lwt1971

Thanks for the heads up.. I'm liking this bit from Aamir below. Also sounds like the A319/A321 development is coming along since he mentions them being in "later stages" of development. Systems and FM Hi my name is Aamir and I don’t know why I felt the need to begin that way, but everyone else did. Pretty light on systems and FM updates because the majority of our resources right now are working on the expansion, but a couple of interesting things to note that have made their way into this update - We’ve improved the ADIRU wind simulation, and by improved, I mean we’ve added one - prior to this it would just grab data from the sim and throw it onto your ND. Now, it’s pulled in by sensors on the aircraft, processed and output. What’s the difference? Well, quite minute - but pretty cool. On a takeoff run above 100 kts, the wind data comes “alive” on your ND, and it will now show mostly headwind or tailwind (since track is almost identical to heading). After rotation, the wind data will swing and start coming “good” as the aircraft weathervanes into the wind. Also, when you give the rudder a good kicking in flight, you’ll now see some variation in the wind vector thanks to how the aircraft processes and displays the wind vector data. Teeny tiny details, really, but I feel it’s nice to look at something like the wind data on your ND and know that there’s something going on behind it all. Furthermore, we’ve made some very small adjustments to the FBW to make it slightly smoother in pitch while retaining precision, and a couple of fixes to the ground > air blend to make it, as Dave regrettably called it, “creamy”.

Fair to be skeptical, but FWIW, the full motion A350 simulator is but one part of multiple sources of data and expertise they're drawing upon: https://forum.inibuilds.com/topic/23569-summer-surprises-inibuilds-airliner-aircraft-development-update-july-2024/ The A350 is over a decade old now and quite a bit of data can be found for core systems and overall functionality. We had some missing spots when it came to the data we needed to bring the A350 into MSFS so we regularly rent a full motion A350 simulator for multiple hours which allow us to fully capture these details and fill in any missing information. For aerodynamic data we have a base data package and the simulator allowed us to verify this data. To further complement this data point, we have a collection of dedicated A350 experts (approximately 12) ranging from engineers, pilots and others that serve as a critical but complementary source of information when there is any confusion from the information we have. Rest assured, this product will not only be visually appealing but to the highest level of detail, far exceeding anything else we have produced thus far. 🔥 Examples from https://forum.inibuilds.com/topic/23573-inibuilds-a350-airliner-in-development-faq/ What kind of system depth will you go for with the A350? Will it include secondary flight plan and pilot waypoints for the FMS and MCDU? We intend to replicate close to all the MCDU functions on the A350 including SEC F-PLN and if possible; SEC F-PLN 2 and 3 along with pilot waypoints on the ND via the cursor mode. Will the A350 have functioning OIS screens and OANS on the ND display for BTV and taxi? The OIS will have many functions lifted from the real thing including takeoff landing performance and other ACARS functions replicated from the real aircraft. OANS will be fully simulated along with BTV functions. During our simulator visit we spent along time capturing these details to make sure we have all the data we need Is the A350 going to have HCF (Heading Control Function)? It's a great feature that makes taxiing a whole lot easier? This feature will be present in the aircraft. Will you implement the special “What If” function on the A350 MCU? What is the WHAT IF function? It allows you to tell the A350 on the SEC F-PLN 1 2 or 3 that you have had either an “Engine failure” or “depressurization” and it will then give you an EFOB for the SEC F-PLN DEST and an ETA. We want to try and simulate this function coupling it into the SEC 1 2 and 3 functions. Will the A350 have things adding more failures, more options in performance calculations (climb gradients, obstacle clearance and so on) and maybe circuit breakers? We do intend to have a base level set of failures that can be actioned in the simulator along with some other types of failures that we will talk about at a later date! Most of the reset panel will be simulated, these are the closest thing you will get to a CB in the A350 flightdeck. Reset panel 1 and 2 are located on the upper left and right of the overhead and allow the pilots to reset systems that might have failed rather than have to pull a set to CBs on the back wall. We will have more options in the perf calculator to cover climb gradients and obstacle clearance. Is GPS jamming/spoofing going to be simulated on the A350? This is a common thing pilots deal with on a daily basis, especially over Turkey, Iraq and Kuwait, places particularly frequently visited by wide-body aircraft? We want to try and simulate challenges line pilots come across day to day and will have a system to allow this level of challenge to be scaled for each user. Will the product have CPDLC & Hoppie Integration? We intend to have full CPDLC integration using Hoppie. CPDLC in the A350 is also integrated directly into the aircraft not a separated DCDU like on the 320 family. We also intent to have a fully simulated ACARS system with some never seen before functionality which we will showcase at a later date. ---------- Even if they "just" implement the A350 to similar fidelity levels of the A300 as it currently stands, I'll be jumping all over it (since their A300 is a pretty darn good implementation). But all indications and what they're saying are that the A350 will be even higher fidelity. I'm pretty confident that iniBuilds are up to the task given what they've shown so far in terms of track record for MSFS and also their previous work in other sims. And another thing to note, given the year-end timeframe for release and also given iniBuilds' insider access to MSFS 2024 this aircraft will likely/hopefully release with good use of MSFS 2024's new features right from the get go.

