The iniBuilds A350 has been one of the standout aircraft in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 since its release. It’s complex, it’s detailed, and it rewards pilots who want to fly it properly. What it doesn’t come with, though, is a co-pilot. And for anyone who has sat through a full turnaround solo, running checklists mentally or just skipping them altogether, you’ll know how a helping hand can be useful.
That’s exactly the problem developer Márcio Araújo set out to solve with CrewMate A350, a free, open-source virtual first officer companion built specifically for the iniBuilds A350. The project draws inspiration from established tools like FS2Crew, but takes a different path: everything is free, the code is public on GitHub, and anyone can contribute, much in the spirit of projects like FlyByWire.
The core idea here is voice interaction. CrewMate listens for spoken commands during flight and responds with audio callouts, just as a real first officer would. The developer says the app handles a broad range of cockpit actions by voice, including gear and flap calls with built-in speed checks, anti-ice commands, lights, autopilot engagement, and flight controls checks. All voice processing is done locally, with nothing sent to external servers.
Beyond individual commands, CrewMate also supports automated flows triggered by voice or manually through the app interface. These cover most phases of a typical turnaround: electric power-up from cold and dark, before start, after start, before takeoff, climb and descent through 10,000 feet, after landing, and shutdown. Each flow runs a sequence of cockpit actions on the user’s behalf, and the developer says the FO announces the start and end of each significant phase.
The checklist system works on a challenge-and-response format. The FO reads each item aloud and waits for a verbal reply before moving on. The full set of checklists currently included covers cockpit preparation, before start, after start, taxi, line up, approach, landing, parking, and secure aircraft. The landing checklist works silently and automatically, checking spoiler arming, flap setting, and gear position, and playing a specific audio warning if anything is out of place.
Three AI-generated voice packs are included, and the developer says users can add their own.
It’s worth being clear about what CrewMate is at this stage. Márcio is open about it: this is not a finished product. He released it publicly now specifically because solo testing has limits, and he wants feedback from real A350 flyers. Bug reports, SOP corrections, and contributions to the code are all welcome. The roadmap includes push-to-talk support, profiles for other aircraft, user-editable flows and checklists, and improved voice recognition robustness, particularly for FMA modes and numerical inputs.
For a free tool built by one person in their spare time, it’s a genuinely useful addition to what is already a strong aircraft. If you fly the iniBuilds A350 regularly and want a more structured cockpit experience without spending anything, it’s worth a look!
- Download on flightsim.to: https://flightsim.to/addon/105482/crewmate-inia350
- GitHub repository: https://github.com/marxio09dio/CrewMateA350
- Discord: https://discord.gg/aBZZWG2Y6F
