Microsoft Flight Simulator may be young, but it’s still a flight sim after all. Thus, it’s no surprise that there are several announcements beginning to pour in about upcoming payware aircraft. Aerosoft, a fairly popular add-on company, is currently developing a handful of projects for the new Microsoft Flight Simulator.
City hopper
The biggest upcoming project thus far, is the Bombardier CRJ family of regional jets. Building off of the Prepar3D edition of this add-on, it will include the 700, 900 and 1000 variants of the aircraft.
Currently, there is no other small commuter jet like this that’s available in the simulator. Only small private jets like the Cessna Citation CJ4 and Citation Longitude come close. According to Aerosoft, the team is shooting to have the add-on package ready for the end of 2020, but does warn that it’s “impossible to say” if this goal will be met. Aerosoft showed off their progress so far in a YouTube video where the developers sat down and talked about their work.
Small fries
This isn’t the only project Aerosoft is working on. If you prefer to handle something even smaller and more low-profile than a CRJ, then you might be interested in the de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter project. Aerosoft hasn’t shown off this aircraft in the sim as yet, nor has it provided a release window.
One of the handcrafted airports in Flight Simulator is St. Barts, which is known for having an incredibly challenging approach. It calls for aircraft to dive over a hill, before having to immediately flare to land on the extremely short runaway. Failing that, you’ll plunge into the Caribbean Sea. The Twin Otter makes runs to this airport often in real life, as it is a great fit for short takeoff and landing strips such as this. The closest thing that’s currently in the simulator of a similar size is the Cessna Grand Caravan.
Beyond these projects, Aerosoft is also working on something that we may not see for a while, and that’s the Airbus family. This includes the A318, 319, 320, 321, and even the 330. The developers estimate about a two-year release window on all of the Airbus projects mentioned.
Freeware here
Aerosoft isn’t only about the “money, money, money,” thankfully. The team has also produced a freeware airport: the Paderborn/Lippstadt Airport, located in Germany. It features a “detailed recreation” of the airport’s buildings, along with custom aerial images that cover not only the airport but also the surrounding area. It comes in at a whopping 3.6 GB on its own, however. Make sure you still have some space on that SSD before downloading this one.
ORBX, another popular add-on company, has also thrown a bone to the fans by releasing a freeware add-on of its own. Focusing on the USA, ORBX has designed what it describes as an airport “ideal for general aviation,” the OG20 Fairways Airport, located in Oregon. It has a 2,800 foot sloped grass airstrip, a lot of hangers, and custom “Ortho imagery.”
Since Microsoft Flight Simulator comes loaded with a ton of GA aircraft out of the box, like the Cessna Skyhawk, this is a good place to take a trip to as you explore the beautiful backwoods and mountains of the very green state of Oregon. For more Oregon appreciation, you can see how SCS Software handled it from ground level in our review of American Truck Simulator – Oregon DLC.
Both Aerosoft and ORBX have custom installers that will add these goodies to Microsoft Flight Simulator for you. But, for a guide on how to install any other freeware you download, you can either watch our tutorial below, or read it here.
