Microsoft Flight Simulator Pilatus PC-9 & PC-24 (Also for Xbox) & Wellington Airport Announced; F-14 Tomcat Gets New Screenshots

Today third-party developers had a lot of juicy updates to share about upcoming Microsoft Flight Simulator add-ons, including aircraft and airports.

We start with Iris Simulations, which announced an agreement with Pilatus Aircraft to bring the Pilatus PC-9 and the PC-24 Super Versatile Jet to Microsoft Flight Simulator. According to the announcement, they’ll come for both the PC version and the upcoming Xbox Series X|S version.

It’s worth mentioning that “recreational rendition” likely indicates that the aircraft won’t come with extreme simulation depth, but the announcement did not provide further details.

“It is with the greatest pleasure that we can announce that IRIS Simulations and Pilatus Aircraft Ltd have come to an agreement to produce officially licensed recreational renditions of the Pilatus PC-9 & PC-24 Super Versatile Jet for Microsoft Flight Simulator!

This agreement builds upon a long standing relationship with Pilatus and allows IRIS Simulations to bring our award winning PC-9 and PC-24 Super Versatile Jet products to Microsoft’s flagship simulation product on both PC & Xbox Series X.

We will be providing further information as development continues and look forward to showcasing these aircraft in the world’s leading PC & Xbox based flight simulator product.”

The second announcement comes from NZA Simulations, which revealed that it’ll release Wellington Airport (NZWN).

As the international airport serving the capital of New Zealand, it’s another rather relevant addition to the simulator. You can see a teaser image below.

We also get an update for the F-14 Tomcat by DC Designs. This includes new images of the Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) part of the cockpit and new details. We also hear that the release has been pushed back a bit to early August.

“This week the focus has been on the RIO cockpit and of course extra coding for all the systems support the F-14A Tomcats will be published with. While of course MSFS does not support much of the Radar Intercept Officer’s instruments, I have endeavoured to animate every switch and button so that, should future versions of the simulator support more features, they can be implemented in updates with ease using extra code without having to mess further with the model itself. This also opens the way for community ‘modders’ to enhance the aircraft themselves, should they wish to. The pilot’s cockpit has been animated to the same standard.

The Tomcat’s internal systems are being enhanced also, with new stuff coming on-line by the day. The correct operation of the inlet ramps will be required, as mentioned in the past, to avoid compressor stalls, and we have successfully implemented a G-Limiter to prevent folks from over-stressing the airframe. This will further be tied to aircraft weight, as per the real airplanes, so that the Tomcats remain within their correct performance envelope.

The HTML gauges, as you can see in the images, are coming along really well thanks to the hard work of CodeNameJack, and I’m now implementing them in the RIO cockpit as repeaters in the radar screen, with an HSI repeater on the right-hand screen. These are not just copies of the stock Asobo airliner gauges, but re-coded versions that match, as much as we can, the appearance of those found in the real F-14. A few things that are familiar to MSFS users are being retained to assist in navigation tasks, each of which can be switched off using the “De-Clutter” switches should users wish to more authentically replicate the F-14. The same goes for the HUD display, which has a de-cluttered ‘sparse’ display that replicates the F-14A, and also a more complex version that shares more in common with the later B-model’s modern HUD.

The rest of July will be testing, testing and more testing plus writing the manual, which will be required reading to get the best out of this product. I am hoping to complete the RIO cockpit by early next week, before tackling the remaining modelling and coding tasks ready to have the first “preview” copies to send out to selected YouTubers and the testing team. These will be of the F-14A only, as the B model needs the extra modelling tasks done before it will be ready. Finally, due to the upcoming Sim Update 5, which contains huge changes for the simulator, the Tomcat’s release date has been pushed back slightly to very early August, so that I have time to make sure that nothing is broken by the update, before sending to distributors. Better safe than sorry, and all that.”

Last, but not least, we get a single new screenshot of the upcoming Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport (ZSHC) in China, showing the cargo terminal.

Recently, we published our massive interview with head of Microsoft Flight Simulator Jorg Neumann, who provided a lot of new info about the present and future of the sim.

A few days ago, we heard more about the Xbox version of the simulator and we saw some impressive performance upgrades for the PC version which will come at the same time.

If you’d like to read more about Microsoft Flight Simulator add-ons, you can enjoy our recent reviews of Shanghai Pudong Airport, Kraków Airport, Fukuoka City & Airport, Fort Lauderdale Airport, Chongqing City & Airport, Manila Airport, Santiago Airport, the Frankfurt City Pack, Key West Airport, the Okavango Delta, Bali Airport, London Oxford Airport, Berlin Brandenburg Airport, the CRJ 550/700, the PA-28R Arrow III, Kristiansand Airport, Macau City & Airport, Bonaire Flamingo Airport, Milano Linate Airport, the Singapore City Pack, Tokyo Narita Airport, Yao Airport, the F-15 Eagle, the Paris City Pack, Greater Moncton Airport, Tweed New Haven Airport, Santorini Airport, Sydney Airport, Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, Reggio Calabria Airport, Bastia Poretta Airport, Munich Airport, Paris Orly Airport, Newcastle International Airport, Sankt Johann Airfield, Dublin International Airport, and Seoul City Wow. We also have a beta preview of Singapore Changi airport.

If you want to learn more about the game itself, you can read our review that will tell you everything you need to know about Asobo Studio’s game.

Microsoft Flight Simulator is already available for Windows 10 and Steam and will release on July 27, 2021, for Xbox Series X ad Series S.