The Magknight B787-9 project has been in active development for some time, and despite the initial low-cost price point, the aircraft add-on has divided the X-Plane community on just whether this plane is something that should be in everybody’s hangar, and this seemed to be due to texturing and avionics related gripes. These may have now been resolved, however, with the release of the Magknight B787-9 Aviator Edition.
Having started out as a one-man development team, there’s now a small handful of talented developers working behind the scenes to bring this aircraft up to an enviable standard, and that starts with this release. In the Aviator Edition, the team has worked hard to upgrade a number of key areas, such as;
- All-new flight model, optimised for X-Plane 11.30
- Improved wingflex
- All-new custom IRS simulation
- Improved LED lighting
- Improved cockpit modelling & textures
- All-new EFB with T/O Calculations, Weight & Balance and Charts
- Configurable, per-livery settings
- All-new electrical system simulation including anti-ice and GPU
- Addition of Skunkcraft Updater compatibility
With such a huge update here, this marks the start of a march toward plenty more immersive and realistic feature inclusions, namely a custom FMC and avionics which have been discussed in the product thread on the X-Plane.org forums for some time.
Sadly though, this update does come at a cost. Due to increased costs in the development, such as underlying software licensing and increased costs handed down by the add-on’s retailers, the cost for the aircraft has risen from $25 to $45 for first-time purchasers. Owners of the plane prior to December 10 2018 are also now required to pay an upgrade fee of $10 to receive this new update, with this being achieved through the use of an upgrade code found on the order information for their original purchase at X-Plane.org.
Since the release of the Aviator Edition, and prior to writing of this piece, the development team has also been quick to issue 2 updates relating to EFB PDFs not being displayed, as well as ND wind speed display, oil temp and oil pressure display, and battery indicators. The current version sits at 1.0.2.
Those wishing to purchase the Magknight B787-9 Aviator Edition can do so at the X-Plane.org store for $45. Upgrading users will have this price discounted to $10 through the use of a discount code that can be found on their order info for the previous purchase.
