2009 Product Outlook and Review

I know I just did one of these back in May, but there have been so many surprises and updates, it's worth a few moments to do an update.

2009 started off rather inauspiciously for us flight sim fans, with the demise of Microsoft's ACES Studio, the developers of the Flight Simulator franchise. (Rumors persist that Aerosoft is working on development of their own flight simulator, so we shall see if anything comes of that someday.) On top of that, it has been a relatively quiet year for third-party add-ons so far, too. Don't know if it is the poor global economy, just a normally slow time of year, or maybe a scheduling quirk among all the various developers out there. Probably a little of all of the above. Fortunately, there appears to be some momentum going into the second half of 2009, and things are definitely showing signs of picking up.

First off, here are some of the significant add-on aircraft releases that have appeared already in 2009:

• Captain Sim 727 Captain (including -100, -200, and freighter variants)
  
• Flight1 Cessna Citation Mustang VLJ
  
• Sky Simulations DC-9
• Captain Sim 767 Captain (-300 variant)

(Apologies if I have left anything out -- please feel free to comment in the comments section below.)

Here is what I believe will be out very soon, possibly within the next month or two:

• Captain Sim 767 Captain (-200, freighter, tanker, and AWACS variants)
• Flight1/AirSimmer A320 -- feature complete, supposedly entering final testing now.
• PMDG JetStream 4100 -- in final beta now.

Here are projects that we know are in the pipeline, but completion timeframe is unknown:

• Captain Sim 767 Captain (-400 variant, with all-glass cockpit like the 777)
• Captain Sim 707 Captain (refresh for FSX) -- I think there will be a sudden, surprise announcement about this on their web page at some point, like they did with their 767 recently. This would be in their "early jets" lineup, on the heels of their 727. Perhaps before Christmas?
  
• Captain Sim B-52 -- some early prototypes up at their website. Looks like an interesting follow-up to the C-130 in their military aircraft line. No clue how far along they are on this one.
  
• Wilco/feelThere ERJ v2 -- I think we'll see this one sooner rather than later, as they shipped a repaint kit to McPhat Studios back in late April. feelThere has been very mum on this one, other than teasing us with some really pretty screenshots. Wilco has yet to acknowledge the existence of this product on their website. I liked the original feelThere ERJ, and I'm looking forward to the update.
  
• Flight1/Digital Aviation CRJ 700/900 -- I think this one is still a ways off, but they have showed off a nice screenshot of the overhead panel. Digital Aviation has done a nice job with the Fokker 70/100 and Cheyenne, so I'm definitely looking forward to this one someday.
• PMDG 737 NG v2 (aka the NGX) -- if this came out in time to show up as a present in my virtual Christmas stocking this year, I would be a very, very happy man. I have been wanting a quality 737NG for a looooooong time. This would dovetail very nicely with Airsimmer's upcoming A320 series in my virtual fleet. I don't know when this will happen, but I will be very excited whenever it does.
• PMDG Dash-8 -- confirmed to be their next turboprop after the Jetstream 4100 is released. Don't know which variant yet, but I am really hoping for a Q400! Won't see this one until sometime in 2010, at any rate.
• PMDG's "Next Big Thing" -- don't know what this one is, but they told everyone to stop asking for a 777. Heh! I don't know if they were just pulling our legs, of if that request means anything. Won't see it until 2010 at the earliest; not until well after the NG v2 is out the door.
  
• Flight1/AirSimmer A320 variants (A318, A319, A321) -- I think in a fashion similar to Captain Sim, these will be sold as optional add-ons to the A320.
Edit: according to a posting in the AirSimmer forums, these will be included with the A320 product. Sorry for any confusion.
• Flight1/AirSimmer A330/A340 -- the next big thing in their lineup, and a logical choice to follow the A320. The A330/A340 uses the same flight deck, so they will no doubt be able to reuse many aspects of their previous work on the A320. Won't see this one before 2010, though.
• Next-Level Simulations A380 -- don't know much about these guys, but it looks like they are working on an interesting A380 project. Will be worth watching to follow their progress.
• Flight1/Level-D 757 -- who knows? Level-D isn't saying much, and Captain Sim seems to be stealing their thunder a bit lately. I have thoroughly enjoyed their 767, though, and hope one day their 757 will see the light of day.

Well there you have it. Lots of things to look forward to! No doubt, there will be a few more unexpected surprises along the way, too. It's one of the things that keeps this hobby interesting.