnaissance aircraft program.[17] | |
X-57 Maxwell | ESAero/Tecnam | NASA | 2016 | Low emission plane powered entirely by electric motors[18] | Part of NASA's Scalable Convergent Electric Propulsion Technology Operations Research project[18] (SCEPTOR) | |
X-59 QueSST | Lockheed Martin | NASA | 2018 | Prototype quiet supersonic transport aircraft[19] | ||
X-60A | Generation Orbit Launch Services | USAF | 2018 | Air-launched rocket for hypersonic flight research [20] |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to X-planes. |
The X-planes are a series of experimental United Statesaircraft and rockets, used to test and evaluate new technologies and aerodynamic concepts. They have an X designator, which indicates the research mission within the US system of aircraft designations.
Most of the X-planes have been operated by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) or, later, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), often in conjunction with the United States Air Force. The majority of X-plane testing has occurred at Edwards Air Force Base.[1]
Some of the X-planes have been well publicized, while others, such as the X-16, have been developed in secrecy.[2] The first, the Bell X-1, became well known in 1947 after it became the first aircraft to break the sound barrier in level flight.[3] Later X-planes supported important research in a multitude of aerodynamic and technical fields, but only the North American X-15rocket plane of the early 1960s achieved comparable fame to that of the X-1.[citation needed] X-planes 8, 9, 11, 12, and 17 were actually missiles[4]:14,15,17,18,24 used to test new types of engines, and some other vehicles were un-manned (some were remotely flown, some were partially or fully autonomous).
Adobe premiere pro cs5 portable. Most X-planes are not expected to go into full-scale production; one exception was the Lockheed Martin X-35, which competed against the Boeing X-32 during the Joint Strike Fighter Program, and has entered production as the F-35.[5]
Not all US experimental aircraft have been designated as X-planes; some received US Navy designations before 1962,[6] while others have been known only by manufacturers' designations,[N 1] non-'X'-series designations,[N 2] or classified codenames.[N 3]
Type | Manufacturer | Agency | Image | Date | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
X-1 | Bell | USAF, NACA | 1946 | High-speed and high-altitude flight | First aircraft to break the sound barrier in level flight. Proved aerodynamic viability of thin wing sections.[4]:5–7 | |
X-1A X-1B X-1C X-1D | Bell | USAF, NACA | 1951 | High-speed and high-altitude flight | ||
X-1E | Bell | USAF, NACA | 1955 | High-speed and high-altitude flight | ||
X-2 | Bell | USAF | 1952 | High-speed and high-altitude flight | First aircraft to exceed Mach 3.[4]:8 | |
X-3 Stiletto | Douglas | USAF, NACA | 1952 | Highly loaded trapezoidal wing | Titanium alloy construction; Underpowered, but provided insights into inertia coupling.[4]:9 | |
X-4 Bantam | Northrop | USAF, NACA | 1948 | Transonictailless aircraft[4]:10 | ||
X-5 | Bell | USAF, NACA | 1951 | variable geometry | First aircraft to fly with variable wing sweep.[4]:11 | |
X-6 | Convair | USAF, AEC | 1957 | Nuclear Propulsion | Not built. The Convair NB-36H was a B-36 modified to carry a nuclear reactor and flew from 1955 to 1957.[4]:12[7] | |
X-7 | Lockheed | USAF, USA, USN | 1951 | Ramjet engines.[4]:13 | ||
X-8 Aerobee | Aerojet | NACA, USAF, USN | 1949 | Upper air research[4]:14 | Later models used as sounding rockets. | |
X-9 Shrike | Bell | USAF | 1949 | Guidance and propulsion technology | Assisted development of GAM-63 Rascal missile.[4]:15 | |
X-10 | North American | USAF | 1953 | SM-64 Navajo missile testbed.[4]:16 | ||
X-11 | Convair | USAF | 1957 | SM-65 Atlas missile testbed.[4]:17 | ||
X-12 | Convair | USAF | 1957 | SM-65 Atlas missile testbed.[4][4]:18 | ||
