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X-Plane v 9.0 | 
| From: Valusoft
Category: Video Games
List Price: $29.99
Buy New: $19.50
as of 9/9/2010 09:43 PDT details
You Save: $10.49 (35%)
New (17) Used (6) from $17.67
Seller: andersenjb
Rating:  52 reviews
Sales Rank: 1405
Format: DVD-ROM
Platforms: Windows Vista, Windows XP
Genre: flight_simulation_games
ESRB: Everyone
Media: DVD-ROM
Batteries Included: No
Age: 5 - 20 years
Operating System: Windows Vista
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0
Dimensions (in): 0.1 x 0.1 x 0
MPN: 00044
Model: 71662
UPC: 740569000447
EAN: 0740569000447
ASIN: B000LQ4CXY
Release Date: April 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | X-Plane 9 provides Ultra Realistic Flight Simulation | | • | Subsonic and supersonic flight dynamics, sporting aircraft from the Bell 206 Jet-Ranger helicopter and Cessna 172 light plane to the supersonic Concorde and Mach-3 XB-70 Valkyrie | | • | Design the plane you want to fly-from instrument panel to fuselage to weapons | | • | Try your hand at flying the Space Shuttle - orbit mars or simply fly through outer space | | • | Land at any of over 18,000 airports, as well as on aircraft carriers, helipads on building tops, frigates that pitch and roll in the waves, and oil rigs |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
X-Plane 9 is the most comprehensive and powerful flight simulator for the PC. X-Plane 9 simulates anything that flies. From single-engine fixed-wing props to multi-engine jets, gliders to dirigibles, helicopters to spacecraft to VTOLs, X-Plane 9 simulates them all. Using blade-element theory, X-Plane 9 accurately simulates the aerodynamic properties of any lifting surface, producing the most realistic flight dynamics available. Create your own aircraft using the included Plane-Maker tool, or design your own scenery with World-Maker, X-Plane includes over 30 aircraft spanning the aviation industry and history, with hundreds more commercial and user-created planes available for download. System Requirements - DVD Drive required, Windows XP or Vista, 2GHz Processor, up to 60GB free space, USB joystick or yoke, Internet Access, and 64MB RAM Video Card
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 52
 Staunch MS Flight Simulator Flyer converts to X Plane 9.0 October 15, 2008
John W. Allen (Ohio, USA)
52 out of 55 found this review helpful
I have purchased every Microsoft Flight Simulator since FS '98, and have found each one to have it's own unique quality. So when Flight Simulator X came out, I was eager to see it's contribution to my ever increasing world of flight simulation. While I enjoyed it, it was not as promised. The DX10 feature was the biggest let down, as even on max settings it looked nothing like what we were promised. Oh, it looked okay as flight sims go, but it lacked the real punch I expected from a Microsoft Flight Simulator.
The flight physics are still adequate, set to maximum realism it can be fun, even. However, I still felt something was lacking. So, in a fit of boredom, I purchased X Plane 9. $[...]? "Well", I thought, "we'll see what we can get out of a flight sim that costs a third less than FSX standard."
I installed the program on my PC. It took about 30 minutes to install the primary program, and about 10 minutes to install the North America/Europe scenery disc. That's right, scenery on separate DVDs, and it's all worth it.
I started up the program and configured my graphics settings. Just for a hoot, I set them all to maximum settings. 4X Anti-aliasing, Ansitropic filtering, 1680x1050x32 resolution, turned on the rain and weather effects, and started it up. It loaded in about 20 seconds, which was 3x faster than FSX, and the opening shot was enough to catch my breath. It was superb. I'm not talking just nice resolution, the realism was astounding. Everything looked and moved like I was actually flying through a real world environment. So I flew around for a while, and the handling feels better. It responds more like an aircraft would whether it be rainy, sunny, windy, what have you, the plane behaved accordingly. FSX had done this also, but it was only mediocre compared to the flight physics this program was employing.
I wasn't won over yet. I wanted to see if I set FSX to the exact same specs, how it would respond.
Firstly, FSX doesn't have the same detailed customization as X-Plane 9. You have about half those settings. However, what I came to see was whether FSX could produce a visually stunning image as X-Plane 9. I set everything up, maxed out, as best as I could. There weren't as many visual options either for FSX as there were for X-Plane.
