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Captains, It's with a lot of excitement that I get to announce this product officially now! Back in 2008 we started X-Aviation with the MU-2 as our first product for sale, and now we're re-inventing it with this beautiful new version. Many people in the X-Plane community found the original v1 we sold as one of their very first payware aircraft back in the day. Today will be the first of a series of progress updates leading up to the forthcoming release of the Mitsubishi MU-2B-60 Marquise 2.0 simulation for X-Plane. Since its beginnings in 2005, the MU2 has been a labor of love by @tkyler and has been nursed for 13 years and for the upcoming 2.0 release, has incorporated the latest X-Plane features. The MU2 is poised to last for many more years to come and certainly through future versions of X-Plane. We are also pleased to announce all previous owners of v1 will be receiving an upgrade discount to v2! The MU-2 is a perfect GA airplane to have in your hangar and get you around X-Plane quickly when you need to feed your flight simulation addiction and actually cover some ground but don't feel like flying tube-liners. With its distinctive profile, engine sound and a cruise speed of 270+ knots, it can cover a lot of X-Plane scenery in a simulator session and have you off the computer before dinner time. In this first report, we'll discuss the most obvious improvement in version 2.0, the visual 3D model and textures. When looking at the MU2 Version 1.0 series 3D, it it quite apparent that there was major room for improvement (mind you this was X-Plane 9 days). As it turned out, trying to remodel the existing 3D was not a viable option and the 2.0 version had to be completely redone from scratch. There are a few noteworthy factors that have enabled the improvements to the 3D detail. Major advancements in Blender 3D, the modeling tool used as well as advancements to the exporter by Laminar, have facilitated a painless workflow between Blender and X-Plane, allowing focus on the geometric detail. In addition, the capability of today's graphic cards to handle fantastic numbers of polygons and high-resolution texture sets have really taken the visual aspect of flight-simming to a level barely imaginable a decade ago. The first order of business was to increase the geometric fidelity of the model and get the challenging shapes and curves more accurate. It is a difficult aircraft to get to look right. Increased geometric fidelity results in much sharper and crisper detail at close camera angles and generally a more natural look all-around. The two images below shows the Version 1.0 3D model against the Version 2.0 3D model. Version 1.x Wireframe Version 2.0 Wireframe If you study the two images above, you will see version 2.0 has a higher density 3D model all around; however, note the darker areas of the 3D wireframe mesh. These are areas where higher 3D detail has been applied in order to achieve sharper visual results that reflect light more realistically as you move the camera around. The traditional way such details are added is through the use of higher resolution texture "decals", much like the decals on plastic models. While decals are a great technique and absolutely useful, they do lack the accuracy of subtle light interaction around geometric edges at closer camera angles. Lighting details on 3D edges have always been one of those areas that make the difference between a fake looking 3D model and one that comes alive. The image below shows a few areas where the 3D detail makes a difference to the lighting. Though higher detail is applied where it counts, it wasn't added where not needed, yielding an efficient 3D model that is very performant in X-Plane. With the 3D detail in place, you have to bring it alive with texturing. X-Plane's PBR (Physically Based Rendering) has always yielded a wonderfully crisp and beautiful color palette when taken to its limits, and X-Plane 12 looks to improve that even more when it arrives. One critical component of believable texturing is a solid implementation of what is known as 'ambient occlusion', or AO as 3D artists like to say. AO is a phenomenon where light loses energy as it bounces around into corners, resulting in darker corners and recesses. Below is a comparison of a 3D model with and without ambient occlusion. The results are quite stark! AO in real time for lots of 3D polygons is still quite performance heavy. X-Plane actually has a small bit of real time AO between the ground and airplane when in HDR mode. You may note the subtle darkening of the ground around the landing gear tires sometime as aircraft taxi; however, X-plane provides no AO effects for aircraft. We obtain this AO effect by "painting" the shadowing into our textures. This is a process known as "baking" in the 3D community and our 3D software tools actually do most of the painting work for us. By baking AO effects into our textures, we can achieve a much more realistic lighting look throughout the 3D model. Baking AO lighting though is a bit of an art and can be a bit time consuming but when done well, the results are quite immersive! AO really shines when applied to interior spaces, giving lots of visual depth and avoiding that flat, cartoony look. When all of the 3D elements come together: the geometric 3D detail, attentive ambient occlusion effects, PBR texturing and X-Plane's great PBR engine, the results are exactly what we've been waiting for 13 years! A SPECIAL NOTE is warranted about this last screenshot. We include it because it shows the 3D detail and texturing in the cockpit at its best! However, the G500/600 GLASS display shown will NOT be included with the MU2 purchase. It is a separate product available by Real Sim Gear through X-Aviation, but for those folks who wish to have some glass in their MU-2, then you'll be happy to know that we support it fully and it will be available straightaway when the MU2 is release for owners of the Real Sim Gear G500! In our next progress update, we'll talk about the cockpit variants, controls and animations and how they play a major role in our immersion! Until next report, Blue Skies and tailwinds!

