SimSolutions announces development of the Diamond DA20 for Microsoft Flight Simulator

A new aircraft from the Diamond family is coming to Microsoft Flight Simulator. The Diamond DA20, which simmers have been able to fly as a default airplane in the Deluxe Edition of MSFS, is now also coming to the simulator as a third-party payware product, courtesy of SimSolutions.

SimSolutions has developed small airplanes for the X-Plane platform for a while, with a list that includes the Piper J3 Cub and the Diamond DA40. Following the success of those products amongst the X-Plane community, SimSolutions is now going back to the Diamond family of aircraft and make a debut in Microsoft Flight Simulator with the Diamond DA20-C1.

This will be a learning process for SimSolutions as the developer gets familiar with the MSFS SDK. But the motivation for Brady Margeson, the lead developer, is all there: after all, he has been flying the DA20 and is looking to render the aircraft in MSFS with as much detail and accuracy as possible!

SimSolutions shared a few preview images of the DA20 for MSFS through their Discord, which reveal what appears to be a well-advanced external model of the aircraft. The developer warns that this project will take a while to complete, as is expected, seeing how it just started.

There are also no specific details about the overall complexity of the simulation, but if other projects from SimSolutions are of any indication, we’re likely to see a nicely-detailed aircraft at an affordable price! SimSolutions promises more details soon, so stay tuned!

The Diamond DA20 was one of the first aircraft designs from Diamond. It’s a small two-seat monoplane that is often used for flight training. It’s quite agile and slippery, unlike a C152, for example, and also tends to float quite a lot if you’re landing a bit too fast. A nice little airplane, without a doubt, and surely a good addition to the sim, especially for those in the Standard Edition who don’t have access to Asobo’s version.