Coming just over three years since the release of their highly respected TBM-900 for X-Plane 11, Hot Start has released their second aircraft for the simulator. This time, the developer has taken to the world of business jets, with the release of their highly sophisticated Challenger 650.

With the inclusion of a fully interactive FBO which includes realistic interactions with staff, fuelers, and full pre-flight duties, the developer claims that “there's never been a flight simulator add-on like this seen before.”

However, the simulation of the Challenger goes much deeper than the inclusion of the FBO. With over 300 ARINC 429 data buses simulated, the developer stated “there were going to be no shortcuts taken on the systems and avionics architecture.” Furthermore, Hot Start has created an incredibly in-depth 3D model, even going as far as modelling the “split pins used to secure safety-critical fasteners in place.” However, the developer has emphasized that these minute details haven’t been accomplished with a colossal performance decrease due to their considerable use of the “object-kill” functionality within X-Plane 11, which allows objects to be eliminated when they aren’t visible.

Moving on to the avionics, Hot Start has stated that they’ve “reproduced the visuals down to being able to discern individual pixels on the screens.” Furthermore, the avionics have been separated into multiple individual computers, with each of them being fully independent. Every computer “runs in its isolated thread and can only exchange data with other computers via simulated serial data buses.” Incredibly, there are over 50 independent computers running in the aircraft, with every single one handling a certain aspect pertaining to the operation of the aircraft.

Lastly, Hot Start has emphasized their in-depth physical simulation of the Challengers' various systems, stating “At Hot Start, we strongly believe that the best way to reproduce a system and its most minute behaviours, is to start from first physical principles.” This means that the physical properties of systems such as the electrical system and engines have been realistically simulated using the laws of physics. 

The Hotstart Challenger 650 for X-Plane 11 is available for purchase from the X-Aviation Store for a price of $114.95. For any further information or enquiries about the product, make sure to check out the Hotstart Discord server.

As well, make sure to check out the Threshold Interview with Totoritko (one of two developers who created the Challenger).