Author: Just Flight News

24 February 2025

Here's Nick Cyganski to bring you the latest news on some of his forthcoming aircraft for Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Click on the screenshots below to see the full-size images!



Since my last update, I have been hard at work on two more aircraft for the Black Square 'Professional' series that will replace the Steam Gauge Overhaul aircraft in MSFS 2020, MSFS 2024 and beyond. Next up are the Baron Professional and Bonanza Professional.

Both will feature three airframes, each with custom exterior models, improved interior models with higher quality materials, custom sound sets from Boris Audio Works, drastically improved systems, more avionics options, and all the features of recent Black Square aircraft such as the Piston and Turbine Dukes.



The Bonanza Professional will include a 2000's normally aspirated A36, an aftermarket turbo-normalised A36TC, and the A36TP PT6A-powered turboprop conversion.



The Baron Professional will include a 2000's normally aspirated B58, a turbocharged 1984 58TC, and a pressurised 1985 58P.



Fans of the rare 'P-Baron' will notice that the Baron Professional now includes a true B58P exterior with a smaller cabin entry door, turbocharged engine nacelles, and all that accompanies them on the interior.



While the instrument panels of these aircraft might look similar to their original Steam Gauge Overhaul versions, almost every feature of these aircraft has been improved, with dozens added that debuted with Black Square's Dukes. Some are more obvious, like the exquisite sound packages from Boris Audio Works, or exterior features like the external power cart and propane pre-heater. Others are subtle, like instrument needle physics with stiction and friction, allowing you to tap on the glass to free stuck needles in cold weather, or gyroscope physics simulation.



The improvements are just as significant under the hood, with almost double the code complexity of the original aircraft.  These two updates bring every aspect of these aircraft up to the quality of the Black Square Dukes. Let the tablet interface's engine, cabin and electrical visualisers be your guide to all the new simulation features that have been added to these aircraft.



Most notably, both aircraft now feature the physics-based reciprocating engine simulation from the Piston Duke. Feel the compression of each cylinder as you start the engine, or watch cold and viscous oil circulate slowly through the engine galleries while cranking. The manuals for these aircraft have grown by around 100 pages each, just to document all these new features.



With all these new features, I also wanted the aircraft to feel new. That means all new paint schemes, ten unique upholstery packages from throughout the decades and new panel designs. I also took this opportunity to add the GTNxi 750/650 bezels to the Black Square Dukes and TBM 850, which will be included in their next updates.



The Turbine Bonanza conversion will be familiar to pilots of the Turbine Duke, with many similar features but in a compact form factor.  The turbine engine simulation in the Turbine Bonanza incorporates improvements created for Black Square's Starship, plus mainstays like beta range, propeller feathering physics, turbine engine failures and FOD damage, making it one of the best single-engine turboprop experiences for MSFS.



Speaking of the Starship, I have some good news to share. Although we are still waiting to record sounds from the real aircraft, Matt Nischan and the Working Title team were recently able to resolve a blocking issue within MSFS 2024 that would have delayed the release of the Starship on that platform. While my testing has not been exhaustive yet, we should be able to release the Starship on both platforms without issue. So far, the Starship is performing admirably in MSFS 2024, and the cockpit looks great with raytraced shadows. I've also reworked the Starship's materials for the third time to ensure that they stay up-to-date with my current standards. We are currently planning to release the Starship before this year's Flight Sim Expo in June, where the Just Flight team will be on hand to answer all your questions about this remarkably unique aircraft.



With MSFS 2024 becoming increasingly stable with every update, we will soon be turning our attention to MSFS 2024 compatability for the Black Square fleet. Although the Steam Gauge Overhaul aircraft will not be joining us in MSFS 2024, the rest of the aircraft are performing well in the new simulator, and there is also opportunity for some new features.  Particularly, I plan to add interactivity to the exterior of the aircraft (pitot covers, doors, chocks...) for your simulated pre-flights.



For more screenshots and lists of all the new and improved features in all three of Black Square's Professional Series aircraft, check out these 'What's New' documents:

• Caravan Professional: What's New Since the Analog Caravan
• Bonanza Professional: What's New Since the Analog Bonanza
• Baron Professional: What's New Since the Analog Baron

Stay tuned for product pages with lists of all the included features, more screenshots and draft manuals soon!

