Microsoft has published its weekly updates for the new Flight Simulator over on their blog website. This update covers a lot of information, including the release of Alpha 4, the release of the Partnership Series video with Meteoblue, and more. Let’s get right into it.
But before you do, you should note that we are taking orders for our upcoming FSElite Magazine – Issue #3. Issue #3 is jam-packed of content including everything you need to know about Microsoft Flight Simulator. From the technology used to confirmed third-party products. You can order your copy here.
Alpha
With this week’s update, Alpha 4 has been released to all the Insider Alpha Testers. Alpha 4 sees a number of improvements, one of the most notable are improvements to the displays in the 747. The displays should be more accurate, as well as improvements to the visuals were made as well. The 747 and A320 systems also received V-Speed improvements and should have a noticeable improvement to the flight performance, controls, and overall predictability during flight. The TMB930 also got a complete pass based on user feedback. Other than that, plenty of new features were added including flight model updates to all aircraft.
A full changelog can be found below the community screenshots in this post.
New Alpha invitations are also being sent out today, so be sure to check your emails and spam box for your acceptance email.
Partnership Series
This week, the Partnership Series got its first update in a while. The update talked about Meteoblue. Meteoblue is what will be providing real-time weather data for the simulator. Check out the full video of the Partnership Series here.
SDK Update
The team continues to report that good progress is being made on the SDK and plan to release an updated SDK next week. Documentation has been improved, as well as tutorial videos being made to illustrate the usage of the SDK. The team added new SDK samples showcasing a number of different techniques.
- Various Flight Simulator-specific glTF extensions/materials
- Aerial images overriding on the terrain
- Projected meshes on the ground
- Vegetation biomes overriding
WebAssembly, SimConnect, and HTML-based UI and aircraft instruments are also getting plenty of attention as the SDK continues to grow and be developed.
Feedback Snapshot
An updated feedback snapshot was also updated in this week’s update.
Community Screenshots
As always, plenty of community screenshots were provided, as well as a video this week. Check them out below.
Changelog
New Content
FLIGHT MODEL – UNIVERSAL IMPROVEMENTS are ready to test!
With this update, we are happy to inform you that flight model updates have been applied to all our planes. We have made overall changes to the aerodynamics for the vertical and horizontal tail to make them behave more like wing surfaces and no longer like flat surfaces. This is a big change in that it completely changes the model behavior and required overall readjustment to all our planes. The expected result is that we now get more realistic elevator and rudder authority curves.
We also improved the weight and balance settings of all planes using better %MAC (percent mean aerodynamic chord) data.
General Summary of improvements:
- Improved elevator and rudder authority for all planes
- Improved pitch and yaw stability for all planes
- Improved weight and balance for all planes
- Improved stall behavior of all aircraft
CAMERA
A few improvements have been made to the cameras, let us know what you think:
- Added inputs to allow you to control the cockpit camera’s backward and forward translations
- Left/ right arrows: move left/ right
- Up/ down arrows: move forward/ backward
- ALT + up/ down arrows: move up/ down
- Right Click + Drag now allows you to control freelook
OTHER
All users will have displayed only the build notes that relate to his latest version of the sim – previously all users would only see the build notes for the latest version release, even if that was not the build version installed.
Community Feedback and Fixes
THANK YOU FOR YOUR FEEDBACK!
Controls and Inputs: Some users were reporting issues with losing their control assignments, which would revert to default settings.
