The Taylorcraft BC-12D finally has a date! Got Friends is now targeting July 31st, 2026 for the release of its classic taildragger, and the studio is planning a synchronized day-one launch across its own website, Contrail, and the in-game Marketplace, with both the MSFS 2020 Legacy and MSFS 2024 Native packages available from the very first minute.
The Taylorcraft was confirmed as the studio’s final MSFS 2020 aircraft back in March, a “love letter” to the older sim before everything ahead goes 2024-native. When the full reveal arrived in April, the target was May. May came and went, and June brought a live product page and teaser that strongly hinted a release was near. This new pre-release preview closes the loop with the date, and one last, very large, feature list.
Fittingly for a 2020 sendoff, every preview here was captured in MSFS 2020. Got Friends says this is partly a point of pride, a demonstration of how far the older sim can still be pushed, and partly practical: the MSFS 2024 Native version is currently being taken apart down to the nuts and bolts, with 2024-specific work on walkarounds, avatar support, career mode, and an improved flight model still in progress.
Pricing and the two-package setup
The price is locked at $24.99 USD across all storefronts, unchanged from what we reported in April. Purchases through the Got Friends website or Contrail include both the Legacy 2020 and Native 2024 packages in a single transaction. On the in-game Marketplace, buying the 2020 version gets you the Native 2024 upgrade for free, or you can purchase the 2024 version on its own if you never touch the older sim. The aircraft launches on PC and Xbox Series X|S, with a PlayStation 5 release planned once the team is invited to publish on that Marketplace.
The feature list keeps growing
The core package matches the April reveal: four variants (Standard, Bush, Skis, and Floats), each with dedicated physics covering float “step” behavior, real-time snow surface detection for the skis, and even the ability to skim bush tires across water. The two Continental engine options will be the A-65 on the Standard and Skis variants and the C-85 on the Bush and Floats, with each engine getting its own custom soundpack.
The Craft Pad, the in-cockpit customization tablet we first looked at during the April reveal, has visibly grown in scope. What was presented as 65 options is now listed at over 90, covering avionics suites (classic radios, GNS-430, GTN-650, and GTN-650Xi), swappable support instruments, weight loadouts with visual changes, and persistent settings that follow the aircraft from flight to flight. The Reactive Motion physics system we covered in March will be a major selling point, now tied to live telemetry across hundreds of interior and exterior items with adjustable vibration intensity.
The realism extras sound like a bush pilot’s wish list: hand-propping with real-time cylinder cycling, primer simulation with underprime and overprime states, carb icing, fuel sloshing that affects in-flight physics, weather-dependent starting requirements, and even breakable latches and propellers if you fly too aggressively. Twenty hand-painted 4K liveries by twoseventyinc round out the package.
For those flying the 2024 Native version, the exclusive additions include walkaround preflight interactions, modular avatar support, career mode compatibility with light cargo, flightseeing, first-flight and ferry missions, soft-body suspension physics, and dirt and grime that accumulates and persists between flights.
One last stretch
There is still work remaining on the Native 2024 package and Marketplace ingestion, so treat July 31st as a target rather than a guarantee. Either way, after a year and a half of development, the closing chapter of the studio’s MSFS 2020 era is nearly here.
