Produce announcements, updates, and a few surprises are all expected today as developers both at the expo and connecting in virtually show off their latest products and product plans. This will be a rolling and live update as those come in. Don’t forget to watch live on day one!

Update status: Updates are complete.

Microsoft Flight Simulator presentation

Finally, the last presentation of the day was Microsoft Flight Simulator. Jorg and Seb joined the FSExpo team on the stage for the first time. Jorg started off by talking about the legacy of the product that includes 40 years of products, 6 times rated the best simulator of the year, and news that the sim has now reached 12-million people.

Jorg talked about the 10-year commitment to the product that includes 33-updates in 33 months. Additional updates are planned to continue for MSFS 2020 with some newer features back-ported to the older sim.

Asobo has grown from 100-people to 170-people in part because of the success of Flight Simulator.

Jorg reports that Flight Simulator 2024 is the “biggest undertaking ever in Flight Simulator” with over 500 people working on it. Both he and Seb present on the key changes. Gave us three big focus areas for the new sim.

• Focus 1: Activities. About 3 million are core simmers, 3 million are core gamers, and the rest are casual. The one common thing was that everyone wanted more stuff to do which is why the release trailer included many of the new activities that are coming. Jorg also teased that while there wasn’t much about airliners in the trailer, much more is planned in the future and will be revealed later.
• Focus 2: Core sim updates. Creating a thin client to download only what is needed, more will be in the cloud, with reduced install times and reduced loading times and a similar minimum specification. Backwards compatible with support for the ‘Community’ folder. The changes go on to include a new physics and aerodynamics engine with more control for creators, performance improvements, rigid and soft bodies, tissues and ropes, easy authoring and backwards compatible. Also on the list? Electrical, pneumatic, fuel and hydraulic systems, failure and wear & tear, payload and passenger, deeper and wider avionics packages, and a cockpit tablet/EFB by default.
• Focus 3: Digital twin. Using machine learning to detect surfaces and then update with surface material, detail mapping and tessellation. Improved ground detailed, tessellated ground materials, enhanced tree diversity, and improved cliffs. There will be full seasons, aurora borealis, tornadoes, and storms. Big investments to animals, herds, migration, worldwide live ship traffic, accurate live air traffic, and improved vehicle traffic.

They also announced new aircraft for Microsoft Flight Simulator starting with the Ford 4AT Trimotor. Then they announced City Update 03: Texas. Abilene, Austin, Cedar Park, San Antonio, Schertz, Temple, and Waco. City update will come out next Friday while the Trimotor releases today and, as a bonus, is free for the next week. Meanwhile, the next Local legend is the Boeing 307 Stratoliner from Aeroplane Heaven.

Honeycomb announces products, talks long term

The folks at Honeycomb really pulled out the stops today with a full featured discussion of their product line.

The first announcement is the announcement of the Alpha Flight Controls Lite. This is a cheaper solution with an MSRP of $199.99 USD. The Lite version has the same control system, same sensors, but without the buttons on the main system and rubber on the base. It retains the solid steel shaft with dual linear ball bearings and 180 degree yoke rotation.

Relaunching the Alpha Flight Controls Pro which is a tweak of the original Alpha. State of the art US-developed Hall effect sensors with 16,096 resolution form the core of the system. There’s also spring loaded ignition buttons. It will support both PC and Xbox and is going to be offered for $299.99 USD.

Also revealed is a new Flap Kit for their Bravo throttle system with support for all Airbus (except the A380) anmd all Boeing aircraft (except the 787-10). The MSRP is $29.99 USD or in a bundle with both sets for $69.99 USD.

A new Xbox Hub system was announced with an MSRP of $39.99 USD. The HUB enables Alpha Flight Control owners to connect a Bravo Throttle and Charlie Rudder Pedals together as one system with support for Xbox Series X|S. The system even has support for Logitech yoke and throttle systems thanks to a deal that Honeycomb did with that manufacturer.

They continued their product announcements with a $49.99 USD Powered USB Hub powered by a 30 Watt laptop power supply. The hub has 6 USB-A ports and the high powered nature is presumably aimed at flight sim enthusiasts that are running a lot of power through their hubs (I know I am).

That’s not all. They announced the Lima Flight Chair which they say is shipping in October. $299.99 USD price with a flight deck design, high end alcantara type fabric, and 5-wheel locks.

They did talk too about the Charlie Rudder Pedals which are currently experiencing a shipping delay due to supplier issues. The Charlie and Tango Foxtrot Flight Stick & Throttle are still coming.

And… if that wasn’t enough. The dream setup was revealed with Delta Flight Displays with 12″ and 7″ avonics displays with a 1080p multi-touch screen, rotary knob, back, direct and power button. Compatibility with MSFS, X-Plane and DCS.

Additional concepts were shown off with a mockup that featured a combat sim setup with MFD screens and yet another with an overhead panel that could support airliners.

The goal is to make their software compatible with the various sims and to enable developers to provide specific support for the system as well.

Finally, Honeycomb are partnering with Corsair for a flight sim specific PC featuring a Honeycomb specific chasis with 3x1080p or 3x4K configuration for multi-screen setup.

