Your pocket flight reference
Explore pitch and roll on an artificial horizon powered by your iPhone or iPad's sensors. AirHorizon brings flight readings together in a clear head-up display for supplementary observation and reference, in portrait or landscape.
Add heading, ground speed, altitude and the visual and audio variometer with AirHorizon Pro.
A HUD-style layout built to be readable at a glance — in daylight, at night, and in motion.
A live artificial horizon driven by device motion sensors. Align near level to set a reference for the mounting position.
Ground speed and altitude on vertical tapes, with selectable units and GPS or barometric altitude where supported. Available with Pro.
Mark any heading with a single tap and hold your reference. Off-screen cue arrows point back to a marker that has drifted out of view.
A low-emission night palette with adjustable HUD and ground contrast, so the display stays readable without wrecking your dark adaptation.
See vertical speed and hear optional climb and descent cues. Use device sensors or external readings from X-Plane or Condor 3. Explore the variometer.
Guidance bars driven by X-Plane's flight-director commands. Director Mode requires the matching X-Plane data output; it is not available from Condor 3.
An attitude indicator is also called an artificial horizon. It shows pitch — how far the nose points up or down — and roll, the bank angle to either side. AirHorizon puts that display on your phone or tablet, with a heading tape, ground speed and altitude alongside it.
On its own, the app follows your device. Tilt your phone and the horizon responds to its motion sensors. Speed and altitude depend on the location data and sensors available on your device. You do not need a simulator or a separate receiver to try this mode.
Read the flight reference guide for setup, the meaning of each reading, and the limits of phone sensors.
Sensor data is processed on your device. There is no account to create and no telemetry to sign up for.
Designed for the way people actually mount a phone — with calibration to zero out the mounting angle.
One universal app, one free download, laid out natively for both screens — see it on iPad.
Follow vertical speed on the HUD, with optional audio cues for climb and descent. Choose your source, units, sensitivity and response in Settings › Variometer.
Combine device motion with barometric or GPS altitude. Auto uses the barometer when available and falls back to GPS when pressure data is unavailable.
Receive variometer readings from X-Plane 11, X-Plane 12 or Condor 3 over your local network. See the connection guide.
Enable sound to hear climb and descent cues. With sound enabled, the variometer can continue with the screen locked or while another app is open, subject to permissions and system limits.
Swipe through the display modes.
AirHorizon is a universal app — one free download that runs natively on iPhone and iPad, with no separate version to buy. On an iPad the horizon, the pitch ladder and the speed and altitude tapes get room to breathe, which makes the display readable from further away: useful when the tablet sits on a desk next to your simulator rig rather than in your hand.
X-Plane 11 and X-Plane 12 telemetry have been tested on both iPhone and iPad. The connection steps are the same: use the IP address of the device receiving the data.
Understand the readings, set up your device, and explore what else AirHorizon can do.
Start here · Flight reference
Watch AirHorizon during a helicopter flight, then explore the sources behind pitch, roll, speed and altitude. A practical guide to setup and the limits of phone sensors.
Read the guideBonus · X-Plane 12 setup
Watch AirHorizon with X-Plane, then connect your own display. A walkthrough of the network settings, the data to send, and what to check if a reading is missing.
Simulator telemetry requires AirHorizon Pro.
Read the setup guideShort clips from the simulator and from the real world.
Helicopter over Rio de Janeiro, past Christ the Redeemer
Airliner passenger seat — watching altitude and speed build
Back seat of a car — how the sensors behave on the move
X-Plane 12 — altitude, speed and Director Mode live
Bring live flight data to the same HUD. Choose which readings come from an external source,
including the variometer. Both simulator setups send data to AirHorizon over your local network
on UDP port 49000.
Connect your iPhone or iPad and the simulator computer to the same local network. Find the device IP in Settings › Wi-Fi › current network info › IP Address.
Follow the X-Plane or Condor 3 guide below.
Enter your device IP as the destination and use port 49000. Start a flight to send live readings.
Allow Local Network access. In AirHorizon Settings › External Source, choose the signals to receive, or enable Use External for All. For the variometer, also turn on Show Variometer.
Setting this up for the first time? Read the X-Plane 12 walkthrough with video.
No X-Plane plugin is needed. Open the network / data output settings, enable UDP output,
enter your device IP, and set the destination port to 49000.
In Settings › Data Output, enable Network via UDP for the rows you need. Show in Cockpit alone does not send data to AirHorizon.
| Row | Group | Used for |
|---|---|---|
3 | Speeds | Ground speed in knots |
4 | Mach, VVI, G-load | Vertical speed for the variometer |
17 | Pitch, roll, headings | Pitch, roll and heading in degrees |
20 | Latitude, longitude, altitude | Altitude MSL in feet |
108 | Autopilot, flight director, HUD | Flight-director mode, pitch and roll for Director Mode |
Row 4 is required for the variometer even when the other tapes already work.
