FlyJSim has previewed the core features of their upcoming rendition of Dash 8 Q400 for X-Plane 11 that should be coming soon to our simulators. The development update was shared through the developer’s website, and also included a few preview screenshots of the aircraft.
FlyJSim has announced the development of Q4XP back in December 2018 and from that time, the aircraft got a lot of new features and improvements. The developers have noted that we can expect to fly this bird in the simulator very soon. The Q4XP is a whole new product being an answer to their over ten-year-old Q400 Legacy which was the first-ever released product of FlyJSim.
In the first section of the post shared by the developers, the exterior of the aircraft was addressed. It is a completely new model made from scratch. The only thing that was ported over from the Legacy Q400 are the propellers. However, even the propellers went through some changes in the terms of the textures.
FlyJSim hasn’t forgotten about the minor details as well. Not only is the fuselage very detailed, but there’s also a lot of details visible on the landing gears, jackscrews, and wings. Speaking of the wings, they, of course, will have a custom and accurate wingflex.
The aircraft will dispose of 4K textures, PBR materials, and will take advantage of the X-Plane 11’s lighting model for the best visual experience.
All the doors on the aircraft are operatable. Furthermore, once released, the aircraft will offer a custom set of ground handling equipment for the best experience on the ground. The developers will be including a set of ten liveries created by the best community painters. They are:
- Air Baltic
- Air Canada
- Air Iceland
- Alaska
- Austrian
- Eurowings
- FlyBe Purple
- FlyBe White
- Horizon
- Porter
- Qantas
- WestJet
- Wideroe
There are already 20 additional liveries ready that will be available to download on the release day. These were not specified which airlines will cover.
The cabin is also very detailed. There are 78 seats and each overhead bin is animated. The front cabin door has a fancy opening animation. The doors can be opened through the simulator interface or from the cabin. You can also adjust the cabin lights through the FA panel.
The forward cargo bay is included as well. You can get there through the cabin or from the exterior. Speaking of the main cargo bay, that is also fully modelled with its massive door.
Speaking of the cockpit, this is the place where you will spend most of the time flying, so the developers had put high attention there. Just as the exterior, the cockpit is built from scratch. Therefore it will be completely different comparing it to the Q400 Legacy product. All textures in the cockpit have PBR materials. FlyJSim as well included some minor details such as moving armrest, real fonts on the EFIS, or correct bevels on the displays.
The cabin also disposes of an escape hatch which can be opened just slightly, or all the way so you can get out. There are also more lighting options included in this aircraft, comparing to the legacy product.
In the last section of the article, the developer spoke about the systems of the aircraft. FlyJSim believes that they have brought one of the most advanced cockpits to flight sim. As with the other parts of the aircraft, the systems were developed from scratch.
One of the systems taken to a new level, as the developer refers to it as, is the electrical system. The developers at FlyJSim confirmed that each electric system such as batteries, bus connectors, transformers, or generators, are accurately developed based on the real aircraft documentation.
The same amount of attention was paid to the hydraulics and flight controls, therefore, they are also accurately modelled compared to their real-world counterpart. The ARCDU radio system is also fully simulated in this aircraft, and it also has dual and separate interfaces. A significant amount of time was put into the FMS as well.
The developers didn’t post any further information about the aircraft nor the pricing or the release date details. The only thing we know is that the aircraft is “coming soon“.