X-13 Vertijet | Ryan | USAF, USN | 1955 | Vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) | tailsitting VTOL flight.[4]:19 | |
X-14 | Bell | USAF, NASA | 1957 | VTOL | Vectored thrust configuration for VTOL flight.[4]:20 | |
X-15 | North American | USAF, NASA | 1959 | Hypersonic, high-altitude flight | First manned hypersonic aircraft; capable of suborbital spaceflight.[4]:21–22 | |
X-15 A-2 | North American | USAF, NASA | 1964 | Hypersonic, high-altitude flight | Major Pete Knight flew the X-15 A-2 to a Mach 6.70, making it the fastest piloted flight of the X-plane program. | |
X-16 | Bell | USAF | 1954 | High-altitude reconnaissance[4]:23 | 'X-16' designation used to hide true purpose.[8] Cancelled and never flew. | |
X-17 | Lockheed | USAF, USN | 1956 | High Mach number reentry.[4]:24 | ||
X-18 | Hiller | USAF, USN | 1959 | Vertical and/or short take-off and landing (V/STOL) | Evaluated the tiltwing concept for VTOL flight.[4]:25 | |
X-19 | Curtiss-Wright | Tri-service | 1963 | Tandemtiltrotor VTOL[4]:26 | XC-143 designation proposed.[9] | |
X-20 Dyna-Soar | Boeing | USAF | 1963 | Reusable spaceplane | Military missions.[4]:27 Cancelled and never built. | |
X-21A | Northrop | USAF | 1963 | Boundary layer control[4]:28 | ||
X-22 | Bell | Tri-service | 1966 | Quad ducted fan tiltrotor STOVL[4]:29 | ||
X-23 PRIME | Martin Marietta | USAF | 1966 | Maneuvering atmospheric reentry[4]:30 | Designation never officially assigned.[10] | |
X-24A | Martin Marietta | USAF, NASA | 1969 | Low-speed lifting body[4]:31 | ||
X-24B | Martin Marietta | USAF, NASA | 1973 | Low-speed lifting body[4]:32 | ||
X-25 | Bensen | USAF | 1955 | Commercial light autogyro for downed pilots.[4]:33 | ||
X-26 Frigate | Schweizer | DARPA, US Army, USN | 1967 | Training glider for yaw-roll coupling Quiet observation aircraft[4]:34 | ||
X-27 | Lockheed | None | 1971 | High-performance fighter[4]:35 | Cancelled and never flew. | |
X-28 Sea Skimmer | Osprey | USN | 1970 | Low-cost aerial policing seaplane[4]:36 | ||
X-29 | Grumman | DARPA, USAF, NASA | 1984 | Forward-swept wing[4]:37 | ||
X-30 NASP | Rockwell | NASA, DARPA, USAF | 1993 | Single stage to orbitspaceplane[4]:38 | Cancelled and never built. | |
X-31 | Rockwell-MBB | DARPA, USAF, BdV | 1990 | Thrust vectoringsupermaneuverability[4]:39 | ||
X-32A | Boeing | USAF, USN, USMC, RAF | 2000 | Joint Strike Fighter[4]:40–41 | ||
X-32B | Boeing | USAF, USN, RAF | 2001 | Joint Strike Fighter[4]:40–41 | ||
X-33 Venture Star | Lockheed Martin | NASA | N/A | Half-scale reusable launch vehicle prototype.[4]:42 | Prototype never completed. | |
X-34 | Orbital Sciences | NASA | N/A | Reusable unmanned spaceplane.[4]:43 | Never flew. | |
X-35A | Lockheed Martin | USAF, USN, USMC, RAF | 2000 | Joint Strike Fighter[4]:44–45 | ||
X-35B | Lockheed Martin | USAF, USN, USMC, RAF | 2001 | Joint Strike Fighter[4]:44–45 | ||
X-35C | Lockheed Martin | USAF, USN, USMC, RAF | 2000 | Joint Strike Fighter[4]:44–45 | ||
X-36 | McDonnell Douglas | NASA | 1997 | 28% scale tailless fighter[4]:46 | ||
X-37 | Boeing | USAF, NASA | 2010 | Reusable orbital spaceplane[4]:47 | Drop test performed in 2006. Five flights since 22 April 2010. (Four launches on Atlas V; one on Falcon 9.) | |
X-38 | Scaled Composites | NASA | 1998 | Lifting body Crew Return Vehicle[4]:48 | ||
X-39 | Unknown | USAF | Classified | Future Aircraft Technology Enhancements (FATE) program.[4]:49 | Designation never officially assigned.[10] | |
X-40A | Boeing | USAF, NASA | 1998 | 80% scale Space Maneuver Vehicle X-37 prototype.[4]:50 | ||
X-41 | Unknown | USAF | Classified | Maneuvering re-entry vehicle.[4]:51 | ||
X-42 | Unknown | USAF | Classified | Expendable liquid propellant upper-stage rocket.[4]:52 | ||
X-43 Hyper-X | Micro Craft | NASA | 2001 | Hypersonic Scramjet[4]:53 | ||
X-44 MANTA | Lockheed Martin | USAF, NASA | N/A | F-22-based Multi-Axis No-Tail Aircraft thrust vectoring[4]:54 | Cancelled, never flew. | |
X-45 | Boeing | DARPA, USAF | 2002 | Unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV)[4]:55 | ||
