Page 3
Extraordinary X-Plane
by Bob "Groucho" MarksOn Top
True to the technical modeling of flight as emulated in X-Plane, the aircraft fly with an incredible feeling of authenticity. That isn’t to say that they fly nicely---airplanes with nasty characteristics will often do evil things. An example is the included Space Shuttle Orbiter. The autopilot is necessary to fly the Orbiter, and the dog is needed to bite any crewmember that tries to touch the autopilot. The real thing has only been hand-flown from re-entry to touchdown only once. Fly the Orbiter in X-Plane, and you’ll easily see why. At the upper fringes of the atmosphere and hypersonic airspeeds, merely keeping the tapered end of the Orbiter going forward requires a huge amount of concentration.
The same goes for the spiritual forefather of the Orbiter, the North American X-15 research aircraft. Launching from a B-52 carrier aircraft (very cool, by the way), you reach Mach 4 and over 90,000ft in no time and with little problems. It’s the flight home, after motor burnout, that’s tricky. Forced to use a combination of reaction control motors and aerodynamic surfaces in the thin reaches of the atmosphere, the X-15 had a tendency to swap ends at high mach and altitudes---a characteristic that killed a NASA test pilot in the sixties. Guess what the X-15 in X-Plane wants to do? In the dozen or so flights I’ve attempted in the X-15, I’ve successfully landed it once, and even then nowhere near Edwards Air Force Base.
Flying wings are modeled very well in X-Plane.
Flight in less exotic aircraft can also be a challenge, largely due to the excellent weather modeling in X-Plane. The weather can be set manually, or METAR reports can be downloaded and dropped into X-Plane for real-time meteorological conditions. There is a third party utility that allows for weather to be automatically loaded into X-Plane and continuously updated at user-selected intervals.
A SR-71 awaits a snowy takeoff. Note the snowdrifts--the weather effects are awesome.
Regardless of how your weather is entered into X-Plane, it is soon apparent that Austin has put a lot of work into making your virtual flying career more . . . interesting. Blundering into a severe thunderstorm cell in my shiny, new Gulfstream V, the tension as I make my decidedly non-IFR approach into Palm Springs is almost palpable. Rain pelts against the windshield, lightning flashes brilliantly, and the occasional microburst pummels your craft mercilessly as the ‘Bitchin' Betty’ chants WIND SHEAR! WIND SHEAR! I know I’m in mountainous terrain, but where . . .?
Snowstorms are also modeled with a sort of sadistic glee. After firing up the excellent X-Plane Weather AutoLoad utility and downloading the latest weather, I decided to take a pleasure cruise from hell by flying from the blizzard-shrouded Duluth (Minnesota) International Airport to Oshkosh, Wisconsin in a Rutan Long-Eze. Sitting on the runway at Duluth, I stare at the beautifully rendered snowdrifts being blown across the runway. Is this a good idea? No, absolutely not---but this is the joy of simulation! I cob the throttle forward and furiously work the rudder pedals against the gusty crosswinds. Sucking up the retractable nose wheel and lifting up into the low cloud deck, I watch my instruments closely as the outside references leave me. As I struggle to keep the clean side up in the intense turbulence, a yellow text warning begins flashing “Airframe Ice Visible.” D’Oh! Not having any de-icing gear on my composite homebuilt, I decide to press on and attempt to get “on top” before the ice builds too thick and alters my airfoil for the worse.
No joy. Soon, I notice that my fiberglass rocket is no longer climbing; in fact, I’ve picked up a serious rate of decent that no amount of power can overcome. I plummet out of the low cloud deck and impact fatally into the thick blanket of snow, another NTSB statistic. Could I have prevented this horrible tragedy? Absolutely---by not taking off into a howling blizzard in the first place!
Somebody has A LOT of explaining to do!
Structural limits are also to be respected. You will pull the wings, or other necessary appendages, off if they are overstressed or otherwise handled with less than due care and attention. As the screenshots testify, I tried some high speed maneuvering tests below 10,000 feet in a heavily loaded B-2 bomber and lost a wing for my trouble. Tumbling wildly through the air, I would have had plenty of time and altitude to yank the yellow-and-black handles to eject. X-Plane, however, doesn’t model emergency egress. This is definitely OK with me. After breaking a 2 billion dollar airplane in such a stupid fashion, I don’t think I would have bothered to even attempt to save myself. See, civilian sims can be fun!
The Cessna 172--the Chevy of the air.
Click Here for Printer Version
© 1997 - 2000 COMBATSIM.COM, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
