Microsoft/Asobo (@msfsofficial) took to its Instagram page earlier today to announce the release of the updated Famous Flyer 10 for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. Famous Flyer 10, a rendition of the Boeing 707-320C, has been developed jointly with iniBuilds and Working Title.
About the 707
The Boeing 707 is an American long-range narrow-body airliner and the first ever jetliner developed by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, the initial 707-120 first flew in December 1957. Regular passenger services began in October 1958 with launch customer Pan Am. Although not the first ever jetliner, the 707 was the first to be widespread and is often credited with beginning the Jet Age. It also established Boeing as a dominant airliner manufacturer with its iconic 7×7 series of airplanes. The Boeing 707-320 was powered by Pratt & Whitney JT4A turbojets with a stretched fuselage of the original 145-foot-long 707-120.
What’s changed?
The primary change that comes with this new and updated rendition are the primary developers. Back in 2024, when the Famous Flyer 10 was first released, it had been developed in collaboration with Aeroplane Heaven. This time around, though, Microsoft has joined forces with iniBuilds and Working Title to bring this iconic jetliner to life in MSFS2024.
According to Microsoft’s blog post, the 707 comes jam-packed with an array of features, including an operable cargo door, galleys, and 707-specific exterior animations. The updated aircraft also comes with three historically accurate cockpit configurations: the Carousel IV-A inertial navigation system, the UNS-1 FMS (Universal Navigation System – 1 Flight Management System) with RNAV (aRea NAVigation) capability for modern airways, and the Garmin GNS (Global Navigation System) 530 — a unit some 707s still carry in service today.
iniBuilds and Working Title’s Boeing 707 also comes with a Virtual Flight Engineer or VFE. The VFE assists with pilot workload, such as guided flows, voice assistant, and optional automation from cockpit preparation through shutdown and securing the aircraft at the arrival gate. The VFE flips switches, turns knobs, and checks off items on the checklist like a real flight engineer, and users can trigger each and every task flow.
The MSFS Boeing 707-320C also includes a dedicated companion application built into the MSFS2024 EFB ecosystem and covers aircraft configuration, door controls, performance calculations, INS support tools, and operational utilities. The aircraft also features a fully simulated pneumatic and environmental control architecture, including engine bleed air, APU bleed air, turbo compressors, pneumatic ducting, air conditioning packs, coolant air systems, and their operational interactions.
A fully modeled exterior and interior 3D model has also been developed and integrated by the developers. It captures the full authenticity of the real-world 707, along with its iconic features such as the low-slung fuselage on tall gear, 35 degrees of wing sweep, four JT3Ds on the underwing pylons, the vertical fin, and a cockpit that is reminiscent of an airliner from the 50s: eyebrow windows, analog instruments, a chronometer that needs winding, and a modeled flight engineer and navigation station.
Closing Notes
Microsoft, iniBuilds, and Working Title’s jointly developed Boeing 707-320C is available to purchase on the MSFS in-sim Marketplace and retails for USD14.99 inclusive of taxes. The entire feature list for the aircraft can be found on the Microsoft Flight Simulator blog.
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