X-46 | Boeing | DARPA, USN | N/A | Unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV).[4]:56 | Naval use. Cancelled, never flew. | |
X-47A Pegasus X-47B | Northrop Grumman | DARPA, USN | 2003 | Unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV)[4]:57 | Naval use. | |
X-48 | Boeing | NASA | 2007 | Blended Wing Body (BWB)[4]:58 | ||
X-49 Speedhawk | Piasecki | US Army | 2007 | Compound helicopter Vectored Thrust Ducted Propeller (VTDP) testbed.[11] | ||
X-50 Dragonfly | Boeing | DARPA | 2003 | Canard Rotor/Wing[4]:60 | ||
X-51 Waverider | Boeing | USAF | 2010[12] | Hypersonic scramjet[13] | ||
X-52 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | Number skipped to avoid confusion with Boeing B-52 Stratofortress.[10] |
X-53 | Boeing | NASA, USAF | 2002 | Active Aeroelastic Wing[14] | ||
X-54 | Gulfstream | NASA | N/A | Low-noise supersonic transport[15] in development. | ||
X-55 | Lockheed Martin | USAF | 2009 | Advanced Composite Cargo Aircraft (ACCA)[16] | ||
X-56 | Lockheed Martin | USAF/NASA | 2012 | Active flutter suppression and gust load alleviation | Part of the high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) reconnaissance aircraft program.[17] | |
X-57 Maxwell | ESAero/Tecnam | NASA | 2016 | Low emission plane powered entirely by electric motors[18] | Part of NASA's Scalable Convergent Electric Propulsion Technology Operations Research project[18] (SCEPTOR) | |
X-59 QueSST | Lockheed Martin | NASA | 2018 | Prototype quiet supersonic transport aircraft[19] | ||
X-60A | Generation Orbit Launch Services | USAF | 2018 | Air-launched rocket for hypersonic flight research [20] |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to X-planes. |
Hi All,
I'm curious as to how many aircraft X-plane 11 comes with? I was thinking of purchasing it through Steam, however I'm concerned that it only comes with a few aircraft from the original purchase? I can't seem to find anywhere a list of the exact aircraft available..
I've also looked on the X-plane store/forum website and noticed there are a few hundred planes you can download as a separate item, but didn't see as many as I thought I would. I'm particularly interested in being able to fly the CRJ200 or CRJ900. Side note: I noticed Steam offers the CRJ200 package, but for $60 freakin' dollars!!!!! Can somebody please help me out and explain what planes are available and how many are available to download for free after purchasing the game?
Thanks All and have a great day!
X-Plane | |
---|---|
Genre(s) | Flight simulator Vehicle simulation game |
Developer(s) | Laminar Research Austin Meyer |
Publisher(s) | Laminar Research Aerosoft |
Creator(s) | Austin Meyer |
Platform(s) | Android iOS Linux macOS WebOS Windows |
First release | 1[1][2] 1995 [1][2] |
Latest release | X-Plane 11.33; May 2019 |
X-Plane is a flight simulator produced by Laminar Research. X-Plane can be used professionally with the correct license,[3] or used personally. A personal use desktop version is available for macOS, Windows, and Linux, while a mobile version is available for Android, iOS, and webOS.[4]X-Plane is packaged with several commercial, military, and other aircraft, as well as basic global scenery which covers most of the Earth. X-Plane also ships with other software to build and customize aircraft and scenery. X-Plane also has a plugin architecture that allows users to create their own modules, extending the functionality of the software by letting users create their own worlds or replicas of places on Earth. This is further enhanced by the Scenery Gateway which allows users to share airports with other users and eventually the airports are included by default in the base product.
On November 25, 2016, Laminar Research released the first public beta of X-Plane 11 to the general public.[5][6] A second public beta was released on December 6, 2016, which fixed some major bugs.[7] The official release of X-Plane 11 was on March 30, 2017.
