16 December 2024
ONGOING PRODUCT SUPPORT
Welcome to the Just Flight End Of Year Round-Up for 2024! It's been another jam packed year for us, with new product releases, product updates and the curveball of the release of an entirely new simulator. With so much going on it is nice to gather our thoughts and put together a summary of where we are with our already released products and our upcoming products, and take a look at what you can expect to see from us over the next year.
Throughout this week we will provide daily news posts, with each day focusing on a different subject and culminating in an exciting new aircraft announcement at the end of the week. But without further ado, let's jump into the focus of today’s post - ongoing product support!
PA28R Arrow III, PA-28R Turbo Arrow III/IV and PA-28-161 Warrior II
These were the first three aircraft that we released for Microsoft Flight Simulator back in 2021 and we will continue to support these products as we head into 2025.
In November 2024 we released a new flight model update for our PA-28-161 Warrior II in MSFS 2020, which saw improvements to various aspects of the flight model based on community feedback. This update took advantage of some of the latest features in the MSFS SDK that were not available at the time of the product’s initial release, including improved ground friction support and CFD.
Now that we have gathered community feedback on this latest update, we are in a position to apply those improvements to the flight models of the Arrow III and Turbo Arrow III/IV. These flight model updates will also be grouped into a larger update for the PA-28 fleet which will include other bug fixes and improvements, as well as MSFS 2024 compatibility. As we have stated previously, all of our MSFS 2024 compatibility updates will be free of charge for existing owners of our products, regardless of the store from which they were purchased.
Hawk T1/A Advanced Trainer
A significant new update is in the works for the Hawk, so significant that we have given it the ‘Version 2’ designation! This update will include a long-awaited new flight model which takes full advantage of the latest features in the MSFS SDK that were not available at the time of the initial release.
The ‘Version 2’ update will also include a variety of other bug fixes, improvements and feature requests that have been highlighted by the community since the previous update. The improvements include improved navigation light models, improved HSI ‘wobble’ and improved drum animations. There will also be a selection of new liveries included in the update and, thanks to a recent change in the Marketplace policy, we will now also be able to include visual weapons in future Marketplace updates!
We plan to combine this upgrade with an MSFS 2024 compatibility update, meaning that all previous owners of the Hawk will get the ‘Version 2’ update and the MSFS 2024 compatibility updates on the same day, free of charge.
146 Professional
Over two years since its original release, 146 Professional (MSFS) continues to be one of our most successful and highly regarded aircraft to date.
In 2024 we released a huge ‘Version 2’ free upgrade which included some much requested features. Among these were a highly detailed passenger cabin, redesigned EFB interface, new passenger and cargo boarding system, interactive paper charts and checklists, new liveries and - for the first time in MSFS - a custom-coded UNS-1 Flight Management System.
During the development of our RJ Professional (MSFS), we ended up improving or, in many cases, completely rewriting systems logic that is shared with the 146, for example the cabin conditioning system. Our plan heading into 2025, therefore, is to release another sizeable upgrade for the 146 Professional that will include those systems logic improvements as well as the usual fixes and other improvements based on feedback since the previous 146 update. We also plan for this free upgrade to include MSFS 2024 compatibility.
FS Traffic
An update for FS Traffic in MSFS 2020 is close to completion and we expect this to be passed over to our internal testing team in the next few weeks. A draft changelog (subject to change) for the upcoming update can be found
here.
Once that is released, we have a further update planned which will provide new aircraft types and a selection of liveries. We have also begun to evaluate FS Traffic in MSFS 2024. From our initial tests we can see that the FS Traffic fleet will still feature a much larger selection of liveries compared to the default aircraft, more accurate model matching and significant performance improvements over the default traffic system. On top of this, some new functions have been added to the SDK that we are hope can improve the FS Traffic experience even further. More news on that once our development team has had time to investigate the changes further.
The Xbox version of FS Traffic in MSFS 2020 has been in testing for quite some time, but we have held it back due to performance limitations on the Xbox consoles. We have the product fully functional on both the Xbox Series S and Series X, but due to the former’s relatively low VRAM we are not confident enough that acceptable performance can be achieved across all scenarios. We will be re-evaluating the Xbox version of FS Traffic with the extra memory that has been freed up in MSFS 2024.
F28 Professional
Following on from the 146 Professional's ‘Version 2’ upgrade, we are nearing the end of development for a similar free upgrade to the F28 Professional; this will include some much requested features as well as adding even more cockpit customisation options to the F28, bringing it even closer to the massive amount of cockpit configurations the real aircraft had!
