It’s been a big day for Microsoft Flight Simulator with the release of Sim Update 3, the long awaited comprehensive update to the sim, together with the launch of a new EC 135 Local Legend helicopter and City Update 13: Germany. Let’s have a look!

Sim Update 3 is finally here

Yep! It’s finally here! Sim Update 3 has taken quite a long time to arrive shooting past the estimated release a few times and going through dozens of beta updates to test the various changes and fixes.

Sim Update 3’s release notes have a lengthy list of changes to the sim. Some of those cover the core features such as menus, performance, VRAM usage, reduced crashing, and compatibility fixes for MSFS 2020 aircraft and scenery. Some of the core changes and fixes are more under the hood and support third party developers with fixes and changes to how level of detail (LODs) work and how controllers interface with various features on the aircraft.

Aircraft changes make up the bulk of the notes with changes to a large number of aircraft. Not every airplane has seen the same attention to detail but certainly many of the bigger ones have been tackled.

One of the major features here is the ability to specify Marketplace content as either streaming or download. So if you have a plane you fly all the time or an airport you visit constantly, you don’t have to stream it and can instead run it locally. Conversely, you can also choose to stream something that maybe you only choose to fly or visit on rare occasion. It doesn’t solve the sim’s constant need to be connected but it does at least give users a bit more choice.

I don’t mean to belabour the point but Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024’s rough release has made the first few sim updates significant in that each one has been hoped by the community to offer the kind of update that finally turns the corner on that rough release. Sim Update 2 went quite a ways towards that goal but I think many are pinning their hopes on Sim Update 3 for finally reaching that break even moment. Has it arrived? We’ll have to see while digging into this update.

Check out the release notes here.

New EC 135 helicopter and activity

The latest Local Legends is the EC 135. Developed by Nemeth Designs and based on the early version of the EC 135 helicopter, the latest release is the last of the four MSFS 2024 “Make Good” campaign and is a free release for 2024 owners.

The aircraft comes with a half dozen liveries and a couple of internal variants. It also sports a new custom activity accessible through the Activities menu. The activity has you flying near the Neuschwanstein Castle performing a rescue mission.

Read more about the helicopter release here.

City Update 12: Germany

Fly over newly updated photogrammerty cities with this latest update. City Update 12: Germany focuses on seven urban regions adding and updating their imagery. The regions include Augsburg, Bremen, Kiel, Leipzig, Münster, Dresden and Leuben.

The update is free for all MSFS 2020 and 2024 flyers and if you’re on 2024 you’ll just need to do a small marketplace update before streaming in the latest scenery. No significant download or storage space required.

Read more about the City Update here.