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Today in Flight Simulation News – March 1, 2025

Giuseppe Nelva

Flight Simulation developers shared news today, including two releases for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and MSFS 2020, on top of an update from PMDG.

Every day, Simulation Daily publishes a roundup of all the news across the flight simulation field, helping you keep up to date with the ins and outs of the industry.

Before we move on to the news, you can check out the recording of an interesting livestream from earlier today organized by the Flight Simulation Association. We teamed out with other journalists and content creators to talk about Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, its current situation, the launch, and the future.

You can also enjoy a story that received its own individual coverage:

You can check out all the flight simulation news below.

Landmarks Washington v2 Released for MSFS 2024 and MSFS 2020

 Drzewiecki Design released v2 of its Landmarks Washington package, including both the city and a few local airports including KADW (Joint Base Andrews), KCGS (College Park), and KVKX (Potomac).

It’s available on Orbx Direct and Simmarket for approximately $13.

It includes the following

We also learn about the changes from the previous version.

Nuuk Airport Released for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and MSFS 2020

FSimStudios released its rendition of Nuuk International Airport (BGGH) serving the capital of Greenland. It’s available on Orbx Direct (MSFS 2024 or MSFS 2020) and Simmarket (MSFS 2024 or MSFS 2020) for approximately $18.

It includes the following features.

PMDG Provides Update About MSFS 2024 Releases, 747, 777-200ER, and More

PMDG provided a new update about its upcoming products and updates to its existing ones, so take a seat and grab some coffee because CEO Robert Randazzo had a lot to say.

Incidentally, we got the confirmation that MSFS 2024 upgrades will be free, which is something PMDG was not sure about previously.

MDG 777-200ER for MSFS:

“The 200ER testing program continues to run well. We have spend most of this week working on the validation process for all engine performance metrics, including EPR, N2, fuel flows, resulting thrust values, and that sort of thing. Each of the 200ERs behaves just ever so slightly differently when it comes to changes in thrust, due entirely to the subtle differences between the PW, GE and RR engines on this type. We have continued tuning the sound package for each engine type, which will give you a greater symphony for your ears.

The 777-200ER has been involved with internal testing in MSFS 2024, and we anticipate pushing her to the beta team on the new platform in the coming week. She will release simultaneously on both MSFS 2020 and MSFS 2024, giving you the flexibility to use whichever platform you like from a single purchase. The 200ER will come with some 30+ liveries and will also be managed via the new PMDG Operations Center 3.0, which will roll out shortly before the product release.

We have a date fixed on the calendar, but I want to clear a few more check-boxes in our testing program before I put us on the clock publicly, because these things have a way of blowing up shortly after I talk about firm dates in public.”

PMDG 777-300ER & PMDG 777F:

“Concurrent with the release of the 200ER, we will be pushing some update for these two products. This will include numerous fixes, adjustments, adaptations and improvements. We have been at work on the sound environment for all of the 777s, working with our development partners to source refreshed sounds so that we can continue to enhance the audio experience, and also preparing both of these venerable products for rollout in MSFS 2024.

Our existing MSFS2020 customers who own the 777 will get the 777 in MSFS2024 as part of their original purchase- which is part of our ongoing commitment to providing you with not just a high degree of product quality, but a high degree of support for your enjoyment of the simming hobby.”

PMDG DC-6 for MSFS:

“I reported in my previous update that we had hit some blockers on DC-6 that resulted in very laggy and stuttery animations and poor performance. I am happy to report that these issues have been resolved, and we are now working at speed to update the DC-6 so that it behaves happily in MSFS 2024. These changes include a bunch of adjustments that are necessary to adapt the lighting, illumination, emissive qualities of various luminous surfaces within the flight deck so that they appear properly when viewed in 2024. The work is moving along swiftly, and we are beginning to evaluate handing her to our poor, overworked beta team.

Fortunately, the last work-rules effort by the beta pilot’s collective bargaining team failed to anticipate the demands that would be placed on them this year- so they may be tired but they continue to fly and test.

As with the 777, if you already own the DC-6 for MSFS, you will obtain the MSFS 2024 version without additional purchase requirements.”

PMDG 737 for MSFS:

“Still a bit too early to speak authoritatively on this product’s life-cycle moving into MSFS 2024. We have not evaluated it thoroughly because we are entirely focused on the 777 fleet and the DC-6, but the new cabin model is being merged in, and we are well underway with re-engineering the sound environment that will also be included with the new update.

For the MAX enthusiasts: Our work on MAX continues to be held in place by the need to maintain professional separation between our retail simming work and our work with an enterprise level project that will be relying upon our simulation technology. Once clear of that obligation, we’ll recommence work toward bringing you our MAX. Until that time, we won’t be offering much updates other than to say that we look forward to seeing that hurdle cleared.”

