PMDG Makes Big Announcements Today

PMDG showed up at the 10th German Flight Simulator Conference (sponsored by Aerosoft) in Munich today, and made quite a splash.  Captain Robert Randazzo showed off some screenshots of the 777, and they look very exciting.

Now, for the best part: apparently, PMDG has been holding out on us.  The 777 is nearly ready for beta stage!  Robert expects beta testing to begin within about two months.  Apparently, it will not be long before the first PMDG 777 models begin to take flight in our virtual skies.  No details yet on pricing, or expansion models, but I will be keenly watching PMDG for more information about the 777 in the coming months.

"But wait -- there's more!"

As has been widely rumored, PMDG has also been working on a refresh of the 747X "Queen of the Skies" product as well.  It is tentatively known as the 747 2.0, and will cover both the 747-400 and 747-8 models.  The same technology and processes used to model the NGX and 777 have also been incorporated in the 747 2.0, which should make for an exciting refresh of this product.  Robert says that they expect to have the 747 2.0 out to the masses about two months after the release of the 777.

Some exciting times for PMDG fans!

CoolSky/McPhat Studios Shows Off Some DC-9 Tails

Elsewhere, CoolSky and McPhat Studios have recently been teasing us with some screenshots of several repaints (tails only) from their upcoming DC-9.  This is usually a very good sign...generally, the fact that they are doing repaints now means that most of the other major items are out of the way.  We could see a release of this one very soonish.

QualityWings Shows Off BAe 146/AvroRJ Some More

QualityWings has also given the fans some nice views of the virtual cockpit of the upcoming BAe 146/AvroRJ product.  Note that this is not the final version, as they are still actively fixing several inaccuracies.  However, this is looking really nice so far.

A preview of the night lighting is also available here.

This looks like it's going to be a fun little plane to fly when it's ready to go.

Majestic Software Developing Q400 for FSX

I have known about this one for some time, but this project appears to be taking shape and making good strides toward release.  Majestic Software has been working on a Bombardier Q400 turboprop, and the advance screenshots are looking very nice.  Visit their forum for more details.  Enjoy!

feelThere's Next Airplane: Embraer Phenom 100

Well, after a period that has been mostly quiet for the last several months, it looks like some upcoming projects are finally being unveiled.  I'll hit you with a few of these today:

feelThere! has made a couple of interesting posts on their Facebook page recently.  While it seems most of their effort has gone in to developing their ATC Suite, they haven't completely neglected developing airplanes, too.  They showed off a nice rendering of an Embraer Phenom 100 that they appear to be working on.  Supposedly they will show an in-game screenshot of it soon.

Here is a cutaway rendering of the cockpit, too.  And here is a cutaway rendering of the interior.

No word on when this will be out, but feelThere! usually doesn't show off projects until they are nearing the final stages of development.  Could be we'll see this one before Christmas, but don't quote me on that!

Along with the ERJ and E-Jets, feelThere! seems to have found their niche as the go-to company for Embraer products in FSX.  (I would love to see them try their hand at an Embraer turboprop, too, such as the EMB-120!)  Just the same, the Phenom 100 is a very interesting choice...seems the Cessna Citation Mustang from Flight1 will have a little competition in the VLJ segment in FSX.

Another Little Piece of the CoolSky DC-9

Espen of CoolSky gives another little sneak peek of the upcoming DC-9...this time, in PMDG fashion, it's a small sliver of the VC.  Looks very, very nice...McPhat seems to be doing a great job with the modeling.  Looking forward to this one, too!

FlightSimLabs Updates Progress on Airbus Project

FlightSimLabs has just given the fans a nice glimpse of their progress on their Airbus series!  It sounds like they are really going all out in terms of detail.  They have even thrown in a screenshot to tide us over for a while...

Enjoy!

CoolSky Gives Preview of DC-9

After McPhat let the cat out of the bag about the CoolSky/McPhat/Flight1 DC-9 in the works, CoolSky recently put up a tasty preview of the DC-9 project.  Enjoy!

Going to be a fun bird to fly!

Captain Sim Gives An Update on the 737 Captain

Captain Sim has posted some more screenshots of their 737 Captain work-in-progress.  Nice, nice, very nice...

Looks like they are making great progress with it.

QualityWings Announces Boeing 787

QualityWings is showing off some initial screenshots of their Boeing 787.

This one should prove to be interesting...

PMDG Gives Another Preview of the NGX

Robert Randazzo at PMDG has given the world another glimpse of the upcoming 737 NGX. This one focuses on the Heads-Up Guidance System, or HUGS. Looks very impressive. You can really see this plane beginning to come together.

Can't wait...

Microsoft Unveils Flight!

Microsoft has unveiled what appears to be the successor to Flight Simulator X, known as Microsoft Flight. Little is known about the product, except that it has been under development since early 2010. Stay tuned...

PMDG 737 NGX Sliver - 26-July-2010

PMDG gave the fans another little sneak peek at the 737 NGX virtual cockpit on Monday!

I'm anxious to see this thing coming together...

Aerosoft/Digital Aviation CRJ Update: 19-Jul-2010

Mathijs Kok from Aerosoft also checked in this week with some more preview pics of the CRJ. The virtual cockpit appears to be progressing very nicely!

Mathijs says they are still on track for a late summer release...will be interesting to see if that holds. Nonetheless, it looks like a very exciting product when it finally hits the virtual skies.

feelThere E-Jets v2 Enters Beta Phase, Lots of Previews!

feelThere and their partners over at McPhat Studios, who have been working on a ton of extra liveries, have been showing off some nice previews of the E-Jets v2! This includes the E-175 and E-195 models, as previously mentioned.

Previews are streaming out of feelThere and McPhat now, here are some links for your viewing pleasure:

• Some E-Jets v2 preview pics are over at feelThere's Flickr page.
• A really nice screenshot of the new E-Jets HUD is over at the feelThere forums.

McPhat will be doing at least a couple of World Airliners liveries for this one, so stay tuned!

Looks like the E-Jets v2 will be taking the virtual skies before long -- quite possibly any day now.

Digital Aviation CRJ Preview: 02-Jul-2010

DA/Aerosoft have given the fans another update on progress of the CRJ here.

Looks like they have made a little more progress on the VC and the overhead panel. Very nice! Matthias Kok seems to hint that they were a little distracted with the Andras Field project (a virtual airpark) for a bit, but are now hot on the trail again.

PMDG 737 NGX Preview: 25-Jun-2010

PMDG gave us a tasty shot of the throttle console of the NGX yesterday!

Wow. Is it real, or is it a computer-generated model?

Can't wait for this one. I think I'm beginning to sound like a broken record with these posts. :-)

Captain Sim Updates B-52 Driver Preview

Captain Sim has been nice enough to give the fans some Aerosoft-style progress reports of their B-52 Driver virtual cockpit under development! They just gave us another update today. Very impressive work over the last month or so.

Looking really sharp. The B-52 is shaping up to be a very nice companion to their C-130.

In other Captain Sim news, wonder when the 707 Captain will drop? They have been kind of quiet on that one lately...

More Previews of Aerosoft/DA CRJ VC

The CRJ VC is trucking right along!

PMDG Dreamlifter?

Robert Randazzo at PMDG gave the fans a tease of another project in their skunkworks today. Looks like a Dreamlifter!

No word on whether this is another external model extension on the 747X like their recent 747-8(probable), or an entirely new project.

Sorry for being so PMDG-centric with the blog lately, but as you might have guessed, it's mostly quiet elsewhere in the flight sim scene.