Flight Strip

What it shows

WhereBottom of the map while X-Plane runs.

The strip reads like a cockpit display. Live values are white. The selected autopilot values sit in magenta right above the digits they belong to, so target and actual are together.

• Aircraft: type and registration, with a connection dot.
• Attitude: a small artificial horizon.
• Speed: indicated airspeed, with ground speed and Mach under it. Mach reads as M .78.
• Altitude: above sea level, with height above ground under it.
• Vertical speed: climb or descent rate.
• Heading: where the nose points, with the track over the ground and the NAV1 course under it.
• Wind: direction and speed, with outside air temperature under it.
• COM1 (active, standby under it) and QNH (hPa, inches under it) are off until you switch them on in Settings > Flight Strip.
• Every value keeps room for its widest reading, so the strip never jumps as the numbers change. Center keeps the map on your aircraft and reads Following while it does.

Pop it out over X-Plane

WherePop-out button at the right end of the strip, View > Flight Strip Window, or Cmd+Shift+S / Ctrl+Shift+S.

1. 01

   Press the pop-out button. The strip moves into its own small window and leaves the map. Closing the window brings it back.

2. 02

   The window has no title bar. Drag the strip to move it, drag the edges to resize it. The strip scales to fit and keeps its shape, and cannot be maximized.

3. 03

   Hover the window for the close button. The window buttons sit inside the strip, always visible and sized with it.

• Keep above X-Plane (on by default) keeps the window over the simulator, even in full screen.
• Open when X-Plane connects shows the window on its own as soon as X-Dispatch connects.
• The strip hides while X-Plane is away and comes back when it reconnects, without taking focus. A strip you opened yourself before X-Plane was running stays up.

Lock it so clicks pass through

WherePadlock in the strip's corner, Settings > Flight Strip, View > Lock Flight Strip, or the shortcut.

1. 01

   Place the window where you want it over X-Plane.

2. 02

   Press Cmd+Shift+K (Ctrl+Shift+K on Windows and Linux), click the padlock in the corner, or use View > Lock Flight Strip. Clicks now pass through to X-Plane and a lock shows in the corner.

3. 03

   Click the padlock again, or press the shortcut, to move the window again.

• On Linux the padlock stays hidden while locked, so unlock from the menu, the shortcut or Settings.

Size, opacity and readouts

WhereSettings > Flight Strip.

• Size on the map makes the strip on the map bigger so it reads from further away. The window follows its own size.
• Window opacity lets you see the simulator through the window.
• Readouts: switch each one on or off, and drag a readout to move it along the strip. One always stays on. Extras: the aircraft block at the left, the autopilot targets above each value, and the details line under each value. Turning the details line off makes the strip shorter.

Taxi guidance

WhereSecond row of the strip while you are on the ground with a taxi route.

With a route planned, the strip shows the next instruction and how far away it is: continue on B, bear left onto K, turn right onto A, cross runway 16, hold short of runway 28, arrive at stand A03. An arrow points the way, and the map trims the route behind you as you taxi. Off route means you left it; the guidance picks up again when you rejoin.

• The route comes from the gate card (Plan) or, with a flight plan loaded and no route planned, X-Dispatch suggests one to the flight plan runway on its own (Auto). The badge on the strip says which.
• Instructions stay readable on a narrow strip: with only a readout or two shown, the next instruction still gets a full line.

The taxi map

WhereMap button in the strip.

Press the map button and a heading-up view of the airport opens under the strip, with your taxi route, taxiway and runway labels and your aircraft on it. It follows you as you taxi, and tells you when no route is planned yet. It works in the popped-out window too.

• The taxi map follows the route you are on: departure before takeoff, arrival after landing.
• It closes at takeoff and does not pop open when you land. Press the map button to open it again.
• Without X-Plane connected it previews the route from its start.