Microsoft Flight Simulator F-35 Gets New Screenshots & Details on Carriers; Another Osaka Kansai Airport Announced

Today Third-party developers released new assets about upcoming aircraft and scenery add-ons for Microsoft Flight Simulator.

First of all, we hear from  IndiaFoxtEcho, which released new screenshots and details about its upcoming F-35 Lightning II. More specifically, they explained how they plan to implement carrier operations and scenery.

We have received a number of questions regarding the carrier screenshots we have recently shown – and frankly, we think they are overhyped.

Just to set the record straight, first: in our opinion, the best and most realistic carrier operations environment is by far DCS Supercarrier. Second: there are a lot of limitations at the moment in MSFS so that decent carrier ops simulations cannot be achieved.

That being said, we are developing a small fleet of HIGHLY detailed carriers as STATIC objects, just to create a “companion” package for the F-35 and mostly to highlight the differences between the F-35 variants.
At the moment we have:

America class LHA (meant to be used with the F-35B of course):
USS LHA-6 in the China Sea, not far from the Japanese Coast, close to Nagasaki, Japan.
USS LHA-7 off the coast of San Diego, USA

Gerald R. Ford class CVN (for the F-35C):
USS Gerald R. Ford CVN-78, North of NAS Key West, USA

As for the CVN-78, if you are reading this, probably we do not need to add anything else: even setting a 30 knots wind blowing from the bow of the ship (which makes things a little better) it is not a realistic simulation of a carrier landing. Still… it is fun, and we thought that it was a nice addition to the package (with an acceptable development cost).
Contrary to other add-ons, with which we do not want to compete (this is basically a fun “side project”) the launch and arrest functionality is coded at aircraft level:

Currently, if you lower the launch bar on the F-35C and apply full throttle, that will trigger a “virtual catapult” which will send you in the air with a realistic acceleration.

Similarly, landing with the hook down will trigger a realistic deceleration. THESE WILL WORK ON ANY SURFACE in the game.

In addition to that, it would we quite easy to recreate some basic LSO radio calls* and detect which “wire” you have engaged by checking your position against the carrier location (but that will work only on the CVN-78). We plan to share the code (which is however very simple) for other devs or the community to make it better or make other planes compatible with the carrier.

If time allows, we will work on a Nimitz-class for the T-45C with similar features.

And yes, we have also considered making the Queen Elizabeth and the Cavour… and these may come at a later date.
As for the release, we think it may be better to keep this separate from the F-35 package if anything to make updates easier. If it will be a separate package, it will be a very inexpensive payware (but we are also considering a free release).
…that is it for the moment. We know this is disappointing for some, but we want to be extremely clear and make sure our marketing material does not oversell our products.

Then, hopefully, we’ll get proper carriers support in the future (for the record, MSFS assets already contain traces of a working carrier)…

Next is the reveal of another Osaka Kansai International Airport (RJBB) by DominicDesignTeam.

At the moment, we get to see only a trailer, but it should be released on Simmarket soon.

Update: the airport has been released and it’s currently available for approximately $22 plus applicable VAT.

It’s worth mentioning that this is not the same package as the one coming from Japanese developer Technobrain, which will likely take a bit longer considering the studio’s usual high quality and attention to detail.

We’ll have to see how this rendition compares.

If you’d like to read more about Microsoft Flight Simulator add-ons, you can enjoy our recent reviews of Athens International Airport, Bergamo Orio al Serio Airport, Amami Airport, Bristol Airport, Marrakech Menara Airport, Great Britain Central, Tehran Imam Khomeini Airport, Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport, 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 Xbox Series X|S.