X-Plane 9.30 Beta-1 is here Mac and Windows!
 
Grab it at X-Plane.com
 
This has a new engine modeling system that should really be the cat's
meow... give it a try and let me know how it goes!
 
As well, we are tuning the heck out of this version to get it totally
tuned and bug-free and solid.
 
We will have a Linux build in the next week or so.. maybe for beta-2 or
beta-3.
 
austin

NEW ENGINE MODEL:
 
New engine-modeling system to handle critical altitudes, jets, turboprops and recips, with and without FADECs,
with and without automatic waste-gates. It's all in the ENGINES screen of Plane-Maker, top right: Only 3 values
to enter to control it all: Critical Altitude and two FADEC-equipped check-boxes.
 
Here's how it works:
 
Engines operate on air to product thrust or power, and the higher you fly your plane, the thinner the air gets,
and the less power or thrust the engines put out. So, if you have an engine that is good for 300 hp, or 10,000 lb
of thrust, the power or thrust will degrade as you climb into thinner air... the plane is running out of breath!
 
BUT WAIT! There are cures to this problem.
For RECIPROCATING engines, you can put on a turbocharger to pack more air into the engine as you climb, holding
max rated power as you climb into thinner air.
For turboprop and turbojet engines, you can simply design the engine to have more thermodynamic power or thrust
capacity than is safe for the engine, and just run the engine at PARTIAL power down low, and then open up the
throttle as the airplane climbs into thinner air to HOLD a constant power or thrust as you climb!
 
In both of the cases above, the engine has the ABILITY to tear itself apart down low, but keeps reduced throttle
settings down low in thick air, and then opens up the throttle (or turbocharger RPM!) as you climb into thinner
air to hold that constant, max-rated power or thrust during the climb.
 
In some planes (Columbia-400), this power-limiting is handled automatically by the engine, In others (King-Air B-200)
it is done manually by the pilot... he needs to be sure not to push the throttle too far forwards at low altitude
or he will over-torque the engine!
 
So, how do we handle all this in X-Plane?
 
I made it pretty simple for you: You enter the MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE power or thrust for the engines in Plane-Maker.
Then, you enter the critical altitude... this is the altitude to which that engine can continue to put out that
max allowable power or thrust.
For example:
->For RECIPROCATING engines like in my Cessna-400, the plane is RATED to 310 hp (max allowable) but can put that
full 310 hp out right to 15,000 ft.
->For TURBOPROP airplanes like the King-Air, the PT-6 is limited to 850 hp (max allowable) but can put that power
out to maybe 18,000 ft.
->For JET airplanes, an engine might be limited to 100,000 lb of thrust, but put that thrust out clear to 10,000 ft.
 
To handle cases like these, simply enter that "LIMIT", or "RATED", or "MAX-ALLOWABLE" power or thrust for the engine
in Plane-Maker, and then enter the critical altitude... the altitude to which that engine can put out that max rated power.
 
X-Plane, at this point, will understand that the THERMODYNAMIC power output of the engines may be far GREATER than
the RATED power output (based on how high the critical altitude is) and model the engine accordingly.
 
Next, you check the FADEC checkbox.
This checkbox indicates whether or not the engine is kept within the LIMIT power automatically or not.
If you do NOT have the FADEC checkbox checked, then, if you push the throttle all the way forwards at sea-level for
an engine with a critical altitude greater than 0, then you will OVER-BOOST THE ENGINE! You will get MORE than the
max-rated power output of the engine, and, if you were in a real plane, you would risk damaging or destroying the
engine in that case.
 
If you DO have the FADEC check-box checked, then X-Plane will automatically keep you from exceeding the limit thrust...
you can just push the throttles all the way forwards with no fear of an over-boost: X-Plane will limit the throttle
for you to avoid an over-boost!
 
So, let's look at the 3 possible cases mentioned above:
->Cessna 400: Enter 310 hp, 15,000 ft, FADEC to limit power CHECKED. That will give you 310 hp, to 15,000 ft, just by
punching the throttle to max at any altitude. At lower altitudes, you will see that the various cylinder-head temperatures
and the like are a bit lower, and rise a bit as you climb as the engine works harder as you climb.
->King-Air: Enter 850 hp, 18,000 ft, FADEC to limit power NOT checked. That will cause you to over-boost the engine if
you punch the throttle to max below 18,000 ft! At low altitudes, you will need to only advance the throttle enough for
the engine torque to go to limit... and gradually increase the throttle as you climb.
->Airliner: Enter 100,000 lb, 10,000 ft, FADEC to limit power CHECKED. That will give you 100,000 lb of thrust,
to 10,000 ft, just by punching the throttle to max at any time. At low altitudes, for example for the take-off, you
will notice that you do NOT get 100% N1, because the FADEC is limiting power! Cool!
 
As well, there is a SEPARATE FADEC checkbox for mixture and RPM control of the reciprocating engines.
Check this box if you always want the fuel-air mixture ratio to be optimized for the current conditions, much like
the engine of a car. As well, this checkbox will add power to keep the engine from sagging BELOW idle, and cut fuel to
keep you from going over redline. Again, this is just like a car.
 