20 February 2025

We were very pleased to see our recently updated RJ Professional for MSFS 2020/2024 feature in the Reviews section of the latest issue (#156, Mar/Apr 2025) of PC Pilot magazine.

This RJ collection was certainly a labour of love for the Just Flight development team so the score of 95/100 is a well deserved reward for their efforts. Our thanks to Joe Lavery and the PC Pilot team for taking the time to get to know the aircraft.

We've copied a few of the reviewer's comments below and you can find out all the details of the new issue of the magazine on the PC Pilot website.

"This is a beautiful rendition of the RJ series, faithfully recreating these aircraft in every aspect."

"If you're looking to gain experience with one of the most realistic midsize passenger jets available, this is the one I'd recommend."

"These aircraft exhibit a design quality that rivals the real thing. In fact, the level of detail is so exceptional that screenshots could easily be mistaken for photos of the actual aircraft."

"Few developers take the time to model an aircraft's interior (beyond the cockpit) but the Just Flight team has gone the extra mile."

"The crafting of the cockpit is excellent. I don't think there's one switch or button that doesn't operate as it should, including the overhead panel and the pedestal that sits between the two pilots."

"The audio experience goes beyond just the engines. In the cockpit, the subtle sound of switches being flipped and the variety of system alerts add an extra layer of immersion to each flight."

"Just Flight produces better manuals than most flight sim developers. In fact, they set a standard that few others can (or even attempt to) match. For these aircraft they've truly outdone themselves by providing a manual that rivals the original Flight Crew Operational Manual (FCOM)."

Take a look at the RJ Professional page for more screenshots, a series of tutorial videos and all the aircraft features.

14 February 2025

The Flight Sim Awards 2025 event at this year's FSWeekend at the Aviodrome Lelystad in The Netherlands will celebrate the developers, creators and innovators who continually strive to push the limits of what we can enjoy in the virtual skies.

These awards will recognise the absolute best in flight simulation and the winners will be revealed live in Lelystad at the Captain’s Dinner on Friday March 14, the night before FSWeekend. Don't worry if you won't be able to be there - the awards ceremony will be streamed live so you can enjoy it from home.

Last year certainly provided the FS community with some outstanding add-ons and we're honoured to see our RJ Professional for MSFS among the nominations, along with our PA-28R Arrows for X-Plane 12 and Black Square's MSFS Piston and Turbine Dukes.

Voting is now open so have your say! You'll find all the information you need on the Flight Sim Awards 2025 website.

15 May 2025

We previously announced our commitment to providing free MSFS 2024 compatibility updates for all Just Flight MSFS 2020 products. These updates will not only add MSFS 2024 compatibility, but will usually include a variety of new features, improvements and bug fixes. Some will also include our significant ‘Version 2’ product updates, which offer an even greater number of additions and improvements.

All of these updates will be available free of charge for owners of our MSFS 2020 products, irrespective of which store the product was purchased from.

In the months following the launch of MSFS 2024, there continues to be plenty of discussion in the flight sim community regarding the compatibility status of products from various developers, so much so that some key information can easily be missed.  To help, we have created an easy-to-view table that can be used to quickly view the MSFS 20204 compatibility status of each of our add-ons.

The three columns in the table show the status of each product at the relevant store where it's available - directly from us via the Just Flight website, from third-party retailers, and via the in-game Marketplace (for PC and Xbox).

We’ll update the table (click on it for a larger version) when the status of a product changes, so it’s certainly worth saving the URL of this page to allow you to check on the respective status of each product at your convenience.

In Development – the update is in active development. Stay tuned to the Just Flight News pages and our social media channels for previews and additional information about the updates.

Available Now – the update is now available at the respective store. At this point, if you are a previous owner of the MSFS 2020 version, check your account for a download link to the latest update.

Uploaded/Processing – the update has been submitted to the MSFS 2024 Marketplace and is being processed by Microsoft. This process is largely out of our control so we are unable to provide timeframes for how long an update may be held at this status. The status will be changed to 'Available Now' as soon as the update has been released.

