In particular, if you change the X-Plane config file to reduce gravity, thin the atmosphere, and shrink the radius of the planet, it can simulate flight on Mars.
如果你对X-Plane的配置文件进行修改，把引力调小一些，把大气调稀薄一些，把星球半径也缩小一些，那么你就可以模拟出在火星上的飞行状态。
X-Plane tells us that flight on Mars is difficult, but not impossible. NASA knows this, and has considered surveying Mars by airplane. The tricky thing is that with so little atmosphere, to get any lift, you have to go fast. You need to approach Mach 1 just to get off the ground, and once you get moving, you have so much inertia that it 8217;s hard to change course-if you turn, your plane rotates, but keeps moving in the original direction. The X-Plane author compared piloting Martian aircraft to flying a supersonic ocean liner.
X-Plane告诉我们在火星上驾驶飞机可不容易，但也不是不可能。NASA知道这一点，所以他们考虑用飞机来巡视火星。但问题在于，在如此稀薄的大气环境下要想获得足够的升力，就需要很高的速度。你需要达到近1马赫的速度才能起飞，而一旦你动了起来，巨大的惯性使你难以转弯——如果你尝试转弯，那么飞机会翻滚，同时继续保持原有航向。所以X-Plane的作者把驾驶火星飞机比作驾驶超音速游轮。
Our Cessna 172 wouldn 8217;t be up to the challenge. If launched from 1 km, it wouldn 8217;t build up enough speed to pull out of a dive, and would plow into the Martian terrain at over 60 m/s (135 mph). If dropped from 4 or 5 kilometers, it could gain enough speed to pull up into a glide-at over half the speed of sound. The landing would not be survivable.
我们的塞斯纳172可完不成这种任务。如果它从1千米的高度释放，它将无法积累足够的速度以摆脱俯冲状态，并将以每秒60米（每小时216千米）的速度坠毁在火星表面。不过如果从4～5千米的高度释放，飞机能够达到足够的速度以脱离俯冲而进入滑翔状态——此时空速超过音速的一半。在这种情况下想要活着降落是不可能的。
Venus: Unfortunately, X-Plane is not capable of simulating the hellish environment near the surface of Venus. But physics calculations give us an idea of what flight there would be like. The upshot is: Your plane would fly pretty well, except it would be on fire the whole time, and then it would stop flying, and then stop being a plane.
金星：不幸的是，X-Plane无法模拟金星近表面那地狱式的环境。但是简单的物理计算能告诉我们一些东西。结局是这样的：你的飞机能飞得很顺畅，只不过它一直处于着火状态，然后它就飞不动了，再然后它就不是飞机了。
The atmosphere on Venus is over 60 times denser than Earth 8217;s. It 8217;s thick enough that a Cessna moving at jogging speed would rise into the air. Unfortunately, that air is hot enough to melt lead. The paint would start melting off in seconds, the plane 8217;s components would fail rapidly, and the plane would glide gently into the ground as it came apart under the heat stress.
金星上的大气密度是地球上的60多倍，在这种条件下一架塞斯纳足以以人类跑步速度起飞。不幸的是，空气温度足够把铅熔化，飞机上的油漆在几秒内就会熔化，飞机的部件也会迅速失效，再之后在热应力的作用下飞机会解体，然后在空中慢慢飘落。
A much better bet would be to fly above the clouds. While Venus 8217;s surface is awful, its upper atmosphere is surprisingly Earthlike. At 55 kilometers, a human could survive with an oxygen mask and a protective wetsuit; the air is room temperature and the pressure is similar to that on Earth mountains. You would need the wetsuit, though, to protect you from the sulfuric acid.
一个更好的选择是在云层上方飞行。虽然金星的表面糟透了，但是它的上层大气层与地球惊人地相似。在距离地面55千米的地方，一个人戴着氧气面罩，身着密闭防护服就能活下来，气温跟室温差不多，气压也跟地球上的山脉上相近。你需要穿着防护服是因为大气里有硫酸。