So with only a few parameters to set (most of which we are already used to) we tackle critical altitude for recips,
turboprops, and jets, with manual and automatic control of the power. THIS is the engine model that really covers our bases.
 
Now, just as you have that straight in your head, we move on to one new feature that can add extra power above that which
is obtainable using the techniques above: Engine boost! Some engines have an anti-detonant, such as water or Nitrous Oxide,
that is injected into the engine to allow increased fuel flow and power. This has been done with jets and props. If you
want to simulate such systems, simply enter the throttle boost from your boost system in Plane-Maker, Engines screen,
and the seconds duration of such a system. This would simply be the seconds of H2O or NOX that you have on board.
As long as the boost (water, Nitrous Oxide, or whatever) does not run out, you will be able to run at increased power settings!
 
A few further engine mods: Jet engines do not windmill so much in the wind any more. They were probably windmilling too much before.
 
Plane-Maker, Engine screen, Propeller tab: Hit a button to set the prop pitch per-element manually if you like, rather
than automatically. Only a propeller-designer should ever need to use this, I think.
 
 
OTHER NEW FLIGHT-MODEL ENHANCEMENTS:
 
Auto-throttle PRESERVES the differences between various throttles in multi-engine airplanes, if you dragged the throttles
apart yourself, as is the case in real planes. In other words, if you MANUALLY drag the throttles in a multi-engine plane
to somewhat different settings, such as, for example, 10% more throttle on engine #1, and then engage the auto-throttle,
engine #1 will continues to run at 10% higher throttle than the others.
 
When you turn the artificial stability off, the control deflections are not limited by any art-stab system constraints.
 
better flight dynamics on the fuselage... most noticeable in odd cases like a hovering helo, where the nose is level,
the craft is not moving, but the angle of attack of the fuselage is negative 90 degrees at 30 knots due to rotor wash!
 
 
OTHER NEW FLIGHT-MODEL-RELATED FEATURES:
 
Rudder-pedal joystick-button/key-commands are back!
I found a way to do this that makes sense: Hitting the rudder key commands
is EXACTLY like moving real rudder pedals left or right 10%...
with all the results in nosewheel steering and rudder deflections that
this implies.
 
New option in Plane-Maker: Auto-slats below a certain SPEED.
We already have the option to auto-lower the slats near the stall alpha.
Now we can also lower them below a given indicated airspeed.
 
Folding prop option!
Check it in the special equipment options screen in Plane-Maker, and the prop will fold up when not turning,
and spread to normal disc at idle speed.
 
With oil pressure failure in prop-driven planes:
->if you are in a single-engine bird, the prop fails to FLAT pitch
->in a multi-engine bird, it fails to FEATHERED pitch,
as happens in real planes.
 
A few more autopilot commands with regard to connecting and disconnecting.
Done to get the Eclipse-500 sim just right.
 
 
NEW GRAPHICS ENHANCEMENTS:
 
"Rotating beacon is STROBE" option in Plane-Maker:
This will make the 'rotating' beacon be a strobe light, if desired, as in some planes.
Some guy REEEEEAAAAAAAALY wanted this, so, um, here it is!
 
Option in Rendering Options screen to auto-sync the rendering options in the external visuals to the cockpit... or not!
 
The 'show your aircraft' checkbox avail to show, or not show, our aircraft on the map is back.
This was removed, but some folks wanted it back, so, ummm, it is.
 
 
GENERAL NEW FEATURES:
 
Plane-Maker: Export 'Basic' or 'Detailed' OBJ files.
The difference is the moving control surfaces.
The 'Basic' export does not have moving control surfaces, so it plots faster!
This makes it ideal for building airplanes to have around the airport scenery.
The other option is the 'Detailed', which gives you moving controls surfaces.
This should NOT be used for custom scenery packs that have airplanes lying around the airport,
because it would waste CPU and RAM, but it is perfect for making starting-points for custom 3-D object aircraft.
 
Room for more parking spots in the airport-selection dialog.
 
A number of new failure modes: engine indications.
 
 
MINOR ENHANCEMENTS:
 
FDR display is better: Fills in indicated altitude and angle of attack, and a number of other things.
V-22 osprey flight model improved based on feedback from a V-22 pilot.
More accurate flight modeling... the drag of the various misc bodies is now more accurately predicted.
The HUD in the FSNH view has a full-screen field of view... much more convenient for sure!
Real-weather wind phases in the wind more gradually, as requested.
Lift of blimps is now constant regardless of altitude, as is the case in the real thing.
Plane-Maker, systems screen: Specify whether or not the plane has a radio-altimeter audio call-out when reaching decision-height,
and how far in advance of the decision-height the audio call-out is made.
 