X-Plane differentiates itself from other simulators by implementing an aerodynamic model called blade element theory.[8] Traditionally, flight simulators emulate the real-world performance of an aircraft by using empirical data in predefined lookup tables to determine aerodynamic forces such as lift or drag, which vary with differing flight conditions. These simulators sufficiently simulate the flight characteristics of the aircraft, specifically those with known aerodynamic data, but are not useful in design work, and do not predict the performance of aircraft when the actual figures are not available.
Blade element theory improves on this type of simulation by modelling the forces and moments on an aircraft and individually evaluating the parts that constitute it. Blade-element theory and other computational aerodynamic models are often used to compute aerodynamic forces in real time or pre-compute aerodynamic forces of a new design for use in a simulator employing lookup tables.
With blade element theory, a surface (e.g. wing) may be made up of many sections (1 to 4 is typical), and each section is further divided into as many as 10 separate subsections. After that, the lift and drag of each section are calculated, and the resulting effect is applied to the whole aircraft. When this process is applied to each component, the simulated aircraft will fly similar to its real-life counterpart. This approach allows users to design aircraft quickly and easily, as the simulator engine immediately illustrates how an aircraft with a given design might perform in the real world. X-Plane can model fairly complex aircraft designs, including helicopters, rockets, rotorcraft, and tilt-rotor craft.
Users are encouraged to design their own aircraft, and design software titled Plane Maker and Airfoil Maker are included with the program. This has created an active community of users who use the simulator for a variety of purposes. Since designing an aircraft is relatively simple and the flight model can help predict performance of real-world aircraft, several aircraft companies use X-Plane in their design process.[9] The CarterCopter uses X-Plane for flight training and research. X-Plane also contributed to the design of the Atlanticablended wing body aircraft.
Through the plugin interface, users can create external modules that extend the X-Plane interface, flight model or create new features. One such feature is the XSquawkBox plugin, which allows X-Plane users to fly on a worldwide shared air traffic control simulation network. Other work has been done in the area of improving X-Plane's flight model and even replacing entire facets of X-Plane's operation.
Maps and scenery are fully editable. While no tool is provided to edit the 3D mesh objects, there are tutorials for using the third party 3D modelers AC3D, SketchUp, Blender, and Autodesk 3ds Max[10]
X-Plane can connect to other X-Plane instances via a UDP/IP or TCP/IP network[11][12] for multiplayer flight simulation, networked multi-monitorX-Plane configurations or to plugins, such as Pilot Edge,[13] which themselves communicate with other X-Plane instances.[14][15][16]
The X-Plane IOS (Instructor Operation Station) can be used remotely (via the Internet) or locally (via a computer connected to the X-Plane session by a LAN) as part of a flight training session allowing a flight instructor to alter and control the aircraft in various ways. It can be used to simulate various aircraft system failures and also to change the weather, time, or location.
Multiple utilities are shipped with X-Plane 10/11 by Laminar Research for users to customize various aspects of the simulation.
World Editor is an overlay editor with a graphic user interface to facilitate editing of airports. With the most recent update, this utility global resources to allow users to submit data to be included in X-Plane by default with each update. The primary purpose of this tool is to modify and correct airport layouts. World Editor also can read the geographical coordinates in GeoTIFF files. In version 1.3r1, a new feature was added to allow users to submit airports using default assets to an Airport Scenery Gateway.[17]
The professional use version of X-Plane includes all the features of the personal use version, but has more capabilities depending on the license used. A commercial use license can be used which allows one to use X-Plane without being tied to a specific computer via eg. a disk or USB key. The commercial version also supports 'kiosk mode' in which X-Plane's settings can be locked via password protection.[18] The professional use version can also allow one to generate revenue from X-Plane related content.[18]
The professional use version allows FAA certified flight training hours to be logged, but, the computer system running X-Plane must be tested to meet minimum frame-rate requirements and have its hardware and all associated simulation hardware tested to be FAA certified. Furthermore, FAA certification may require expensive simulation hardware ( eg. professional flight simulation hardware ).[18][19]
The professional use version also enables the use of more advanced flight simulation hardware compared to the personal use version. For example, the professional use version is capable of cylindrical and spherical projection, which is commonly used in large and/or expensive professional flight simulators. The professional use version also has the ability to drive Garmin Real Simulator Units.[18][19]
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