X-Plane has been around almost as long as Microsoft's perhaps more famous offering, Flight Simulator. This page explains the basics of how to get started with X-Plane 11, and provides links to the most useful websites to help new X-Planers get started. X-Plane Introduced should answer many if not all of beginners questions.
In this article, Club member Frank Fisher explains what X-Plane is, why and how it differs from Microsoft FSX or Lockheed-Maretin's Prepar3D, and delves into some techy detail in the process. The objective is simply to persuade you to try X-Plane 11 (the Demo version is free).
Frank Fisher describes the folder structure of the X-Plane 11 installation, and highlights files and folders most of interest to the user.
Frank Fisher digs into the Custom Scenery folder in X-Plane, and describes the structure and technology behind all the amazing, often freeware, custom scenery you can install to enhance your X-Plane experience.
With X-Plane now installed, and a few flights under your belt, with your aircraft of choice departing and arriving at aerodromes you have selected from the menus. The next step is flying online. For this, you will need a number of plugins. These are described as follows: -
XPUIPC carries out the same basic functions as FSUIPC for the FSX family of sims, but with fewer useful extra features. It provides bridge between X-Plane and external apps like Plan-G. This program goes into the x-plane/resources/plugins folder on your PC. It works in the background and should be trouble-free. For this reason, it isn't visible in the X-Plane menu.
XSquawkbox is a similar program to SQUAWKBOX for FSX, and again goes into the plugins folder. Xsquawkbox will then be observed in the plugins menu at the top of the main X-Plane screen. Click on the option to open it. You will need to enter your name and VATSIM ID and select a server as usual to log into VATSIM. XSquawkbox needs a number of AI aircraft (visual models) to match online traffic so that you see the correct aircraft if someone is flying online in your vicinity. These are held in CSL files. The CSL Updater is included in the XSquawkbox download. Unzip and place the files in a new folder, then run the exe file. Go to the file menu, and navigate to the csl folder, x-plane/resources/plugins/xsquawkbox/resources/csl. Select all and update, and go and make a cup of tea, as it may take a while to download and install.
If you are also a member of IVAO, you can get XIVAP from the usual place, I believe that the CSL installer is included in the download, same as above.
Our member Drago Blagojavic is an X-Plane enthusiast on a mission to persuade diehard Microsoft Simulator pilots to try X-Plane. Because they are so different, such a change can be a daunting prospect or a journey too far. This tutorial is designed to help newcomers get started with X-Plane and make it look amazing almost for free by including mostly freeware addons.