Developer Spotlight: X-Crafts (Follow-Up) - Interviews - Developer Spotlight - X-Plane.Org Forum

I purchased sometime ago the 195, and have been waiting for v2.0 and / or any updates and fixes...

Really looking fwd into whatever is comming...

Edited February 2Feb 2 by jcomm

1 hour ago, jcomm said:

Developer Spotlight: X-Crafts (Follow-Up) - Interviews - Developer Spotlight - X-Plane.Org Forum

I purchased sometime ago the 195, and have been waiting for v2.0 and / or any updates and fixes...

Really looking fwd into whatever is comming...

I have all of the available X-Craft planes, mainly to support their efforts.  ERJs are decent, but the 2.0 series should be excellent.  

On 2/2/2026 at 2:56 PM, mldavis2 said:

I have all of the available X-Craft planes, mainly to support their efforts.  ERJs are decent, but the 2.0 series should be excellent.  

Hello, I'm considering buying an X craft E-jet V2...175 or 195.

I'm very fussy regarding accurate VNAV calculations.

So my question: Is it possible to enter descent winds into the FMS (as per the real aircraft)? Without this an accurate TOD cannot be realised. 

Thanks for your help.

Edited February 3Feb 3 by Falconjet112

1 hour ago, Falconjet112 said:

Hello, I'm considering buying an X craft E-jet V2...175 or 195.

I'm very fussy regarding accurate VNAV calculations.

So my question: Is it possible to enter descent winds into the FMS (as per the real aircraft)? Without this an accurate TOD cannot be realised. 

Thanks for your help.

Not on the version I last tested, and at my Org account v2.0.1 is already available for download, but I didn't test it yet 😕

Anyway, I asked Copilot and it replied with:

Short answer: Yes — the X‑Crafts E‑Jets do allow descent‑wind entry in the FMS, but only in the newer V2 (2.0+) versions and with some limitations compared to the real Embraer. This means you can get a properly calculated TOD, provided you enter the forecast winds in the correct PERF pages.

 

✔️ Descent Winds in the X‑Crafts E‑Jets V2 FMS

What the aircraft supports

The X‑Crafts E‑Jets V2 (E170/175/190/195) include a fully custom FMS that models:

• Climb, cruise, and descent wind entries

• VNAV path calculation using those winds

• TOD recalculation when winds are updated

This mirrors the real Embraer logic: VNAV needs wind data to compute an accurate geometric descent path.

Where to enter descent winds

In the real Embraer, descent winds are entered on the PERF → DESCENT page. X‑Crafts follows the same structure:

1. Go to FMS → PERF

2. Select DESCENT

3. Enter wind layers in the format:

   • Altitude / Wind Direction / Wind Speed

   • Example: 30000 / 250 / 45

You can enter multiple layers (e.g., FL300, FL200, FL100), and the FMS interpolates between them.

Effect on VNAV

Once descent winds are entered:

• TOD shifts to match the expected groundspeed profile

• VNAV PATH becomes much more accurate

• The aircraft will follow a more realistic idle‑thrust descent

This is exactly what you’re looking for if TOD accuracy is a priority.

 

✔️ Important Notes

1. Accuracy depends on your wind source

If you fly with:

• Real‑weather engines (X‑Plane, ActiveSky XP12, etc.)

• SimBrief OFP wind forecasts

…you’ll get very close to real‑world VNAV behaviour.

2. The FMS does not auto‑import descent winds

Unlike some Boeing/Airbus add‑ons, the E‑Jets do not automatically pull descent winds from SimBrief. You must enter them manually — just like many real‑world Embraer operators still do.

3. VNAV is geometric, not idle‑path like Boeing

The Embraer uses a geometric VNAV, so even with perfect winds, it behaves differently from a 737/A320. But TOD accuracy is excellent when winds are entered.

 

✔️ Bottom Line

If accurate VNAV and TOD are important to you, the X‑Crafts E‑Jets V2 do support descent‑wind entry, and VNAV behaves correctly when you use it. For a simmer who cares about realism, this feature is absolutely there and functional.

If you want, I can also walk you through:

• The exact PERF pages

• Recommended wind‑entry workflow using SimBrief

• How to verify VNAV path stability in descent

The lack of ATM input (you can input but have no effect at all), no greendot speed and no accurate autrobrake performance makes EJestv2 not that fun  for me so far...

Thanks all. I will stick to the Toliss Airbus. 

The rebuild and delivery of the updated ERJs has been marketed now for months and months - now into February 2026 and still nothing. I am even happy to pay for an updated version but in the meantime the ERJ's remain in my broken hangar and unuseable in XP12. I see a lot of PR and marketing but nothing else!

Seems to be a common pattern with some private or payware - release a nicely presented but unfinished product, big flurry of activity then they go to ground or go away never to be heard from again! Of course there is the usual jump in from all and sundry saying do this or do that or what about which no doubt is a cause of upset - but hang on a minute - what is the point of releasing something basically flawed because it was not finished. I can think of 4 really nice private models all released and hugely accepted to discover that simple things like doors (there are none or the engine start logic is busted etc etc) Makes you wonder why go to all the effort to get a model for the sim to that state then just give it away. I can add at least another 10 or so to that list. 

The list of developers that got as far as XP11 did some great stuff but basically walked away from them in XP12 is not insignificant. Yet the sim itself has got better and better.

So as for X-Craft I only committed to the E170 that still has issues and the ERJs remain in the virtual hangar. You want to sell me more then fix whats been done first!

