A new local legend has been released by the Microsoft Flight Simulator team. It's the Dornier Do 31, an interesting-looking VTOL experimental military aircraft made by West Germany in the late 1960s.

The development of this distinctive aircraft was driven by German interest in Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing Aircraft (STOVL) aircraft. In addition to test flights, the aircraft was present at the Paris Air Show in 1969. A total of five world records were broken during its short service from 1967 to 1970). Most of those records were broken during the ferry flight to Paris. The plane was one of a kind since no one had ever tried to produce or design a similar aircraft. Unfortunately, due to the high operating costs, the Do 31 project was canceled in April 1970.

Although the plane did not live for long, it was still an engineering masterpiece featuring a hybrid digital-analog supercomputer, the Do-960. The supercomputer collected all inputs from the pilot and converted them into thrust controls. Even after the project was abandoned, the computer was implemented all around the world, due to its amazing performance.

With a service ceiling of 35.100 feet, a maximum speed of 393kt (730km/h, 452mph), and a range of 1800 km (1200 mi) the newly released plane comes with seven liveries: 1 Experimental, E3 Experimental, Olive Green, Green Camouflage, Marine Search & Rescue, Xbox Aviators Club, and Aviators Club.

The newly released plane is now available on the in-Sim Marketplace for $14.99 and takes up 7.66GB of disk space when installed.

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