BlueBird Simulations took to their YouTube channel to showcase exciting features of the FMS, specifically its vertical navigation capabilities, on their impressive Boeing 757-200/300 rendition for MSFS.
Sherwin, the CEO at BlueBird Simulations, posted a lively video to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the project. In the 13-min long video, he answers a few frequently asked questions and illustrates the vertical navigation capability of the aircraft in VNAV mode with altitude constraints.
Sherwin starts off the video with a heartfelt thanks to the team for all their work on the project and states that despite lots of progress there’s still a long way to go in terms of sound set, texture work, systems modeling, and the virtual cockpit. The first question Sherwin addresses is the release date and states that they are well on course for a Q3/Q4 2023 release; likely closer to Q4 than Q3.
The next query Sherwin addresses is systems complexity and what the team at BlueBird Simulations intends to achieve. The rendition will be a mid-level complexity aircraft in terms of systems fidelity. This means that all normal operations will be simulated, i.e., every switch, knob and button used for the average flying will be functional. The core of that, the FMS, has been worked upon a lot and is very “robust”. It will have full VNAV and LNAV capabilities, SID/STARs, holding patterns and much more. Furthermore, various systems will be modeled and simulated including a custom APU, electrical and pneumatic systems, IRSs, cabin altitude, and more.
Another query Sherwin answers is what versions/variants are included. According to him, the passenger 200/300 variant with PW and RR engines, as well as winglet and non-winglet versions, will be released first. Split-scimitar winglets may be included at a later date as a free update.
Pricing is another topic Sherwin touches on, although any explicit information is not disclosed. He does however give us a package structure. The passenger version will be the base package and a few months after initial release, a cargo expansion as a separate, paid package will be offered to those interested. The cargo expansion upon release will have enhancements that will be carried over to the passenger version for free regardless of whether you own the cargo expansion or not.
Sherwin then affirms there will be different versions of the cockpit with the initial version comprising of the CRT screens. As part of the release of the cargo version, the cockpit will be updated to LCDs for the primary and navigation displays. The update will also be offered to the passenger versions for free and regardless of your ownership of the cargo version. The aircraft will also have a virtual cabin included although work on this aspect is yet to start.
Although previous video previews of the aircraft contains the default B747 sound set, it will most certainly have a custom sound set and the team at BlueBird Simulations is recording real-life aircraft sounds. Regarding the in-sim marketplace release, the aircraft will most likely arrive on the Xbox platform a few weeks after its initial release for PC.
The video then progresses to give us a showcase of the VNAV capabilities of the FMS and how it handles “at”, “above” or “below” altitude constraints out of and into an airport through the course of a flight. Sherwin also states that the cockpit seen in the video is not the final version and that the team is in the midst of a complete overhaul of the textures for more realism and immersion. This is incredibly promising and exciting work from BlueBird Simulations on a very popular narrow-body jet and excitement to fly it ourselves in the world of Microsoft Flight Simulator is uncontainable.
For those who want to watch the full video for themselves can do so here. In case you missed them, do check out the bunch of previews released by the team in recent weeks and months on the project’s incredible progress.