 
BUG-FIXES:
 
Round trim indicators indicate properly in both directions.
White arc on airspeed-indicator goes to FULL-FLAP deploy-speed, not first-notch deploy-speed, as is the case in the real cockpit.
Correct thermometers show total vs. ambient temperatures, as indicated in their little instrument-descriptions in Plane-Maker.
A few instruments like the altimeter in the B-1, heavy metal chronometer, and magnetic compasses were not working quite right...
should be perfect now!
Bullets in aimable gun really emerge from the exact barrel location.
Commands for brake hold and toggle were reversed... are proper now!
You can now fly slung loads for long distances in helos no problem... a math error made this impossible in earlier versions.
Glideslope view in enroute chart gives correct elevation presentation now.
Weight screen in X-Plane always shows correct weight, including weight of ordinance currently on board.

X-Plane 9.30 Beta-3 is here for mac, windows, and linux!
 
http://www.x-plane.com/beta.html
 
Here is the new Stuff for 9.30 Beta 3:
COOL NEW FLIGHT-MODELING:
 
Oh MAN this is cool.
We no longer try to track the downwash on a per-element basis on the wings, but instead we now deflect the air down behind the wings in 3-D space.
This means that fuselages, bodies, air flow into pro-discs..  
EVERYTHING, is affected by the downwash of any wings in front them.
As well, we continue to consider all PROPS in front of all wings, tracking prop-wash in 3-d space as well.
This means that all wings and props and bodies are in the propwash and downwash of all wings and props in front of them, in all cases.
You can even SEE this!
Get in a plane and go flying. Hit the / key twice to see the airflow vectors.. you will SEE the downwash (vectors going DOWN) and propwash (vectors going AFT) in 3-D space... these vectors affect the bodies, other props, other wings... EVERYTHING!
The Math. The Math!
(Note that the downwash vectors will point STRAIGHT down... this is because you only see the CHANGE in airflow-vector from the free-stream, so  ou only SEE the the DOWNWARDS part of the downwash).
 
We now have improved fuselage lift, drag, sideforce modeling... this even helps the HELICOPTERS HOVER MORE ACCURATELY.
How? Well, in a hover, the body of the helicopter is in propwash, putting out significant force even though the machine is not moving! We are getting these dynamics right on the money now, tracking the airflow over the bodies in propwash even if that propwash flow is totally different than the freestream flow, as shown above.
 
Reducing control authority with speed in the CONTROLS screen in Plane-Maker should no longer reduce TRIM authority.
This makes for some interesting dynamics: If you reduce the control effectiveness to 10% at high speed, but the plane has 20% trim authority, then the trim is actually MORE powerful than the joystick input once you get moving fast enough!
Of course, this is perfectly correct: It means that at high enough speed in the real plane, the trim is more powerful than you are!
This can be perfectly true!
All plane designers: Please check all control deflections and mixing and authority-with- speed and trim and everything.. .
Lets make sure all the trim, authority, phase-outs-with- speed, and mixing are all perfect!
 
While looking at special-cases of interesting control-systems, the 'Auto-Set RPM based on Throttle' option in Plane-Maker SPECIAL EQUIPMENT screen now works just fine with planes that have beta and reverse. This lets you do Cirrus SR-22's, PC-12's, the works.
 
And now another FADEC option: RPM-limit. This adds power as needed to keep you from sagging below idle, and cuts fuel to keep you from going over redline. We have had this option for a long time, but now have separate checkboxes for the mixture-ratio, power-limit, and rpm-limit functions of the FADEC in Plane-Maker.
 
As well, we now have further jet and reciprocating engine model refinements, pursuant to new data I have gotten on engine performance.
We are taking no prisoners in the engine-modeling.
 
We now have independent throttle control possible for VTOLS and the like... useful for modern blimps.
 
Props can auto-feather, even if if single-engine, if that option is selected in Plane-Maker.
 
'Spool Time' for jets variable is back. This lets you control the spool time of the jet engines independently of the start-fuel-intro time, throttle-advance time (which are fuel-introductions rates) and starter strength (which is starter motor strength).
This is pure engine inertia.
 
GRAPHICAL REFINEMENTS:
 
Data Output text modified a hair to line up perfectly and be easier to read.
This will make it a bit easier to do the step above. ;-)
 
Horizontal and Vertical 'bow' options in the Rendering Options screen to hook up many computers to form a spherical projection.
ATC interface should be fine at ALL resolutions.
 
GENERAL REFINEMENTS OR BUG-FIXES:
 
Cirrus-Jet was not capturing all those localizers.. . should be OK now!
Various new commands you can assign to any joystick button or key.
Generic rotary instruments have a new click mode: Radio buttons.
Whole instrument groups can be hidden based on datarefs. Useful for glass cockpits.
Fixed intermittent crash during scenery load.
ILS and Glide slope signal length increased.
Shadows are less pixelated.
Fixed black square shadows on some NVIDIA cards.
Renaming groups works better in Plane-Maker.
Generic rotary instrument does not write to dataref unless it is clicked.
Running Plane-Maker no longer resets full-screen prefs.
Cockpit object 3-d lighting works even in external views.
Glare turned down in Plane-Maker.
Fixed jittering panel when the window is resized.
Fixed weapon-airplane drawing bugs on XPFW A320.
Small generic instruments wont disappear during scrolling.
Free view followed by 3-d cockpit no longer moves camera far away from  
the plane.