Developer FlyByWire, best known for the extremely popular mod of the A320 Neo for MSFS has announced its latest project, the Airbus A380X for Microsoft Flight Simulator.
The previews were initially shared via the fourth episode of FlyByWire’s In the Hangar podcast, which runs about an hour, and covers all of the developer’s progress on its current projects. Most of the episode is dedicated to previewing updates to the A32NX mod, while the previews of the A380 project were shared towards the end of the podcast, about 44 minutes in.
The first image of the A380 that is previewed in the podcast is the overhead panel, which is supposedly completed in terms of modeling, but still needs texturing and decals. It has also yet to be integrated into the aircraft’s 3D cockpit.
Next up, we get to see the A380’s pedestal, which is completely modeled with a base color and decals. It is made very clear that work is far from done on the pedestal as it completely lacks any textures at the moment. The image also shows lit up systems displays, however these are only static images, and do not feature any working aircraft systems. There is also a high-poly rendering of one of the engine switches, along with a couple of shots of the pedestal from different angles.
Finally, we get a look at the landing gear, which does not at this time have any textures, only base colors.
Although the preview images do show some great progress, overall, the project is very early in development. You can check out Episode 4 of In the Hangar on Youtube here.
The preview images from the live stream were also shared via a post to FlyByWire’s Facebook page. In the comments, some users did expresses concern that development of the A380 will delay progress on the A32NX, however FlyByWire was quick to address these concerns by stressing the fact that development of the A32NX is currently the highest priority.
While we wait for more information on the A380X, you can read about the impressive amount of progress FlyByWire has made on the A32NX here.