4 February 2025

New Version 2 software for our MSFS Hawk T1/A Advanced Trainer is now available and is free to download from your Just Flight Account. The updated Hawk software will be available from third-party stores soon if you bought the Hawk elsewhere.

Version 2 of the Hawk updates the aircraft in MSFS 2020, bringing numerous improvements and new features, and will also add MSFS 2024 compatibility. Some of the major updates are listed below.

If you haven't already flown the Hawk, there's never been a better time time to buy it!




New and improved flight model

Since the Hawk’s initial release in 2021, the multitude of MSFS Sim Updates have made significant changes to the simulator’s core flight model, as well as opening up additional parameters that we, as developers, can take advantage of. With all of these changes, the Hawk no longer handled the way it was once finely tuned to do, and we felt that it was necessary to start again from scratch.

You will still need to fly the Hawk just like its real-life counterpart, such as raising the nose gear off the runway at 90 knots before feeling the main gear lift off at 120 knots, and you will still need to set the power settings correctly to maintain the appropriate speed during the various phases of flight. The speed/thrust relationship is one area in particular which has been finely tuned with the assistance of real-life Hawk pilots.



You will notice that the aircraft is much more flyable and controllable now through all phases of flight, whether that’s at 420 knots and 400ft through the Mach Loop, or during a high energy airshow routine. The Hawk is a pleasure to fly!




New weapons functionality

A community favourite feature from our MSFS Avro Vulcan B Mk.2, K.2 and MRR also makes its appearance in the Hawk. With this Version 2 update, it is now possible to fire Sidewinder missiles, drop practice bombs and jettison payloads. These can be triggered either via their respective controls in the cockpit or via MSFS control assignments, the latter of which are now listed in the updated manual.



Thanks to some recent changes in the in-game Marketplace policy, we are now also able to include static weapons in the PC and Xbox Marketplace versions of our aircraft. Although these weapons won’t be animated in the Marketplace versions, we feel that this is still a great step forward in allowing Marketplace customers to see the various weapons that are included with the aircraft
.



New liveries

Four new high quality liveries further expand the array of colourful liveries already included with the Hawk:

• FiAF Midnight Hawks HW-341 (Leader’s Aircraft, 2017 Display Season)
• RAF Red Arrows XX239 (60th Diamond Season)
• RAF 1TWU XX280
• RSAF Saudi Falcons 8805

As part of the Saudi Falcon’s livery, the Hawk is now able to produce green smoke when this livery is selected. The green smoke will replace the blue smoke used by the Red Arrows liveries to accurately represent the coloured smoke the relevant display teams use.



We have also added logic which limits the amount of smoke that can be produced by the aircraft on each flight. Just as the real display teams have a finite amount of each coloured smoke available during every display, we have now simulated that a maximum of five minutes of white smoke and one minute of red/blue/green smoke can be produced every flight. This adds a whole new layer of strategy when flying airshow routines, ensuring that you use your smoke tactically throughout the display for maximum effectiveness. As a quality-of-life feature we have added the option to refill the smoke system ‘on the fly’, and also an option to enable unlimited smoke so you can continuously paint the skies without ever worrying about running out.




EFB improvements

The Just Flight v3 EFB also makes its way into the Hawk. Previously included in our recent RJ Professional and Vulcan MSFS updates, this EFB features a redesigned interface and also includes new features such as Navigraph enroute charts.



The EFB's Aircraft app has also seen a minor overhaul and now uses a greyscale colour pallet that was previously seen in our PA-38 Tomahawk for MSFS.




MSFS 2024 compatibility

Along with the plethora of new features, the Version 2 update also brings MSFS 2024 compatibility to the Hawk.

We'll send the new software to third-party retailers and it will also be uploaded to the MSFS 2020 in-game Marketplace. The MSFS 2024 in-game Marketplace is sadly not yet available, so we are currently unable to upload the Hawk to the MSFS 2024 Marketplace. We will, however, ensure that the Hawk appears in the MSFS 2024 Marketplace as soon as possible.




Minor bug fixes and improvements

The V2 software also provides various bug fixes based on reports that we have received from the community since the last update, as well as various other improvements such as improved navigation light modelling, improved altimeter drum animations etc.