Which X-Plane 10 add-ons should I get for my vanilla XP10?

[skyhawk1254D]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post and I would like to thank Pilotedge for the great product!

I am new to X-Plane 10 and Pilotedge since last week.
I am a real world VFR ASEL pilot and have flown most of my hours in a C172SP with G1000.

So far I have not installed any plugins/addons to X-Plane 10 (besides Pilotedge of course, and the built-in support for ForeFlight on the iPad).
Which add-ons can you recommend to make Pilotedge with X-Plane 10 even better?

I am particularly interested in the following:
- a method to monitor ATIS frequency on radio #2 while talking to ATC on radio #1
- a scenery for the PEcoverage area (i like the autogen scenery, but I wish there were more landmarks and airport buildings - will osm2xp and opensceneryx help?)
- a way to change the callsign that is displayed on the dashboard / tail of the aircraft
- is there a better alternative to the C172 that came with X-Plane 10? I really like the A2A C172 for FSX.

Thank you
N1254D

[Keith Smith]

Welcome to PilotEdge and to the world of X-Plane.

You can find a lot of scenery here linked from this thread: viewtopic.php?f=12&t=186

Regarding the ATIS, back when we only supported the COM1 radio, you could tune the ATIS on COM2 without issue. However, now that we support both radios (in the Windows build, the next Mac build will have it, too), we've lost the ability to monitor both radios at once. Just let ATC know that you need to go off frequency to get the ATIS, or use a separate solution for checking remote weather (such as ForeFlight). The runway information that's given by the ATIS may not match what we're actually using, so you truly only care about the weather at the field, which can be obtained from numerous other sources as you know.

The tail number of the plane is usually baked into the cockpit as a texture, rather than being programatically generated, so there isn't much you can conveniently do there.

There are better 172's from Carenado and Jason Chandler (http://air.c74.net) for X-Plane if you're in the market for a 172.

I've always found it beneficial to fly aircraft which are a bit faster in the sim to be able get the flight done in shorter time, experience more frequency changes and workload, etc. Aircraft like the stock Baron are good examples. There was a time when I was flying the Piper Warrior non-stop, though, while I was learning the basics of instrument flying.

[Jeff N]

Welcome!

A G1000 equipped version of the standard C172 is available for free on x-plane.org:
http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?app ... file=20015 I would go into PlaneMaker and change the viewpoint so that you're sitting a little higher than default, otherwise the panel blocks too much of your view. If you need help with that just ask.

Unfortunately, there is no X-Plane equivalent to the A2A C172, at least for now.

To get ATIS on COM2, just dial the frequency on that radio and hit the COM2 switch on the audio panel while you're already monitoring COM1. I believe that's something you can only do on X-Plane. Some planes will require that you assign a key, or button/switch if you have a yoke or switch panel.

For scenery, download OpenSceneryX then go here for airports and landmarks: http://www.xpscenery.net/map.php?continent=3 Be sure to grab the VFR Transition Visual References file, very helpful for the different KLAX VFR routes: http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?app ... file=15989

Note that there are multiple options for some of the airports on that map. I've tried them all. For KSNA, I'd go with this file, as it also contains a very well-done KFUL (which oddly isn't mentioned anywhere): http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?app ... file=14351

For photoscenery, go here: http://simheaven.com/?wpfb_s=los+angeles&page_id=322 and here: http://simheaven.com/?wpfb_s=las+vegas&page_id=322 Massive downloads but very worth it.

Changing the outside tail number is easy if you're familiar with using Photoshop or other photo editors. Just open the appropriate files in the "liveries" folder and modify them. The panel, not so much. Haven't figured that out yet.

Good luck!

EDIT: Just saw that Keith responded before I finished my post - go with his info re: COM2 (although somehow I'm able to use both radios simultaneously on my Windows setup).