Sorry, what "nonsense" is there to cut through here? The ground handling has been addressed in MSFS 2020 SU15, and is even more fully reworked in MSFS 2024. That doesn't necessarily mean all aircraft can inherit this automatically in MSFS 2020, since they all have been developed and fine-tuned to work with the older system.. so that's why Asobo provided additional parameters in the FM for aircraft devs to adopt, if they so choose to. I'd say the iniBuilds A300 has made good use of it, as they demonstrated here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4cxNccH66U&t=1318s ... Fenix also have, and some other birds. PMDG will adopt it soon. ---------- And @Krakin agreed re: iniBuilds fully embracing the CFD tech.. some others like Black Square (Duke, TBM 850), FSReborn etc also did and they have some stellar flight models. I'm guessing they will also be able to more readily take advantage of the improvements coming in MSFS 2024 for much more flexible and detailed aircraft surfaces/wings geometry setup & modelling (something that is important for CFD to work best).

Oh that's very likely because the A300 makes use of the improved ground physics that came in MSFS SU15, which is actually a partial backport of the fuller ground physics/handling revamp coming in MSFS 20204. Devs need to implement values for new parameters in the FM for their specific aircraft to enable the new ground physics in MSFS 2020. PMDG have said they'll look into adopting the new ground handling in a future updates for both the 777 and 737.

Indeed.. the iniBuilds A350 is the other significant high fidelity airliner product due later this year (ini are doing a development update and live Q&A event on Monday when they'll give more details about the A350). FSL also said last month on a forum thread their first MSFS product will be out before MSFS 2024, so <= November (likely A32x, maybe A330 or Concorde). Fenix's A319 and A321 are also due some time this year. I guess we should also count certain MSFS 2024's default fleet ones of medium or higher fidelity that's known of so far: iniBuilds A330 & Beluga, Asobo 737 MAX Couldn't agree more 🙂 ... when it comes to aircraft choices in MSFS from GA to large wide-bodies and everything between, it does seem to be an "embarrassment of riches" situation.

Agreed. So great they're in close partnership with MS/Asobo too and providing more and more birds for the default fleet. And given this partnership they also likely get earlier/better access to the sim SDK/tools and Asobo devs, and also develop aircraft for MSFS in best-practice ways in terms of technology stacks used, etc (i.e. use of CFD to build their FMs from the ground up, etc). Win win for us.

A great aircraft gets even better.. kudos iniBuilds, and this helps their A350 and A380 development too, as they're aiming at equal and likely even better fidelity for those compared to the A300. Good read at https://forum.inibuilds.com/topic/23487-inibuilds-a300-600r-airliner-v112-update-lets-talk-about-what-this-update-has/, some bits that stood out to me: "Our motto at iniBuilds with everything we do, is taking flight simulation to the next level. From the changelog you will see numerous items and areas that have been refined or fine-tuned. 🔥 For example, we have overhauled the PW start sequence, to FMS behaviour to the ECAM logic for the ENG FADEC channel faults. The whole aircraft has had a comb-through of refinements and improvements to deliver the most authentic classic airliner experience available in flight simulation." Feedback from IRL A300 pilot: "As a real-world A300-600 pilot, I was interested in giving the IniBuilds A300-600 a real test. It was great to see how far the team had come, even when there's not much info and experience available as the airplane is nowadays practically phased out. However, with my 10 years of experience from both the right and the left seat, I felt there were still some things which needed improvement. Finally, after months of tests and long nights of communication within the team, the A300 is at a stage where it really mirrors the flying experience of the real bird. From the different engine sounds to the way the overhead panel and FMS works, to the quirky PROF (VNAV) descent, it's all there. My advice, don't trust the FMS during the descent, an overshoot or undershoot is highly likely, and don't depend on forecasts descent winds.. She will make her own plan so make sure you are in control!" Performance: "The end result is an overall improvement in performance by up to 15% with code executing 300-400 microseconds quicker. This was measured in comparison to our current release version (1.1.1) consistently from a variety of sources and users." "Whilst updating the rest of the code we took the opportunity to completely redo our Lateral and Vertical guidance modes. Taking account of ARINC424 standards, Airbus Lateral and Vertical Guidance documents, FMGS FCOM extracts and hundreds of hours of testing by real-world pilots. The results are obvious and combined with the stability improvements you will see a consistent and realistic reproduction of how the aircraft operates." "Overall improvements can be seen across LNAV with the aircraft with turn anticipation correctly calculated with VNAV predictions, intercepting radial in and out paths and greater track accuracy." "VNAV now respects speed and altitude constraints more consistently which assists the LNAV handling overall. Tactical input and flying is still required from the pilot with the vintage style of guidance simulated, but overall improvements are noticeable; as explained by Jeremy above!" "These improvements will be present in other iniBuilds-created airliners soon." Guess we'll learn more at their developer update/stream next week Monday July 22nd and then subsequent deeper update on the A350.

