Skip to content

Position and Hold

Realism through Simulation – A Flight Simulation Blog – Est. 2010

Menu
  • Flight
    • Flight Sim Articles
    • MSFS Addons
    • Scenery MSFS2020
    • MSFS Settings
    • Flight Sim Tutorials
    • Hardware
    • 2021 Around the World Adventure
    • Prepar3D Settings (v4.5)
    • Prepar3D Settings (v5.x)
    • Aircraft
    • Scenery P3Dv5
    • Older Flight Sim Articles
  • Information
    • About Jerry
    • Ask Me A Question
    • My Hardware
    • Add-on and Mods Directory
  • GBS Media & Social
    • GBS Discord
    • GBS Facebook
    • GBS Instagram
    • GBS Twitch
    • GBS Twitter
    • GBS YouTube
  • Other Sims
    • Train
    • Trucking
    • Farming
Menu

The Return of Community Spirit

Posted on September 3, 2020 by admin

Once upon a time, there once existed a spirit within the flight simulation community where talented individuals created many marvelous things to enhance the base simulator application.  Everything from navigational aids, enhanced airport scenery and aircraft.  At one time in our not so distant past, the quality freeware offerings outnumbered payware.  As the base simulator began to evolve (circa FS9 –> FSX timeframe) the quality freeware began to decline and the rise of payware took hold.  While I won’t pretend there’s absolutely no freeware available for P3D, I will tell you that the quality content is very few and far between.

Of course the X-Plane community has, for years and still very much to this day, enjoyed a very strong community spirit around freeware/shareware concepts.  Many of the X-Plane users in the virtual airline I belong to have spent little to almost no money to enhance their simulation experience.  Arguably, one of the very best freeware aircraft models ever known to exist is the Zibo 737.  The Zibo 737 Project, led by a team of developers to expand the capabilities of the default 737 in X-Plane.  Many who fly both the PMDG 737NG and the Zibo 737 will tell you the differences between the two are hardly noticeable.  Others might describe the Zibo 737 as being on-par with Aerosoft quality.  Either way, it’s a fantastic aircraft and absolutely free.  Who can argue with free? 

With the launch a few weeks ago of the new Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, many were bracing themselves (and their wallets) for an onslaught of payware add-ons.  After all, if you’ve spent the past decade or more flying study level aircraft the excitement of a brand new simulator may wear off fairly quickly once you climb into the flight deck of the default Airbus A320.  Sure….it’s pretty.  But within just a few minutes you realize you’ve taken a huge step backwards in the level of immersion as most features are labeled as Inop.  I’ve even stated several times that for me, MSFS2020 will most certainly become my go-to flight simulator, but only once aircraft models from PMDG, FSLabs, QualityWings etc. become available.  This won’t be happening this year.  Most likely this won’t be happening until sometime late in Q1 2021 or perhaps even early Q2 2021. 

But….

In just the past week or so, there’s been news about a project underway to create a “Zibo” like experience with the default Airbus A320 in MSFS2020 called the MS2020 A32NX Project.  I can tell you from first hand experience that what this team of developers have been able to do in the short time since the release of MSFS2020 has certainly piqued my interest in both MSFS2020 and the default Airbus A320 from an airliner perspective. 

Understand, the project is still very much a work in progress.  But they’ve certainly managed to excite me in such a way that I can certainly see myself flying the A320 in MSFS2020 on the VATSIM network very soon.  Certainly much sooner than I originally believed would be possible. 

Want to learn more?

Of course you do!  I’d suggest watching the video I’ve embedded below which will bring you up to speed on the progress already made as well as what’s in-store for the very near future.  The video description area will provide you with the links to download the mod and how to join the project’s Discord server so you can stay informed on the team’s progress.  I hope this news excites you as much as it does me.

Final Thoughts

Thank you for reading this article.  It’s much appreciated.  For those who are thinking the MSFS2020 A320 project will never be on-par with the likes of the FSLabs A320, you are probably correct.  However, as previously stated….the FSLabs Airbus series is most likely 4-6 months away from being available.  I’d be willing to bet, the team working on the MSFS2020 A320 project will (in time) bring this up to a level of quality and realism as what we currently see with the Aerosoft A320 and perhaps beyond. 

Many are asking if the same might also happen with the default Boeing 747 and Dreamliner.  Unfortunately, due to the DRM status of these two aircraft…this may never be possible.  But I suppose one should never say never. 

Thanks for reading.  I’ll soon provide an update to my experiences with the latest MSFS2020 patch.  Stay tuned….

Until next time….

Happy Flying!!!