This is great news..! The MU-2B was one of the "OG" complex aircraft for X-Plane (I believe it was X-Plane 8.X?) back in the day..and has held its own over the decade+ since release. It is one of my favorite X-Plane aircraft to fly..always feels dynamic and sporty on landing. And I loved the old school panel having flown similar panels over my years... Looking forward to the updated/all new release. (Another vote for GTN 750 integration when possible..!) From my PC Pilot review way back in February 2009..!! Wow...

While I don't like to give dates because there are a few unknowns (FMOD sound in particular)....I think its fair to say it will come out some time in April almost certainly. I have a target on my calendar that is in April and working feverishly towards that and best I can tell, still on track. That's the best I can say atm.

It did do that, I changed the folder to X-Aviation\IXEG 737 Classic and this solved the problem Thank you for your help, really appreciate it!

I don't want to join the XP versus MSFS debate, but I fly XP almost exclusively. But what does it matter, both sims have their place? I've got to say that the image of the cockpit looks like a photograph. I'm one of the simmers who spend 95% of the time in the cockpit - I suppose real-life pilots do too. Anyhoo, I do appreciate the occasional exterior view just to admire and take in the whole scene, what an experience! I am looking forward to getting my hands on the MU-2B for the first time. One of the best parts of flight simming is getting to know an airplane, intimately. I hope you, Cameron, will go deep in the systems modeling. Thanks for the narrative and previews.

Do I look forward to this..??!! Oh yes, I do ! I have flown the X- Plane based MU-2 95% of my sim time since I installed X- Plane in 2016 (...and spent more than a months salary in buying a powerful lap top with enough power to make it run perfect). As for glass cockpits, for sure they're great,- but... nah......I myself stick to good old clocks ( And they will not shut down same way as glass cockpits will when next powerful solar storm hits us... I believe). I have "followed" the MU-2 for more than 40 years, and I am totally hooked on this master piece of a flying machine In X-Plane 10 and 11 I have landed the MU-2 several times at VNLK / Lukla / Nepal. The book says 1950 ft runway is needed at sea level with max weight (MU-2P MU-2B-26A), while VNLK has 1729ft runway at elevation 9334ft. Book says take off distance over 50ft is 1,800 at sea level. Turns out that even if I manage to land and stop at VNLK; I run a bit out of runway when taking off even in headwind. Seemingly landing with a speed of close to 100kts as close to the treshold (read edge !) as possible is needed to be able to stop. Stall speed Vfe (flaps down) is 73kts. Gradient is 11,7% and wind changes normally from morning to afternoon so the pilots flying to and from VNLK arrive before mid day as wind direction then is more or less around head wind for RW24 with uphill landing. During the afternoon the wind changes in favor of downhill take off from RW06. RW24 is not an option for take off anyway as it ends in front of buildings and a steep mountain wall. I suppose that the MU-2 simply has not enough runway with 1729ft at an elevation of 9334ft. (I wonder if the upgraded MU-2 Limited Edition would make it...?) I look forward to do IFR approaches and departures to sometimes very challenging Norwegian short field runways as well, as for instance ENSG and ENSD to mention a few of them.... Looking so much forward for the upgraded MU-2 ! Best regards Harald Eide Norway

I was referring to the pharaonic mummies, they barely move, my friend!! :)

I understand we're your coming from, but for me on actually migrating back too X-Plane then MSFS. I spent a year flying the hell out of Microsoft flight simulator, but for me I was missing something. Along with looks, fidelity for me is very important as well. And the fidelity within Microsoft flight simulator platform is still not there yet to compete with X-Plane. But again, that's just me and others will probably differ. It's not all about the eye candy. Again looking forward, to the MU2. Cheers Dion

Hello Marcus, Phew that's quite a bit to answer in one post. Let me try and cover it. 1) ILS approaches. Let me describe the normal method, assuming you have a FMS flight plan with an ILS approach and you've checked the lateral coding to make sure it all works. You don't need to set anything up specifically for the ILS. Loading the ILS approach should be enough. Make sure the left PFD is navigating with FMS1 and the right side is FMS2. You will have a magenta CDI indication. When you are close to the airport you'll also see blue "ghost" indications on the HSI and blue diamonds in the localiser and glideslope scales on the PFD. Typically when the final approach point is the next waypoint, press the APPR button and this will arm the system for localiser and glideslope capture. You don't need to mess with the altitude knob as long as the aircraft is actually at the ILS platform altitude (you shouldn't need to do this with a 737NG either, but that's another story). When you capture the glideslope, set the altitude for the missed approach altitude. 2) Speeds. Manual control of speeds is normal using the speed knob or manual thrust. If you have VNAV enabled you can resume the VNAV speeds using the PERF page on the FMS, but really that's a bit pointless and it's easier to fly it on the speed knob. You need to know 250 kts, 200 clean, 180 with the first stage of flaps and 160 with gear and the second stage of flaps. Select the final stage of flaps and slow to vref + 5. It's no more complex than that. Even on an Airbus with managed speeds, lots of pilots prefer selected speed modes - LNAV/VNAV and chill is very much a sim-ism and not how aircraft are actually operated. 3) It's just a machine, so isn't very likely to "freak out" as you say ;-) Bearing pointers have no influence on flying the approach, they are for the pilots reference only. I'd suggest reading (1) above carefully, then pick a long ILS approach, and post some screenshots of the aircraft level at the platform prior to intercept, and another couple of pics on the approach. Suggest EDDF 25L via CHA VOR - grab a screenshot flying level at 4000ft between CHA and LEDKI, and another on the ILS at 3000ft, and another at 1500ft - make sure we can see the full PFD clearly.

