Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 has another busy week behind it, with Sim Update 6 now live, Aircraft and Avionics Update 5 arriving, and the simulator’s sixth-anniversary celebrations continuing with a trip across the globe. The Microsoft Flight Simulator Team covered those developments in its August 20 weekly briefing, which also confirmed a short break in the regular briefing schedule.
Sim Update 6 launched across all supported platforms last week. Players were asked to share feedback, vote in the related surveys, and submit bug reports when they encounter problems. The public release follows the beta testing detailed in the August 6 SU6 briefing.
Earlier this week, Aircraft and Avionics Update 5, also known as AAU_05, brought several aircraft into the native Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 framework and added support for suitable Career Mode activities. The refreshed aircraft are:
- Famous Flyer 06 Ford 4-AT Trimotor
- Local Legend 10: Boeing 307 Stratoliner
- Local Legend 14: The Bell 47J Ranger
- Local Legend 17: The Curtiss C-46 Commando
Expert Series 1: The ATR 42-600 / 72-600 was also updated with bug fixes and changes based on community feedback. That gives pilots a fresh reason to return to several classic aircraft, especially if they have been sitting untouched in the hangar.
MSFS’ sixth-anniversary flight continues east
August 18 marked six years since the launch of Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020). Microsoft, Asobo Studio, and the many teams and developers who work on the series thanked the flight simulation community while sharing player statistics gathered from six years of simulated flights across both MSFS 2020 and MSFS 2024.
The anniversary celebration is also taking to the skies. The Community Fly-In Friday journey began in Bordeaux, France, the home of Asobo Studio, before heading east through two flight stages to Karachi, Pakistan. The next leg will continue toward Chongqing, China.
Friday’s livestream will include hardware prize giveaways courtesy of Pimax and WINCTRL. The broadcast will be available through the official Twitch channel, alongside the group flight.
The briefing also recommends Chongqing Magic City 8D by SamScene3D for the China leg. Buying the Marketplace add-on is completely optional and is not required to take part in the flight.
Gamescom will pause the weekly briefing
There will be no weekly briefing on August 27 because the team will be attending gamescom in Cologne, Germany. The next briefing is scheduled for September 3, 2026.
The team will also host the Gamescom 2026 B.A.R Community Mixer on Saturday, August 29. Flight simulation fans attending gamescom or visiting the Cologne area can register their interest through the event registration form. The gathering will bring together members of the MSFS team, developers, content creators, and other members of the community.
Regular community fly-ins will continue through the simulator’s forum events section, giving groups a place to organize flights and helping pilots find new multiplayer sessions.
A carrier-deck video and a new screenshot challenge
The weekly flight inspiration points back to the aircraft included in AAU_05, including the ATR 42/72-600, Bell 47J Ranger, Boeing 307 Stratoliner, Curtiss C-46 Commando, and Ford 4-AT Trimotor.
Captain Carlos is featured this week with a cinematic F/A-18E Hornet video filmed around carrier operations involving the USS Ronald Reagan.
The new screenshot challenge is titled Set Takeoff Power. Last week’s theme focused on the sixth anniversary of MSFS, and vp_sim won the Weekly Screenshot Challenge. Additional screenshots were credited to chladic, IceManDBB, Parorng, CpuGeta486, Nightshade, hyper5sonic, caughtslippin, PRGeek5909, ARROW2929, and Takeru_Toys.
What do you think of the latest briefing and the AAU_05 aircraft updates? Share your thoughts in the comments, and stay connected through X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024
Developed by Asobo Studio
Pursue your dream of an aviation career with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. This brand-new simulator is designed to take advantage of the latest technologies in simulation, cloud, machine learning, graphics and gaming to create the most sophisticated, immersive and awe-inspiring flight simulator of all time. To achieve this unprecedented level of accuracy, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is powered by the significantly evolved Asobo Studio engine.
- Genre Simulator
- Platforms Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation VR2, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5
- Perspective First person, Third person, Virtual Reality
- Modes Single player, Multiplayer
- Release November 19, 2024
- Publisher Xbox Game Studios
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