Not to single out X-Craft by the way I moved to a Linux system only to discover that X-Aviation's products - none of them are Linux compatible, so I had 4 really nice XP12 models for the sim (windows based then) that are now useless and had to be discarded. So the Challenger 650 will never grace my collection either. And why oh why developers can not standardise their installers (like using outdated and flawed stuff like Gizmo or Java) is beyond me - I have a few that will not work because the installer fails under Linux and I can get no response from the developer and doing hours of research on the internet does not come up with a workable solution

Still - got a really nice collection of other stuff and just as well but those developers will always get my support and money - they have stood by their stuff and made them better and better as well. I guess that's my 2 cents worth!

Edited February 8Feb 8 by coastaldriver

Considering the number of people moving to linux due to win11 debacle, might be in some best interest for some developera to port to linux. It will certainly be my next os

14 hours ago, coastaldriver said:

The rebuild and delivery of the updated ERJs has been marketed now for months and months - now into February 2026 and still nothing. I am even happy to pay for an updated version but in the meantime the ERJ's remain in my broken hangar and unuseable in XP12. I see a lot of PR and marketing but nothing else!

 

If there's so much ado about nothing, what's all this then?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY1uod0BpVw

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLvMbwnBml4

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiYFXu6Ko-c

 

 

13 hours ago, mjrhealth said:

Considering the number of people moving to linux due to win11 debacle, might be in some best interest for some developera to port to linux. It will certainly be my next os

I was an old Linux user and Unix trained but left Linux alone for a long time because of the usual thing - employers and even my home users being wedded to Microsoft systems etc. Going back and starting afresh with Linux has been a little fraught at times (my ignorance and bad MS habits) but not really. I ignored the dual boot process and opted to format all the drives and only have a Linux OS installed. Part of that choice was helped very much by the fact that I had gone to XPlane when XP12 first arrived and I gave up on FSX and P3D and opted to only use XP and I knew that XP12 was Linux capable. That is a decision I have not regretted. One convieniantly chooses to ignore the mountains of garbage that is the MS Windows world and the constant problems and I particularly detested the way they basically treated you the user who owned the computer and paid for a copy of the OS as merely an easy mark to modify change update and non stop marketing and forcing the OS to work to what they wanted to market to you next. Life is now very peaceful and private, the system works beautifully, XP works flawlessly with great graphics and superior FPS etc and I have integrated all the PC peripherals nicely - what more can one want. There is not a single software program I used to use in MS world (and paid for sometimes lots) that I have not found a Linux replacement for and has not been free- so it does the job. Going to linux only cost me time and the pain of re downloading everything for XP - but it was worth it - weeded out the duds as well. Now Oxide has been produced and made available to manage your scenery etc, X-Organiser is history as well so I do not even contemplate using a windows emulation program like WINE. Best of all - I have a very good and relatively new PC and hardware and I know it will run on for years and years and years. 

As for Linux and XP - the only issues I have are not Laminars fault but developers who do not consider Linux in the software - one I paid good money for basically said not for Linux but if anybody knows how to do it feel free but too hard for me - they abandoned the product altogether and then did a dump onto the web as a freeware offering. 

Know about the updates etc been getting customer emails from X-Crafts for ages but still nothing about when I can actually obtain the updated version. The previous version requires a fudge and changes in Planemaker to get it serviceable in XP12. Nice model like the ERJ a lot by the way. Be nice to just get the product.

On 2/8/2026 at 7:30 PM, mjrhealth said:

Considering the number of people moving to linux due to win11 debacle, might be in some best interest for some developera to port to linux. It will certainly be my next os

I think you are getting the wrong impression from reading the forums. Linux is still only 3% maybe 4% of the PC market from the latest figures. It is hardly worth the investment for many companies producing commercial software. As a result, it relies heavily on open-source software. While hardware support has improved a lot since I first used it 25+ years ago, many users will find that a lot of hardware still will not work on Linux. Even amongst the 3-4% share, a lot of users will still dual boot to windows. I don't see it approaching 10% any time soon.  It's still a good OS for users that understand what they are getting into though.

 

50 minutes ago, brinx said:

I think you are getting the wrong impression from reading the forums.

This. 

I believe that Linux users are overrepresented on forums because they are a.) very vocal and will get up in arms whenever Linux is discussed (watch this space to see this point getting proven 😉), and they are b.) very active on forums because they are looking for solutions to the problems they have because of their OS from other users (drivers not working, which distribution to use for what, etc.).

Edited February 10Feb 10 by Litjan

I agree with a) some of us are very vocal advocates, but not with b) Linux users tend to know better than most other people how computers work. Also nowadays Linux supports most hardware out of the box, this was different a few decades ago. I would even say that the scale is tipping because you can not install windows 11 on your older but still recent hardware nowadays. And also all the bloatware that comes with Windows, I cringe every time I have to solve a problem on my dad’s laptop.

1 hour ago, soaring_penguin said:

you can not install windows 11 on your older but still recent hardware nowadays

Not true, there are many ways to overcome TPM and Secureboot restrictions. A 30 seconds thing. 
And there are many ways to remove the Microsoft bloatware that comes with it, again an extremely simple thing. 
But anyway, super off topic, sorry.

Back on topic, I wish there were more developers like Marko from X-Crafts, he even made the previous gen E-Jets available for free.

Edited February 10Feb 10 by peroni

Well, Laminar is steadfast on their support of Linux and I do not see that changing...although I do hear the occasional sighing on the internal Slack about it 😉.

I am really not invested in Microsoft, I am a lazy-to-the-bone user, though - and the day I can install Linux and all of my "stuff" simply works (no distros to watch, nothing to download to get compatible, automatic updates that are working,...)  I will happily switch to it.