You could be a little more appreciative of the time @Graeme_77 has put forward to try and help you learn this product...free of charge on his behalf. There is not likely to be something like an FCOM found with a real aircraft. Bombardier owns this material and sells it for thousands of dollars, or included with a $30 million purchase. We are not authorized to re-distribute this at all. It's 7,000 pages too, by the way. Along with @Graeme_77, there is also several video series of operating the aircraft complete with explanations by @skiselkov. Most customers have taken to this to learn the product and get along quite well. I do not expect anyone to understand everything here in a day, but exploring and learning through watching the series is rewarding. This is the answer we are able to give you now. Your impatience is evident, so there's your "right now" answer. I have never once looked through any manual for any car I have bought. This is probably not a great example. Ironically for things like this I'd default to YouTube, of which there's also a ton of livestream content to soak in as well for the 650. @Graeme_77 is a volunteer of his time. Please be respectful of his willingness to assist you considering he is not officially a Hot Start developer. He's an extremely knowledgable, kind person who is trying to help you and was gracious enough to help beta test this product before it went to market. He receives no money from this product. There's enough info in this thread to lock it for the time being. Please, use the free training videos out there at your leisure and learn best you can. If you are unable to make sense of something, post here and any of us will be happy to further explain things to you short of sending you thousands of dollars worth of copyrighted Bombardier manuals.

It’s not a manual, but I’ve addressed the fuelling stuff and basic FBO interaction in my first video, which shows the initial procedures, up to the point you’d transfer to the simulated FO. 25 minutes or so that should help any new 650 driver get started, further videos will follow too.

“That's understandable. If the product doesn't suit the kind of simulation you are interested in then it's great there are other addons that suit your needs better. Simulation isn't a game of "collect them all" - some products fit some people, others don't, and it's great to have variety. Regarding the failure system, some of the testers and consultants have been working on training scenarios, including handling notes and extracts from the abnormal procedures for the aircraft. The intention is to develop this over the life of the product to use the failure system to train sim pilots on Challenger 650 operation, just like real life pilots are trained at recurrent simulator visits“ …Graeme_77….I’ve probably failed to express myself correctly. Please accept my apologies for that. The fact that you had “testers and consultants “ that helped HOT START develop this add on “by the book” it is simply no doubt!….Anyway look at “BlackBird_GR “ answer. That is what I ( tried..) to get. I only asked some ( legal..) way to give us customers a way to put our hands on some sort of FCOM/Manuals/QRH. I’m an Airline Pilot and I don’t care flying a single engine approach or dealing with loss of Hydraulic system simply “guessing “ or trying to “figure out” the solution. The only approach I have to the so called “abnormal/emergency scenarios “ is through the study-interpretation of the books/manuals. And I don’t care if such books are current or experied. I simply need something to rely on when dealing with an Emergency…..anyway BlackBird_GR has already answers and sorted out the whole tread.So it is no point discuss this thread any further. Anyway please understand that I allow myself to criticize you only because I know you’re the best decelopers for XPlane so far. Rest assured thanks for this amazing add on please keep updating this amazing aircraft:-)

That's understandable. If the product doesn't suit the kind of simulation you are interested in then it's great there are other addons that suit your needs better. Simulation isn't a game of "collect them all" - some products fit some people, others don't, and it's great to have variety. Regarding the failure system, some of the testers and consultants have been working on training scenarios, including handling notes and extracts from the abnormal procedures for the aircraft. The intention is to develop this over the life of the product to use the failure system to train sim pilots on Challenger 650 operation, just like real life pilots are trained at recurrent simulator visits.

I also would like to see a manual. I also would like to a cockpit guide for all the switches and buttons. When you use the checklist you have to know where everything is. jeffg

I would really like to see a user manual that elaborates on some non-aircraft specific features, like the HotStart FBO and such.

Could a go-around procedure and anti-ice procedures (when to use cowl and engine anti-ice) be added to normal checklists?

I'm guessing they want people to pay big bucks for those who use the manuals for training or official flight use? I find it hard to think that someone who is completely unfamiliar with the airframe to know it in and out from just the provided manuals. Hotstart has made a wonderfully complex aircraft here. If any aircraft for X-Plane has ever deserved a full on manual, it's this one.