Alongside its latest A380 development update, iniBuilds has provided a sizeable update on the future of its A350 Airliner, including details on an upcoming systems and performance update and the larger A350 V2 currently in development.
Before V2 arrives, the current A350 will receive Systems and Performance Update 1, releasing as version 1.2.7. The update is focused primarily on feedback received since release, with improvements covering stability, flight planning, navigation, systems and aircraft handling.
Among the changes are improvements to SimBrief flight plan imports, alternate flight plan creation, waypoint sequencing and VNAV behaviour. iniBuilds has also worked on speed and altitude constraint handling following DIR TO operations and improved the robustness of entering runways, STARs and transitions.
Systems changes include refinements to cabin vertical speed, auto-derated climb thrust and RMP navaid audio behaviour. The flight model will also see further tuning to roll and pitch response, along with improvements to fly-by-wire bank-angle protection and bank-hold behaviour. A number of applicable improvements developed during work on the A380 are also being brought across to the A350.
Following That Comes the A350 V2
Further ahead is A350 Airliner V2, which iniBuilds describes as a much wider core upgrade rather than simply another collection of fixes.
The cockpit is undergoing a significant geometry overhaul using newly collected reference data, whilst both the interior and exterior artwork are being revisited. The exterior work will also better differentiate the A350-900 and A350-1000, including revised wing geometry specific to each variant.
The Head-Up Display is receiving a major overhaul to its logic, symbology and behaviour, whilst the EFB and OIS are being updated with deeper integration into the aircraft. V2 will also introduce a new failure system alongside substantial updates to the underlying systems and ECAM logic. iniBuilds says this should allow abnormal situations to be represented in greater detail, with the ECAM responding more accurately to system states and failures.
Importantly, A350 V2 will be exclusive to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and will be a free update for existing customers.
iniBuilds says there will only be a handful of updates remaining for the current aircraft before V2 arrives. Once V2 is released, active development of the MSFS 2020 version will conclude, although that version will remain available to existing customers. The developer says moving exclusively to MSFS 2024 will allow it to avoid compromises caused by supporting both simulator generations and make greater use of the newer platform’s technology.
Synaptic A220 Coming to iniManager
In other related news, it has also been confirmed via the iniBuilds Discord that the Synaptic Simulations A220 will become available through the iniManager next Friday.
This will give users another way to obtain the A220 outside of the Microsoft Flight Simulator Marketplace, with the aircraft then managed through iniBuilds’ own installation and update platform.
