There’s a lot of information coming at us thanks to the latest Microsoft Flight Simulator Q&A series as well as information coming at us from a new Development Update. In it, we learn more about the A320neo V2, the next City Update, and so much more. Here we go!

The Q&A and developer update

I’ve got a big summary of quite a few items below but if you want the original source material you should definitely check out the Q&A above. Or, visit the Microsoft Flight Simulator website for the latest Developer Update.

Sim Update 15 and the A320neo V2

There’s quite a bit of interest for the upcoming Sim Update 15 as it packs in quite a few things. There are lots of fixes and some new content and that’s got folks very excited. The update is now tracking for release on March 26 and there’s a lot in it.

There are fixes for ground texture popping, live event achievements are fixed, ATC voices going inaudible is finally fixed, and there’s stability and performance improvements too.

The other big news is that the A320neo, the new one from iniBuilds, is set for release in Sim Update 15. Jorg hedged a bit that it may or may not come on the same day as the launch but its certainly coming in the very near future.

The aircraft was pulled back from Sim Update 14 due to stability issues so clearly there have been improvements to the aircraft to a level required for release. We’ll have to see how it goes after launch but it will ensure that everyone with MSFS has access to a reasonably high fidelity A320neo option right out of the box. While FlyByWire’s A32nx project remains an incredible offering, this one will benefit Xbox flyers too.

Cameron MacMillan from iniBuilds was on the live stream to talk about the A320neo. He talked about the engines, the details of the model, and gave us a great look at the cockpit and start-up process too. The aircraft also features the new ground handling technology added in Sim Update 15.

City Update

We’ve got a new City Update coming in and this one is titled “Southern Germany” featuring photogammetry for the following cities:

• Mannheim
• Heidelberg
• Karlsruhe
• Stuttgart
• Esslingen
• Kehl
• Strasbourg

And we get a new bespoke airport too:

• EDNY (Friedrichshafen Airport)

Dornier Do 31 is the next local legend

The next local legend has been revealed to be the unique and rare Dornier Do 31. This aircraft was an experimental and prototype VTOL aircraft. There were three built, one was capable of VTOL flight while the other was used more conventionally. Two are preserved in museums and the third’s whereabouts are not known.

It was difficult to fly, required a two person operation to get it into the air together with its own computer for stability augmentation.

inBuilds have built this for MSFS and have worked hard to make it accessible despite the challenges of flying it. A PDF manual will be included as part of the package and will be available online for Xbox flyers too.

Vision Jet for 2024

Jorg then told us about a conversation he had with the CEO of Cirrus aircraft. It sounds like this was the same conversation where he wanted to see a better rendition of the SR22 (which we now have) and then also wanted to see the VisionJet make its way into the sim.

Some of you will know that we already have an excellent VisionJet from FlightFX so the announcement today is that Microsoft and Asobo are working with FlightFX to integrate their already excellent product into base sim for MSFS 2024.

They did talk about possibly removing it from the Marketplace but have elected to keep it for now. But Jorg did want us to know what their plans are and he is asking for feedback on if they should remove it at some point before the new sim arrives.

Numbers from Jorg

We got some interesting numbers starting with news about the An-225 which was purchased 98,141 times and generated $1.5-million that will go to Antonov to build a new An-225, rebuild the current one or create some sort of memorial for the airplane.

Dune, though not everyone’s cup of tea, was actually the number three most downloaded and the Ornithopter was the most flown aircraft after the launch. There’s also been record user engagement over the same time so clearly there was quite a bit of interest!

Q&A answers

Caribbean water masks are back, it took a while to do, they have a new tool that is making things work. Everything is back. Just uploaded them now. They are doing another experiment to get rid of some of the “square” elements.

Cloud turbulence is there. The biggest bump Seb found in live weather corresponded to 0.5 g. We’re not sitting in the aircraft so we don’t feel it like in real life. Feature is definitely working.

There was talk about small and medium rivers where shorelines don’t always match up. Jorg says that they are working on improving this and getting higher resolution digital elevation data is the key to fixing that. He says they are working with governments and organizations worldwide to try and improve the information.

They have a much bigger plan for seasons in 2024. The current sim has seasons in that there is snow and ice formation plus temperature for live weather but they intend to do much more in the next sim.

There was plenty of discussion about some of the changes that the team have done to improve performance on Xbox. With limited memory available, its a challenge for them to make things work but they are altering some code to help make more dynamic updates to save memory.

Default aircraft are going to continue to see updates to bring in the newer propeller updates, CFD flight modeling, and improved ground handling. Sebastian Wloch reports that they are going back plane by plane, getting data from the real aircraft, and then improving them from there. It’s taking time to do but it is being done.

FSExpo

The Q&A ended with Jorg talking about how the team will be there in Las Vegas for FSExpo 2024. Great news for sure to see Microsoft supporting the expo and being there to be part of the weekend.

Remember, you can still book both virtual and in-person tickets through the link right here.