Chapter 1: Introduction to X-Plane Mobile

The X-Plane Mobile apps are fun little “slices” of the X-Plane desktop flight simulator that are just the right size to run on Android devices, the Palm Pre, and Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch.

The X-Plane Mobile applications use a flight model that is about 95% as accurate as the one used by the desktop simulator—that is, 95% as accurate as the simulator currently being used by companies like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and NASA. (The Android app's flight model is closer to 85% as accurate as the desktop sim, which isn't bad considering it uses only a tiny fraction of the device's CPU.) Each of the $10 “slices” comes with four to seven aircraft that can be used to explore the virtual skies of three to six regions of the globe, spanning from America’s West Coast to the capital of Nepal.

Updates to the X-Plane Mobile applications are released periodically. As the graphics, flight model, and interface technology are improved on one X-Plane Mobile app, all the applications will be updated—for free! We have big plans for the future of the mobile sim!

The goal of the mobile X-Plane apps is to have most of the fun and power of the full desktop version available in a portable form. Due to these devices’ limited RAM and screen area, this will be broken into a number of little “pieces” of the desktop simulator. By pricing at only $10 (or less), though, we can offer a pretty amazing value for each of these pieces of the X-Plane desktop simulator.

Youtube has a number of videos of users demonstrating X-Plane for the iPhone and iPod Touch. These can make for a faster learning experience than reading the manual, though they are obviously less detailed. It is suggested that users interested in the following links go watch the videos, then come back at a later time to read the manual:


 * Introduction to X-Plane on the iPhone and iPod Touch


 * Visual Guide to Flying X-Plane Helicopter


 * Review and Guide for X-Plane Airliner (Note that the description of the autopilot system here is incorrect—see Chapter 12: Advanced Functions of X-Plane for the iPhone and iPod Touch for a correct description.)

Note: Definitions for the aviation-specific terms used in the manual can be found in the Mobile Glossary of Terms. Users unfamiliar with the terms used in the manual may consult this for reference.