Well known for its military hardware in flight simulation, WINWING has shown off their Airbus FCU Flight Control Unit replica for home commercial aviation simulator platforms on its Facebook page. Previously, they exclusively built home simulator hardware for military aircraft and have stuck to that market for a while, up until now. Their FCU is a 1:1 replica of the unit found in real-world Airbus aircraft in a fully structured mould with a 3D textured surface.
WINWING Airbus FCU Features
Replicating the actual aircraft, the unit has the same colour display and the same Airbus blue. The unit comes with an adjustable backlight, supporting automatic game synchronisation. Every knob is commercial-grade with a long lifespan for a realistic experience. The knobs have push/pull capabilities like the real aircraft, controlling managed and selected inputs. Each knob rotates a full 360 degrees. A liquid crystal display provides a display with no colour difference to the real aircraft, with dual-colour button lights giving a more realistic experience, according to WINWING.
The FCU is positioned in the stand in the same operating position as the real aircraft. The unit comes with various brackets to position the panel to your liking, fully adjustable per your situation. The FCU also has built-in haptic feedback replicating the real aircraft. The unit comes with multiple mounting methods, both desktop and cockpit mounting. Appealing to both markets of full home cockpit simulation and simple desktop flight simming.
According to WINWING, the FCU is plug-and-play using their own SIMAPP. This is the application used to control all of their hardware, previous or future. Using a “System-Driven Display Mode” the FCU can display information from any A320 Aircraft. Their “Data-Driven Display Mode” is more suitable and efficient for open interface aircraft modules, according to WINWING.
For future expansions, simplicity is key so WINWING has made sure only one USB cable will be needed for multiple devices with SATA cable expansions on the left and right to connect, plug-and-play style on either side. The FCU is just one part of a fully modular design of the entire Airbus A320 glare shield. This includes plans for the EFIS, both left and right and the glare wing in the future.
Compatibility
WINWING currently has a compatibility schedule for the FCU for April and May. The roadmap shared by them is as follows. Please note that this is the only schedule available for compatible aircraft in the coming weeks and months.
April – Microsoft Flight Simulator
- Fenix A320
- Default Airbus A320 Neo
- FlyByWire A32NX
May – X-plane 11/12
- Toliss A319/A320neo/A321/A340-600
- Flight Factor A320 Ultimate
May – Prepare3D (V4/V5)
- FlightSimLabs
- Aerosoft A318/A319/A320/A321
Pricing
Early-bird pricing is still available as of 13th April 2024 but once shipping begins, the price will increase back up to the official pricing. Pre-order pricing will be €95.95 while the official pricing after pre-orders finish will be €124.75. Included is free shipping and tax on all sites apart from the global site. The selling price in different regional sites may differ.
Release
As of the 13th of April, the FCU Panel is still available for pre-order on the official WINWING site, which began on the 27th of March. You can pre-order the FCU on their website. You can change the region of the site to get more accurate pricing and shipping for your location. However, shipping for pre-orders on the Candian site has started shipping as of 12th April 2024. There has been no confirmation for shipping on other regional sites yet.
Future Products
Currently, WINWING has not yet confirmed what will be released next for their Airbus products. However, to keep up to date with future releases and announcements regarding WINWING, you can keep an eye on FSNews.
