Another flight sim developer, Flying Iron Simulations, has released their end of year report. This one is pretty juicy with lots of details about the work that the company has done over the last year with both Microsoft Flight Simulator and DCS World modules being the focus. There’s a pretty substantial update on the DCS: A-7 Corsair II so let’s have a close look at all of this!
The Corsair II update
We know from prior updates that Flying Iron Simulations conducted a complete remake of the A-7 Corsair II model. They report that the rework of the model is complete and that the new version is significantly more detailed than before. It even incorporates maintenance areas (similar to the Ka-50 Black Shark III that I just reviewed).
Optimization of both exterior and interior models is now ongoing. So is the UV wrapping (this is how you tell software how the texture should be wrapped onto the 3D object) which they show off in one of their in development images.
Finishing up the cockpit and animating everything as well as doing the clickable areas within the cockpit is currently going as well. Some additional images were released of the cockpit.
And we also get some nice visuals of the 3D model exterior too. Very nicely detailed!
There’s also quite a bit of discussion about systems and flight modeling. Flying Iron have been working with Research in Flight, an aerospace company, to do CFD analysis and data collection. This is letting the team replicate the aircraft’s flight characteristics on a detailed level much in the same way that we’ve heard about how Eagle Dynamics have done similar analysis on recent aircraft releases.
That work connects closely too with systems with the A-7’s control augmentation system (CAS) and automatic flight control systems (AFCS) being tied closely to the character of the airframe. Flying Iron Simulations had this to say when talking about how these systems and the challenge of flying the A-7 connect.
The A7 Corsair is not a simple airframe to fly; it has extensive quirks that need to be understood and mastered for the aircraft to be flown effectively. The AFCS is a quintessential part of this; understanding & mastering it will be a key component of flying the A7 well.
The report also talks about sound design and has cool video where they show off collecting sounds for the aircraft.
Finally, there’s quite a lengthy section talking about weapons systems and sensors. Flying Iron are doing detailed simulations of the aircraft’s INS navigation system, radar, projected map display, and even failure modeling on how issues with one area of the aircraft can create systematic issues with other systems.
The team reports that they are nearing the end of their phase 3 development and are turning to phase 4 – the last phase. This appears to be where flight model, systems, and aircraft are all integrated together. This phase is set to begin in 2023 (this year!) but they aren’t committing to a release date or anything like that so I wouldn’t necessarily expect an early access this year.
MSFS projects
The team also provided an extensive look at the work they are doing in Microsoft Flight Simulator. Their warbird portfolio now includes the Spitfire IX, P-38, and F6F Hellcat. They are continuing to push the boundaries of modeling these aircraft using the sim’s built in CFD flight model as well as developing their own ground handling simulation.
There’s also a significant section about how they are intending to improve the sound effects on their aircraft.
It sounds like this team had a great 2022 and that work in 2023 is ongoing. That includes two new projects that include a Bf109G-6 and a FW190.
Read about all of Flying Iron Simulations 2022 accomplishments on their dev blog!
Stormbirds 
I’m loving this focus on Cold War aircraft. The Hornet is more than filling the need for dropping 8 preponderance JDAMS in one go…
Ready for some Cold War action.
I personally won’t be getting the Strike Eagle…but the Phantom and Corsair are both first day purchases.
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Strike Eagle right away for me. Phantom in a year or two when it’s on sale.
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I’m sure we’ll see both flying around on the various servers! Exciting to see.
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It would be fine, if we had Cold War content… like a Vietnam map. But that’s not in the cards at this time. Also, most of the DCS community seems to play multiplayer exclusively, no love for SP casuals like myself xD.
I wish we got more semi-realistic modern content. For me, I really love the Su 30 Mod, it’s really well done. If anything we definitely need more modern Redfor. I’m sure most of us would pay any price for that.
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Fortunately with some of these they straddle the line. The F-4E and A-7 Corsair II flew into the post Cold War period too so we can have fun with them alongside some more modern types too.
Redfor aircraft seem to be even more impossible after the events of the last several months unfortunately.
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I love Flying Iron, their P-38L, Hellcat, spitfire are the best warbird I’ve flown.
I am absolutely confident in the 109G6 and F-190 they will release.
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MSCFS 2020+ anyone?
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I used to dismiss the concept but after years of success with MSFS and the move by former 1CGS lead engineer over to Asobo… I do wonder!
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The MS CFS series (1,2,3) was my introduction to the world of military aviation and simulation. With the quality of aircraft being made for MSFS2020 and the new technology of the sim itself I’d be very interested in seeing that series return.
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I haven’t heard if its on the way but that’d be interesting if it were. I’d be curious to see how they’d make that work as MSFS is quite reliant at this point on modern satellite imagery – but where there’s a will there’s a way!
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FIS do good work – I started buying their aircraft back in X-Plane and have been pleased with each new release in MFSF, as well (strangely the Spitfire hasn’t gotten the CFD treatment yet…).
If you love warbirds, PLEASE do yourself a favor: download DCS World for FREE, and fly the ALSO FREE TF-51 there.
They have quite a few other warbirds that are all available for two week free trials (but the sim and the TF-51 are “forever free”).
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This is all very good news – SLUF is definitely one of my favorite cold warriors. And great to see the progress on MSFS as well!
However, all that enthusiasm is significantly quenched since I learned they have no intention of updating their excellent warbirds for X-Plane v12, which means I’m SoL for a P-38 with a proper flight model (and, no, CFD don’t cut it, esp for non-standard airframes like the Lightning).
It irritates me enough that I’ll probably stop buying the MSFS addons since I’ve no idea when they’ll stop updating those, either.
Rant: Off. They WILL get my money for the SLUF on Day 1, tho. 🙂
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