MSFS

JustFlight has shared some new previews of their upcoming BAe 146 for Microsoft Flight Simulator. The previews clearly show off some of the high detailed modelling and texture work going on inside the cockpit, as well as on the plane’s exterior. The developer has also published the ‘In Development‘ page of the plane, where new information and progress of the plane will be shared. You can also find a detailed description with an extensive feature list on this page.

Hawk T1/A Advanced Trainer Update

JustFlight has also issued an update for their recently released Hawk. The changelog for the v1.1 update is quite extensive and can be found at the end of this post. The previews below also show some of the changes that have been made in this update.

Pacific Islands Simulation (PacSim) has been showing off their upcoming Incheon International Airport (RKSI) scenery over on Facebook. The previews mostly show the surrounding scenery of the airport itself, and the island on which it is located. In a video posted earlier, PacSim takes you in a flight around the airport to show the incredible terrain details, such as the beaches, reef formations and more. The previews also show the city of Incheon, with high quality custom modelling for the buildings, such as the high-rise towers and the flat blocks.

Not many previews of the terminal buildings have been shown yet, though it does appear in a few of the shots. The team has shared some more close up previews of the cargo area. Work on PacSim’s Incheon scenery seems to be progressing nicely and we’ll keep you up to date of more to come.

Thanks to Pete for the tip.

Orbx has shared a trailer of their recently announced Skiathos (LGSK) scenery for Microsoft Flight Simulator. The trailer shows the airport itself, with planes landing and taking off, and a day-night cycle to show some of the lighting features. The trailer also shows some of the details we can come to expect at this airport, such as plane spotters taking pictures or enjoying getting their faces blasted by the engine-wash, vehicles, and airport workers loading or unloading baggage on the apron. Furthermore, the trailer gets up close with the city, as it shows the details we can come to expect here. As previously announced, Orbx’s Skiathos scenery will include the whole island, including landmarks and points of interest.

Orbx also announced that Skiathos International Airport will release this Friday.

FlyTampa has shared a video showing their upcoming Athens International Airport (LGAV), as well as an animation feature demonstration. We haven’t seen any previews of FlyTampa Athens for MSFS before, and this first preview immediately got up close. Flying over the apron, the video shows the terminal exterior with the iconic blue jetways, and the Athens traffic tower, all in very high detail. On the apron there is clutter, such as cars, pushback vehicles and baggage carts. The video then zooms in to inside the terminal, where not only do we find highly detailed custom terminal interior, but a huge amount of animated passengers, moving about the terminal, talking with each other and taking phone calls.

The video then goes back outside, showing us more of the terminal exterior, this time from the passenger arrival section. Once again, the terminal exterior and textures here look of very high quality and detail. You’ll also notice details, such as cars, busses, street lights, traffic signs and pots with little trees/plants in them. Here too, the animation preview continues with passengers walking around in front of the terminal building and flags waving in the wind, albeit all in unison with the same animation.

The video then goes on to show us the airport by night time. You can clearly see the excellent lighting features at the airport. As part of the animation preview, one building has animated lights that move around the side of the building. You can even see how the light reflects on the ground smoothly, all seemingly without any performance impact.

According to FlyTampa, the scenery, including all the previewed animations, should release in a few weeks.

Orbx has announced that they are bringing yet another airport from the original ESP platform to MSFS. This time that airport will be Hammerfest Airport (ENHF).

Located in Norway, Hammerfest is considered the worlds northernmost town. It has a unique atmosphere due to its location, as the sun does not set during summer and does not rise during winter. The approach to the sloped runway is challenging and will take pilots through some nearby mountains.

The airport will feature PBR textures, terminal interior modelling, custom static objects, custom orthoimagery and developer Finn Hansen has also included a ‘mini-cityscape’ of the city itself.

Over on Facebook, Just Flight has shared some previews of their upcoming Piper PA-38 Tomahawk for MSFS. The previews give us an early look at the exterior of the plane. According to the developer, the initial details of the plane will be coming in the next couple of weeks.

Scenery developer, Pilot Plus has announced Biggin Hill EGKB for Microsoft Flight Simulator. 

Biggin Hill is located just outside South East London and started life as a World War I airfield and later home for Spitfire and Hurricane Squadrons during WWII. Biggin Hill today sees just private business jets and general aviation movements as the airfield are restricted from operating scheduled fare-paying services despite having a runway capable of handling a 737/A320. 

Over on Facebook, FSimStudios has given a status update on their CYXU – London (Ontario, Canada) scenery. We haven’t heard or seen much of this scenery for a little while, but now the team has broken the silence with a brand new set of previews.

The team shared that the release of the scenery is ‘imminent’, and should take place within a few days from their announcement. The release will initially be for Prepar3D, with the MSFS version of the scenery following shortly after. An X-Plane version is still under development, and FSimStudios is collaborating with Canada4XP for this. The team also shared that the scenery will be available on their website, Orbx Direct and SimMarket. Multiplatform bundles and upgrade discounts will be available, although the team has not yet shared details on these.

When we shared the start-up video for the Leonardo Softhouse Fly the Maddog in Microsoft Flight Simulator, many of you guys watched it. Suffice to say, there’s a lot of hunger to learn more about the MD-80 coming to the simulator. Leonardo SH saw that, too, and released another video of the maddog taking off.

The video is short, but we can hear the engine and runway bump sounds as the plane hurtles down the runway at speed. Again, this video is in full 4K and you get a real widescreen view of the plane in action.

There are already some previews of the aircraft in Microsoft Flight Simulator, but this is the first video we’ve seen of the aircraft in action. We’ll be following development very closely and can’t wait to share more with you in the future.

Be sure to go back and watch that engine start-up again.

The latest feature review for the upcoming Fenix Simulations A320 has been released. Development on the aircraft product continues to move along and the team are keen for the community to learn even more about what to expect in the A320 on Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Before the video begins, Aamir did want to give a brief update on some behind-the-scene stuff to answer some common questions seen on the team’s Discord the past few weeks. First up, the reason behind the lack of update last week was due to the fact Fenix were tackling a single bug that required the full team to help track it down. The all-hands-on-deck approach was needed to crush the bug, but the good news is that things have been fixed.

For those wanting to know when the aircraft will enter beta, Aamir said this is still “up in the air” at the moment with no definitive date for when this will happen. That said, Fenix has expanded their initial alpha team a little further to include a wider range of systems to start identifying areas where performance can be best utilised. The team have a wide range of PC specs to be working with so that upon release, the plane should perform well regardless of whether you have a high-end or low-end machine.

As for this week’s feature review, the team has decided to look at the Indicating/Recording system of the A320. In the 30-minute long video, Aamir shows us how the aircraft collects data and then presents it to the pilot. Again, this is an extensive overview of just a singular element of the plane. Aamir also confirmed that a future feature review will focus on the ECAM, so there’s that to also look forward to.

The Fenix A320 continues to shape up into one of the most anticipated aircraft for the new simulator. There have already been numerous feature reviews you can check out, including the pneumatic systems, CDPLC functionality and also the MCDU and FMGS. You can also read our first-look article and also the Fenix A320 announcement post to learn more.