Jerry

Category: Flight Sim

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search

Flight Sim News

  • FSELITE
  • FSNews
  • Threshold

Flight Sim Blogroll

  • Darren’s Flight Sim Blog
  • Flight Simulation Association
  • iBlueYonder
  • MSFS Addons
  • On The Glideslope
  • PC Flight
  • Stormbirds
  • Twotonemurphy
  • X-Plane at Push-Point.net

Flight Sim Links

  • DCTRY
  • Deadstick Simulator
  • FS History
  • FS-Products
  • FSXLiveries.com
  • GSX Configs by 7X7Pilot
  • Hangar 226 Liveries
  • iniBuilds
  • sim bit world
  • sim-vector
  • SimPilotGroup
  • SimToolKitPro
  • The Flight Simulator Network
  • Tiger Flight Foundation
  • VATSIM
  • VATTASTIC
  • WebATIS

Flight Sim Products I Use

  • A Pilot’s Life
  • A2A Simulations
  • Active Sky 2016
  • Addit Pro
  • Aerosoft
  • AivlaSoft Electronic Flight Bag
  • Captain Sim
  • Carenado Aircraft
  • Drzewiecki Design
  • FeelThere
  • FLAi
  • Flight Replicas
  • Flight Sim Labs
  • Flightbeam Studios
  • FlightSim Commander
  • FlyTampa
  • FRAPS
  • FS2Crew
  • FSBuild
  • FSDreamTeam
  • FSFX Packages
  • FSimStudios
  • FSPassengers
  • FSUIPC
  • GoFlight
  • iFly B737NGX
  • Imaginesim
  • Just Flight
  • JustSim
  • LatinVFR
  • LevelD Simulations
  • Majestic Software
  • Milviz
  • Navigraph
  • ORBX Terrain
  • Plan-G
  • PMDG Simulations
  • Prepar3D
  • Professional Flight Planner X
  • Project OpenSky (POSKY)
  • QualityWings Simulations
  • Real Environment Extreme (REX)
  • Scenery Config Editor
  • ShareX Screen Capture and More
  • SimToolKitPro
  • SteveFX – DX10 Scenery Fixer
  • Super Traffic Board
  • TopCat
  • TripleHead2Go
  • UK2000 Extreme
  • VAT-Spy
  • VRInsight
  • World of AI

Archives

  • June 2025 (9)
  • May 2025 (2)
  • December 2024 (4)
  • November 2024 (4)
  • October 2024 (6)
  • September 2024 (4)
  • August 2024 (5)
  • July 2024 (5)
  • June 2024 (5)
  • May 2024 (8)
  • April 2024 (9)
  • March 2024 (2)
  • December 2023 (6)
  • November 2023 (1)
  • June 2023 (2)
  • May 2023 (1)
  • April 2023 (1)
  • March 2023 (1)
  • February 2023 (3)
  • January 2023 (3)
  • December 2022 (3)
  • November 2022 (4)
  • October 2022 (1)
  • September 2022 (2)
  • August 2022 (5)
  • July 2022 (1)
  • May 2022 (1)
  • February 2021 (1)
  • January 2021 (8)
  • December 2020 (5)
  • November 2020 (2)
  • September 2020 (12)
  • August 2020 (7)
  • July 2020 (5)
  • June 2020 (4)
  • May 2020 (10)
  • April 2020 (6)
  • March 2020 (4)
  • February 2020 (1)
  • January 2020 (1)
  • November 2019 (1)
  • October 2019 (3)
  • September 2019 (3)
  • August 2019 (6)
  • July 2019 (7)
  • June 2019 (10)
  • May 2019 (9)
  • April 2019 (7)
  • December 2018 (1)
  • October 2018 (3)
  • September 2018 (17)
  • August 2018 (14)
  • July 2018 (13)
  • June 2018 (14)
  • May 2018 (8)
  • April 2018 (4)
  • March 2018 (3)
  • January 2018 (2)
  • December 2017 (1)
  • November 2017 (2)
  • August 2017 (1)
  • July 2017 (4)
  • June 2017 (10)
  • May 2017 (7)
  • April 2017 (1)
  • March 2017 (5)
  • February 2017 (1)
  • January 2017 (1)
  • November 2016 (3)
  • October 2016 (25)
  • September 2016 (14)
  • July 2016 (1)
  • June 2016 (2)
  • May 2016 (10)
  • April 2016 (22)
  • March 2016 (31)
  • February 2016 (19)
  • July 2015 (2)
  • June 2015 (12)
  • May 2015 (11)
  • March 2014 (2)
  • February 2014 (2)
  • December 2012 (7)
  • November 2012 (7)
  • January 2012 (1)
  • November 2011 (1)
  • September 2011 (2)
  • July 2011 (4)
  • June 2011 (10)
  • May 2011 (3)
  • April 2011 (1)
  • March 2011 (2)
  • January 2011 (2)
  • December 2010 (5)
  • November 2010 (5)
  • October 2010 (8)
  • September 2010 (9)
© 2025 Position and Hold | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme