Chapter 5: Features and Flight in X-Plane Extreme
From X-Plane Wiki
The X-Plane Extreme app features some of the biggest and fastest aircraft in the world. These planes are set in regions populated by mountains and canyons that are a thrill to fly through. The application comes with six map regions and eight jets. The standard time of day and weather conditions are available, as described in Chapter 2 of this manual. Multiplayer works as described in that section also, and the autopilots and navigation radios work as described in Chapter 12.
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Aircraft
The following aircraft are included in the Version 9.10 update to X-Plane Extreme:
- F-22 Raptor
- SR-71 Blackbird
- B-1 “The Bone”
- B-2 “The Jet”
- B-52 Stratofortress
- North American X-15
- XB-70 Valkyrie
- C-130 Hercules
These are six of the most unusual, and advanced aircraft ever created. Each has its own unique control system that radically affects the way the plane handles and how it must be flown. The aircraft included with X-Plane Extreme are stunningly different to fly—much more so than any other planes for X-Plane.
The F-22 Raptor
The F-22 Raptor is by far the most maneuverable and powerful fighter in the sky. Nothing else comes remotely close. An interesting point regarding the Raptor is that the thrust vectors up and down to steer the craft. This lets the plane pitch the nose up and down with full authority even at zero speed, simply by vectoring the thrust—it can even hang (nearly) motionless on its engines. This comes at a cost, though: When the pilot cuts the power, the craft loses that lift and maneuverability.
To see these thrust vectors, select an external view and turn on the visible force vectors (see Chapter 2). Give the craft full throttle and pull it into a sharp climb or push it into a sharp dive. Then, watch the thrust vectors tilt up or down, respectively, as seen in the image below.
The SR-71 Blackbird
The SR-71 Blackbird is the fastest jet aircraft in the world, able to exceed Mach 3 and break 70,000 feet. It still holds several world speed records set in the 1970s and 1980s. Many users wonder why it is, then, that the F-22 has a higher acceleration and top speed than the SR-71 at low altitudes. Simply put, each plane is designed for a different mission and operational envelope. The SR-71 was designed as a spy plane and is absolutely untouchable (even 40 years later) in high-altitude, straight and level flight. In 1977 a Russian MiG-25 (Russia’s premier interceptor and attack aircraft) made an attempt to intercept an SR-71 at nearly 70,000 feet. The Russian aircraft completely trashed its engines trying to keep up, though it could momentarily hit Mach 3. The Blackbird simply pulled away. The SR-71 at 50,000 feet or higher will leave any other aircraft in the dust, even the mighty F-22.
Users may notice that even in the SR-71, the craft's indicated airspeed will be very low (on the order of only 100 knots or so). This is expected and is due to the fact that the air at such a high altitude has a very, very low density. Thus, there are very few molecules of air that are getting rammed into the aircraft’s instrumentation system, as compared to flying through the very thick air of low altitudes. Once again, the aircraft's gauges display the indicated airspeed, not necessarily the true airspeed.
Flying the SR-71 is like balancing three checkbooks at once. The pilot must maintain control of the craft's speed, altitude, and flight controls at once in order to reach the craft’s maximum speed of Mach 3 at over 70,000 feet.
The B-1 "The Bone"
The B-1 “The Bone” bomber has almost full-span flaps (that is, the flaps cover nearly the full wingspan), leaving very little room for ailerons. Thus, spoilers must be used for roll control, as well as differentially deflecting all-moving stabilators (the horizontal tail surfaces) to aid in roll control. Despite the huge flaps and multiple roll controls, this huge, ungainly bird still has terribly high stall speeds and a limited roll rate due to its high weight. If pilots can get this plane around the sky and down in one piece, they are doing well!
This aircraft uses variable wing sweep to allow the plane to fly at incredible speeds. When the wing sweep slider is moved down (as in the image below), the wings will slowly move to their aft position.
This causes the center of lift to move aft, forcing the nose down. Thus, the craft must be moving at a very high rate of speed, close to Mach 1 before the wings are swept backwards. Sweep the wings rearward slowly and carefully and let X-Plane automatically add trim to hold the nose up. Move the SWEEP slider a bit (thus moving the wings back a bit) and wait a few seconds as the trim automatically pulls the nose up a bit. When things have stabilized, sweep the wings a bit further and wait for a few more seconds. Do this three or four times to get the wings swept all the way back.
The B-2 Spirit
The next aircraft in X-Plane Extreme is the B-2 Spirit, otherwise known as the “Stealth Bomber.” The B-2, quite uniquely, has no tail. At all. There is no vertical stabilizer, no horizontal stabilizer, and no flaps. Instead, ailerons on the wingtips split open to add drag on the left or right side of the plane to give yaw control.
A fly-by-wire system coupled to multiple flight control surfaces makes this aircraft manageable, and really rather nice to fly. Actually, this aircraft is literally unflyable without the flight control computers, which continually make small inputs to keep the plane flying the way (and direction) the pilot commands.
The B-52 Stratofortress
The B-52 Stratofortress (informally known as the BUFF—the Big, Ugly, Fat ––––) is a huge eight-engined bomber, originally designed during the Cold War to carry nuclear weapons.
This monster of a plane needs about 230 knots (with one-third flaps) to get off the ground, and it has a maximum speed of about 650 miles per hour at 20,000 feet.
The X-15
The North American X-15 is a rocket-powered speed demon. With a top speed of Mach 6.72 (4520 miles per hour), it is the fastest manned aircraft in the world. To begin flight, this craft is dropped, uniquely, from the B-52 "mothership." Its top speed is over double that of the SR-71 (the world's fastest jet airplane), and its maximum altitude of over 50 miles qualifies its pilots for astronaut status.
