Quote:
Originally posted by orion
X-plane has been discussed herein numerous times. Basically its capabilities should not be considered any more accurate or usable for design than a good video game. It might be OK for trying out ideas or just playing around with concepts, but as you transition from playing around to actual design, then you need to go elsewhere. One of the biggest problems of the package is that there is no numerical or otherwise quantatative output. Furthermore, since it is designed for virtually anyone to use, its inherent "simplicity" forces it to be less than useful or accurate beyond very limited application. |
if you remain within the linear aerodynamics part of the envelope, X-Plane is quite accurate. Outside this range it's not that good and other tools should be used instead.
As to tools, I'm looking to put effort into CFD. What kind of (preferably free) tools are you guys using for CFD analysis? I saw a number of CFD tools on SourceForge. What do you use?