X-Plane 10 + PilotEdge = Great experience

[sgabriel]

I filed IFR from KSMX to KAVX on Sunday afternoon (2012-04-21, c.1800z) and what a great time! Departing in VMC and traversing varying IMC into KAVX, which was VMC, in the late afternoon light, was truly exciting. I'm a VFR-rated pilot in the real world; it was amazing in the simulator to experience the legendary sensory temptations of flying in and out of marginal and changing visibility in the demanding IFR environment! The qualities of X-Plane 10's new weather and visual engines really shone through on this flight.

As for demanding... whoever seemed to be controlling the entirety of Southern California (clr/gnd/ctr/app/dep/adn probably ATIS as well for every airport in the region) did an exceptional job this day! Incredibly competent, professional, and patient at the same time. Bravo to you, sir.

PilotEdge is a real breakthrough. You folks are doing a fantastic job and I wish more people were in on it!

Thanks for a great experience. Looking forward to the next.

[Keith Smith]

Great to hear! Yes, XP10 is something special isn't it? I have always said that the weather engine in xp10 represents a massive leap forward for VFR flying, and more importantly Aernonautical Decision Making (ADM) exercises for VFR pilots.

In most sims, the weather that's loaded at any given time is uniform. That means you can go from screamin' VFR to hardcore IMC in one fell swoop. That just doesn't happen in real life. With XP10, you can SEE the bad weather ahead of you and start taking action right away. It's not just pretty eye candy (although XP10 has lots of that, too), it REALLY changes what you can do in the sim.

Truthfully, I'm not thrilled that we have our controllers stretched so thin on w/ends (to accommodate Oakland), but it won't be like that forever. Don't feel too bad for 'em, they're not updating ATIS

Thanks for taking the time to post your experience.