Felis, the developer behind popular vintage airliners for X-Plane such as the TU-154M and AN-24RV, has announced the start of development on the next addition to the stable – the Boeing 747-200 Classic.
In the post on the X-Plane.org forums, Felis says that he wanted to make a classic variant of the 747 without the modern equipment such as digital displays while retaining fully analogue gauges and the inclusion of LTN72 or LTN92 Inertial Navigation Systems (though those with a more modern understanding of navigation will have the choice of the X-Plane default FMC).
He also says that he intends to produce a 1970s-esque Air Force One variant, giving the capability of air-to-air refuelling.
So far the development is in very early stages, but Felis says that blueprints, FCOM and AMM documentation have all been acquired, along with plenty more documents that have been found online in order to aid the accuracy of this aircraft throughout the development phase.
As far as progress goes, he did initially show off two very early external model screenshots with windows and doors in place, mentioning that cargo doors and technical holes are on the to-do list next, and has since posted several more renderings too (seen in this post).
Later in the thread, Felis begins to answer questions from users of the forum. In doing so, he implies that there is an intention to model all engine variants, but this will depend on the availability of information relating to these.
Furthermore, the plans of a passenger cabin (much like the developer’s TU-154M product) remain up in the air with a direction for it being undecided due to development time and end-user system requirements.
Another question that many reading this may be asking too, is “what about a -300, -200SUD and/or 747SP models later on?” as user avgaskoolaid did. This writer would be overjoyed to see an SP variation, but Felis says that there are no firm plans at this point in time, however, the idea will be revisited after release and will be based on sales data.
Interestingly too, Felis says that the systems planned out for the 747 could include several NAV, VOR, ILS and DME receivers working independently of each other, a gross weight and CG computer that calculates numbers based on landing gear pressures (and not pulled from the X-Plane datarefs), the refuelling system for Air Force One, and a CIVA nav system.
This is one that the community will be following closely, without a doubt. FSElite will be too, and we’ll be sure to bring the major updates on this aircraft throughout the development process.
If you’d like to keep a closer eye on it, check out the thread on X-Plane.org.
