With the new year rolling around, developers, much like individuals, are motivated to accomplish what at the outset sometimes seems imporbable at best. This becomes readily apparent when reading Just Flight’s latest Fokker F70/100 development update, the first one for the year.
The article begins by outlining the effort that goes into recording accurate sound samples when developing a new aircraft. Just Flight explains that while, for modern jets with many existing operators, this can be a relatively easy task, for older generation aircrafts, where relatively fewer examples remain in active service, getting your hands on an full engine run sound sample can prove quite difficult. With only few Fokker F70/100 examples remaining in active service the world over, those challenges certainly became readily apparent when developing Just Flight’s Fokker F70/100 Professional product for MSFS.
While trying to be granted access to a full engine run repeatedly during 2023, it was only during the first days of 2024 that those requests were finally granted. During those early days of 2024, the SimAcoustic team, responsible for the development of Just Flight’s F70/100’s soundset, found themselves in the Netherlands, face-to-face with 3 real life Fokker F70/100 examples. All of them were scheduled to undergo a full engine run on that same chilly day in early January.
The F70 was to be the first to get the recording treatment with its Rolls Royce Tay 620’s gently starting up during the morning hours of the day. During the afternoon, the F100 was up as well, with its Rolls Royce Tay 650’s producing a markedly different sound. This difference in sound, as explained by the developer, is due to the fuel being injected in stages in the Tay 650’s, while this is not the case for the Tay 625’s. The recording sessions resulted in two very high quality sound sets, each unique to the engine model employed across the Fokker 70 and 100 aircraft, and each covering a wide variety of power settings.
Just Flight signed off their development update with a couple of pictures taken on the day, as well as one depicting one of the many high-quality liveries created for the F70/100 Professional by the team. While no release date or pricing for the product has been announced just yet, progress is steady and we will make sure to keep you posted when further details drop. Unitl then, feel free to check out the products development page linked here.
