VR in X-Plane

Hopefully soon, X-Plane will release built-in support for VR, using the Oculus or Vive headsets. I’ve been eagerly waiting for this since I started using FlyInside last year. FlyInside is a great plugin for VR, although it doesn’t work well with my multi-monitor system.  If I had a single screen system it would work great, but it’s not worth changing my system around just to use this.

This is the dumbest video I recorded awhile ago, shows a first person view of an emergency landing (before I knew how to do this for real)

VR Pros

• VR with X-Plane is astoundingly realistic looking and just feels right. The sense of presence in the space is amazing. I really feel like I’m there! I love that.
• Accurate gauging of sight picture while setting up for proper takeoff and landings
• Super immersive. I use the Oculus CV1 with built-in headphones and it’s just perfect.

VR Cons

• Headset is heavy over time and annoying. I bought a soft cushion face pad, which helps though.
• Resolution: This is only a limitation of the headset itself, not X-Plane or FlyInside. I find myself leaning in pretty close to the switch panels to read the text on the panels, but overall it’s workable.
• Controls: FlyInside offers the ability to use the Leap Motion controller to track your hands in VR, but it stinks. I haven’t tried yet with the Oculus controllers, but I’m hoping that will help.
• Negotiating your Garmin or other nav controls is especially tricky, but I’m hoping to setup my physical space to better match my virtual space to continue to use the physical controls while wearing the VR headset.