# X-Dispatch — Flight Dispatch for X-Plane 12 | Lyes Tarzalt

> Desktop app for visualizing X-Plane airports, navigation data, and launching flights. 3D globe with 35,000+ airports. Free and open source.

Source: https://tarzalt.dev/projects/x-dispatch/

# X-Dispatch

A free companion app for X-Plane 12. Browse airports on a 3D globe, set up your flight, and launch directly.

 Electron React TypeScript MapLibre Tailwind SQLite

 Download GitHub Discord Ko-fi

 14k+ downloads
 reviews languages

Live · LFMN Nice Côte d’Azur

rendered in your browser

100 %

drag · scroll to zoom · arrows + / − / r

LFMN parsed from X-Plane’s `apt.dat`:
runway geometry, taxiway pavement, painted markings, hold lines. Drag to pan, scroll to zoom.

World Map

1 / 11

Back in 2021, I asked Laminar Research if they had plans for a global airport map in X-Plane.
They weren't interested. The idea stuck with me for years. I kept brainstorming how it would
work, what it would look like, which problems I'd need to solve first.

The two hard parts were parsing X-Plane's airport data file (every smooth curve you see is a
bezier encoded in a way that took me months to get right) and figuring out how to actually
launch X-Plane with the user's choices (through an undocumented config file, and later an
undocumented command line flag). I failed the first attempt with Flutter, shelved it, came
back years later with MapLibre and Electron, and got it working.

X-Dispatch gives you a 3D globe with 35,000+ airports. Click any airport to see the full
layout: runways, taxiways, gates, markings, all rendered from X-Plane's own data. Pick a
starting position, choose your aircraft and livery, configure fuel and weather, hit launch. Or
relocate mid-flight if the sim is already running.

Free and open source. Windows, macOS, Linux.

 Read the full story

## Features

### Map & airports

3D globe with terrain elevation, hillshade, contour lines. 6 basemap styles. 35,000+
airports with custom scenery detection. Day/night terminator. Weather radar overlay with
playback. Range rings by aircraft category.

### Airport detail

Runways with surface types, dimensions, lighting, markings. Taxiways, aprons, pavement
areas with signs. Gates and parking with heading indicators. Helipads, windsocks, beacons.
All parsed from apt.dat.

### Navigation

VOR, NDB, DME, TACAN, ILS/LOC with course visualization. High and low altitude airways.
Airspace boundaries and FIR regions. SID, STAR, approach procedures overlaid on the map.
X-Plane native data or Navigraph with AIRAC detection.

### Flight setup & launch

Aircraft browser with search, filters, favorites. Livery selection remembered per
aircraft. Fuel, payload, weight & balance. Start from any gate, runway, helipad, or custom
pin drop. Air start, carrier catapult, frigate deck, glider tow. Weather presets or full
custom. Direct X-Plane launch or mid-flight relocation via REST API.

### SimBrief & live traffic

One-click OFP import with route visualization. Fuel breakdown, weight summary, nav log.
VATSIM and IVAO overlays with pilot callsigns. Live METAR with flight category display.

### Addon manager & tracking

Browse installed aircraft, plugins, liveries, Lua scripts. Drag-and-drop install from ZIP,
RAR, 7z. Scenery priority management. Real-time flight tracking via WebSocket. Multiple
X-Plane installations with quick switching.

## Press

fselite.net

X-Dispatch | Free X-Plane 12 Launcher & Addon Manager

Looking for a free X-Plane 12 flight launcher and addon manager? In this video, we test X-Dispatch to see if this 3D map tool is worth your time. 🌟 About X-...

YouTube

## Community

This is genuinely heartwarming. I'm glad people find it useful.

"I no longer start X-Plane. I now start X-Dispatch."

Marespi

"Hands down the best add-on for X-Plane! Period! I absolutely love the design and how
fluid and quick to react this tool is. Oh boy, are the MSFS guys & gals gonna be jealous
of this one."

Haui

"X-Dispatch is the one stop tool that every simmer needs. I honestly thought Laminar would
one day come up with something like this, but instead, you have taken the lead. I think
Austin Meyer owes you a great one on this release."

DZ-Aviation

"WOW. You should contact Laminar so they recruit you."

Encounia

"Amazing utility app for X-Plane, I'm really enjoying the features, especially the 3D
terrain viewer."

Sean McLeod

"This is essential, thank you!"

Tenebrae Aeternae

"Awesome application! Free and open source. Can't thank the creator enough."

Suh

"This is a very sleek UI. Well done."

ColinM9991

"This is a total game changer and I don't understand why Laminar has not come up with this
in the last couple of years!"

luckythastriker

"Best thing to happen to X-Plane since Map Enhancement!"

lantern53

"Already shows great promise. The dev is very open to new ideas and looking for help to
work out bugs. A big thank you for sharing this with the community."

kemosabe

[All 29 reviews on X-Plane.Org](https://forums.x-plane.org/files/file/98500-x-dispatch/)

## Related posts

 Building X-Dispatch Parsing apt.dat geometry Painted lines & taxiway lights

Free and open source.

Windows, macOS, Linux. Requires X-Plane 12.4+.

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