Good morning from Las Vegas! It’s hard to believe but we’re on day three of Flight Sim Expo 2024 which is the last day of the expo. Yesterday I was doing some updates from the show floor as I worked my way around several of the booths. Between that, the panel discussion and the big updates from Microsoft I haven’t had a chance to upload everything that I saw yesterday. So today I’ll kick things off with a few things and then hopefully fill you in on some more stuff through the day. Apologies for the sometimes sporadic updates.

Live blog updated throughout the day

GotFriends, Emerald Scenery Designs and FlightFX (7:10 am)

I had an absolutely fantastic time at the GotFriends booth which was also where Emerald Scenery Designs was. I had a great chat with some of their developers and part of the reason why I didn’t update on that yesterday was that the big announcement came a little later than my meeting with them – Got Friends is doing aircraft for MSFS 2024 including a rebuilt Optica and the Draco X. They couldn’t tell me then but they said big stuff was coming.

While I was there, the team from FlightFX came along too. That included Marwan who did the Honda Jet for MSFS. They’ve got some cool stuff going on that I hope to cover soon as well. They are of course an already announced partner with the Vision Jet going into MSFS 2024.

Moza (7:12 am)

I was also at the Moza booth yesterday checking out their product for a little while. They’ve got pedals, a force feedback stick and a HOTAS system which I tried for the briefest time. I may go back again today. No word on pricing or ETA just yet that I was able to glean but I will make an effort to find out some more later.

The system was setup with War Thunder and the system itself feels solid but I think the software side will ultimately make or break how good the force feedback felt. I didn’t feel anything except resistance. Other people who tried it felt some rumbling at times from high G deflection or guns firing. I think I’m going to see more before I’m really excited but I am glad to see new entrants into the market. Force feedback seems to be making a big return to flight simming if what we’re seeing and I’m hearing prove accurate.

More to come here.

SimWorks and FSReborn

I was over at the SWS and FSReborn booth. Has a great conversation with the devs about their upcoming Air Van which is almost done. Another great conversation about the PC-12 and all of their efforts to model the quirks of that airplane. I tested the latest version and it’s feeling really good.

I also talked to FSReborn and I’m very excited by what I saw about their new Phenom 300E. Looking forward to that!

Thrusmaster

Went over to the Thrustmaster booth. Had a close look at the adjustability of the new AVA. The base looks really solid and the adjustable stuff is great to see!

I’m going to have a close look at this hardware soon I think!

Hyperion Sim (12:50 pm)

I tried my first VR and motion rig of the expo. Setup with X-Plane but available for MSFS and DCS. There isn’t an MSRP that I saw but it’s a really cool and immersive experience from my time with it. Just wild actually!

TFDi (1:53 pm)

Chatted with the TFDi folks today. Learned that their MD-11 is on the way out for July 2nd. The project is finished and launching fully featured. They also have some cool assistance software for the product that has saving and telemetry and some virtual airline support too.

Meanwhile, I awkwardly but successfully took off and landed the MD-11. Very fun.

FSExpo 2025 (2:53 pm)

We’ve got an announcement from the organizers that FSExpo 2025 is going to be in Providence Rhode Island. June 27-29!

STOL competition (3:15 pm)

There’s a virtual and in person competition that was going on the last two days. The National STOL competition has a variety of short takeoff/landing challenges going on with live announcers talking about the action with multiplayer flying keeping the action constant.

WinWing (3:37 pm)

I checked out the WinWing display and had a great look at their hardware. Their new force feedback system was not ready for us to try out but it looked good from a distance. Their new low cost options feed really good for the price point and I’m hoping to spend some time with a review model because I think this will be a strong contender for a good entry level stick.

Meanwhile I also looked at their 737 and Airbus equipment. Good price points and some really compelling features. These are consumer level rather than replicas but I think this will be huge for airliner flyers.

I also liked the looks of their HOTAS series. The materials feel good, they look authentic, and I can see why they are getting a lot of attention.

Wrapping it up

I hope everyone has enjoyed the live coverage on here. I visited many more booths, talked with dozens of creators, developers and more. I’ll be doing some wrap up articles (of a more polished nature) as soon as I can but it may be some days before I do.