Microsoft’s popular flying sim launched on PC with only three default airliners (and two if you don’t have the Premium Deluxe edition). But since its initial launch, the sim has been garnering a growing collection of such complex airframes. Now, as reported by Just Flight, one of the most legendary designs is in the works for Microsoft Flight Simulator — the Boeing 757.
Dubbed the “Flying Pencil” for its extremely narrow and slender shape, the 757 is often considered to be almost ‘over-engineered.’ That is, its engines are so large and powerful compared to its size and weight that it has some extremely formidable thrust and cruise capabilities, giving it an almost fighter jet-like feel for pilots. The 757 has also proven to be favorite among sim pilots, and now users of Microsoft Flight Simulator can look forward to getting to enjoy it in the next-gen sim.
Spearheaded by Bluebird Simulations, the Boeing 757 is currently in early development. The project will cover both the 757-200/300 models, and is being built by a mere four-member squad. That said, not only do they have vast programming experience, but a real airline pilot is a part of the team to ensure the aircraft will be able to both look and play the part.
Bluebird’s 757 is being built from the ground up for Microsoft Flight Simulator, allowing it to “take full advantage of the SDK to create a visually stunning and incredibly immersive simulation of the 757-200 and 300.”
Making an impact
The Boeing 757 project for Microsoft Flight Simulator isn’t incredibly far along just yet. So far, the team has only provided screenshots that show off a bare but complex rendered model, and an early look at an already very detailed cockpit.
No release date has been announced yet, and there’s currently no indication if this will see the virtual skies even by this year. Nevertheless, it’s still great to see more airliners coming into the sim. Bluebird is joining the likes of PMDG and DC Designs which are producing the Boeing 737 and Concorde supersonic jet, respectively.
In only a matter of time, there’s going to be a plethora of complex airliner aircraft to choose from in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This will finally add some much needed variety to what’s so far been a sim that greatly favors small general aviation aircraft. Accompanying these releases is Asobo’s continued efforts to improve flight dynamics and offer ongoing enhancements to the realism factor via complex simulated calculations that run through Microsoft Flight Simulator’s coding.