The craft's absurdly high top speed requires a blast shield to be installed over one side of the windshield—without it, the windows would burn up. Thus, the X-15 pilots would fly the high speed portion of the mission with the shield on the right side, looking out the left side only. After the craft slowed down (and the left window was sufficiently charred), the pilot would jettison the blast shield and move to the right window in order to land.
When the X-15 is selected from the Settings menu, X-Plane will load up the B-52 to drop it from. Go to the HUD view (if desired) and touch the screen as instructed. Drag the throttle to the top of the screen, take the flaps up, and watch its airspeed "rocket"—that is, until it gains enough altitude, at which point its indicated airspeed will drop to maybe 15 knots, while it is actually moving at Mach 6.
Watch your fuel gauge while flying this one—at full throttle, it takes only a couple minutes to go from a full to an empty tank.
The XB-70 Valkyrie
The XB-70 was a prototype bomber designed during the 1950s, able to exceed Mach 3 at 70,000 feet. Like the SR-71, it diffuses the vast amounts of heat produced by friction when flying at Mach 3 by circulating fuel through its outer skin.
This high-speed, high-altitude design worked well for avoiding the threat posed by interceptor aircraft. With the advent of Soviet anti-aircraft missiles in the late 1950s, though, this strategy fell out of favor, replaced by low-altitude aircraft that could only be detected (and fired at!) at much shorter distances.
The C-130 Hercules
The C-130 is a versatile military transport plane, used across the world as a gunship, airlifter, search-and-rescue craft, and even firefighter. Its six turboprop engines give it a top speed of 320 knots. It holds the record for the longest continuous production run among military aircraft, and the record for the heaviest aircraft to be landed on an aircraft carrier.
Approximate Takeoff Speeds
Listed below are the approximate takeoff speeds for the aircraft in X-Plane Extreme. Note that it is a good idea to add a few knots to these speeds in order to provide a “speed cushion” that prevents stalling.
Approximate Takeoff Speeds Aircraft Approx. Takeoff Speed (knots) F-22 115 SR-71 145 B-52 230 B-1 170 B-2 110 X-15 N/A XB-70 200 C-130 120
Regions and Airports
The regions listed below, with their respective airports, are available in the Version 9.52 update of X-Plane Extreme.
The Southern California region spans the coast of California from Imperial Beach in the south to Barstow in the northeast to Edwards Air Force Base in the northwest. It includes San Bernardino International (KSBD), San Diego International (KSAN), and Ontario International (KONT) airports.
The Kathmandu region centers around Tribhuvan International Airport (VNKT), located in the mountains of Nepal.
The Juneau region centers on Juneau International Airport (PAJN). With lots of frigid water and snowy mountains, it makes for a beautiful flight.
The Van Nuys region extends from Mojave in the northeast to Thousand Oaks in the southwest. Prominent airports include Van Nuys Airport (KVNY) and Bob Hope Airport (KBUR) in Burbank.
The Edwards AFB region spans from Sequoia National Forest in the northwest all the way down to San Bernardino in the southeast. It includes Van Nuys Airport (KVNY) in the southwest, as well as Ontario International Airport (KONT) and, of course, Edwards Air Force Base (KEDW).
The fictitious Canyons region is filled with five airports and lots and lots of canyons. You're virtually guaranteed to have some mountain peaks in view any time you tap the 'Random Location button in the Map screen.
Taking Off and Flying
Let’s go through the basics of takeoff and flight in X-Plane Extreme’s default aircraft, the F-22 Raptor.
First, tap the BRAKES button on the lower left of the screen to turn the brakes off. Because of the excessive amount of power available in the Raptor, flaps are not required to take off. Drag the throttle (the scroll bar on the left) slowly all the way to the top. This will give the aircraft full power. Tilt the phone or iPod left and right to steer down the runway (being careful not to hit the plane in front of you), holding the device at about a 45 degree pitch (for a neutral elevator). When the craft reaches about 120 knots (indicated by the scrolling tape on the left side of the screen), tilt the device back toward you to raise the nose, and away you go.
Keep in mind that this airplane is excessively powerful and that is also uses thrust vectoring—that is, it points its exhaust up and down on each engine independently to aid in roll and pitch control. The engines produce more than 35,000 pounds of thrust each when in full afterburner. Compare that with the F-16 which puts out about 24,000 pounds of thrust total. Because the Raptor’s engines vector the thrust up and down with the flight controls, yanking the stick back rapidly while on the runway will cause the engine's thrust to slam the tail into the ground and the nose will point excessively high upward. User in the past have commented that this is not possible, that the Raptor cannot possibly take off in such a short distance. Of course, the plane has not really taken off yet—it's just sliding down the runway dragging its tail on the asphalt. Look at the altimeter to determine when the aircraft is actually in the air and climbing.
Once off the ground, tilt the device left and right to steer. Hit the GEAR button to raise the landing gear and make sure the FLAP slider is at the top of the screen. Hold the nose up about 30 degrees or so as the plane climbs out. In the climb, both the gear and flaps should be up. Given the amazing power this airplane produces, the throttle can be brought back a bit in order to get out of afterburner mode.
Note that the altitude is displayed on the tape on the right, and the vertical speed is printed right underneath it. The aircraft’s speed relative to the speed of sound (its current Mach number) is displayed in the lower left, directly beneath the airspeed indicator. Once again, the craft's indicated airspeed may be different from its true airspeed due to the design of the instrument itself. This becomes especially important at high altitudes, where there is little to no air hitting against the airspeed measuring device on the body of the craft.
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