Tidbits about the 747 and future: PMDG 747 for MSFS: Development on the 747 product line started back in January, and is progressing apace. I mention this specifically because the 747 happens to be our traditional flagship- so we have some unexpected and very exciting things planned for this product line. Stay tuned here for some progressive updates on this project as we go forward. Mathijs and I are having a cultural clash internally as we try to balance his desire to "share what we are doing as we do it!" against my compulsive need to "stay quiet and get the work done, THEN show it." We shall see who wins. Okay everybody- I have been saying this quite a bit lately- but we really do appreciate the enthusiasm you are showing for our 777. This was an important development cycle for us, as it was an opportunity to really show what can be done with a bit of familiarity on the platform, and some creativity. We are looking forward to taking this all a step further with our 747 product line, and of course learning what new toys we might get access to in MSFS 2024...

Hehe, couldn't get to watch... sounds like no tangible new info on MSFS 2024 😞 ?

1. Yes.. as to keeping both that's up to you to decide (initial MSFS 2024 bugs, some add-ons not quite working in 2024 yet, etc might definitely make you keep MSFS 2020 around for a while) 3. Of course, it's a superset of functionality that's in MSFS 2020 (as usually with all sim evolutions) 4. You probably won't need/want MSFS 2020 if MSFS 2024 can do all it can and more Good to keep an eye on the official FAQ, which MS/Asobo update frequently: https://www.flightsimulator.com/microsoft-flight-simulator-2024-faq/

Doubt that.. the likes of Fenix, PMDG, and other add-ons are supposed to work with zero to minimal changes in order to maintain as-is functionality. It's only for enhancing them to take advantage of new MSFS 2024 features that non-trivial development effort will likely be required, and the SDK for 2024 be used, etc. So perhaps "MSFS 2024 enhanced" versions of add-ons, i.e. where they take advantage of the new aircraft physics and more accurate/detailed aircraft geometry/surfaces definitions in these aircraft might take till 2025. Then again, given how Asobo are also aiming to make the development tools in the SDK easier to use, it might not take that long.. i.e. Seb mentioned how quickly (within an hour) he was able to transition the A330 fuselage/wings surfaces & geometry for the new aerodynamics/CFD system here at this timestamp:

So what are the other issues lingering with the PMDG 777 as it currently stands? You make it sound serious so I'm interested in this list.

Given that the IRL 777 aircraft that PMDG 3D-scanned is a used/in-use 777 rather than brand new factory-fresh, in all likelihood it has this panel gap.. which then showed up in the digital 3D model (and because they scanned it for MSFS using LiDAR technology, the digital 3D model will be highly accurate compared to the real thing). So if this is the case, then is the product still not "right and realistic"?

Best to hear right from the source... watch Jorg and Seb's presentations at FS Expo from this year and last, where they give more details about the digital twin earth rendering tech improvements, and other changes/enhancements coming in various areas of the sim:

They will be rescheduling it:https://x.com/MSFSofficial/status/1810412332691951684 Unfortunately we have to reschedule our upcoming Developer Stream that was planned for July 9th. Please stay tuned for the updated time and date! Due to the delay, question submissions for the Developer Stream will remain open