Very impressive!

iniBuilds announces A300-600

We have our second A300 announcement of FSExpo with the full reveal of the iniBuilds A300-600 airliner for Microsoft Flight Simulator. The product was previously announced back in 2022 but today is the full reveal of the product.

iniBuilds are releasing their freighter version first and then a passenger version post release.

There’s more details available on the iniBuilds forum where they also tease a couple of other items – an “epic” modification that combines some sort of retro/modern experience as well as an modern long haul airliner experience. Read about all of that here.

Navigraph shows us how to navigate Houston, new features

Learn about some history and navigate the skies above Houston with this special presentation by Navigraph.

Route String to be pasted directly into Navigraph Charts 8 to replicate the flight.

KHOU DCT 293747N0951527W DCT 294048N0952120W DCT 294348N0952556W DCT 294541N0952309W DCT 294606N0952026W DCT 294417N0952027W DCT 294035N0951915W DCT KHOU

The presentation continued after the Houston tour with a discussion about Navigraph as a product. Talking about the history of the product.

The current product goes well beyond a simple PDF viewer and has some new features in their 8th iteration. The code base has been rewritten to speed up development and add new features to the product including support for multiple platforms and mobile. New weather related features including radar and METAR data imported into the display were part of the showcase.

A2A Simulations update

Showing off their Piper Comanche, A2A’s long awaited product for Microsoft Flight Simulator received significant fanfare and reveal at FSExpo. The 20-minute presentation was hosted by content creator Two Tone Murphy and featured Scott Gentile from A2A Simulations.

The conversation was all about the Comanche and how A2A has simulated it using their own custom simulation technology called Accu-Sim. Their goal is to make the Comanche come alive and feel like a living, breathing, airplane with a lot of depth to the simulation.

In one example they showed off what three start-up sequences were like with the engine coming to life in different time spans and in slightly different ways. In another example, using cold weather, you can see and hear the engine warming up as the cold soaked engine begins to warm. The sounds appear to be deeply connected to the simulation so you can hear individual cylinders firing or misfiring.

In yet another example, they show off what the interactivity is like with a walk around of the airplane that includes the ability to manipulate control surfaces, check for play in the controls, and listen for issues. You can even check for water in the fuel and make sure that the oil colour is correct by checking the dipsticks.

The same presentation has just been released on their YouTube channel.

ACE Flight Simulation Avionics

This next talk was by ACE Flight Simulation Avionics. This Raspberry Pi based product provides a control interface for 737 simulations with support for Level Up and Zibo Mod from the start and PMDG 737s later.

Learn more about them on their website.

Kitbash Model Club

Presented by Filipe Falanghe from the original Kerbal Space Program sim, Kitbash Model Club is a small team indie-developed sim. The product description says that the sim has “boundless freedom to design, build, explore and battle with model RC vehicles.” Filipe says that you can make any combination of boat, car or plane and the physics are all the same.

Beyond ATC

A new AI driven, voice activated ATC system has been announced at the expo. It’s called BeyondATC and it looks like it will offer an alternative to VATSIM and some of the other ATC based products out there.

Fast Cow Productions and the Cicaré

A presentation by Fast Cow Productions showed off their Cicarè 8 helicopter for Microsoft Flight Simulator. The product is licensed by Cicaré USA and the presentation mentioned their efforts to drive the simulation as far forward as possible and to simulate the helicopter in a significant way.

Note to X-Plane fans as the company has also licensed work with vSkylabs for their X-Plane 12 variant too!

Got Friends live stream

A live stream has been announced for Got Friends DoubleEnder Project. Coming up in 60 minutes.

Thrustmaster Viper HOTAS

True to form, Thrustmaster have announced a new product at FSExpo this year and its a combat flight sim oriented F-16C styled HOTAS. Thrustmaster are calling it the “Viper TQS” (throttle quadrant system).

Thrustmaster focused on “replica,” “realism,” and “immersion” as part of their effort to recreate the real thing and offer something exciting for flight simmers.

Viper TQS Mission Pack will be $529.99 USD. This is the complete package. The Viper TQS throttle and the Viper Panel are also sold separately for $349.99 and $249.99 USD respectively.

Thrustmaster will also be showing off a new product privately during a Saturday night after party. Live streams from the booth are also happening so be sure to check those out!

Just Flight announce A300B4

Just Flight made a major announcement with the reveal of their Microsoft Flight Simulator A300B4 Professional. The A300 was the world’s first twin engine widebody with ETOPs certification enabling it to fly across the Atlantic and Just Flight are keen to create a highly detailed experience here with a dramatic revamp of their well known P3D A300B4. CF6 and JT9D engines, cargo and passenger variants, detailed animations and wing flex, custom coded systems, and three types of navigation system are all planned. The nav systems include a custom INS and FMC setup.

Check out the Just Flight website for more information.

Miltech announce CH-47 for MSFS

Announced and planned for release in Q3 of this year, Miltech have just revealed via their Facebook page that they are working on a CH47 Chinook helicopter with the analogue gauge version planned first and a glass cockpit coming later. A passenger specific variant is also planned.

Check out the announcement here!