The one and only plane that may make me switch to 2024...!🤩.... Wait, let me run for cover now!

[27SEP25] That was a fun little hiatus... Now lets get back at it, shall we?

27Sep2025, 01:49

 

Captains, 

Well it has been a bit since I have had a chance to say hello- but I'm glad to be back and wanted to get you up to speed on the very latest!

First: I apologize for dropping off unexpectedly. Back in early August I managed to come down with whatever coughing-crud has been circulating in the US Mid-Atlantic region this summer, and lost my voice for about 10 days (completely!) which probably thrilled most of the PMDG team because it dramatically shortened a few of our weekly meetings.  It then took a few weeks before I could complete a sentence without trying to cough a lung clean out of my chest and I recovered just in time to head off to recurrent qualification training and then the usual spate of international and remote ops re-qualifications etc etc etc. I spend a couple of weeks every year re-qualifying... It used to be fun because it was an opportunity for targeted learning and to see/experience various challenges other crews ran into during the course of the year, but some boorish and unimaginative souls at FAA forced changes that make it easier for them to grade us- while ensuring that nobody is challenged or learns anything new. Really a shame because most of us who do this for a living don't feel like we are gaining any value at all from the annual dog-and-pony show these past few years. This incongruously feeble minded approach by FAA is going to create all manner of trouble for newer pilots just entering the professional pool. But I digress....

All the while, things were chugging along here at PMDG, but a few weeks after requalifying, I took a bit of time off for my annual leave. I am very fortunate to work in a couple of fields that I thoroughly enjoy- but I have come to recognize my own burnout signs and all the red lights were flashing during July and August, so I thought it was a good idea to walk away for a few weeks and recharge. I knocked out 3 books, (about 1100 pages of reading) did some writing and actually managed to ride a surf board without killing myself! I came back fully recharged and ready for the winter work cycle!

September is the traditional "everyone get some rest" month at PMDG, so about 2/3 of the team was away on holidays this month. Most of us are back now- and the rest and rejuvenation is evident all around!

Okay, enough with the "what i did during my summer vacation" piece, lets bounce through a few topics to get you the very latest status on things:


PMDG 777 for MSFS:
- MSFS Marketplace users for 2020 and 2024 should now be up to build 121. (we held up the build 121 for 2024 users because of some QC issues on the Marketplace side... more on that below)
- PMDG.com customers are on Build 130.
- A new build will be sent to PMDG.com customers next week (build number TBA) and will also get pushed to Marketplace intake for 2020/2024.
- PMDG 777-200LR has been held off of Marketplace due to some build issues related to Marketplace. We hope to have those resolved within the next couple of weeks and then it will appear.

A note for Marketplace 2024 777 users:
We have identified a texture corruption problem with the 777 fleet in MSFS Marketplace 2024 distribution that is still being investigated by PMDG and Microsoft. Essentially, if you switch to the outside view of the airplane, you see odd textures on the wings and other places, which is unsightly. This appears randomly and has something to do with texture streaming (we think?) and is under investigation for a resolution- HOWEVER: If you go into the tablet or the FMS and replace all of the tires- the problem will clear. We aren't sure what/why- but clearly MSFS 2024 doesn't like the methods we are using to adapt textures to reflect tire wear. We have reported the issue and are awaiting help from Microsoft to resolve the issue permanently- but in the mean time, if it appears on your airplane, you can use that method to cure it until a more resolute fix is found.

What about the 777 sound update?:
We are in the final approval stages for a sound package update that will initially appear in the 777-300ER, 777F and 777-200LR packages. This is a complete rebuild and upgrade to the sound environment in the airplane based upon hundreds of on-site recordings, intricate code work, a metric-<bleep>-ton of audio engineering work and hundreds of hours of adapting, processing and blending to get the sound package to please the ears of our 777-experienced testers and on-site experts.

As we near the end of testing and fitness, we have had a few really hard knee-knockers to clear that have slowed us down on this first iteration of the new sound methodology for the entire PMDG product line- but we think the wait will prove to be worth it. One of the challenges we hit was that our initial sound recordings were taken at a higher fidelity than MSFS would tolerate- and that had us chasing our tail on a few issues that eventually were cured by stepping the sound sampling down to match what the MSFS SDK wants to see. (sometimes the simplest cures are the dumbest... this would be one of those moments. Oops.)

