The Boeing 247D from Wing42 is getting a historically accurate 1930s/40s radio

Wing42 continues to take its time developing new products, the result of an apparent obsession with extreme realism and historical accuracy. That’s certainly something to praise, but this enthusiastic development often leads to long wait times, possibly even some frustration from prospective buyers… but, let’s keep a positive spirit! After all, vintage radio navigation fanatics have something to look forward to: Wing42’s Boeing 247D is getting a historically realistic radio from its era!

Last month, Wing42’s developer Otmar Nitsche was on a stream with TheFlyingFabio, where they both went into great detail into Boeing’s vintage airliner, its most unique features, and how the aircraft is being brought to life in Microsoft Flight Simulator. The whole thing was a fascinating deep dive into Otmar’s fascinating attention to detail, and is well worth a look if you want to know more about the Boeing 247D and what to expect from Wing42’s upcoming rendition for MSFS.

During the stream, a happy coincidence ended up joining Otmar and Eric van der Veen, a radio expert that will now help Wing42 implement full functionality in the 247D’s vintage radio. This was not planned before, so this new development ends up extending the already long Boeing 247D development cycle by another bit. Soon, Wing42 will provide us with a more in-depth look into this newly gained radio functionality of the 247D.

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The good news, obviously, is that this unique feature of the airplane will be simulated. Also, this delay ends up giving more time to developers to fine-tune and polish other aspects of the aircraft, which include many additional unique features that point to a highly detailed, realistic, and immersive experience. The developer published a list of these features, some of which we already had the opportunity to see in last month’s update:

  • Awesome flight model by Pamela Brooker. Our 247 flies and handles like the real thing!
  • Radium-luminescent night lighting. Beware! They will fade over time and you’ll need to “recharge” them, by turning on some cockpit lights every now and then.
  • Integrated clipboard with payload manager, ground crew interface, engine start-up options, settings, reference sheets and an integrated transponder – for those of you who fly online.
  • Luggage and mail bags that dynamically fill up the aircraft as it gets loaded up by your rampies.
  • Each job assigned to your crew takes time and you get a real-time status update from each of them to see what they’re up to.
  • Two ways to start your engines: by commanding your mechanic, or manually, by stepping outside and manually cranking over the flywheels.
  • Extensive ground equipment and the option to remove panels from each engine nacelle – so you get a good look at those beautiful Wasp S1H1-Gs.
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  • Manual emergency gear. Use the big ratchet on the right side of the cockpit to slowly crank down your gear, if the electrical system failed.
  • Realistic instrument needles – each one simulated separately with their own mass-damper-spring system.
  • Realistic vibrations throughout the whole ship, due to the engines, air resistance, ground impact, etc.
  • Engine smoke effects, using the new effects system.
  • Anachronistic, but necessary VHF radio.
  • New prop feathering buttons
  • Animated linkages on the carburetors of the engine
  • Individually controlled reading lights for each seat in the cabin
  • Working friction locks for the engine controls (there’s limitations, for compatibility with controllers)

As for the release date, there was some hope to have it available after Christmas, but we now see that this project will continue in the works as the vintage radio is being implemented. Hopefully it won’t take too long, and we’ll soon finally be able to get our hands on this extremely promising aircraft for Microsoft Flight Simulator.