Author: DaveLTB

Did you know that in the HUD (Heads Up Display) of most aircraft in X-Plane there is a tool that helps you to visually align your aircraft to the the runway touchdown point when you have a crosswind messing you around.

The Velocity Vector (often referred to as the Flight Path Vector or FPV, and represented on the HUD as a small circle with tiny wings, sometimes called the “bird”) is one of the most powerful instruments on a HUD in X-Plane.

Instead of showing where the aircraft’s nose is pointing (pitch and yaw), the velocity vector shows where the aircraft is actually physically moving relative to the outside world.

If there is a crosswind from the left, the velocity vector will be displaced to the right of the aircraft’s centerline/boresight cross.

To fly a precise ground track, you keep the velocity vector locked onto the desired meridian or runway extended centerline, rather than the nose symbol.

Did you notice that there is no more “Open Checklist” in the File menu drop-down of X-Plane12? I didn’t even notice when it was actually removed. True, it was a little limited, but for those who want to keep their installations “plugin free” that option just isn’t there anymore.

However, having stated the bad news, all is not lost. I presume one of the reasons for the removal is that there is a very good – very stable – absolutely no trouble – freeware – plugin available called XChecklist created by @sparker . If you have never seen this plugin, download it and try it out. There are many, many checklists published on this forum which are compatible with X-Checklist, so you are are bound to find one for your favourite aircraft. In fact, it is very easy to create your own checklist with nothing more than a humble text editor.

The plugin will work on Windows, Mac and Linux. And the good news is that it is far more capable than the original Laminar checklist.

When you are parked at a gate, you often cannot see the Taxi Route Arrows once ATC gives you permission to Taxi.

Your first assumption is that there is no taxi-arrow indication available for this airport. However, that is very unlikely. Instead, you may well find that the arrows are behind you or obscured or too far away to see. The solution is to go into Free Camera mode by pressing the key and then use the arrow keys to rise right out of the cockpit and then look around:

Here we find the arrows pointing back behind the aircraft.

Did you know that when ATC give you weird instructions, you can actually discover what it has in mind.

Click the menu: Developer –> Toggle Air Traffic Paths. Now, to see what ATC has in mind, bring up the map view window [M] and you’ll see a green line representing the track that ATC wants you to follow.

This “map confirmation” of ATC intentions goes a long way toward re-assuring us that ATC has not forgotten all about us.

When flying a turboprop aircraft like the insanely high-powered Lancair Evolution, in order to taxi effectively you will need to use the power lever (throttle) in sometimes in Alpha and sometimes in Beta thrust ranges.

Alpha range controls a variable prop pitch and is used in normal flight and straight-line taxiing, while Beta range is a prop pitch that is so fine that the propeller has far less effect on forward thrust and is used when using toe brakes to turn. They are both ranges of pitch.

To understand more about what Alpha and Beta power ranges are, go to this thread where @philipp , @SteveDe and @skycycle explain this in much more detail on the X-Plane.org forum.

Since most airports in X-Plane are fitted with fully functional PAPI or VASI lights, the question arises whether it is better to use them or rather use the runway aiming points. Here is a very simple, concise, but beautifully illustrated article on the Boldmethod site (aimed at real-world pilots) that is well worth the 5-minute read. Click here.