After I mimicked the settings for FSX as I had for X-Plane, I started up the simulation.
I was disappointed. FSX didn't do too bad, but when I tried to take off, I was rewarded with frame skips and stuttering. FSX couldn't reproduce the visuals and physics without cutting it's own performance. This was supposed to be the power of DirectX 10? Pfft. At max settings in X-Plane, I had seamless flying, with rain and thunder, lightning, drops splattering the windshield and shearing up the side, off the wings, too. Unlike FSX where you just see gray colored lines and a reflective runway as if it were wet.
I will state one thing, however: If you like using your keyboard, you can in X-Plane, it's just a little tougher to use. X-Plane does mouseflight (which is neat once you get the hang of it) and Joystick control, which I highly recommend. You will find a more satisfying experience that way.
I am now an X-Plane fan, and unless Microsoft can give me their performance, physics and detail, I'm not sure if I'll even be interested in their next release. Who knows. In the meantime, I'll be flying X air. ;)
~Pastor J
Not a game...VERY realistic May 29, 2008
Van Smith
44 out of 48 found this review helpful
X-Plane 9 is not really a game in the classic sense. But it is, without question, the most realistic flight sim you can get for entertainment. It is even used as part of an FAA certified trainer. It has more options and customization than you can imagine. It even allows you to create your own aircraft. I found the program solid and much more efficient (both CPU and graphics) than FSX. This is no "flight-arcade" game. If you really want realism, X-Plane this is only way to go.
A better simulator than Flight Sim X May 26, 2008
Danielle Townsend
43 out of 49 found this review helpful
I purchased both X plane and Microsoft's Flight Sim X for the purpose of using them for some home flight training. As a simulator X plane 9 knocks the socks off Flight Sim X. Flight Sim X was simply too easy and the controls a tad unrealistic. Simple things really bothered me like the fact that the turn coordinator is there simply for show (it doesnt work) Flight Sim X is also a real system hog (see reviews on amazon for numerous complaints). I have numerous other complaints related to its realism that I wont waste time on here. X Plane 9 is everything flight sim x wants to be. I found the simulation much more challenging and the weather manipulation far superior to Flight sim X. The aircraft models and graphics to me looked roughly the same. In addition to the benefits as a simulator, X plane also allows you to do some really amazing things that Flight Sim X doesnt. Want to fly on Mars? Pilot the space shuttle back to earth from orbit? Take the X-15 from under the wing of a B52 into orbit? Design your own airframe? If your trying to decide between X plane and Flight Sim X I would get X plane.
Flight Simulator X or X-Plane 9? October 10, 2008
Kevin K. Nelson (Idaho)
27 out of 30 found this review helpful
Danielle Townsend's review is incorrect. She apparently left realism mode on "easy". The only reason the turn coordinator wouldn't work is if she left "auto-rudder" turned on, which will result in turns always being coordinated and the coordinator always centered. Also on easy mode, single prop planes won't pull left, etc., making it less realistic. However, I have realism mode set to hard, and I don't really notice any difference between the flight models of FSX vs. XP9.
Anyway, more to the point, I'm not a pilot, just someone who wishes they were. So, I bought Flight Simulator X Deluxe Addition and the Acceleration expansion...and I bought X-Plane 9 since it seemed like the only competition out there. So, I figured I'd write a review since I could make comparisons.
If all you care about if flying from point A to point B and want a large variety of differing aircraft, then you may very well want to get X-Plane 9. If you want to get an idea of what it's like landing the space shuttle or flying on Mars (I was bored after 5 minutes), then get X-Plane 9. If you want to install 60 GB of data onto your hard-drive only to find that the Seattle and San Francisco skylines are GENERIC buildings instead of real models, then X-Plane 9 probably won't disappoint you. You CAN download mods (additional GB) to get more, accurate scenery, and there ARE a lot of cool planes on X-Plane 9...I love the Cirrus "The Jet" default plane...however,
For all other people, definitely get Flight Simulator X. Flight Simulator X installs more easily. It takes up less space on the hard-drive (only 2 DVDs instead of 6 or 7). Has a wealth of information on learning to fly. Has "Flying Lessons" with, granted, a guy who has the corniest sense of humor I've ever heard...but humor aside...still really cool and as far as I (a non pilot) can tell, seems like the tests are fairly realistic with the exception that you "can" bypass startup, mixture, rudders, etc., so that it's less realistic if you choose to. FSX also has a wealth of missions that give you more things to do than just fly from point A to point B. You can take off from the San Francisco airport, see models of real buildings in the city, and fly under the Golden Gate Bridge in great detail...you can fly over Seattle and see Qwest field, Safeco field, the Columbia Tower, Space Needle...etc. If you get the Acceleration pack you can also fly a military jet and try your hand at landing on an aircraft carrier (X-Plane 9 does aircraft carrier landing too, btw).
