I remember when iniBuilds was just a bunch of people making GSX profiles and fulfilling livery paint requests. In fact, I remember their very first selection of profiles and working with them closely to support them. Little did I know back then that they would become one of the biggest names in flight simulation, let alone create one of the most anticipated long-haul aircraft ever for any flight simulator.
In fact, when iniBuilds was preparing to release its first-ever aircraft, the A300 on X-Plane 11, I had a few long conversations with the team about the plane and its release. They have since come a long way, working with Microsoft to create a plethora of Airbus aircraft as default planes. iniBuilds is now firmly a household name for flight simulation fans, and so when they confirmed that they would be bringing Airbus’ most advanced airliner to flight simulation, it was something to really pay attention to. Fast forward to today and we are finally at the finish line of the release of the A350 for Microsoft Flight Simulator.
A few of us at FSElite have been lucky to have been flying the aircraft for the past few days and putting it through its paces. Personally, I think this aircraft is fairly special because I fly on them regularly. Okay, it may not be from the pilot’s perspective, but I spend a lot of time on them, in the flight deck and speaking to those who are actually doing the flying part (between serving them coffee, of course). So I feel comfortable talking about the A350 and sharing my initial impressions with you if you’re on the fence.
I’ll start immediately by saying that, based on my experience so far, this is iniBuilds’ best aircraft simulation to date. The impressive incorporation of all the lessons learned from past aircraft and the development of new technologies is evident. I don’t say this lightly, but flying the A350 has been nothing but a joy. Allow me to elaborate, based on the three flights I’ve completed so far with the beast.
To caveat anything, I have exclusively flown just the A350-1000 on Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020. Our full review will include details on the -900 and using it in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 (where the aircraft was due to be exclusively released before the team felt it was right to ensure MSFS 2020 users could experience it too). I flew a short-hop, a medium-haul and a long-haul to try and get the vibe for the types of operations the A350 can do. Ultra-long haul will come later when I pluck up the courage to do JFK-SIN for 19 hours.
Loading up the A350 for the first time, you realise just how big the flight deck is. I can attest to the sheer size of it, with enough room for 6-8 people easily. The windows are large, the displays are big, and everything feels super modern. Airbus really designed this plane to be as pilot-friendly as possible by providing more room and creature comforts than ever. Looking around you will see the copious amounts of luggage storage, the numerous air vents and the many plus and USB sockets – all of which are rendered to such a finite level of detail.
I powered on the plane and soon enough the displays lit up, the audible warning chimes filled the cockpit and the general ambience kicked in. It may sound loud at first, but with the amount of air rushing through to keep all the systems cool, it’s genuinely very accurate. Throughout my experience, I will keep coming back to the sounds because they are some of my favourite elements.
As I continued with cockpit preparations, I began checking out the Onboard Information System (OIS) . There are multiple options here, including the ability to turn on/off auto step-climb, change the language in the cabin, adjust volume, calibrate throttles, and even adjust the type of batteries your aircraft uses. There is of course the all-new iniBuilds ‘Situation’ manager and a whole host of failures, but we’ll leave talking about them for another time. However, if you watch any of their live streams, you can see how they work and how they could easily turn a nice day at the office into a complete clusterfudge of a day.
With the options out of the way, it was time to take a peek at the external model. I think that the A350-1000 is one of the sleekest-looking aircraft ever made. The wings in particular are just gorgeous with the sweeping tips, and everything just looks to be in proportion. iniBuilds has done an excellent job capturing that look, with so many nuanced details throughout. Decals across the aircraft look impeccable and you have the ability to add weathering effects (dynamically in MSFS 2024) if you like it dirty.
One of the biggest controversies prior to release was how there wasn’t a full cabin modelled in the A350 in the MSFS 2020 version. The caveat of bringing the plane over to the older sim was that some elements and details would be missing to ensure performance met expectations from users. I think it’s a fair compromise and whilst it would be nice, it isn’t immersion-breaking, nor is it detrimental to the experience. If you really want cabin views from the wing, there are some elements modelled so you can still get those internal wing views, and also explore some of the door areas in galleys 1 and 4. I can’t wait to fly her in MSFS 2024 and take full advantage of the fully modelled cabin, complete with FAP controls, before then heading to my favourite area on the plane: crew rest.
One of the greatest things about having the A350 simulated is how modern everything is in the cockpit. I’ve been programming virtual Airbus aircraft for years now, but always with a familiar MCDU set-up due to mostly only really flying narrow-body or older wide-body jets. It takes some time to re-learn or find out how to do certain things. For example, adding your runway and departure information to the flight plan is a little different to what you may think, but after you’ve done it once, it’s all very intuitive. In fact, how iniBuilds has developed the whole MCDU and how you interact with it is very well done. When selected, your mouse acts as a cursor on the display, meaning you can click elements very easily. It takes a moment to then remember to press the keys on the keypad below and press ‘ENTR’ each time, but that is a muscle memory issue I need to get over.
As with pretty much any aircraft in flight simulation these days, there is native SimBrief and Navigraph support, meaning importing flight plans is super easy. Likewise, there are a few button presses to load fuel and payload, but my experience when using it with GSX wasn’t quite as integrated as I’d like. Whilst you can enable the remote menu with GSX (so you can avoid using the in-sim menu), I found it would not load my fuel/payload in sync with the actions. That could be a GSX issue, so your mileage may vary. [Editor’s Note: iniBuilds confirmed that progressive loading/unloading is there, so I believe it was an issue my end]. With my route to Los Angeles now programmed, it was time to push back and get underway.