Enable Director Mode only when flight-director data is being sent. Some X-Plane versions expose
similar flight-director data under a nearby row number.
Close Condor 3, then open Settings/UDP.ini inside the Condor installation folder.
Use the settings below, replacing <device IP address> with your iPhone or iPad's IP:
AirHorizon
[General]
Enabled=1
[Connection]
Host=<device IP address>
Port=49000
[Misc]
SendIntervalMs=50
ExtendedData=0
ExtendedData1=0
LogToFile=0Save the file, restart Condor 3, and start a flight. This uses Generic UDP output;
NMEA output is a separate feature. Keep ExtendedData and ExtendedData1 set to 0.
The HUD receives pitch, bank, compass heading, altitude, ground speed and variometer data. The speed tape shows horizontal ground speed, which can differ from Condor's airspeed indicator. AirHorizon converts Condor's pitch and bank from radians and altitude from meters.
Leave Director Mode off: Condor does not supply X-Plane flight-director commands.
Tested setup: X-Plane 11 and X-Plane 12 with AirHorizon on iOS and iPadOS; Condor 3 with AirHorizon on iOS. All simulators ran on macOS; Condor 3 ran through CrossOver.
Other sources may work if they send a flight-data message format supported by AirHorizon. Using UDP alone does not guarantee compatibility.
Connection status: EXT lists channels with fresh data:
S speed, A altitude, H heading, V variometer, P pitch, R roll.
Missing letters mean those channels are waiting; WAIT means all selected channels are waiting.
During delays, pitch, roll, heading, speed and altitude hold their last readings.
Select the device source explicitly to return to device sensors.
AirHorizon is a consumer application for supplementary observation and reference, and for flight simulation. It is not a certified aviation instrument, it is not approved for navigation or for operating an aircraft, and it must not be used as a primary or backup attitude reference in a real aircraft.
Consumer device sensors are affected by acceleration, vibration, temperature, magnetic interference and signal loss. Always fly by your aircraft's certified instruments and follow the applicable regulations. How you choose to use the app is your own responsibility.
Yes. Both names describe a display of pitch and roll relative to the horizon. In standalone mode, AirHorizon uses your device's motion sensors for these readings: the horizon responds as your phone or tablet tilts.
External telemetry was tested on iOS and iPadOS with X-Plane 11 and X-Plane 12, and on iOS with Condor 3. All simulators ran on macOS; Condor 3 ran through CrossOver.
No simulator plugin is required for these setups. Use the built-in UDP data output in X-Plane or the Generic UDP output configured in Condor 3’s Settings/UDP.ini.
UDP port 49000 for both simulators. In X-Plane, enable Network via UDP for rows 3 (speeds), 4 (variometer), 17 (pitch, roll, headings), 20 (altitude) and 108 (Director Mode). Condor uses the UDP.ini settings above instead of data rows.
No. Director Mode uses X-Plane flight-director commands, which Condor 3 does not provide. Leave Director Mode off when using Condor.
Turn on Show Variometer and Use External for Variometer. In X-Plane, enable Network via UDP for row 4 (Mach, VVI, G-load). In Condor 3, make sure Generic UDP output is enabled and a flight is running without pause.
Other sources may work if they transmit flight data in a message format supported by AirHorizon. Sending UDP packets or matching the parameter names alone does not establish compatibility.
Yes. The standalone mode uses your device's motion sensors for pitch and roll. Heading, ground speed and altitude depend on the location data and sensors available on your device. No simulator or separate receiver is needed.
AirHorizon can display device readings for supplementary observation and reference during a flight. Do not rely on it to fly or navigate, or as a backup if an aircraft instrument fails. It is not a certified aviation instrument; use the aircraft’s instruments and established procedures for flight decisions.
The app is free to download from the App Store. Heading, speed and altitude displays, the visual and audio variometer, and external simulator telemetry require AirHorizon Pro. The App Store and the in-app upgrade screen show the current pricing.
Check the device IP, port 49000, Local Network permission and that both devices are on the same local network. In X-Plane, tick Network via UDP for each required row. In Condor, check Enabled=1 in UDP.ini and start a flight. VPNs, guest Wi-Fi and router client isolation can block local UDP traffic.
Still stuck, or want to suggest a feature? Send a message through the support form — it goes straight to the developer.
Free on the App Store for iPhone and iPad, iOS 18.1 or later.
Download on the App Store