A new feature discovery video is out ahead of Microsoft Flight Simulator’s Sim Update 8 release. The new video focuses on the improvements that the team has been making to aerodynamics and how they are calculated in the sim. Let’s have a look!

Aerodynamics improvements

This new feature discovery series video features Sebastian Wloch, CEO of Asobo Studio and in charge of Aerodynamics, and François Dacquin who is a Test Pilot and Technical Designer at the studio. The first part of the video features Sebastian talking about the improvements that have been made to the sim with a much more detailed calculation for propellers and propeller drag as well as a new computational fluid dynamics system where the airflow is computed over the aircraft surfaces.

Many of the clips are the same ones that were used in the recent Q&A but we get a better and clearer look at the technology here than we did during the Q&A. Three aircraft, the C152, C172, and King Air 350i are going to see the feature implemented in Sim Update 8. It seems likely that other aircraft will receive the same treatment in future updates and the technology will be available for third party developers through the SDK as well.

The second part of the video includes commentary from François Dacquin who is a test pilot who has been using his talents to model and test real aircraft versus Microsoft Flight Simulator’s flight model.

A better flight model?

Microsoft Flight Simulator has taken some hits since its release over its realism in the flight model. While there were parts of the model that felt good, there were other parts that clearly were not. Several aircraft that have been released by both Asobo and by third party developers have sometimes not been that impressive with their aircraft dynamics. The inclusion of the CFD and new prop modeling looks to be a response to those issues.

The good thing about this sim and the continued support that we’re seeing for it is that it rarely is staying still on these issues. It continues to improve and the dedication to real world testing that helps inform the virtual experience along with major improvements to modeling of propellers and the CFD analysis should really help to boost the sim’s appeal to the more hardcore sim audience.

Continuous improvement in this area seems like a good thing for all sim fans. I look forward to trying these updates for myself.

Sim Update 8 is due out on the week of February 28th together with the release of the first Famous Flyer: the An-2 bi-plane.