X-Plane is an advanced flight simulator engine developed and released by Laminar Research as open source software. There is an application for Windows as well as various other platforms. It can be downloaded free of charge, but requires payment for its commercial version which is sold as a commercial product. Laminar Research offers two different versions of X-Plane: A commercial product and a freeware. Freeware has limited capabilities and is not recommended for beginners who wish to learn more about the aircraft and flying modes.
X-Plane offers excellent flight simulator flight dynamics, along with highly realistic control methods for every aircraft configuration. Its main drawback is that it does not have a comprehensive support for hardware that is used in airplanes and helicopters. For example, many external controls do not work with this engine. However, most users do not realize this and download and try the engine without realizing that many features are only available with a specific aircraft type. This free flight simulator application offers excellent graphics for all devices, but some users may find its limited hardware support disappointing.
The commercial version is superior to the free version due to the fact that it contains more features and is sold at a higher price. Some of the features included in the commercial version include the Bell model viewer, the ability to connect to the internet, extensive help files and options, more realistic aerodynamic models, and more. The other major difference between the free and commercial versions is the number of choices and customizations that users have. This version also incorporates Bell's easy-to-fly aircraft collections. The Bell model viewer allows users to view many different types of X-Plane aircraft and design a virtual flight environment by choosing the type of aircraft and the layout they want to build.