Another, even larger challenge we faced was to make sure that the sound environment sounds like it sounds on the airplane, and not simply serving as a mimic the high-frequency-distorted sound you hear in most youtube videos. If you have an opportunity to sit on the flight deck in flight, the audio environment is far more broad-spectrum than what can be picked up by the average consumer grade electet microphones, so we not only had to make a heavy investment into studio grade equipment, we had to then make the investment in studio grade processing and expertise in order to ensure the sound sampling and mixing was done in such a way that you will experience the entire broad spectrum of sound as if you were sitting in the airplane, rather than hearing a high-frequency-biased recording on youtube.

We think you will love it- and I can't wait to start rolling this out to you in a few weeks. One of my favorite things to do with this new sound-set is to wander the cabin during the climb and hear how the richness of the sound changes as you move from the cockpit to the forward/mid/aft cabin and back. I've spent a lot of time wandering about a lot of airplanes in my flying career and I am thoroughly impressed by why our sound team has pulled off here. The extra wait time has been worth it- and the truly great news is that we really only have to invent the wheel the first time. We are already beginning to test the new sound environment in the 737 update that is in testing... It will be nice to check this off the task list!


PMDG 737 for MSFS 2024:
Speaking of the 737NG Native Product Update for 2024- we just pushed a new build of the 737-800 out to our beta testers, and we have officially pivoted from development to fitness and cleanup. We are looking at dates on the calendar, and preparing to roll this refreshed product line out for our MSFS 2024 customers. I am being careful not to talk about dates or timelines because there are still some pieces I am not happy with and all of us are pushing to get the loose ends wrapped up so that you can finally have your 737 native-built for MSFS 2024!

The moment the -800 goes into final testing, the whole team will pivot to the -700, then -900 and -600 respectively. Those will be quick as much of the hard work has already been accomplished, we are just keeping the dev resources and testing resources focused on the -800 in order to prevent fractalization of attention.


PMDG 747:
I got my first look at the fully implemented landing gear on the 747 this week, and it left me thirsting to throw the Pimax on my head and give it a good solid preflight. The detail level on this monstor is just fantastic. It will be a bit yet before we start to preview, as we have the majority of the team pivoted to the 737 in order to start ticking off the things that we want to get finished so that we can properly accelerate this new product line to release.

I got all sorts of criticism for sharing too many landing gear images with you during 777 development, so lets whack that hornet's nest a few times for some fun, shall we?



DANGER: This is an in-development image of a model that is not finished and doesn't include many parts of the airplane because it was done as a test build for a purpose OTHER than creating an image. Lots of stuff is missing, (like... the left main gear!) including plenty of detail, grime, proper texturing etc. This is just to give you an idea just how detailed the model is going to be when it is set in front of the deliver stand for you to take on your first flight. Something truly spectacular that will be as visually stunning as it is sophisticated!

I know a few of you will ask: Is this a 741 or 744? There are a few different ways you can tell... Does anyone know what they are?

All The Others:
I haven't mentioned a range of other topics here because I don't have any "new" information for you since last time. In some cases that is simply because I just returned from having been on holiday and haven't had a chance to connect with the developers involved, or the devs I need to connect with haven't yet returned from their own holidays... Either way- once I have some information to share, I shall share it. Lack of information doesn't mean anything other than I don't have anything new to share with you at this time.

I hope you all have been enjoying the past few weeks of cooler temperatures (here in the northern hemisphere, at least, theoretically!) and all of us at PMDG are looking forward to filling your dance card with a bunch of stuff during the next 6-9 months!
 

Robert S. Randazzo 
PMDG Simulations
http://www.pmdg.com

Edited September 29, 2025Sep 29 by Bernard Ducret

That sound update for the 777 cannot come soon enough. I currently have no sounds at all during touchdown and rollout in my 777F. Some of the "switch click" sounds in the VC also need a boost, as I can hardly hear them. Contrary to some reports, the engine sounds are the least of my concerns.

Can the 777-300ER be used in FS 2024 SU4 beta?

27 minutes ago, jcomm said:

Can the 777-300ER be used in FS 2024 SU4 beta?

Not yet. The 777 will still not activate in SU4 beta. There is a known MSFS SU4 bug affecting (some) WASM aircraft where they cannot read or write to their WORK folder, which in the case of PMDG is where all the config files, Nav data and flight plans live. Hopefully this will be addressed in an upcoming SU4 update. 

