Bluebird Simulations seems to be in that phase of development where even the developer can’t quite contain itself. In a short post on Facebook, the team shared a handful of new work-in-progress screenshots of the Boeing 757. More importantly, the post reaffirms that the aircraft remains on track for its Q3 2026 release, and promises a full feature list within the next three to four weeks.
For a product that has seen numerous delays, it’s worth noting that when the 757 entered stage 2 of beta testing at the end of April, Bluebird said the feature list would arrive sometime in June. The new three-to-four-week window nudges that into early July instead. A small slip in communication terms, and certainly nothing dramatic, but for a project this closely watched, every date gets noticed.
The screenshots themselves tell us where the team’s energy is going right now. With the beta testers busy working through what Bluebird has described as the biggest phase of the entire testing program, the developer says it is “churning out some more liveries” in the meantime. The new shots show a Delta Air Lines 757in the airline’s current colors, an Iberia example wearing the classic red and yellow scheme the Spanish carrier flew for decades, and a United 757 in the retro 1990s livery complete with the tulip logo. Given how strongly nostalgia factors into the 757’s appeal, classic liveries like these are a natural fit for this aircraft.
The most interesting image, though, might be the cockpit shot showing the tablet-style EFB mounted by the captain’s window. The fuel page is on display, with individual tank quantities, weight figures, and a side menu covering cockpit presets, weight and balance, ground services, and cabin and doors. The EFB was the one major system still incomplete when stage 2 began, sitting at around 50% at the time, so seeing it here indicates that work there is moving along. The final stage of beta testing is expected to focus largely on the EFB and cosmetic refinements, so its progress matters more than usual.
The larger picture remains encouraging, even though by now we all just want to see this things roll out of the hangar. Bluebird confirmed the Q3 2026 window at FSWeekend in March, after narrowing its target to Q3 back in January, and so far every checkpoint along the way has been met. For a project that has been in development since 2022, with an $80 USD price tag covering both the -200 and -300 variants, that consistency is exactly what the community wants to see at this stage.
Let’s hope this project doesn’t find itself in some kind of development coffin corner, with the pressure to release conflicting with the polish the community expects at launch from such a high-profile project.
With Q3 starting in just a few weeks, the upcoming feature list should give us the clearest picture yet of what the 757 will offer at launch. We’ll have full coverage when it’s revealed!