PMDG 747 for MSFS:

“Work on the 747 is coming along nicely. Systems integration for the flight engineer’s panel has begun, along with sound sourcing (yes- we do have access!) as well as other core development work taking place.

We have begun to map out the behaviors that will be needed in order to give you a trust flight engineer and a reliable copilot who will help you become comfortable flying this magnificent classic airliner. We recognize that many of our customers are not “study level simmers” and want to enjoy the process of flying without having to study for a type rating in the airplane, and thus seeing the busy flight deck of a 747 classic might seem intimidating- so we are going to give you progressive levels of “teamwork” from your copilot and engineer as part of the package. If you want them to handle all the difficult bits, all you will have to do is fly the airplane like you would a 777 with the flight director showing… they’ll manage the rest at your command. If you want to take the high end approach and move every switch yourself- you can do that too. This will give you an experience depth that matches your mood and your skills, without punishing you for learning something new.

Thus far I have shared numerous images of the flight engineer’s panel, and a few images of other areas of the flight deck- but we have only shown a few images of the exterior as the approach to modeling the exterior is very different than the flight deck- and as such the “standard untextured model” tends not to be as interesting as the flight deck until it begins to acquire textures.

I’m going to break with that tradition today and show you a few images of the main and body gear, which are untextured- but even in that state you can see the extraordinary level of detail we are bringing you with this spectacular new product line.

So today’s focus is on the main gear of the 747 classic. While functionally similar to the 744/748, there are a number of differences that will be evident to you during the walk-around as you get comfortable with both of these two airplanes genres. The most obvious difference between them is the tire size, with the rubber bits on the classic being quite a bit smaller and more “donut” shaped than on the newer 744/748 siblings. This gives the 747 classic the impression of having “smaller feet” when she is airborne with the gear hanging down- but in pre-flight mode when you stand underneath this enormous airplane you will discover that is just an optical illusion. The 747 has a very large footprint sitting on the ramp.

In the image below, you can see that we are in the process of packing details in to bring you an unmatched visual experience with the 747 classic. In this image you get a good view of the body steering actuator, which drives your body gear steering and makes the 747 quite nimble to steer on ground

The mostly unfettered access that has supported this development cycle has allowed us to put a significant amount of effort into the engineering of this marvelously complicated structural assemblage. The number of bits that fold, move, apply stiffening to the structure and absorb the lifetime of stresses that the landing gear enjoy. You can see the work that has gone into getting the pieces right in this image below, and it is fun to watch them unhinge themselves and fold up into the gear bay in meticulous style.

As mentioned, the gear on the 747 classic are subtly different than those on the newer 744/748, and once those models get built out we’ll have some fun doing show-and-tell to share the differences. (We really need a VR based group flight for pre-flight training… hmmmm….)

Detail work on the doors and the gear bays proper has begin, and should progress rapidly with the tools we have at our disposal. here you can see some of the normally hidden details of the body gear structure and the cross-truss that supports them. They are quite a bit smaller than it appears from the outside, but don’t let their size fool you- the body gear take a tremendous amount of energy and disperse it to safer parts of the air-frame when you fail to flair in proper time…

Dialing out a bit so that you can also see the wing gear in this image, you can see that the details really make the structure interesting. Bringing the model into the sim tends to wash some of it out until it is properly textured, so these images are produced directly from the modeling software- but once we have the textures in place, you can bet we’ll share more images of this area because it is so fascinating to see in person.

We fully anticipate this being the most visually detailed PMDG product yet created, as it is being built ground-up with MSFS 2024 in mind. A number of folks have asked if it will be available in MSFS 2020 and at this juncture I do not know. Development has been taking place in 2020, but is about to move to 2024 because the development tools for 2024 are generations better and involved far less wasted time staring at load screens. (If you are a dev- you know the pain of which I speak!) The decision about whether to keep the development chain open in 2020 will be made on economic grounds later in the dev cycle.

A few folks always ask which 747 models are being built- so a quick recap on that topic: Currently we are building the 747-100 and 747-400 in active development. Once completed, the Classic effort will pivot to the 747-200B, and the 747SP. The “modern” 747 team will eventually wrap arms around both the 747-400 and -8 airframes. Longer term the 300 is expected to be included mostly because that will give us the whole suite of airframes for you to enjoy in your simming world.

As to whether the 747 classic or the 747-400 will release first? Hard to say. The 744 models are a bit behind the 747 classic, but the code development for the 744 is well ahead… so it is a race.”

If you’d like to get into flight simulation but you’re perhaps a bit intimidated by its apparent complexity, you can read our introductory guide, alongside the second episode focusing on installing add-ons, and another showcasing the basic instruments.

You can also read more flight simulation news in the previous roundup article.

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