A Better Virtual Flight Deck

The mind behind X-Plane shares its origin story.

Meg Godlewski

Monday, August 07, 2023 at 12:44 PM ET

Verified

Austin Meyer, the inventor of X-Plane. [Credit: Jeff Blake]

Key Takeaways:

X-Plane was developed by Austin Meyer in the mid-1990s out of personal frustration with flight training, aiming to provide a realistic home-based practice environment.
The simulator's core innovation lies in its physics-based mathematical model, which accurately simulates any aircraft's flight characteristics based on its geometry and the laws of physics.
X-Plane allows user-generated content like custom airports and has evolved to include features like volumetric, time-changing clouds in X-Plane 12, serving both recreational users and professional simulator builders.
Meyer prioritizes a highly accurate flight experience focusing on the aircraft's systems, avionics, weather, and air traffic control within the airport environment, rather than extensive geographical scenery.

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Learning to fly is not like learning to play a musical instrument, in that for most of us, it is impossible to practice at home—but wouldn’t it be great if we could? Austin Meyer, the inventor of X-Plane, had this idea in the 1990s after a particularly frustrating experience involving an instrument proficiency check. Today, X-Plane is one of the top aviation simulation games in the world. You can put yourself at virtually any airport in just about any airplane. The game continues to evolve—X-Plane 12 was released just before the 2022 holiday season. FLYING caught up with Meyer to get the skinny on the development of the popular pastime that has evolved from game to simulation experience.

This Article First Appeared in FLYING Magazine

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