TBM 930: The speed and altitude trend line have been corrected from white from magenta
TBM 930: Yoke vibration issues reported when using the copilot
Peripherals: Corrected issues reported when using the Honeycomb yoke
Airport Issues Reported and Fixed:
- AGY – planes started off center on runway 33 – now fixed
- YALF – testers were not able to find YALF in the sim – YALF no longer exists and has been replaced by YMUN
- YALM – was listed incorrectly and is now attributed to Allambie
- YALM – planes started off to the side of the runway – now fixed
- YALP – was listed incorrectly and is not attributed to Alpurrurlam
- YALR – coordinates now correctly correspond to Pine Hill Airport
- YALT – buildings were reported in the runway – now fixed
- YALZ – was listed incorrectly and is now attributes to Balma Airport
Plane Specific Changes/Improvements
ALL
- Overall focus in all areas to improve autopilot user experience and its effect on all the planes
- All airliners had transitions that were not loading in the MCDU when creating a flight plan from world map
A320neo
- Tuning of the trim – should be more realistic to the real-world experience and more balanced
- Auto Thrust/Auto Pitch issue fixed that was affecting the user’s ability to maintain speed in strong head winds – this usually resulted in a stall
- A320 engines will now start when following the checklist “starting engines” procedure
B747-8i
- It was previously possible to have APU GEN and EXT POWER connected. Now they are exclusive.
- Engine #1 and Engine #2 were reversed – they are now set correctly
- User was unable to continue beyond page 2 of the route pages on the CDU
- Changing the selected altitude while in Vertical Speed mode was not updating the target altitude
Bonanza G36
- Activating the landing gear and/or flaps on approach no longer turns OFF the battery
C152
- Corrections to the altimeter
TBM 930
- Aircraft would rock when following a flight plane with the Auto Pilot ON
- FLC button now activates the FLC mode instead of the ALT mode
- The flight plan now better matches what the user sets on the world map screen
- The TBM930 engine no longer shuts down after a teleport
Airport Specific Changes
AIRPORTS
An additional improvement and completion passes have been made on the global airports to include missing content based on Bing Aerial imagery:
- Taxiway logic and visual markers added
- Surface types on airport runways, taxiways, and aprons updated
- Parking areas for aircraft updated
- Additional and improved ground markings on taxiways and aprons
- Other general visual improvements
We have also run an additional pass on the ground texture colors of more than 12,000 airports to improve the integration with Bing data.
Bug Fixes and QoL Improvements
Stability
- Overall stability and framerate improvements
Airports
- Llanbedr EGOD tower size corrected
- Continue fixing issues with jetway placement – this is ongoing
Audio
- Voices now switch correctly in tutorials when changing in mid-flight
Cameras
- Overall camera improvements to improve FPS when moving around the inside of planes
Controls
- Objective would fail to show inputs when cleared, now fixed
Performance
- FPS improvements when loading sequences complete and during cutscenes
UI/UX
- UI stability improved overall – menu logic corrected, profile losses
- General attention to accessibility and user information – our ongoing objective here is to better inform your options when navigating the UI so your choices are more intuitive
- TTS voice mismatch corrected during Take Off Flight Training
- Autopilot had become inoperable when switching between Vertical Speed and Altitude in All Aircraft – this issue is now fixed
Weather
- The effect that live weather wind would have on the planes was too strong and now better matches real world behavior
- Unrealistic wind gusts were sometimes created when customizing settings – should be less frequent
World
- World tiles – black stripes on world tile edges fixed
Known issues
AIRCRAFT
-
- Users may experience issues with adjusting flight plans through the use of glass cockpits
AIRLINERS
- The weather radar doesn’t currently draw in the Map Center
A320neo
- Flight Director not working correctly when used without autopilot enabled
- Airspeed at high altitude changes to KIAS target but should change to Mach target
- Transitions to Mach speeds are not yet correct
B747-8i
- When taking off from large airports, and using autopilot, may cause the plane to crash
DR400
- Wheels disappear when on the ground
Grand Caravan
- When completing the checklist, the engine does not start
TBM 930
- When completing the checklist, the engine does not start
Airports
- AYPY is currently missing building, tower, parking indicators
- EDDF has jetways disconnect from the terminals
- BIKF has some building issues reported by the community – we are working to fix these for the next update
- KPAE has some building issues reported by the community – we are working to fix these for the next update
- Continue fixing issues with jetway placement – this is ongoing
UI
- Undocked panels not appearing correctly.
Lesson 3 Training
User is not currently informed that they have control of the plane at the start of the training session
