MSFS’ 40th Anniversary Edition announced, introducing gliders, helicopters, and awesome new airplanes!

Microsoft Flight Simulator is getting another huge new Special Edition later this year, as the franchise celebrates its 40th Anniversary (the longest-running in Microsoft’s history). Microsoft revealed today that the 40th Anniversary Edition of Microsoft Flight Simulator will be launched for free this November, and it will bring with it a selection of highly detailed new airplanes and aircraft types, many of which developed in partnership with some of the most notable third-party developers in the community.

Gliders and helicopters!

Simmers looking to find a first-party solution implementation of gliders and helicopters will be in luck, with the MSFS team finally bringing official support to these types of aircraft, which will take advantage of a new Fluid Dynamics Simulation.

These two new aircraft types will be introduced with two models for each type: the Bell-407 and Guimbal Cabri G2 in the helicopters department, and the DG Flugzeugbau LG8-18 and the DG Flugzeugbau DG1001E neo as the new glider options.

It will certainly be interesting to see how these new machines will behave when compared to other third-party solutions that have been launched for MSFS in the meantime, with their own implementation of helicopter and soaring flight dynamics. For example, the FlyInside Bell 47 or the Discus-2c from Got Friends.

Flight Simulator 40th Anniversary Screenshot 8 b7e8e066a9fcc312e990

New Historical Airplanes

Microsoft Flight Simulator has become a stunning playground for vintage airplanes, whose low and slow flying characteristics enable simmers to take maximum enjoyment of the beautiful world rendered below. The 40th Anniversary Edition will continue to celebrate earlier days of aviation, with the arrival of the following historical airplanes:

  • Wright Flyer
  • Ryan NYP (“Spirit of St. Louis”)
  • Douglas DC-3
  • De Havilland Canada DHC-2-Beaver

These are some of the most well-known airplanes in history, each playing a remarkable role in their own time of history. The MSFS team is counting on the collaboration of the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum in the recreation of the “Spirit of St. Louis”, the aircraft used by Charles Lindbergh in the first transatlantic flight in history. But this is not the only partnership being forged by the MSFS team and external entities. In fact, famous developers such as Milviz (possibly with the Beaver?) and Aeroplane Heaven (with the DC-3) are helping Microsoft/Asobo with the development and release of these airplanes.

iniBuilds partnership with a free A310!

The other important partnership announced today is with iniBuilds and their highly anticipated Airbus A310. A long-term partnership has been struck between iniBuilds and Microsoft Flight Simulator to bring the highly-detailed A310 for free to the platform, also included in the 40th Anniversary Edition coming in November!

This partnership with iniBuilds promises to be a big deal for Microsoft Flight Simulator, as it is set to bring to the platform a hugely accessible and true-to-life airliner, a highly praised product from iniBuilds that simmers will be able to enjoy at no additional cost.

These are some of the latest news coming directly from the MSFS team this week, as the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase 2022 takes place. We’ll be bringing you further details about what’s in store for the near future in Microsoft Flight Simulator, so stay tuned in the coming days for many new details about these and other upcoming announcements!