17 June 2024
Here's the latest information from Black Square's Nick Cyganski about his forthcoming Starship add-on for Mirosoft Flight Simulator, which is currently in development.
If you're attending the
FlightSimExpo 2024 event in Las Vegas later this month (21-23 June) be sure to head over to the Just Flight stand for a chat with Nick and the Just Flight team about the Starship and all our other add-ons in development!
The Starship has always been my favourite aircraft of all time, so doing it justice for the first time in a flight simulator has always been my top priority. Almost exactly two years ago, I announced that I was working on the Starship for MSFS, but chose to release seven more aircraft before returning to work on it. Each one was a necessary stepping stone that provided me with the skills required to create the virtual aircraft you see below.
For those unfamiliar with Starship, its design incorporated more technological firsts in a general aviation aircraft than arguably any aircraft before or since. To name a few, it was the first certified canard wing aircraft, the first business aircraft with an all-composite structure, the first certified twin pusher turboprop, the first general aviation aircraft with an all-glass cockpit, and it remains one of only three civilian turboprops with a service ceiling of 41,000 feet. When combined with the sharp appearance of a Burt Rutan design, the Starship is an unforgettable sight, inside and out.
When I returned to the Starship in March of 2024, my first order of business was bringing the Starship up to my current graphical standards, particularly in the cabin. Next, an almost complete code rewrite was required to simulate even more systems under the hood than are present in the Black Square Dukes. Lastly, I began working on the Starship's one-of-a-kind AMS-850 avionics suite.
The Starship's avionics suite pioneered many of today's commonplace features, with some in more recognisable form than others. While it seems difficult to believe in hindsight, the Starship left the factory with no GPS receiver, as the prototype flew in the same year GPS was first made publicly available to civilian users. Instead, the Starship's avionics automatically tuned to nearby navigation aids to generate a positional estimate, the accuracy of which could be enhanced by user input. The Starship also carried receivers for Very Low Frequency (VLF) radio stations, such as Omega, which consisted of nine transmitters located around the globe. As a personal passion project, this pre-GPS navigation system will be available in the Black Square Starship for MSFS. Since its first sale in 1986, the Starship has also received many software and hardware updates to provide modern navigation capabilities, which will also be represented in MSFS.
Black Square's Starship will also incorporate all of the technology developed for the Black Square Dukes, which will also be added to Black Square's TBM 850 in a major free update this Summer. Chiefly, this includes the tablet interface, which allows users to configure all options, manage payload, control failures and monitor engines, a live electrical schematic and environmental control systems, all from within the simulator.
I've always taken a particular interest in any subtle features that can help ground an aircraft in a particular decade of technology. For the Starship, this will include cathode ray tubes (CRTs) that take time to warm up, and navigation databases that can be updated using a floppy disk reader. Users will also be able to monitor the heat generated by the immense quantity of electronics in this aircraft through the tablet interface and manage cooling fans and air flow to keep the systems comfortably cool. The aircraft will also feature 230+ possible failures and 172 circuit breakers, the most in any Black Square aircraft so far.
With only five Starships still airworthy, I feel honoured to preserve the fleet digitally for the next generation of Starship admirers. With flight simulators, we have the opportunity to preserve more than just the facade of an aircraft, but also the systems and the skills required to manage them. With any luck, my efforts will also introduce those who otherwise wouldn't have heard of this magnificent airplane to one of the most revolutionary flying machines ever built.
