November 1982. Microsoft Flight Simulator 1.0 is released and kick-starts one of the longest-running gaming franchises in history. What was once a small collection of monochrome pixels is now often mistaken for reality, after 40 years of constant evolution and the gathering of a huge following across the world. Microsoft Flight Simulator is here to stay and, today, gets an enormous update that will bring many hours of joyful flying to millions of simmers across the world!
When Asobo and Microsoft announced this celebratory release, it was clear from the start that they intended to bring back old memories from flight simmers who have flown in previous versions of the platform. With that in mind, the MSFS team is bringing back beloved airplanes and locations, such as the legendary Wright Flyer or Meigs Field Airport.
There are a lot of new and varied aircraft released with this update. Everything is absolutely free, from the Airbus A310, a new true-to-life airliner, to historical airplanes such as the Douglas DC-3, Grumman G-21 Goose, or the incredible Hughes H-4 Hercules “Spruce Goose” the largest seaplane and wooden aircraft ever built still to this day.
Obviously, there are also two new aircraft types that have been highly anticipated by the community: helicopters and gliders!
In terms of airports, some iconic locations both for Flight Simulator and the real world have also been added, such as the aforementioned Meigs Field Airport, but also the legendary Hong Kong Kai Tak Airport and Princess Juliana International.
With all the awesome new content (see the full list below), we’re also getting Sim Update 11, the traditional platform update that introduces a broad spectrum of fixes and improvements to the base experience. This time, the most notable changes are related to the AI traffic, DLSS3 support, improved weather and atmospheric dynamics (thermals!), and much more.
In summary, the 40th Anniversary Edition of MSFS delivers the following new content:
- 7 classic aircraft:
- 1903 Wright Flyer
- 1915 Curtiss JN-4 Jenny
- 1927 Ryan NYP Spirit of St. Louis
- 1935 Douglas DC-3
- 1937 Grumman G-21 Goose
- 1947 Havilland DHC-2 Beaver
- 1947 Hughes H-4 Hercules
- 2 helicopters:
- Guimbal Cabri G2
- Bell 407
- 2 sailplanes/gliders:
- DG Aviation LS8-18
- DG-1001E neo
- 1 true-to-life airliner:
- Airbus A310-300
- 4 iconic airports:
- Hong Kong Kai Tak
- Meigs Field in Chicago
- Princess Juliana International in Sint Maarten
- First Flight Airport, Kitty Hawk
- 24 classic activities from previous Flight Simulator titles:
- First Flight at Kitty Hawk
- San Juan Island Run
- 1st US Airmail Route, 1918
- Aleutian Cargo Run
- Grand Canyon Scenic Tour
- Transcontinental Speed Record
- The Hell Stretch, 1918
- Charles Lindbergh, New York to Paris
- Hawai’ian Vacation
- Flying blind across the channel
- Meigs Field
- Spruce Goose
- Rome-Naples Airline Run
- Sitka Approach
- Monsoon
- Caribbean Landing
- Hong Kong at Dusk
- Waimea Canyon
- Mount Rushmore
- Miami by Moonlight
- San Francisco Sunset
- Mendenhall Glacier Tour
- 1950: Frontier Airlines
- Alaskan Floatplane Pilot
- 7 new tutorial missions for Gliders:
- Aerotow
- Winch Launch Training
- Winch Launch Training, Advanced
- Basic Handling
- Slipping Approach and Landing
- Thermal Identification
- Ridge Soaring
All of this is now available for FREE for PC and Xbox users. It’s a huge update, coming at around 40GB, so prepare to wait to be able to enjoy it all. After all that, you’re in for a treat with so much new content to discover! Check the full release notes here to see all that’s new.
Today is a huge milestone for Flight Simulator and we can’t wait to see what Microsoft, Asobo, and the huge community of third-party developers will bring to the table. Here’s to the next 40 years of Flight Simulator!
