“As we recently reported, Laminar Research has released a ‘mini-version’ of its hugely popular, realtime physics-based flight simulator X-Plane 9 for the iPhone [and iPod touch]. We’ve recently logged some flight time with this title and are anxious to share our thoughts,” Touch Arcade reports.

“Control is one of the best features of X-Plane 9 for the iPhone. As a flight simulation fan myself, and a long-time user of X-Plane for the Mac, I have purchased several USB flight sticks over the years to enhance the simulation experience. The iPhone, as a controller, has them all beat. Thanks to its accelerometers, the iPhone basically becomes a flight yoke. Tilt forward to dive, pull back to climb, and tilt side-to-side to control ailerons. Flight yokes are expensive “luxury” peripherals that are often part of hardcore flight simulation fans’ desktop setups–and the iPhone basically “has one built in,” in this context,” Touch Arcade reports.

“The X-Plane is one of–if not the–most respected desktop flight simulations available to consumers. Austin Meyer has done a truly impressive job of capturing the key elements of the full version and packaging them up to carry around in your pocket. At $9.99, flight simulation fans will find X-Plane 9 for the iPhone [and iPod touch[ to be a real value. Yes, the title has room for improvement, but already I have been helplessly drawn to spend more time with it than any other iPhone game and even in this first release it has become my favorite app in the App Store," Touch Arcade reports.

"It should be noted that this is a simulator rather than a true game, in that the point of it is to enjoy the feel of flying rather than completing any tasks or goals," Touch Arcade reports.

Full review here.

X-Plane 9 for Apple iPhone video: