
National Championship Air Races return
Sim Update 7 makes the air races available as a free activity in MSFS 2024. Beyond the races, the release includes ground handling and avionics changes worth a look even if competitive flying is not your thing.

Sim Update 7 lands with a mountain of fixes and some familiar frustrations. FSReborn keeps raising the bar with the Phenom, while SayIntentions.AI brings X-Plane traffic into focus.

Wednesday began with Sim Update 7 arriving and Murph facing a pile of aircraft updates. Meanwhile, the newly purchased console controller refused to cooperate with Microsoft Flight Simulator. After a busy Bristol weekend, there was plenty to unpack — and not all of it good news.


Sim Update 7 introduces the free National Championship Air Races, a new ground-services EFB application, career-mode improvements and wide-ranging aircraft and avionics fixes. The important changes go beyond the headline: lateral path calculations at flyover waypoints have been corrected across numerous default avionics suites, while the C-17 receives flight-control and performance work.
Murph distilled the extensive notes into practical changes — including aircraft-specific corrections, navigation improvements and stability work — while asking why longstanding multiplayer issues still lack the attention community flyers need.
There is plenty to welcome here, but an impressive patch list is not the same as solving the problems pilots experience week after week. Multiplayer model matching, sounds and performance still deserve proper attention.

Version 1.030 of the FSReborn Phenom 300E brings CPDLC messaging compatible with VATSIM, IVAO, SayIntentions.AI and BeyondATC, plus an advanced failures module and persistent crew profiles. FBO improvements allow hangar parking and spawning, more flexible building placement and sharing of FBO layouts. The update also adds passenger satisfaction reporting and a long list of refinements.
Murph explored the FBO tools, avionics profiles, datalink and simulated failures live. His reaction was unmistakably positive: these features add purpose to the aircraft beyond the flight itself.
One of the strongest examples of an aircraft developer continuing to build value after launch. The FBO sharing and deeper systems make the Phenom feel like an ongoing project rather than a finished box on a shelf.

Murph walked through SayIntentions.AI's Pilot Portal, covering callsigns, traffic density, chatter and practical configuration, before showing traffic operating around Dublin in X-Plane 12. The value is not simply seeing aeroplanes: the demonstration illustrated radio calls, departures and sequencing that can make an airport feel occupied and operational.
The show also discussed the model-injection and licensing conversation around FSLTL. The important distinction is between ATC functionality, the traffic injector and the aircraft models users install.
Traffic that actually talks to ATC makes a much bigger difference than traffic that merely fills the apron. The next test is consistency — correct aircraft, convincing taxi behaviour and smooth performance at busy airports.

Sim Update 7 makes the air races available as a free activity in MSFS 2024. Beyond the races, the release includes ground handling and avionics changes worth a look even if competitive flying is not your thing.
A dedicated EFB ground-services application joins the simulator. Fixes to flyover-waypoint calculations affect a wide range of default glass cockpits, including Garmin, Pro Line and other integrated avionics. Those quiet navigation corrections may matter more to everyday flights than the headline feature.
The livestream turned to problems that continue to affect group flying: mismatched multiplayer aircraft, inconsistent remote sounds, visible avatars and performance when many aircraft gather together. Murph argues that these recurring faults should not disappear beneath a lengthy release-notes document.

Following its BO105 release, Stratoware outlined an Mi-8 helicopter project based on 3D scans and extensive photographic references. The developer also discussed a Morane-Saulnier Rallye Commodore, a Bölkow Bo 207 and a Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 update for the Kitfox Speedster, alongside improvements to the BO105. These are development plans, not new releases.

The team behind aircraft including the MB-339, M-346 and Tornado featured in a look at its ambitious future work, including experimental and military projects. Announced ideas and works in progress should not be confused with released add-ons.

Miltech showed more of its Sikorsky CH-53 Super Stallion heavy-lift helicopter at FSIM UK. The preview formed part of a wider development update that also included the U-2 Dragon Lady reconnaissance aircraft.

Miltech also shared development footage of its U-2 Dragon Lady, including the planned U-2S variant with reconnaissance sensors and associated scenery. The aircraft was being previewed, not announced as released.

Murph covered iniBuilds updates and previewed the team’s Global 6000 work. The aircraft’s Vision flight deck and the developer’s choice of a specific avionics configuration are important details for anyone expecting a serious long-range business jet.
Skyward Simulations brought its Citation Sovereign+ to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 after launching for 2024. In a market increasingly focused on the newer simulator, this is a welcome option for pilots who have not moved across.
The show highlighted Gaya Simulations’ work on Alpine scenery and airports, with attention to the visual standard the team has become known for. Murph was impressed by the preview material but it remains important to distinguish development images from a final release.
Murph discussed a developing electronic flight bag project informed by real-world airline experience, then moved into Navigraph’s expanding ecosystem. The practical question is how these tools make planning and flying easier rather than adding another screen to manage.
The show checked in on X-Plane’s community infrastructure and continuing third-party aircraft development, including DeltaWing Simulations. The platform’s appeal increasingly depends on a healthy add-on ecosystem as much as core simulator features.
The revised FBO tools let pilots position buildings, modify layouts and export their arrangements as JSON data for others to import. For virtual airlines and group flyers, that opens the door to shared bases and genuinely personalised operations.
Murph showed a datalink clearance arriving in the Phenom’s cockpit and experimented with the new failures interface. The demonstration brought the changelog into focus: these are systems that change how pilots operate the aircraft, not simply cosmetic extras.
The Pilot Portal walkthrough included saved callsigns, configuration choices, AI traffic density and chatter. Murph then listened to traffic being handled around Dublin, following departures and watching the moving aircraft on the map.
SU7 brings meaningful improvements to aircraft and avionics, but the persistent multiplayer issues raised in the livestream remain a separate conversation.
Check the Phenom 300E in your MSFS 2024 Marketplace library for the new CPDLC, failures, crew profiles and FBO features.
The X-Plane demonstration was a reminder that convincing ATC and active traffic are strongest when they operate as a coherent system.
This issue reflects the livestream and news available on 14 October 2026. Later SU7 patches and subsequent developer announcements are intentionally excluded.