P3Dv4 v XP11 side by side

[Karl]

This mate did a video of a GA flight around his home airport in the UK in both sims and shared it in a side by side comparison.

https://youtu.be/YX8SNUE32Hs?t=2m14s

[Travis]

Just by the look and narration of the video, they both have equal advantages and drawbacks. From flying in real life in a C172, here are my opinions only from this video:

Flight model:

I generally find it relatively easy to line up with the runway in calm to moderate wind conditions. +1 P3D

Prop effect/P-factor is not difficult to control or hold steady on takeoff. Minor small inputs are required however after initial rudder adjustment.(This could be from his rudder calibration setup as mentioned near the end of the video.) +1 P3D(maybe)

The X-plane "cruise" flight modeling does seem more accurate as he says, "feels like you are on rails in P3D." Even in smooth air, on the calmest day, you will still get very slight inconsistencies in the air as you fly along. In P3D, A calm day is smoother than butter. Because of how heating and cooling of the earth works, I don't think that level of smoothness is ever possible. Now, since I fly with AS16 as my weather engine 99% of the time, this occurrence probably has never happened to me. I will still lean towards XP11 on this. +1 XP11

Scenery:

The airport on final on Xplane looks much better, but this would probably be different if he was using an ORBX region. Neutral

The ground scenery is hard to choose which is better. Yes xp11 has the ability to add ground real ground textures, however in this video it lacks good autogen buildings and trees. On the p3d side, FTX global is not enough for a good comparison, yes that means you need more money for a good looking sim, but really I cant say anyone wins this battle. If there is a way to have good building and tree autogen in X plane, I would have to call that the winner.

Summary,

Both sims have their advantages and disadvantages. It is all a matter of personal opinion and further gets harder to choose when we include add ons, like in this video. I am happy with P3D for now as my sim, but I feel it is lacking in areas X plane has, and same with X plane. If you don't want to spend loads of money on scenery add ons, Xplane may be the better choice. If you have P3D add ons you have already invested in, P3D may be a better choice.

Too bad for us, there isn't a real obvious winner anymore. Maybe in a couple more years.