(Released!) North American Rockwell OV-10A Bronco in development for Microsoft Flight Simulator
Update, September 24th – Surprise! Arie Baba has decided to release is Bronco as a free download! Learn more below about this impressive debut from this independent developer.
Virtual aviators are always looking for new and exciting projects to add to their list of airplanes to consider for future purchases. By now you’ve realised that we like to bring you the news of obscure projects where we find some promising signs, which will hopefully translate into a final product that reflects a level of quality MSFS simmers demand in this day and age. Today, we’re introducing you to one such project, which seeks to bring us a detailed rendition of the North American Rockwell OV-10A Bronco.
The project began a year ago when Arie Baba, who was training to become a B777 captain before Covid hit, took on the challenge of bringing the Bronco to Microsoft Flight Simulator. After being inspired by a video of a scale model Bronco OV-10A, Arie decided to take on the challenge of replicating the aircraft in the simulator. The coding was not as easy as he thought, but, as he told us, “the internet can be helpful”, and he was able to create an impressive and functional model of the Bronco.
Arie Baba’s Bronco is now flyable in the simulator and, according to the developer, offers a fun flying experience. When we first knew about this project earlier this year, Arie still had to finish the implementation of some systems like fuel indication, fuel tank dropping, and TACAN, and was also looking to include checklists and labels, as well as writing an aircraft operating manual. The Bronco also used the sound of the King Air, which Baba believes sounds similar to the real-life Bronco and works as a decent compromise at this time considering the expected difficulties in recording real sounds from an actual aircraft.
Arie Baba has applied for a developer license from Microsoft but has yet to receive any feedback. He planned to release the Bronco on the Marketplace but was considering alternative options if the process was too difficult. With this freeware release, it seems he got tired of waiting and simply decided to share his work with the community.
The Bronco certainly looks very fine in the preview images the developer shared. Early impressions from users are also very positive and promising, especially for a freeware project. I didn’t have the time yet to check it out, but hey, it’s free, so go ahead and see for yourself!
Arie Baba’s OV-10A Bronco is available now from flightsim.to.
