I just "released the parking brake" and did the pre-order for MSFS-2024, premium deluxe edition. According to the website:

"Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 — available for pre-order today on the Microsoft Store — will launch in a variety of editions on November 19, 2024, and the Standard Edition will be available day one with Game Pass. All pre-orders will receive the De Havilland Canada CL-415 firefighting aircraft to use instantly in Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020)...."

Does anyone here know what else I might need to do to actually receive this pre-order bonus? I did the transaction yesterday, 24 hours ago, but have not yet received the aircraft. When I logged into the sim a few minutes ago, it downloaded a sizeable update, 2 gB more or less, with several patches to the Pilatus PC-6 and a couple of the other planes, but nothing new. Is this CL-415 going to come as an add-on, that I have to manually drop the files to the Community folder? Has anyone done a pre-order and actually received this bonus, and if so, in what form?

Thanks!

 

 

It should be in the uninstalled list in the content manager, it can take a couple days. 

If you don't get in a couple days make a ticket on zendesk.

Edited October 10, 20241 yr by Tuskin38

44 minutes ago, Tuskin38 said:

It should be in the uninstalled list in the content manager, it can take a couple days. 

If you don't get in a couple days make a ticket on zendesk.

Thanks! I just checked the Content Manager; the plane isn't there yet, but now that I know where and how it's supposed to be delivered to me, I'll check for it again over the weekend and it it's still not there by Monday, I'll send the ticket to Zendesk.

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It was about five days for me, so long that I had gotten over it by the time it showed up. I did post a request on the zendesk site which might have helped.

There's a link over on the official forum you could track down. It links to a request form which specifies problems in great detail, but the simple one works just as well.

Thanks for the heads-up! Preordered on Steam an hour ago and I already have the CL-415. Installing right now.

gawd you guys are lucky I ordered my copy on release day - still no sign of it for me - have put in a zendesk thingo - got a reply but still no airplane - but having said that I just got the FW 190 & that is taking up time to learn it

I got it straight away after pre-ordering on Steam.

Yes, it was there within seconds of pre-ordeing on Steam. I only wish it was something else. I've no intention of downloading it. 

I got it straight away. I ordered via MS Store.
I seems that the early birds had to wait longest😕

54 minutes ago, St Mawgan said:

Yes, it was there within seconds of pre-ordeing on Steam. I only wish it was something else. I've no intention of downloading it. 

It's worth installing and then using the camera to explore the inside. The level of detail, even in hidden areas such as beneath the pilot's seats, is extraordinary. Outside, you'll rarely see rivets done better. It really is quite a model.

Mine was ready for install in about 24 hours from purchase

I got CL almost immediately after preordering FS24

Edit

Edited October 11, 20241 yr by MPL
Double post

The plane arrived in my Content Manager this morning! I test flew it for about an hour, out of Comox, BC (CYQQ), including a water pickup and drop. First impressions:
1. The CL-415 is pretty easy to fly. Takeoff and approach/landing no more difficult than in the Grumman Goose or Cessna 208 Caravan. It has plenty of power, and taking off with full fuel and water tanks is no strain, just use 10% flaps and about 10~15% up trim.

2. There's no autopilot, so all flying is manual. If you are simming a long ferry flight, it can be tiring. The CL-415 is not as unstable as a P-51, but not as stable as a Cessna 172 either. You can fiddle with the power and trim controls and get the plane to settle into level flight, but it won't stay there very long. Any little wind gust will tip it into a shallow turn, and it won't level out on it's own, you have to be actively controlling it all the time. Think "helicopter", but not nearly that unstable.

3. All of the exterior and interior is modeled in unbelievable detail: every rivet from the nose to the tail is there, both inside and out. Most of the things that are moveable in a real plane aren't operational (cabin doors don't actually open and close), but maybe this will be upgraded in the future. There's even a boat hook and boarding ladders clipped against the port side of the cabin in back!

4. To execute a water drop, you first have to extend the scoops - there's a switch for that - land on the water and let the tanks fill, take off again, retract the scoops, then Arm the drop doors with another switch. To open the doors and make the drop, there's a button on the yoke clearly labelled "water drop". If there are keybindings to do this from the keyboard hotkeys, I couldn't find them. I wanted to watch the water drop from External or Showcase view, but couldn't figure out a way to be in Exterior view, and push the drop button on the yoke at the same time. Maybe by opening an auxiliary view window it could be accomplished; I'll try it tomorrow.

5. The CL-415 has very forgiving stall characteristics for such a large twin.  A power-on stall sounds the horn and the plane mushes down, but doesn't fall off on either wing into a spin unless you do something really stupid like deliberately mash the rudder full over. Just push the yoke forward; the node drops and she goes back to level flight with no fuss. Power-off stalls are more dangerous; one or the other wing may lose lift suddenly and the plane will start to spin, but recovery is fairly easy.

6. Visibility out of the cockpit is remarkably good.

7. Ground handling is very smooth, controlling the plane while taxiing is easy. The landing gear has a quite wide stance considering that it's similar to a Grumman Albatross or Goose (folds up into the fuselage instead of into the wing or engine nacelles).  Turning sharply at any speed faster than about 10 mph will tip the Goose over and you'll bang a wing into the ground - this isn't a problem with the CL-415. It takes corners on the ground with considerably less drama than the Goose or the JRM Mars, if anyone reading this  ever flew the Hawaii Mars in FSX.

8. Power management is easy. There's a digital bar-graph display for torque, ITT, and propeller rpm that's clearly marked with red. yellow, and green zones. Just set your propeller pitch to keep in the center of the green zone, and use your throttles to get the power you want.

9. To shut down at the end of a flight: Pull the prop pitch levers all the way back - this cuts off the fuel, then on the overhead panel, find the battery and external power switches and turn them all off. You should get the end-of-flight dialog box as long as you are on an actual runway. As with other seaplanes in this sim, taking off and landing from water or ground other than official runways may not give you credit for a takeoff/landing.

Pre-ordered Premium Deluxe version on 9/28 via Steam. Never got the download. Opened a ticket, still never got the download. Pointless to pre-order so got a refund on steam. If they can't get this right, makes me wonder how the 2024 game is going to be delivered. I've never experienced this with any other pre order game that promised content either before or once the game was released. Bravo!