Tag: Flight Sims

  • Microsoft Flight Simulator World Update 23 Lands in Poland, Baltics

    Microsoft Flight Simulator World Update 23 Lands in Poland, Baltics

    Microsoft Flight Simulator World Update 23 came out on October 26, 2026, and it covers Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. It’s free for everyone who owns the sim, in both Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. Microsoft says this is the first time in the franchise’s history that the region has had its own dedicated update.

    What’s in World Update 23

    Asobo and Gaya Simulations built the update, with data from Bing Places. It adds 12 areas of interest made with updated photogrammetry, TIN surface texturing and digital elevation model (DEM) data. Eight of those areas are in Poland, two in Lithuania, one in Latvia and one in Estonia.

    • Photogrammetry cities: Tallinn (Estonia), Riga (Latvia), Kaunas and Vilnius (Lithuania), and Gdansk, Katowice, Krakow, Lodz, Poznan, Warsaw and Wroclaw (Poland)
    • 77 points of interest, including Malbork Castle, Sopot Pier, Trakai Island Castle, Rundāle Palace, the Riga Radio and TV Tower, and Kõpu Lighthouse in Estonia
    • Five handcrafted airports by Gaya: Kärdla (EEKA), Jūrmala (EVJA), Palanga International (EYPA), Warsaw-Babice (EPBC) and Opole-Kamień Śląski (EPKN)
    • MSFS 2024 activities: three Discovery Flights (Warsaw, Sigulda, Tallinn), four Precision Landings, a Sopot Landing Challenge, a Guided Tour of Tatra National Park and a Rally Race
    • MSFS 2020 activities: three Discovery Flights and four Landing Challenges at the same four airports
    • Price: free

    The four Precision Landings each put you in a different aircraft: a Cessna Citation CJ4 into Kärdla, an Airbus A310-300 into Jūrmala, an A320neo into Palanga and a King Air 350i into Opole. The Sopot challenge is based on a real landing by Polish Red Bull Air Race pilot Łukasz Czepiela, who put a modified CubCrafters STOL down at the famous pier.

    Why it matters

    None of the region’s major hubs are in the handcrafted airport list. Warsaw Chopin, Riga and Vilnius aren’t there; the picks lean toward smaller regional and general aviation fields. That suits the update’s sightseeing focus, since the coastlines, castles and lighthouses are easiest to enjoy from low and slow aircraft. Microsoft also released a paid aircraft on the same day, Microsoft Flight Simulator Local Legend 26: the Antonov An-28. It’s a twin-turboprop STOL plane that costs $14.99 in the in-sim marketplace and isn’t part of the free update.

    For simmers in this part of Europe, the update has been a long time coming. Poland and the Baltics finally have proper coverage of their key cities and landmarks, after years of relying on generic autogen scenery. Hopefully this isn’t the end of it, and more of the region gets mapped in detail in future updates.

    Source: Xbox Wire

  • Microsoft Flight Simulator Adds Antonov An-28 as Local Legend 26

    Microsoft Flight Simulator Adds Antonov An-28 as Local Legend 26

    Microsoft Flight Simulator launched Local Legend 26 on October 26, and this one is the Antonov An-28. The twin-turboprop short-takeoff utility aircraft is available now on the in-sim Marketplace. It arrived the same day as Microsoft Flight Simulator World Update 23: Poland and the Baltics, so anyone flying the new Eastern European scenery has a period-correct plane to fly it in.

    What’s in the package

    • Aircraft: Antonov An-28, a twin-turboprop STOL (short takeoff and landing) utility plane
    • Developer: AT Simulations
    • Price: $14.99 USD
    • Where to get it: the in-sim Marketplace
    • Liveries: more than 10
    • Interior: several cabin configurations
    • Systems: modeled aircraft systems and a two-pilot cockpit
    • Release date: October 26, 2026, launched alongside World Update 23

    A Soviet design with Polish roots

    The An-28 is a small, tough Soviet-era design built to work from short, rough airstrips and carry people or freight on regional routes where a bigger aircraft can’t operate. Antonov designed it, but series production moved to PZL Mielec in southeastern Poland in 1978. That history explains why it was paired with a world update focused on Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

    Coverage of the release says Microsoft first tried to license an aircraft from Poland’s main manufacturer and was turned down because of that company’s ties to Lockheed. The An-28 was the next-best choice, and arguably a natural one: it is a Ukrainian design that spent most of its production life on a Polish assembly line.

    It also fits the Local Legends series well. The series has always focused on aircraft with real regional history rather than headline airliners or fighters. Across 26 releases, it has steadily filled the sim’s hangar with workhorse aircraft that once served particular parts of the world. The An-28 belongs in that group: a utility plane that suits short, low-level hops between the small fields scattered across the new scenery.

    The An-28 is a long-awaited addition to the lineup. For simmers who like bush flying or short-field work, a twin-turboprop STOL hauler with several cabin layouts should keep them busy well beyond the Baltics. At $14.99, it costs about the same as earlier entries in the series, so trying it out is an easy call for anyone already flying the new world update.

    Source: Xbox Wire: Microsoft Flight Simulator Releases Local Legend 26: The Antonov An-28 Today!