Airports

Find an airport

WhereSearch box in the toolbar, or any airport dot on the globe.

1. 01

   Press Ctrl+F (Cmd+F on macOS) or click the search box, then type at least two characters of an ICAO code or the airport name. An exact ICAO match sorts first.

2. 02

   Pick a result to fly the camera there and open the airport panel.

3. 03

   Or click any airport dot on the globe. Custom scenery airports have their own marker so you can tell them from default ones.

4. 04

   ICAO codes anywhere else in the app (logbook, planner, SimBrief, pilot cards) are links. Click one to jump to that airport.

• Search tells you when nothing matches. An airport that exists in real life but not in your X-Plane install does not appear, because X-Dispatch only reads your files.
• To narrow the globe by airport type, runway surface, country or custom scenery, use the Layers panel. See Map.

Favorites and your home airport

WhereStar and home icons at the top of the airport panel; Settings > Airports.

1. 01

   Open an airport and click the star to add it to your favorites. Starred airports get their own marker on the globe.

2. 02

   Click the home icon to make it your home airport. There is one home; it shows first in the favorites list.

3. 03

   Settings > Airports lists your favorites, lets you remove them or move the home, and flags one that is not in the current AIRAC.

4. 04

   Switch on Open home airport on startup and X-Dispatch frames your home airport and opens its panel every time it launches.

The airport panel

WhereRight side of the map after you select an airport.

The header shows the ICAO code, elevation, transition altitude, the flight category from the current METAR (VFR, MVFR, IFR, LIFR) and the name and region. Below it, three tabs.

• Info: wind, visibility, ceiling, QNH, temperature and dew point from the live METAR, the active runway picked from the wind, every runway with its length, surface and ILS, the frequencies, and the raw METAR.
• Start: gates, stands, runway ends, helipads and water runways you can start from, with size and operator. Picking one is the first step of a flight. See Flight setup.
• Proc: the SIDs, STARs and approaches in your navigation data, by runway. Select one and it is drawn on the map.
• Expand a runway row for its ILS: frequency, ident, localizer course, glide slope angle and range. Switch on the ILS layer to see the localizer and a 3D glide slope wedge over the runway.
• If the X-Plane Gateway has a newer version of the airport than your install, the Info tab says so, with the artist and date and a link to the Gateway.

Frequencies and COM1

WhereInfo tab of the airport panel, Frequencies list.

1. 01

   The list shows ATIS, delivery, ground, tower, departure and approach from your navigation data. Show all expands the rest.

2. 02

   With X-Plane running, expand a frequency and press ACT or STBY under COM1 or COM2. The radio in the simulator changes right away, and a toast confirms it.

3. 03

   A green dot and a controller name next to a frequency mean that position is staffed on VATSIM right now. The ATIS letter is shown too.

• Tuning goes through the X-Plane web API, so it works with the default radios and add-ons that read the standard datarefs. Without X-Plane the buttons say so.
• Right-click a frequency to copy it.

What is drawn over the airport

WhereAutomatically when you zoom into an airport; toggles in the Layers panel and Settings > Graphics.

• Stands show their operator type, size class (ICAO code letter and wingspan) and airlines, with a solid aircraft pictogram sized to the stand. Hover a stand for the details, click it to start there.
• Runways are drawn with displaced thresholds, overruns, blast pads, markings and lights in the right place. Water runways appear as lanes.
• Airfield lighting: runway, taxiway and approach lights from the airport data, including the sequenced flashers on final. Auto turns them on after sunset at the airport. The animation can be switched off under Settings > Graphics.
• Ground weather: wind streaks, rain, snow and fog over the field from the live METAR.
• Sim traffic: X-Plane AI and TCAS targets with callsign and type while X-Plane runs.
• Online ATC: a staffed airport gets a ring on its dot and a letter per position next to its name. Hover for a summary, click for every position with its frequency and ATIS.

Online pilots and controllers

WhereVATSIM and IVAO overlays in the Layers panel.

1. 01

   Switch on VATSIM or IVAO in the Layers panel to draw every online pilot and staffed airport. Both networks share the same cards.

2. 02

   Click a pilot for their phase of flight, altitude and filed altitude, ground speed, heading, squawk, how far they have flown and have to go, the alternate and the full route, in your units. The card stays up to date while open.

3. 03

   Click the ATC letters on an airport for every position with its frequency and ATIS.

4. 04

   Use as my flight plan on a pilot card hands their filed route to the planner. See Flight planner.