X-Plane 11 is available in Beta test format. This is a free (but very limited) version of the new flight simulator, which is a development of X-Plane 10 that is streets ahead of its predecessor.
The scenery on screen has lost the plastic fields and lack of buildings look and now appears to be very close to what you would see out of a real aeroplane. The distance haze and lighting effects are amazingly good.
Also, the quality of the aircraft visuals is dramatically better that ever. This is my first landing approach on this simulator and it feels right. The controls respond smoothly and the changes in power and flap settings can be felt in the aircraft's response.
The possible views of the aircraft are very flexible. I am watching my landing from the ground in this shot.
The landing can be viewed from the cockpit, or as in this case, from the runway threshold. Any flaws in flying technique will show in these views.
Turning off of the runway, oops, must raise the flaps and turn off the landing lights.
Then it's time to park the aircraft and shut it down.
The beta demo version is useful for testing the capacity of your computer to handle this program. It will run on a 3Mhz dual core processor with 1GB of graphics without too many issues. I bit faster processor (I have a 3.5Mhz quad core processor) and the sim runs smoothly. This sim is highly recommended - I shall have a full version in the new year when I have the cash to hand.
($60 for the on line download version - and you get the download version of X-plane 10 free on the same activation key.)
http://www.x-plane.com/desktop/try-it/
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