[Mooniac]

I haven't tried the stock G1000 in x-plane, but I understand that like the G430 that I use in the rw, that it has just minimal functionality (pretty much just the option to go direct to a waypoint, no flightplans). In the real world, my plane does not have an autopilot and I'm very dependent on maximizing the use of the 430 to reduce workload so I really needed a 430 sim that has most of the functionality of the real thing. I've heard that RealityXP is good, but it isn't available for 64bit and the company appears to have lost interest in supporting it. The best alternative seemed to be SimAvio which was more expensive (about $150) and really needs at least a dual monitor setup. I went with that and am very happy with it so far, other than that it wasn't compatible with the Carenado Mooney M20J I was flying to try and be similar to my rw flying. The 430 in AvSim is quite good, allowing me to do flightplans including modifications to them. The only things so far that I've noticed it doesn't do, are SIDs, so I just have to plug in any SID waypoints manually. I also found last night that it doesn't do DME arc approaches very well.

The panel in AvSim is fantastic. Very clear, readable and easy to manipulate. I happened to have purchased a new computer recently (before getting into x-plane and PE), which is a Dell with a 27" touchscreen. I use that monitor for the instrument panel, and have the outside view on an old 20" monitor that sits above the 27". Since I'm really focusing on IFR practice with more focus on instruments than the view, that setup works out great. I can control all of the instruments with my finger rather than having to use the mouse or shortcut keys. It seems like a really good setup for me, without having to go to the expense of multiple computers and monitors with custom panels, etc. If I decide in the future to make the system more elaborate, I might add a second CPU with three monitors to handle the scenery and still use the touchscreen for the panel. But other than the fun factor of having wrap around scenery, it probably wouldn't really make a difference for IFR work.

[JN_]

Welcome!

To get ATIS on COM2, just dial the frequency on that radio and hit the COM2 switch on the audio panel while you're already monitoring COM1. I believe that's something you can only do on X-Plane. Some planes will require that you assign a key, or button/switch if you have a yoke or switch panel.

[...]

EDIT: Just saw that Keith responded before I finished my post - go with his info re: COM2 (although somehow I'm able to use both radios simultaneously on my Windows setup).

I was under the impression that this was not supported and would not work, so I had to try this for myself. Well, it turns out it does work! I tuned KSNA GND on com1, and KSNA ATIS on com2. I then tuned to "transmit" com1, and "monitor" com2. I was able to hear the ATIS while doing a successful com check with GND.

I use Carenado C172N, and the com switches in this aircraft are a little haywire, so I have the commands mapped to the keyboard (F1 - transmit_audio_com1, F2 - transmit_audio_com2, F3 - monitor_audio_com1, F4 - monitor_audio_com2). If your aircraft supports all of the necessary switches properly, you should be able to just manipulate the switches.

[Keith Smith]

Yep, our plugin is reading the transmit variable. Xplane is reading the monitor variable...so it all works out.

[mdolislager]

Sorry to slightly change topic on this post quick, but now I am confused.

Yesterday I was trying my first flight with the CRJ200 online. Tried to use both COM1 and COM2 for GND, TWR, etc. Had COM2 selected and transmit switch on 2 as well and still ended up calling tower on accident from COM1. Clearly, the COM2 transmit wasn't working but I heard the reply with everything set to COM2. I'm on a Mac running 32-bit since the 64-bit plugin for Mac isn't out yet. My understanding reading the thread was that it wouldn't work for Mac but reading further makes it seem like it is capable and I may have done something wrong...

[Keith Smith]

The Mac plugin only transmits on COM1 at the moment (I think I mentioned that above). You should be able to receive the ATIS on COM2 very easily on the Mac because PE doesn't read the TX setting at all, so if you have a simple panel that links TX and RX then you can still swap to COM2 with impunity (to get an ATIS from xplane on com2) and PE will still use com1...again, mac only. This is simply because the Mac build was never updated (or more accurately, wasn't re-released) when the ability to transmit on com2 was added.

[mdolislager]

Got it. Thanks Keith!

Carry on with the XP 10 add-ons

[Keith Smith]

I use FSEconomy, PE and that's it in terms of plugins.