DC Designs shares progress with the Stearman biplane, F-14A Tomcat and MCAS Miramar

DC Designs have been sharing their work with ongoing projects for Flight Simulator, specifically regarding the Boeing Stearman, F-14A Tomcat and the MCAS Miramar scenery. Both airplanes are just around the corner, aiming for a May release, while Miramar is expected to come out before the summer.

Starting with the Stearman, it has proved to be a refreshing project for the developer, being more of a vintage type of airplane instead of the typical fighter jets that DC Designs has been working on. The Stearman is likely to be the next release by the developer, as work on it seems to have progressed really well. The latest expectation is to have it released in early May, which is just 2/3 weeks away.

The Stearman will include a fully custom sound set to be provided by Sim Acoustics, and the flight model was created by CodenameJack447, who also worked on the F-15 Eagle. It should be a fun aircraft to fly, with its biplane configuration and radial Continental 670 engine. Flight Simulator surely needs some biplane variety!

After the Stearman, we should see the release of the F-14A Tomcat in late May. It will feature a cockpit that was completely built from scratch, with custom PBR textures. In terms of systems’ fidelity, we can expect a similar experience to the F-15, but with more functional switches and a few new features that the developer was able to learn over the past few months.

The Tomcat will also include animations that should really improve the look and feel of the airplane. In particular, the F-14’s signature swing-wings will be animated, and should remain fully-forward below 320 knots, although you can manually override this setting if wished. The wings will have auto, manual and over-sweep settings.

Thirdly, the scenery of MCAS Miramar, in California, should be out at around the same time the Tomcat is released. The developer’s goal with this scenery was to provide a logical base for the F-14. After all, Miramar is the former location of the Pacific Fleet fighters. The F-14 will feel right at home here!

DC Designs is recreating this historic airbase with several static aircraft and the obligatory maintenance hangars and remaining structures. The goal is to have half of all the parking spots taken up by static airplanes, leaving the rest for the AI traffic and the user, obviously.

The Miramar scenery will give users the option to choose between US Navy and US Marine Corps flight lines, meaning that either the F-14 Tomcats or the F-18 Hornets will dominate the field, depending on your option.

With these 3 projects coming until summer, just a final note from the developer about projects coming later in 2021. The idea is to focus on the Concorde after the Tomcat is released, aiming for a release somewhere in late summer. Additionally, there’s some expectation for work to progress further with the P-47 Thunderbolt, but time will tell how that will go with the hard work the developer expects to have with the Concorde.

Overall, it’s a handful of MSFS projects from DC Designs, all expected for this year. Stay tuned for further updates as the release dates approach for any of these add-ons, as we will keep a close eye on them all!