Blackbird Sims / Milviz Forum Archive

Everybody,

We've been largely quiet about the progress - I'm going to break that silence here today. There have been seven of us working on the project (admittedly, not exclusively, however). We've got the PFD mostly complete, the MFD moving along (including the electronic checklist system and many of the other additional features it has), the FMS fairly far along (still working on SID/STARs, but they will be present and they aren't very far out), the onboard systems have been completely overhauled, and we're now working on visual improvements to both the interior and exterior. I've included several pictures below, showing some of our progress.

(The images are cutoff inline here, the whole album is available on Imgur here: http://imgur.com/a/MoPrY)

The PFD and MFD
Here's a small preview of what the final PFD/MFD will be capable of.


The FMS
We're still adding more pages, but here are a few important ones.


The Exterior
The materials and textures have been improved on the exterior to create a much more realistic feel. (We're intentionally not showing anything in the virtual cockpit until it's closer to where we want it.)







What's Next
Keep in mind, these are all work in progress images, so nothing is final, but they were all taken in-sim (some placeholder content is still present). This brings me to my next point - what's next? Our immediate goals are to integrate what we've all been working on separately into the improved virtual cockpit. At that stage, we'll begin showing it off flying. We're working toward really making this aircraft shine and do its real world counterpart justice. The display startup (the heading indicator rotating during initialization, the fading in, etc.) for example, is something we're going to be simulating fully.

Closing
The main point is that we're getting very close to major progress and we will be showing off a LOT more starting soon. Stay tuned to the forums and our social media for more on that.

Something else I wanted to mention - if you recognize my name from another company (I'm Collin with two 'L's, not Colin with one), this is because I do indeed work with both groups. We've been business partners and closely associated for many years, hence my shared involvement.

much thanks for the update, and yup, it's really looking more and more like the real thing now... I even mistook one of the screenshots as a photo of the real one for example

looking forward to having this tested along with my colleagues here... I've also regained my co-pilot rating with the real one just recently (and also have finally took controls for the first time in 3 1/2 years), and pretty soon I'll be attending FlightSafety's type rating course to transition to command status

Thank You Collin! I am excited and will continue to closely follow your progress.

Greg

Thank you Collin for this update, looking forward to this plane very much.
Hopefully there will be some video tutorials so I will be able to fly this plane according the numbers.

Cheers,
Ruud

Looking very nice. But what about the analogue gauge version?

RobdeVries wrote:Looking very nice. But what about the analogue gauge version?

Indeed - the KA350 (NON-i version). We have the model and some of the code, but it is second priority to the i.

ruudmeij wrote:Thank you Collin for this update, looking forward to this plane very much.
Hopefully there will be some video tutorials so I will be able to fly this plane according the numbers.

Cheers,
Ruud

We'll have to come up with something good for this - though I can't confirm exactly what we'll do yet.

Hans wrote:much thanks for the update, and yup, it's really looking more and more like the real thing now... I even mistook one of the screenshots as a photo of the real one for example

looking forward to having this tested along with my colleagues here... I've also regained my co-pilot rating with the real one just recently (and also have finally took controls for the first time in 3 1/2 years), and pretty soon I'll be attending FlightSafety's type rating course to transition to command status

We're looking forward to having you in the plane!

Hello Collin,
Thank you for the update, and the continued updates that I have received on this aircraft since I purchased it several years ago.
I didn't really purchase this King Air because I thought I would be flying it any time soon. I purchased it to help, in just a small way, to support Milviz continued work in making great aircraft for P3D (although I think at the time I purchased it I was using FSX).
I've purchased many of the Milviz aircraft and enjoy them very much.
I have to admit that with this update and seeing the progress and goals set for this King Air 350i, it's starting to get very exciting and now I'm feeling like maybe the final product is getting close.
Keep up the good work.

Thank you,
Bob

Thanks for the update, Collin.

I know this is sacrilege to the "systems guys", but the previous beta version had a secret key in the FMS (lower right key, IIRC) that allowed loading a predefined flight plan. I have hundreds of *.pln files, with POI and airspace avoidance and it would be nice to have them recognized in the new model.

Yes? No?

The external texture from screen shots above is a keeper!

Thanks!

JKH

Great update and really can't wait to dig back into the testing. I'm noticing some different colors on the PFD than what we have in our system, could just be a software difference for the newer "i" version. I'll starting taking more pics to compare.

signmanbob wrote:Hello Collin,
Thank you for the update, and the continued updates that I have received on this aircraft since I purchased it several years ago.
I didn't really purchase this King Air because I thought I would be flying it any time soon. I purchased it to help, in just a small way, to support Milviz continued work in making great aircraft for P3D (although I think at the time I purchased it I was using FSX).
I've purchased many of the Milviz aircraft and enjoy them very much.
I have to admit that with this update and seeing the progress and goals set for this King Air 350i, it's starting to get very exciting and now I'm feeling like maybe the final product is getting close.
Keep up the good work.

Thank you,
Bob

We're getting excited too - it's been something I've personally seen take shape over the last year and a half a lot, so it's awesome to bring it into the light.

Howellerman wrote:Thanks for the update, Collin.

I know this is sacrilege to the "systems guys", but the previous beta version had a secret key in the FMS (lower right key, IIRC) that allowed loading a predefined flight plan. I have hundreds of *.pln files, with POI and airspace avoidance and it would be nice to have them recognized in the new model.

Yes? No?

The external texture from screen shots above is a keeper!

Thanks!

JKH

THAT'S not something I can guarantee - the architecture of the FMS has been completely rewritten from the ground up (correctly, this time, mind you), but it's still vastly different. We intend to have some sort of company route/flight plan saving system, but I worry it may not be backward compatible.

Victory103 wrote:Great update and really can't wait to dig back into the testing. I'm noticing some different colors on the PFD than what we have in our system, could just be a software difference for the newer "i" version. I'll starting taking more pics to compare.

If you do have some pictures, please do send them over. We'll take a closer look and see what we can come up with (after all, these are still WIP shots - now's the time for fixes).

The colors could be different depending on how many FMS' there are and which side of tye cockpit the PFD shots are from

There are several threads on 350i updates. I hope this is where I should post my question.

The only King Air sim I've found that correctly models "real" turbine spool up has been the P3D default King Air 200. Carendo, Flight 1 & Milviz engines start up quicker than my car. Does anyone know of a King Air sim besides P3D that has correct real turbine spool up? Thanks

This isn't the place for your question. Ask on Avsim or somewhere else.

It's important to note that the MV KA 350 isn't done yet so your statement about it is moot.

Any chance of another update. I have looked on your Facebook page. I am one of the original purchasers of your king air and am waiting patiently.
Thank you.

Dave