X-Plane 9 has "situations"...where (for example) someone flew to an aircraft carrier and saved the game on approach so that you wouldn't have to do the "flying to" part. However, this doesn't really compare to FSX's Flight Lessons and Missions. Overall, XP9 simply lacks the polish and "little details" that are in FSX, which makes FSX much more interesting for people like me who want to be given flight lessons and missions...and want to see real scenery.
Another MFS Pilot Switches to X-Plane November 20, 2008
M.A. Robinson
16 out of 17 found this review helpful
As a former Microsoft Flight Sim pilot, I would like to second the opinions expressed so well by John Allen in his review dated October 15, 2008. There is a growing community of ex-MFS pilots who have made the switch to X-Plane, and there is a reason for this.
There's a reason why Precision Flight Controls, Inc. uses X-Plane as the software platform for its FAA-approved flight simulation systems.
There's a reason why the Cirrus Corporation used X-Plane to help design and test its newest private jet.
There's a reason why many airline pilots, while on layover, will use X-Plane (loaded on their laptops) to simulate the next day's flight and approaches.
There's a reason why the National Test Pilot School uses X-Plane as a part of its training program.
The reason is actually found in the first few sentences of the X-Plane manual: "X-Plane is the world's most comprehensive and powerful flight simulator for personal computers.... X-Plane is not a game, but an engineering tool that can be used to predict the flying qualities of fixed and rotary wing aircraft.... Since X-Plane predicts the performance and handling qualities of almost any aircraft, it is a great tool for pilots to keep up their currency in a simulator that flies like the real plane, for engineers to predict how some new airplane will fly, and for aviation enthusiasts to explore the world of aircraft flight dynamics."
Regarding ATP Jim's comments from August 10, 2008, where he stated that he was not able to get a Cessna 172 off the ground: Every day, thousands of X-Plane pilots happily get their Cessna 172s, Bell 206s, Boeing 777s, etc off the ground. Just as most mishaps in the physical world are not the fault of the aircraft, most mishaps in the X-Plane virtual world are not the fault of the software. In both environments, the problem usually results from pilot error, and that certainly seems to be the case in this situation.
Regarding J. Boggs' comments from November 10, 2008, where he dared anyone to find a customer service phone number anywhere in their literature or website: May I suggest he go to the X-Plane website (conveniently named X-Plane.com) and click on "Contact and Support." There he will find four different phone numbers including one specifically dedicated to tech support. I have personally called that number on two occasions and each time the phone was answered by a real person who was both extremely knowledgeable and helpful.
In conclusion, while X-Plane may not be a game, those who love aviation will find that it is one of the most interesting, challenging, and immersive experiences you can have using your personal computer.
Addendum dated February 17, 2009:
Regarding W. Sisson's comment from January 21, 2009, where he refers to the words "Home-Use Version" on the X-Plane start-up screen: I can certainly understand how this could lead to confusion concerning the capabilities of the X-Plane software purchased through Amazon. It may surprise people to learn that the retail version (the "Home-Use Version") is identical to the FAA-Certified version in almost every respect. In fact, they are the exact same discs! The only difference is that the FAA-Certified version does frame-rate and flight control checks on start-up (a requirement for certification). A specially-purchased USB key plugged into the computer is all that is required to unlock those start-up checks. Everything else is the same. In other words, aircraft will perform exactly the same in the "Home-Use" version running on your desktop PC as they will in the "FAA-Certified" version running in a professional full-motion simulated cockpit. Why? Because it is the exact same software.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 52
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