Back in August of 2024, I wrote a journal with my first forays into the world of simulated gliding in Microsoft Flight Simulator. I had big plans to do a bunch of glider flights and document my progress along the way. Annnd…. I got distracted by umpteen numbers of other things and while I did do quite a bit more gliding, it wasn’t enough to document or really write about. Then Got Friends were nice enough to send over a release candidate just ahead of their launch of the AS 33 Me glider and I got myself back into things. Here are some of my trials and tribulations as I fly gliders a bit more plus I do a bit of a first impression with the AS 33 Me!

Here’s how it started

One of the first things I needed to do was get to some basic keybindings. I’ve spent very little time with gliders in MSFS 2024 so far and nothing was really setup so I had to spend some time creating a profile. If you know what MSFS 2024’s key binding system is like, you’ll know that it took me a good 20 minutes to do with most of that time staring at the spinning circle waiting for it to load.

But once I did get past that initial annoyance, I got some basic keybinds in place and I was able to control the aircraft. I’ve still got more work to do here and I really want to figure out how best to keybind some of the different controls in the glider to make best use of them.

Once in the glider, I wiggled the rudder a few times to signal to the towplane that I was ready to go. The Wilga 35A, another Got Friends aircraft that I reviewed sometime ago, is now in all of their glider products so you can choose between it and other tow planes to get airborne. I of course chose the Wilga to perform the tow duties.

Once up at 2,000 feet (an arbitrary decision for me), I cut the aircraft loose and began to get some soaring time in.

It was quite short lived as there were two problems. First, I’m at a very early stage of learning where MSFS will give me the best lift. The cloudless sky with live weather wasn’t really helping either so I did manage to get a bit of height going before it was time to come back down again and land.

Second problem? Someone (not saying who) forgot to raise the landing gear. So here I was cruising along in a beautifully sleek and lightweight glider with giant wings and… I had a big airbrake essentially hanging out the bottom.

After a short stint in the airplane, I turned back towards my departure point and landed it. That went well as it turns out!

Let’s do that again!

Excited and undeterred, I returned to the aircraft later in the day for another attempt at doing some soaring.

This time things got started off a little better. I let go at 2,200 feet and immediately I noticed the difference between this and my first flight with the gear up and me gaining a bit of height.

I flew along the nearby ridge with the goal of reaching a communications tower I could see on the horizon. And this went well as I managed to more or less maintain my altitude while cruising towards my destination. I also did a little stick work just to get a feel for how the aircraft handles.

I’ve read time and time again that gliding is the most pure form of flying and there is a tiny piece of that translated into the simulated glider experience too. Without the engine you’re relying on lift generated under the wings to propel you forward and keep your altitude. It’s a bit anxiety producing too but once you get past that and you start to feel the aircraft flying around (virtually anyways) you really start to pick up that appreciation. MSFS 2020 and 2024 are not the ideal glider sim from what I’ve been told but its still passable from my initial experience and this was a fun moment.

I made it close to my destination and I decided I better turn for home. Here’s where the AS 33 Me shines with its built in battery pack and stowable propeller. Pop it out, start it up, and throttle up to get the aircraft back to the altitude that you want to be at. Its a method of launching the aircraft but its also an insurance policy against a lack of lift in the environment. In my case its more about compensating for a lack of knowledge and experience but it helps there too!

After stowing the propeller, I cruised my way back to the airport and began setting up for a landing.

I dialed in too much in the way of air brakes as the aircraft abruptly lost speed and height and…. I clipped the trees on the way in. Woops! This is why its a learning experience in the simulator.

Thoughts on the AS 33 Me and gliding in general

This was such a good experience overall! I may have crashed it and made a bunch of obvious mistakes but this is a good sandbox to begin to learn in.

Gliders are so unique from the other stuff that I’ve flown that it really is a different experience. I’m slowly gaining a bit of confidence on how things work, how they feel, when you need to do different actions and what to look for around in the environment to help give you lift so that you can continue on. It’s different from the fixed wing aircraft, the fighters, the jets, and the helicopters and it has its own source of accomplishment and fun.

I have flown a few gliders in MSFS 2020 and 2024 and Got Friends have contributed a few to MSFS 2024 themselves. The AS 33 Me feels like it stands out and above the rest. There was nothing wrong with those but this payware experience has been really good and that goes from the lengthy list of real and plausible liveries to the included systems and avionics. Got Friends coded their own LX Avionics Suite for this project (and are including it in other projects too). I’ve just scratched the surface of what it’s capable of but it’s clear that there’s some real potential there.

I will undoubtedly be spending more time with the AS 33 Me flying it, learning the avionics, and eventually I will be doing more glider journals and reviews too. It’s safe to say, however, that the AS 33 Me is quite a capable package for MSFS and if you’re into gliding its well worth looking at.