The folks at iniBuilds have put out a rare public call for experts with a special focus on Boeing and Embraer experts – people who work with these types of aircraft in real world operations. For the rest of us, that has spurred on plenty of discussion on what future products we might see from the developer. Let’s have a look at what they are asking for and what we could see.

Real world experience sought

If you fly, maintain, or otherwise are involved in the operation of real world Boeing and Embraer aircraft, iniBuilds wants to hear from you. Here’s what they’ve announced via social media, e-mail and Discord:

We’re looking to connect with Boeing & Embraer pilots, as well as those who work closely with these aircraft in real-world operations!

Your knowledge and experience could help us gain valuable insight as we look towards the future of the iniBuilds fleet.

If you have experience across Boeing or Embraer aircraft and would like to get involved, we’d love to hear from you!

iniBuilds specifically mention in some of their materials that they are working on the next generation of iniBuilds aircraft and so it seems very likely that they are building towards these types of aircraft in the future.

Send an e-mail to management@inibuilds.com if you’re interested!

Competition and speculation

One would get the impression that the major developers out there, for one reason or another, have tried to developer their own turf and have avoided (at least in some cases) direct competition. There are plenty of counter examples but broadly speaking we know that Fenix and iniBuilds are well regarded in the Airbus space while Just Flight has tackled or are tackling a good number of classic or semi-classic airliners and PMDG and iFly are in the Boeing space. FSS are currently the only Embraer E-Jets series in town. But it seems inevitable that, as more types of aircraft have been completed and released, that a growing competition is more likely.

Rampant speculation has emerged following this public call and unsurprisingly people are making guesses at what might be coming in the future.

iniBuilds have built quite a range of airliners and they haven’t been afraid to stray towards some different, and occasionally classic, options. For all of the Airbus aircraft they’ve tackled, they’ve also done aircraft like the L1011. So it stands to reason that a historical back catalogue of aircraft might be up for grabs as well. Though less used these days, some of the more classic 737 lines complete with gravel kit are possibilities. Or maybe the Boeing 717 (not really a Boeing but you get the idea) fits the mould?

Over with Embraer, we know FlightFX are eventually going to release an ERJ145 and FSS are doing the E170 through E195 series but some flight simmers would likely welcome some competition in the space and iniBuilds could certainly offer a competing package. Or they might go for the more modern E190E-2 or E195E-2, both in service but neither yet simulated. Some other users have suggested that other types like the KC-390, a military cargo plane, could also be on offer. There are plenty of business jets in the Embraer back catalogue as well.

Whatever the case, iniBuilds are likely still in the development phase so it could be a year or more before we learn what their plans are. They have shown the ability to iterate and build fairly quickly so with their strong team and an extensive collection of complex airliners behind them, maybe they will be quicker than other developers. It’s an interesting development! One worth paying close attention to. Personally, I’m still hoping for iniBuilds to turn their A330-200/300 line into an 800 and 900 before they move on from Airbus.