Video from Sergio Costa (https://www.helisimmer.com/) below.. Some timestamps on what I found interesting:

• https://youtu.be/Wb7pg9AgpO4?t=133
  • Jorg: "when I said 10 years I meant to say we're in it for the long haul"
  • Seb: "MSFS will continue when I retire"
• https://youtu.be/Wb7pg9AgpO4?t=405
  • Seb on changes to aerodynamics/physics for helicopters, that also impact all aircraft
  • i.e. modelling the surface/shape of the rotor blades: they initially started with 16 surfaces but quickly realized more is needed so now 100s of surfaces are simulated just on the blades alone
  • this is required to simulated  the various complex physics such as flapping, resonance, phase lag, etc.. 1000 cycles per sec sampling simulation rate
  • big breakthrough was managing the turbulent airflow around heli, key for helis more so than regular aircraft
  • aim is to keep improving this physics more and more to simulate smaller and smaller effects, which also helps other aircraft
  • ground effect simulated based on texture of ground, slope of ground, winds, etc
  • detailed visualization of airflow around aircraft/heli (atmospheric/thermals, local airflow around aircraft/heli, etc) ... this also gives evidence of exactly what sim is doing, for experts to give feedback on what is wrong and what needs fixing
• https://youtu.be/Wb7pg9AgpO4?t=775
  • what's next after 40th: right now around 80 aircraft in development, when they'll come out no idea as of now ... tiltrotor aircraft will be considered in future
  • Jorg: "lots and lots of stuff coming after the 40th anniv edition"

 

 

Note also the more detailed initial thoughts Sergio had on the helicopter implementation in MSFS: https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/626513-helicopters-what-do-you-think/?do=findComment&comment=4874061
 

 

Edited November 20, 20223 yr by lwt1971

Wow, 80 aircraft in development, is that like, all aircraft in history? 😀

4 minutes ago, regis9 said:

Wow, 80 aircraft in development, is that like, all aircraft in history? 😀

Just my 2 pennies' worth: Do we need 80 default aircraft?
I'd quite like it if they improved what aircraft we already have, creating new content like the Reno Air Races expansion (after they fix it) instead.
We could have expansion content like heli missions—be an LAPD or ABC7 news hellcopter tracking a high-speed chase through Los Angeles, etc.

 

32 minutes ago, lwt1971 said:

detailed visualization of airflow around aircraft/heli (atmospheric/thermals, local airflow around aircraft/heli, etc) ... this also gives evidence of exactly what sim is doing, for experts to give feedback on what is wrong and what needs fixing

Fingers crossed, this could be a very useful tool to further improve what we have!

45 minutes ago, lwt1971 said:

Video from Sergio Costa below.. Some timestamps on what I found interesting

Thanks for the review Len, I don't have the time to see all the video. 
I would like to see a complex helicopter (FMC, TCAS, TAWS, Weather Radar...etc) developed by: Microsoft, Asobo and Working Title. I think that @MattNischan and the rest of the WT team are doing an outstanding job with avionics and they could develop one perfectly, we never had one of these in any sim, would be a new milestone in flight simulation.

@SergioCosta maybe you have any information that you can share with us about a third party developer developing a complex helicopter for MSFS?😉

2 hours ago, F737MAX said:

Just my 2 pennies' worth: Do we need 80 default aircraft? I'd quite like it if they improved what aircraft we already have,

Hmmm….not sure I’m particularly keen on this.  I have the PMDG DC6 and compared to this the freebie DC3 is not really in the same league.

It’s a nice gesture and a good indication of the sims financial health and Microsoft’s commitment to be giving stuff away but it also stifles high end, third party developers.

I’d much rather pay for a DC3 with systems, flight and texture modelling up to the standard of Fenix, SWS, PMDG, Milviz, etc. but I fear that just won’t happen now we have ‘free’.

I too hope they can bring the default aircraft up to a certain standard though and it’s encouraging to hear they are working towards this.

 

Edited November 20, 20223 yr by DD_Arthur

10 minutes ago, DD_Arthur said:

Hmmm….not sure I’m particularly keen on this.  I have the PMDG DC6 and compared to this the freebie DC3 is not really in the same league.

It’s a nice gesture and a good indication of the sims financial health and Microsoft’s commitment to be giving stuff away but it also stifles high end, third party developers.

I’d much rather pay for a DC3 with systems, flight and texture modelling up to the standard of Fenix, SWS, PMDG, Milviz, etc. but I fear that just won’t happen now we have ‘free’.

I too hope they can bring the default aircraft up to a certain standard though and it’s encouraging to hear they are working towards this.

 

Appreciate your point, but I would disagree especially for something like a DC-3. I think what we are getting now is the best possible outcome.

To develop an addon to the Fenix or PMDG quality on the MSFS platform is a lot of money and time. You need to get the modelling and texturing right, record sounds, do the flight model, etc. It's a massive investment and the reality is an absolute study-level DC-3 with all bells and whistles is a bit of a risk. A much bigger risk than say an A320 or a 737. And I say this as a massive fan of the DC-3 and have been waiting for one for the last two years.

Instead what we get now is a really well done version of the plane that I would say is about 80% there. And it's native and moddable. That opens up a massive opportunity for a much smaller team to come in and do that last bit of work to get it perfect. Just like those reality expansion packs for X-Plane.

In other words, having 80 well done planes that could then be potentially enhanced to study level through expansion packs is, in my mind, a win-win for all.

17 hours ago, Georgleboui said:

In other words, having 80 well done planes that could then be potentially enhanced to study level through expansion packs is, in my mind, a win-win for all.

I'm assuming some of the "80 aircraft in development" include helis and gliders. Agree with you in that if some or a bulk of these could be good starting points for further community modding, then why not. I also suspect a bunch of these could be outsourced to 3rd party devs or are being developed in collaboration between Asobo and that 3rd party.  So more like the 40th anniv edition aircraft development partnerships with iniBuilds/Milviz/etc, which is not a bad thing at all.