I’m Dave Britzius, on X-Plane.org, you probably know me as DaveLTB, where I manage the weekly X-Plane Tips column. I do the writing, research, and technical work of Flying-Low; my business partner handles the business side and works with me on the graphics and book creation.
I am based in a small seaside town in South Africa just North of Cape Town.
What right have I to be your X-Plane guide?
I actually trained for a real Private Pilot’s Licence right here in South Africa where I live. I was preparing for my first solo flight when I was diagnosed with glaucoma and promptly grounded. Real-world aviation was simply no longer an option. Flight simulation became the next best thing, and then it became a genuine passion in its own right. If you’ve ever wondered why these handbooks go into the kind of depth they do, that’s why: I’m not writing about a hobby I dabble in; I’m writing about the closest I can get to a cockpit I was never allowed to fly.
That depth also comes from a career spent in a few different worlds — photography, electronics magazine publishing, CAD lecturing, computer hardware — but they all taught me the same lesson: good technical writing means showing people exactly how to do something hands-on, not just telling them about it.
If you’d like to read a little more about me, the big X-Plane.org portal published an interview about me. Click here to read it.
I’ve published 14 handbooks so far, ranging from 200 to over 800 pages — and they tend to grow with every update, as I add whatever I’ve since learned, or whatever might have changed in X-Plane. They’re written with beginners to X-Plane firmly in mind — nobody gets left behind by jargon or assumed knowledge, but I hear regularly from experienced hobbyists, and even real-world pilots, who tell me they’ve picked up something new too. My books are not meant to replace the official X-Plane documentation, but rather to supplement it.
Why buy your e-books here instead of at another on-line store?
You can buy my books wherever you like – X-Plane.org and Simmarket.com both carry them – and I’m genuinely glad they do. Wherever you buy, you’re entitled to every future update, always free. The catch is simply this: those other stores don’t tell me who’s bought what, so I have no way to contact you or let you know when an update is ready unless you’re on my mailing list. Buy here, and you’re automatically on that list. You’ll then get notification of every update to your book directly, without you needing to go hunting through forums to find out if one exists.
Copy Protection
None of my books has copy protection. That’s a deliberate choice, not an oversight. DRM is a nuisance for honest readers, so I don’t use it — which does leave me exposed to piracy, and I know it happens. But here’s why it doesn’t worry me much: my updates are substantial enough, often enough, that a pirated copy is out of date before long, while anyone who bought the book honestly always has a claim to the current version, free, whenever I release it. Buying direct isn’t just about supporting my work — it’s the best way to ensure that you stay current.
Future
Right now I’m deep into what might be the most ambitious project yet — a study-level Vickers Viscount for X-Plane. Click here for some progress screenshots if you’re interested. It’s a huge amount of work!
Thanks for stopping by.