Check the latest images of the high-fidelity Aero Dynamics KC-10/DC-10 for MSFS

Aero Dynamics is currently in charge of one of the most promising freeware airplanes under development for Microsoft Flight Simulator. The KC-10 tanker and its civilian sibling, the iconic DC-10, have been in development for a while by a team comprised of current and former airmen familiar with the KC-10.

Aero Dynamics provides development updates about this ambitious project roughly every 3 to 4 months. The latest one arrived in late June and brought some beautiful new images of both the KC-10 and the DC-10 in MSFS, along with a few details about what the team has been working on.

As we discovered in the previous update, the development of this project would likely be affected by some noteworthy real-world events, since some elements of the development team are currently on active military duty. That said, development continues moving forward more or less as planned.

With the external model mostly complete and the flight deck heading in the same direction, the current development focus has been devoted to the systems, particularly the electrical system, which is the backbone of everything else. Aero Dynamics is using the real-world operation manual as a reference guide to replicate the electrical system in MSFS, promising to deliver high levels of realism and complexity to the simulation aircraft.

In fact, Aero Dynamics is pushing to make the most accurate DC-10 platform ever seen in a consumer-centric flight simulator, which is definitely very ambitious. Judging from the external model, which we’ve seen before and can now appreciate in an even more refined form, both the KC-10 and the DC-10 are looking stunning from the outside!

As for the flight deck, the developers were hoping to show it to us for the first time in this update, but, unfortunately, it’s still not up to the high-quality standards Aero Dynamics is trying to achieve, so it will need more time to be perfected. In any case, the team should be able to share the first images of the cockpit in the latest development update sometime in October.

We also learned about some cool plans regarding the old-schools systems that will be implemented in this aircraft. Remember that the DC-10 was designed in the late 60s, so there’s a lot of old stuff powering some of the most crucial flight logic mechanics, such as the Collins AINS-70 navigation system that was SID and STAR capable, or the Performance And Failure Assessment Monitor, a display included with the ILS and autoland function that indicated a predicted touchdown area or notified pilots to go-around.

As you can see, not only Aero Dynamics is looking to bring to MSFS a high-fidelity DC-10, but also to revive these old systems and provide simmers with a historically accurate flying experience. Very much like Wing42 did with the unique radio navigation system in the Boeing 247D, for example.

There really isn’t much new to see this time, but be sure to check the gorgeous new images above, originally shared on the team’s Discord server, where you can also see a short preview video showing the detailed external textures under some dynamic lighting.

Despite the slow development times, this continues to be one of the most promising freeware projects currently in development for Microsoft Flight Simulator, so we’ll continue to follow how it evolves over the coming months and, as always, bring you all the latest news!