FlightFX and Volctech announced some time ago the development of the Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet for Microsoft Flight Simulator, a very modern and unique single-engine civilian jet. Since then, the developers have shared their continuous efforts to gather all the required information to create this aircraft, with some interesting and insightful perspectives about how this work is done and how far some developers can go to create something truly authentic.
FlightFX is looking to create a highly detailed simulation of the SF50 Vision Jet, and they are spending some quality time with the actual aircraft to make sure their work is faithful to the real thing. The team had access to a real aircraft at DuPage Airport, which they have been using to gather measurements, 3D scans, sound recordings, and other additional data regarding the particularities of this unique airplane.
A few days ago, FlightFX shared a video that shows how some of this work is being carried out. Since they look to replicate in MSFS much of the real-world immersion when flying the Vision Jet, they recorded the exact sounds made by the aircraft as it starts up, during pre-flight alarm tests, or the sound of the gear as it goes down, among many others, to make sure simmers in MSFS will feel as if they are in an actual aircraft.
This level of effort and attention to detail bodes well for a quality final product, and we all know how MSFS is in need of good light/business jets. Besides the Working Title CJ4, there’s nothing out there worth trying, but this Vision Jet and the also upcoming HondaJet show a lot of promise for fans of this kind of airplane.
Besides the insight into the development process at FlightFX, the developers have also recently shared a very cool and interactive first-look into the 3D model of the Vision Jet. This interactive experience, available here, shows a remarkably detailed model, hardly indistinguishable from the real aircraft, despite still being a work in progress. See below a few incredible images of the model:
The Vision Jet will use the Working Title G3000 avionics suite, with some custom screens designed for this particular aircraft. FlightFX has been in regular conversations with Working Title to implement the functionality they need for the Vision Jet, particularly concerning the init and utilities sections of the system.
FlightFX is not ready to provide a release timeline at this moment, since there’s still some work to do and setbacks are to be expected as the MSFS SDK gets updated. However, the team says that as soon as the project enters a beta stage, they will be able to share a more exact timeframe for what might be the following stages.
Finally, the current expectation is to have the Vision Jet released in the MSFS Marketplace, both for PC and Xbox simmers.
As you can see, the Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet is setting out to be a compelling choice for anyone looking for a light and fast GA aircraft, with a very modern glass cockpit and a seemingly highly detailed model. You can continue to follow the progress of this exciting project in the FlightFX Discord server, or here on our site as notable development updates are released.
