I can’t believe this is free! Something I kept saying over and over again when I first flew it. It’s been ages since I last flew FlyByWire’s A32NX in Microsoft Flight Simulator but well past time I tried it out again. Recent updates have changed a lot of the details around the airplane and so I thought it was time to take it for a flight. This time we’re doing a dawn departure from Brisbane Australia with a hop over to Adelaide.

Re-introducing the A320NX

FlyByWire have a fascinating history. They are what I would have initially called a mod team then turned freeware developer that came together just after the release of MSFS 2020. The built-in A320neo was a very lightweight simulation of that airliner and fans came together to make it a little bit better. Before long that initial modification became a force within the community and the freeware developer has gone on to refine their A320 project over the last several years adding literally hundreds of features. They also developed their own A380 which is quite the feat!

Over the last few months, the team have been refining their A32NX for 2024 and I felt it was time to check it out again in the new sim.

One of my first challenges was to go and find a 2024 compatible livery. This has been a real problem for my airliner flying recently. There are some 2024 FlyByWire liveries out there but its few and far between. Fortunately, an artist has done a great little pack of three Jetstar liveries.

Before setting out, I had to spend a bit of time working my way through some of the FlyByWire features. It’s been years and stuff has changed! I do have to say that their EFB tablet is probably the best in the business with a beautiful and usable interface. They do have a lot of options but the options are great to have! It didn’t take long before I had my throttle calibrated, SimBrief import done, and was on my way to powering up the avionics.

Departure

Rolling up my sleeves and diving in here, with the airplane started up, flight plan loaded, it was time for pushback and engine start. FlyByWire has its own pushback system which works great with fine tune adjustments for speed and a toggle for the parking break – probably the best setup in the industry in my experience.

After that, it was time to taxi and work our way down to the runway for departure. Really good sound work here as the aircraft shudders and shakes over the taxiway surface.

Cleared, moved onto the runway and TOGA to get up and away. Ahead was the sunrise silhouetting the nearby Brisbane Port Terminal. Stunning! We climed over Moreton Island National Park before turning on course for our destination.

Cruise

Once at cruise it was time to settle in for the journey across part of Australia. Below we had a mix of clouds, farmland, desert, and rugged outback.

Some things that I remembered from my earlier flights with the FlyByWire A32NX included the lack of a cabin. Not a big deal, hardly a make or break for me and doubly so with a freeware airliner as good as this, but after flying so many airliners recently and always spending a bit of time to go back there and have a look around I had forgotten that this one simply didn’t have one.

Another item of note. The sounds, at least in 2024, don’t seem to diminish over distance. Its just as loud up close as it is far away when in the exterior drone camera. Strange!

My flight time was cut short by some changes to my personal schedule so I engaged with some time compression to get me to my destination a little more quickly. Again, the FlyByWire A32NX works well here with little issue.

I also want to mention that this whole flight I was seeing consistently high and smooth frame rates. Whatever issues the aircraft might have, it is unburdened by the issues that some other airliners have and was churning out consistently smooth gameplay. Excellent!

Arival

The arrival was a bit challenging. First, I had trouble putting in my planned approach with the STAR provided by SimBrief and the one that the MSFS flight planner offered up not being listed. I had to improvise my approach a little bit though the ILS system did latch on once I got into localizer range.

I had to also make a bit of an aggressive descent into my landing area but that seemed to be well managed by the air brakes and throttles back.

The approach was initially in some low visibility cloud but we broke through and under the cloud deck to be treated to another beautiful sunrise and a stunning view of Adelaide out the pilot side window.

Touchdown and reversers engaged to slow down the airplane with ample time to bring it around onto the taxi way and bring the airplane in to an available gate.

I did run into a problem with the gate not connecting with the airplane. It moved but never connected. I think I was on the right mark, according to the ground markings, but no luck.

Final thoughts

I continue to be amazed by the work that FlyByWire Simulations has done. They started with a very basic airliner experience and built it out in an incredible way. They continue to add depth of simulation seemingly without breaking the core experience. More, FBW were a kind of saving grace for the A320neo in MSFS 2020 and they may have helped be a catalyst for why this plane is just so popular in the market. MSFS 2020 and 2024 now have at least four iterations of just the A320neo either available or in development.

While the FlyByWire has taken a back seat to some of the more sophisticated payware out there, minor glitches aside, this is a great experience that can’t be discounted. While iniBuilds A320neo in MSFS 2020 and 2024 have partially supplanted the need for what FlyByWire initially intended, I have to say that this is just as good and in some ways a better experience.

The external model, while not quite as good as some of the other options, looks better than it used to with added details and texture effects. The interior cockpit is quite overall too. Any imperfections here bother me far less for the price of the experience I just can’t fault it or the continual work that the project continues to enjoy.

Check out FlyByWire Simulations and their A32NX and A380X projects on their website.