One of the coolest features on modern aircraft is the OANS (Onboard Airport Navigation System), which displays an overhead view of the airport. Not all airports are covered, but those that are, it provides great situational awareness. You can easily see taxiways, the runway and even add your own flags/crosses to mark your routing from ATC. When landing, you can also use this system to select the exit point from the runway and activate the brake-to-vacate (BTV) system.
As I started the engines, I could hear the fuel being added and the famous spool-up sound could be heard. As you then set the flaps, you can hear the slats (they’re really loud in real life) from the cockpit with their famous whirl. With the onboard checklist completed, I am now underway taxiing to the runway for my departure from Heathrow. Generally speaking, I felt taxiing to be easy and comfortable, and I was able to use the weight and inertia of the plane to make tight turns easily.
As G-VRNB made her way to runway 27L, a few nitpicky items cropped up for me. Number one: the click spots for the overhead panel were a bit frustrating. Click on the seatbelt signs or light toggles, where you naturally feel would be a clickspot, it was slightly off. Likewise, it was inconsistent with using the scroll wheel up/down on some switches. It’s such a minor gripe, but I wanted to just mention it. Number two were the external sounds. Firstly, I think they sound great. My issue is that if you pan the camera (even at a reasonable speed), the surround sound effect is extremely abrupt. Again, it’s not going to really impact your experience, but some feedback that I hope will get looked at in the future. [Editor’s Note: Within a day of reporting this, iniBuilds has fixed this issue with the release build. I kept it in for context, but I can confirm this is no longer an issue and it blends seamlessly].
One sound effect that I do think they have nailed is the gear during the takeoff roll and when you retract the gear. Having sat on the flight deck multiple times, I can attest to how noisy it is when the nose gear comes up. It’s right under you so when that thing is on the move, you really do feel the rattle and clunk. As you climb, you almost feel like you’re floating upwards rather than having the nose pointed to the sky, but again, that’s how it feels in the real aircraft due to the design by Airbus.
During my offline flight to LAX, I was running FSTL for my traffic. As I departed a busy Heathrow, my ND was lit up with traffic, including the reg of the plane. You can then click on this aircraft icon and get information on it right on your MCDU. Equally, if you fly online, this will populate with even more data, giving you amazing awareness of who and what is around you. Speaking of integration with other technologies and systems, you can get full CPDLC clearance, request direct/flight levels, and much more all from in the flight deck.
As I settled in for the 11-hour journey, I sat back and played around with the FMS and its various pages. You can program in step-climbs (and take advantage of the auto step-climb functionality), monitor your position, program any diversion airports via secondary flight plans (all three are functional), and more. Every ECAM page is modelled, providing you with real-time data for your onboard systems. If you do get bored and want to speed up your flight, you can turn on the auto sim rate and travel up to 4 times as fast. If the simulator struggles, it will dial down the sim rate, or it will turn off until things have stabilised. I personally haven’t played too much with it to provide an opinion on the reliability, but know that the function is there.
A quick note on performance; quite frankly, very smooth and very good for the complexity and simulation. Yes there is a momentary bit of slowdown when initially loading the OANS data, but once that has loaded, performance is back to normal. iniBuilds has also given you options to reduce the texture size and remove the cabin (from the MSFS 2024 version) if you really want even more frames. Generally speaking though, this is on par with other long-haul airliners I’ve used and (unscientifically speaking), iniBuilds’ most performance-friendly plane so far.
With an hour left, I began setting up the approach into LAX. I used the EFB’s landing performance calculator to plan my speeds and then used the OANS for the BTV system. As I cleared 1500ft, I took out the autopilot and hand flew the final few miles. To say it’s sensitive is an understatement. There’s certainly some nice dampening on the controls, but the A350 is like a hot knife through butter with how little input you need to make a big impact. As mentioned plenty of times during the iniBuilds streams, you really don’t need to do much on the flare in order to get a firm but smooth touchdown. It will take some practice and if you are used to narrow-body Airbus, I would recommend you do some circuits first as it’s a very different feeling. That said, my experience was that hand-flying felt fun and reliable, with the feeling of flying a big passenger jet.
As I hit the tarmac in a sunny LA, the BTV system kicked in and without any input from me, the plane came to a slow-down exactly at the exit point I had selected. I started the APU, taxied to the gate and ran the shutdown checklist. With the seatbelt signs off, beacon light off, and doors open, I was ready to get off and enjoy my 23 hours in LA.
A few team members have done a similar number of flights in the A350 to me, in a number of conditions and across both simulator platforms. We all have similar feelings towards the iniBuilds A350, with none of us experiencing any major issues on any of the flights we have done. There are of course some minor areas we felt could be improved, but overall, this is an exceptional experience for an aircraft that is hugely anticipated in the community.
Overall, my time in the iniBuilds A350 has been nothing short of fantastic. It looks fantastic, runs really well, and has a level of simulation depth that will keep me coming back time and time again. I can’t wait to see how the ‘Situations’ manager progresses and see what other surprises are to come from iniBuilds, but so far, this is a plane worthy of anyone’s hangar – even if the lack of a proper cabin in MSFS 2020 causes you to lose sleep at night.
The iniBuilds A350 will be available on February 26th 2025 for £59.99 (excluding taxes). It includes both the A350-900 and the A350-1000 for both MSFS 2020 and MSFS 2024 in a single package. Learn more about the features here.
Screenshots and experience based on a pre-release build of the A350. iniBuilds have been actively listening and updating the plane during the past week following feedback from those with hands-on experience.
