Learn how to save and load an X-Plane flight situation, find .sit files, and fix missing aircraft, reset systems or saves that will not load.
To save a flight situation in X-Plane, open the File menu during a flight, choose Save Flight, give the save a name and confirm. To restore it, choose Load Flight from the File menu or the saved-flight option on the opening screen, select the situation, and load it.
How do I save an X-Plane situation?
- Prepare the aircraft: Put it at the position and in the configuration you want to resume. For approach practice, stabilise the aircraft before saving rather than capturing it during a turn or configuration change.
- Open the File menu: Select Save Flight. Some older X-Plane releases refer to this as saving a situation.
- Name the situation: Use a descriptive name such as the airport, runway and starting point. This makes several approach or training saves easier to distinguish.
- Confirm the save: X-Plane creates a situation file with the
.sitextension.
A saved situation is best treated as a checkpoint, not a complete aircraft-state backup. If a third-party aircraft provides its own panel-state or aircraft-state feature, use that as well.
How do I load the saved flight later?
- Open the loader: Choose Load Flight from the File menu. Versions that show a saved-flight option on the opening screen can use that instead.
- Select the situation: Choose the named
.sitfile from the list. - Load and wait: Let the aircraft, scenery and plugins finish initialising before moving controls or changing switches.
- Check the cockpit: Confirm the fuel, controls, autopilot, avionics and route before continuing, particularly with a plugin-driven aircraft.
Loading replaces the flight already in progress. Save that flight first if you might want to return to it.
Can I use Resume Last Flight instead?
Resume Last Flight is useful for returning to the previous session, but it is not a substitute for a named situation. Starting another flight or changing the configuration may replace what it resumes, whereas a named .sit file remains available until it is deleted or moved.
Where are X-Plane saved situations stored?
X-Plane normally stores situation files in X-Plane/Output/situations. The first part of that path is the folder containing the particular X-Plane installation being used.
If you have several copies of X-Plane, each has its own Output/situations folder. A common mistake we see is copying a save into one installation and then launching another. The simulator also needs permission to write to its installation folder; otherwise the save may fail to appear.
You can back up .sit files by copying them elsewhere. Treat situations as version- and aircraft-dependent, however: an X-Plane 11 save should not be relied upon in X-Plane 12, and moving or renaming the aircraft used by a situation can prevent it from restoring correctly.
What is saved in a flight situation?
A situation records a controllable snapshot of the flight, including the selected aircraft, its position, attitude and speed, plus many standard simulator, environment and cockpit values. It does not reliably preserve every custom system operated by an aircraft plugin.
| File type | What it is for | What it does not replace |
|---|---|---|
Situation (.sit) | Resuming a controllable aircraft at a saved point | A guaranteed backup of every plugin-controlled system |
Flight plan (.fms) | Saving a reusable navigation route | The aircraft's position, speed or cockpit state |
Replay (.rep) | Playing back recorded movement | A normal checkpoint from which to continue flying |
If the route matters, save it separately. Our explanation of creating, storing and loading X-Plane 12 flight plans covers the separate .fms workflow.
Why will my X-Plane situation not load correctly?
- The save is not listed: Check that the
.sitfile is in the active installation'sOutput/situationsfolder. Also confirm that it was not accidentally renamed with a second file extension. - The aircraft is missing: Reinstall or restore the aircraft used when the situation was created. Moving or renaming its folder can break the saved reference.
- The FMC or cockpit state resets: Custom aircraft often store systems through plugins or their own state manager. Load the aircraft's matching panel state and load the flight plan separately rather than expecting the situation alone to restore everything.
- The weather changes after loading: Real-world weather can refresh and replace conditions captured by the situation. Use manually configured weather when repeatable training conditions matter.
- An old save behaves strangely: Create a fresh situation after changing major X-Plane versions or substantially updating the aircraft. Situation files are poor long-term interchange formats.
- Loading freezes or takes an unusually long time: Start a new flight with a default aircraft to establish whether the simulator itself works, then check the saved aircraft and its plugin dependencies. If every flight loads slowly rather than one particular save, follow our X-Plane 12 loading-time troubleshooting steps.
For dependable training checkpoints, keep the situation, flight plan and any aircraft-specific panel state together, and test the saved setup once before relying on it for repeated approaches or system practice.