The new features include a custom-coded UNS-1 Flight Management System, new cockpit equipment such as an altitude preselect ontroller, Interactive paper checklists, two types of passenger oxygen regulator, window shades, a redesigned EFB interface with passenger boarding and refuelling simulation, among numerous other improvements and feature requests.
A document covering the F28 Professional Version 2 update in greater detail can be found
here.
We had initially planned to release the Version 2 update at the end of this year, but we will now combine it with an MSFS 2024 compatibility update. Although this will incur a small delay into early 2025, it does mean that all existing owners of the F28 Professional will get the ‘Version 2’ upgrades and the MSFS 2024 compatibility update at the same time.
Vulcan B Mk. 2, K.2 & MRR
Although things may have looked a bit quiet on the Vulcan front this year (due to us being very happy with the state of the current release version), some work has been done on the next update, including improved custom smoke effects both for the engines and for the rapid start system.
One of the most common requests that we receive is from Marketplace users wanting the same weapons payloads as found on the non-Marketplace version. Fortunately, due to a recent change in the Marketplace policy, we will now be able to reintroduce visual weapons payloads in the next Vulcan update!
These changes will be released along with the addition of MSFS 2024 compatibility, bringing the legendary Vulcan howl to the latest edition of Microsoft Flight Simulator!
PA-38 Tomahawk
The Tomahawk was one of two brand-new aircraft that we released in 2024, arriving in your MSFS 2020 hangars at the end of April. The aircraft saw a handful of updates in the months after its release, including a variety of features requested by the community.
As with all our other products, the Tomahawk will get a free MSFS 2024 compatibility update in the near future. It was the first of our GA aircraft to feature a pre-flight walkaround mode, a system that has since been added to MSFS 2024. We are in the process of evaluating whether to adopt the latter, and what other new features can be included.
We'll keep you updated, and hopefully it won’t be too long before you can take the Tomahawk for a spin in MSFS 2024!
RJ Professional
Our RJ Professional (MSFS) released for MSFS 2020 in early November and we have been thrilled to see so many people enjoying the aircraft. The blend of a (relatively) modern glass cockpit with the quirky 146 systems architecture seems to have struck just the right balance for many of you. This was our first study-level glass-cockpit airliner and its development was complex and challenging, paving the way for our upcoming F70 and F100.
We released a free MSFS 2024 compatibility update for the RJ in early December. This is currently available for all non-Marketplace owners, and we hope to be able to bring it to the MSFS 2024 Marketplace when that is launched by Microsoft in the new year.
"So, what's next for the RJ Professional?" we hear you ask. With the ever evolving nature of Microsoft's latest simulator and the myriad patches and sim updates that have either already been released or are due in the coming weeks/months, the RJ (being our first MSFS 2024 compatible product) has remained top of our priority list. We are continuously monitoring community through our own Forum and others, and also from our Support team, and we are working on a v1.3 update that will include further bug fixes, improvements and feature requests. As with all our other products covered here, we will be supporting the RJ with additional updates and improvements for a long time to come!
If you are an existing 146 Professional owner, a friendly reminder that ALL previous 146 Professional (MSFS) owners are entitled to a 20% discount on the RJ Professional!
X-Plane 12 General Aviation Fleet
Earlier this year we announced the development of X-Plane 12 native versions of our GA fleet to take advantage of the simulator’s latest features. We soon followed this with X-Plane 12 editions of the Duchess Model 76, PA-28R Arrow III and PA-28R Turbo Arrow III/IV.
The next aircraft to enter our X-Plane 12 GA fleet will be the PA-28-161 Warrior II. Working in partnership with Thranda Design, we will include a similarly rich feature set as found in our other X-Plane 12 aircraft, including ultra-high quality 8K interior and exterior textures and a custom-coded EFB with features such as the ability to change aircraft configuration options, view interactive checklists and customise the aircraft’s paint scheme on the fly with the Dynamic Liveries feature. A raft of other native X-Plane 12 features will also be included.
The Warrior is about to enter beta testing and we plan to have it available in early 2025. We'll let you know when it gets added to our
In Development section.
As you can see, there is a lot going on at Just Flight HQ, from supporting ten (and counting) complex products for Microsoft Flight Simulator to the development of new aircraft. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for another year of your support and for all the great feedback and suggestions from you that directly contribute to our development work.
Be sure to check back tomorrow as we start to look ahead into some of our products that are on the horizon…