Getting the sounds right is an important part of any virtual aircraft release and Just Flight together with their partners at Sim Acoustics have provided an update on the lengths that they went through to get quality sound recordings from the last of the real work Fokker F70/100 airliners. We also have news about their X-Plane 12 Duchess Model 76 release.

Duchess Model 76 release

Just Flight are confirming that their Duchess Model 76, being created together with Thranda Design, is nearly ready to go and will be releasing later this month. Not to intentionally invoke “two weeks” but it does look like we’ll see it in the next two weeks if all go according to plan.

A full feature list and screenshots have already been posted to the Just Flight website.

F70/F100 sounds

A new developer entry on the Just Flight Fokker F70/F100 project is out and in it they are talking about the saga behind trying to capture authentic sounds for the Fokker airliner. Their partner, Sim Acoustics, managed to pull off the feat by making their way to a engine test for the last three remaining operational Fokker F70/100 series aircraft in Europe.

Here’s a piece of the story:

In the afternoon the weather cleared up a bit and the Fokker 100 was prepared to run. With the equipment largely in place and perhaps aided by a bit of sunshine, preparations went much faster. Interesting to note here is that starting up the RR Tay 650 sounds very different from the 620 we heard just before, as the introduction of fuel into the 650’s turbine happens in stages. After the engine was properly warmed up, we were treated to the full power band, the roar of the fan being especially impressive!

The historian in me is definitely pleased to hear that they were able to make these captures. As the F70/F100 fade from use worldwide, their sounds will no longer be heard and so this is as much about capturing the audio to be used in a commercial flight sim product as well as preserving a bit of history.

Read the full story here.