Fenix Simulations was supposed to release its “Big Fenix Update” for its Airbus A320 family for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and MSFS 2020 later this week, but it actually came today.
The update has been pushed forward since testing gave good results, so existing customers of the developer’s Airbus A320, Airbus A321, and Airbus A319 can already download it on both simulators.
In terms of flight dynamics, it includes an overhaul of the landing characteristics based on data from 800,000 flights, a retune of the fly-by-wire system, a rework of the ground handling, and more.
We’re also getting a new engine type for the A319 with sharklets, weather radar, stop margins for the takeoff calculations on the EFB, renewed audio with sounds that change dynamically as you move around the aircraft, and recalibrated display colors.
Specifically for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 users, the aircraft’s model has been completely remade with the appropriate LOD and the new native modular system. The flight deck has also been rebuilt with physically emulated displays.
The walkaround mode received additional interactivity, including fully functional refueling panel, doors and cargo doors, hydraulic access panels, and external power panel, you can even walk from the ground to the cabin and the flight deck (and vice versa) and manually spin the engines’ fan blades.
The developer mentioned that there’s more to come in terms of interactivity with future upgrades, and it’s great to see Fenix’s innovation vindicating some of Microsoft Flight Simulator’s 2024’s most relevant new features.
Liveries are now managed directly from the installer, and plenty of new ones have been added. You can find the full list on the official website, alongside the massive patch notes.
Below you can take a look at the video released a couple of days ago showcasing the main changes.
We also get a more in-depth video focusing on the flight model and fly-by-wire overhaul.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 is available for PC and Xbox Series X|S. Yet, it’s worth mentioning that Fenix’s A320 line is only for PC as its systems simulation runs in an external software, which is not compatible with Xbox.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is also available for the same platforms. If you want to see the massive visual difference against Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, you can enjoy our video and screenshot comparison.
If you’d like to read more flight simulation news, you can find plenty in our latest roundup article from yesterday.
If you want to go further back, we have a handy overview video of the major flight simulation news in the past week. You can watch it below. As usual, leaving a like and a comment and subscribing to our growing YouTube channel is extremely helpful.
