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The Phenom 100 VLJ Business Jet has officially moved from Alpha testing to multiple Beta phases and is expected to be released soon. This is the second quality product from Cockspur that focuses on the Very Light Jet (VLJ) market in MSFS. Since Cockspur has announced final beta testing and the price, we expect this to be available soon in the MSFS Marketplace for both PC and Xbox.
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Who is Cockspur?
The Cockspur team is founded by its chief developer, Sebastian, and in appearances on various Twitch streams lately, the perfectly flyable Phenom 100 has demonstrated that it is ready for sale. Sebastian’s keen eye will release it once it is near-perfect, as he has done for the various past products in the Cockspur lineup.
I caught up with Sebastian on a live-stream interview/hangout and some of his comments are true-to-Cockspur philosophy: “I need to tweak a couple more things and fix some graphics, but it certainly is flyable and ready” When I asked if this project took as long as his very successful Citation Mustang, he replied with, “Longer, much longer. In fact, this was the most amount of development time we have spent on a project to date.” He goes on to elaborate, “The whole G1000 avionics are all custom code because of how unique the display is in the real thing.” He also commented on how he learned a lot when making the Cessna Citation Mustang a year ago or so. He now applies that knowledge to this project for a higher quality and flyable model.
What is the Phenom 100?
The Phenom 100 is the common name given to the Embrarer EMB500 airplane. In real life, it is produced at the Embrarer HQ in Brazil and a factory in Melbourne, Florida USA. There is also a Phenom 300 which holds more passengers. The Phenom 100 is classified as a twin-jet VLJ class, which means Very Light Jet. It is a luxury airplane that is certified for single pilot operation. It can hold up to 6 people, including the pilot(s). The spacious cabin with four luxurious leather captain’s chairs have all the amenities of a luxury business jet. A small galley for beverages and snacks and a closed-door lavatory at the back. The retail price in real life is around $3.25 million. The price Cockspur has set for this MSFS version is $26.99
Features of the Phenom 100 for MSFS
The list is long but here are a few things Cockspur has posted on social media and some things this author found in beta testing:
- Passengers visible as you add their weights in the W&B area before a flight
- Simple engine startup and operation through the FADEC system (via WASM)
- Familiar G1000 glass cockpit with a Garmin G5 EFIS backup display. Custom large MFD.
- The flight model has been precision-made.
- A checklist card in the side pocket, complete with clickable checklists for chocks, covers and GPU.
- Custom ground power unit (GPU) when on the ground.
- Multiple liveries that mimic real-life paint schemes.
- A blank model livery for those who wish to paint their own.
- The lavatory doors slide closed. The toilet flushes with visible blue water and sounds.
The FADEC throttle system has markings for Cruise, climb, and take off. It is a very easy-to-learn airplane with such a simple engine management system. The rest of the plane is easy to operate as most things have an “Auto” selection, such as the hydraulics, the pressurization, etc. The cabin oxygen is a simple push button before you taxi. Those two little twin-jet engines have a lot of power for so few passengers. You must throttle back to stay under 250 knots when under 10,000 feet.
How to Decide Between the Citation Mustang and the Phenom 100
When comparing the two Bizjet offerings, some differences will make your sim-flying experience more enjoyable. The keyboard panel is located on the center pedestal in the Citation Mustang. This makes it very hard to view both the keyboard panel and the G1000 displays while you punch letters and numbers. This isn’t hard in real life as a pilot’s hand rests on the keyboard, and their eyes are on the screen. It’s more complicated in the sim. The Phenom has its keyboard underneath the displays, and it is straightforward to change your flight plan or anything else you need to do with the keyboard. Cockspur has also incorporated refinements into the Phenom 100 that he learned while making the Mustang. He also added a custom G1000 and a custom FADEC system. This makes the Phenom 100 a better quality and accurate plane than the Mustang. If you have to choose, the Phenom 100 should be it.
The Phenom 100 will be available from the Cockspur website and the MSFS Marketplace for Xbox and PC. (The PC version will be available first, as the Xbox versions of planes seem to take longer to approve)