There was a similar “failure to activate” problem with PMDG in the early beta version of SU3 which Asobo was able to fix on their end. If the current problem would require PMDG to change some of the coding in the 777, I would not expect them to do until SU4 is released.

I love my PMDG products, but I always have to laugh at how he says so much to say so little.

PMDG's 747 classics are probably my most anticipated release ever. I cannot wait to have a high-fidelity 747 classic in the sim!  

22 minutes ago, james42 said:

PMDG's 747 classics are probably my most anticipated release ever. I cannot wait to have a high-fidelity 747 classic in the sim!  

This is definitely going to scratch my classic itch, that and the A300B4 from JustFlight. Particularly interested with the level of options that'll come with it as PMDG offers quite a granular level of options.

4 hours ago, Keirtt said:

I love my PMDG products, but I always have to laugh at how he says so much to say so little.

Spot-On !!! 🤣

Has always been like that since I know Robert from the old ATP news message boards 🙂

Edited September 29, 2025Sep 29 by jcomm

PMDG updates are always the same thing.

<400 lines of text with absolutely nothing interesting and most of the time details of personal life nobody really cares about>

TL;DR = coming soon(tm)

 

Yay they're doing a 747-100. In all honesty i would be really excited if it was a 757/767. Another 747 sounds so boring i almost fell asleep before typing this dot here -> .

13 minutes ago, Nuno Pinto said:

i would be really excited if it was a 757/767.

There's already one coming, not particularly excited if another developer were to announce one.

14 minutes ago, Nuno Pinto said:

Another 747 sounds so boring

We have the -8 which is decent and that's about it. What else do we have in MSFS that is another 747?

26 minutes ago, Lucky38i said:

There's already one coming, not particularly excited if another developer were to announce one.

We have the -8 which is decent and that's about it. What else do we have in MSFS that is another 747?

Now yes, there's another dev doing both 757 and 767 but they had it "prepared" for Prepar3D when MSFS was suddently announced and they just dropped everything to wave us with yet another dose of 737-777-747 fun.

As for the 747 it's just a personal thing, not a fan of the 747 and we're going to eventually have them all (again). 747 748 and now the younger 747. I guess someone had to do them and to whoever enjoys them congratulations because the existing 748 you mentioned is really really bad unfortunately.

39 minutes ago, Nuno Pinto said:

everything to wave us with yet another dose of 737-777-747 fun.

I mean sure but I don’t see anyone else stepping up to fill that gap for MSFS.

What was being made for or already exists on P3D is a moot here. 

I do hope Bluebird can deliver and scratch the 757 itch for you and me (as i want it too). 

ultimately I think all is well, we got a 757 on the horizon and a full spec 747, it might not be the 400 as some want, that’ll come later, but yeah

Very interesting choice for the 100. Besides the challenges associated with range, weight, and passenger restrictions, and limited navigation performance, the only appeal is the iconic airplane. I remember challenges due to strong winds during the wintertime going westbound. Many times out of EDDF, going to KBOS or KJFK, we had to stop in Iceland for refueling. The other option was just to bump freight or passengers to make it direct. In our days, this 100 can not go in or out of many airports due to the complexity of the navigation requirements. Even towards the end, there were some airlines that retrofitted them with GPS, but the autopilots were not up to the performance required for SIDS and STARS. The best we did was ILS CAT II. I remember once out of EDDF, even though we were GPS-equipped and showed no deviations from the SID, the ATC controller snapped at us that we were not on the centerline, typical Germans. 

Why would they not upgrade the 744 or the 748 for the MSFS and choose a completely new one is beyond my understanding. Or just one much better, why don't they spend time fixing the ongoing issues with their current airplanes?

5 hours ago, Keirtt said:

I love my PMDG products, but I always have to laugh at how he says so much to say so little.

TBH, I kinda like it. It makes him more relatable, if longer to get things across. Like many people I interact with 😉

It's a fine balance, but in general i'd rather have too much chaff than not enough wheat. The latter being what we get from most developers 😞

I think Just Flight and Blue Bird, and probably Fenix strike "the best" balance. Just would like to hear from them more (I dislike hanging out in Discord, though it can be extremely enlightening 🙂 )

747-100? no thanks.

Edited September 29, 2025Sep 29 by JBDB-MD80