Since being introduced to the flight sim world several years back via FlightGear and then more recently to X-Plane via version 10, I have become totally addicted. So much so in fact, that a large chunk of my free time is now taken up either flying my favorite aircraft to far flung corners of the globe (well Scotland really) or making scenery or objects for use in my own and other flyers' sceneries. So when I became aware of the news that X-Plane 11 was to be released before the end of 2016, I was ecstatic to say the least! Over the subsequent weeks, I eagerly awaited for confirmation of the release date and signed up for the electronic download early on, as Laminar Research intimated that it would be out during the US holiday season.

       

This preview is an initial quick look at the first public beta of X-Plane 11 and as such, I have tried to pick out a few bits and pieces that may be of interest to sim fans, especially those wondering what it offers over X-Plane 10. Hopefully this will also help with the question of whether to upgrade or purchase the full version for the first time. If however you are looking for an in-depth technical assessment of all the pros and cons of X-Plane 11 and all the finer points of the new sim, this probably isn't the place to look. However, if you're happy with a general overview and the observations of a very enthusiastic amateur then please read on.

Purchase & Installation

The $59.99 price tag for the X-Plane 10 digital download which included X-Plane 11 on the day it was released, for me, was almost irrelevant. It could have been 5 times that and I still would have bought it, such was my anticipation (the price of my addiction). Obviously not everyone will have the same view, but when you think about the endless hours of enjoyment you'll get from a product like X-Plane, 60 bucks doesn't sound too bad! Don't forget that in the bundle you're also getting the tried and tested X-Plane 10.

       

So off I went, link and security code in hand and set about downloading the installer from the Laminar Research website. I have an internet speed of typically up to 1.5 MB/s on a good day, and on that particular day (a Sunday) it was ranging from 500 KB/s up to 1.5 MB/s, and I estimate the full download took about 5 to 6 hours to complete with the Europe and Asia base mesh selected. After pacing up and down like an expectant father, and regularly checking of the installation progress (every 5 to 10 minutes - crazy I know), X-Plane 11 was eventually installed in all its glory, nestling nicely on my desktop.

I should mention that I had earlier moved my copy of version 10 to an alternative drive on my PC until such a time that I am happy to move over to version 11 permanently.

If I'm honest, it's taken me a good couple of years to really understand X-Plane with all its permutations and add-ons, so I wasn't about to ditch my old comfy shoes until the new ones are totally broken in. This is one of the helpful features X-Plane has over some of its competitors, the fact that it isn't embedded in the registry files and you can freely move (or delete) the whole folder with limited fuss.

       

My own setup is based around a Windows PC running 8.1 Pro with 32 GB of RAM, an i7 5820K 3.3 GHz (stock) CPU, an NVIDIA GTX980Ti 6 GB GPU, an Asus X99-A motherboard, 500 GB SSD, 1 TB HHD and 3 x 27 inch screens. Not the absolute latest in tech, but still pretty decent in my view and more than capable of running X-Plane 10. In the rural Scottish scenery where I normally fly my Cessna with the HD mesh v3, high rendering settings for objects and graphics details such as roads and trees, I am typically getting fps rates of 40 to 50 on the ground and generally higher when up and about.