X-Crafts recently published a blog post outlining their plans for a future update to its ERJ Family, which will add many new features and be fully compatible with Laminar Research’s latest flight simulation platform. 

‍

The development update begins with a quick explanation of why the ERJs have not seen many updates since their focus shifted to the E-Jets, which required further attention due to their heavy reliance on automation and increased system complexity. 

‍

When X-Plane 12 came out, X-Crafts intended on making it compatible as soon as possible, but they quickly realized it was not going to be as straightforward of a job as they thought it would due to how different the new simulator was in some ways, rendering the airplane unusable without workarounds.

‍

Addressing the issues would require a lot of extra work and effort, which made creating a compatibility patch rather unfeasible and illogical, given they could rebuild it instead and make a major upgrade out of it rather than just a mere patch. 

‍

They have been working on the ERJ Family v2 upgrade for a while now and feel ready to share how things are progressing and bring a close look at the new features that will accompany the new version.

‍

An industry specialist created the flight model from scratch, fully optimized for X-Plane 12. Real ERJ pilots are currently testing it to ensure it is as accurate as possible within the simulation.

Unlike the X-Plane 11 version, where default X-Plane systems drove hydraulics, fuel, and anti-ice systems, v2 will bring custom-made systems and a new and more accurate FADEC system to control the Thrust Rating.

The pop-up screens—familiar to E-Jets customers—were also implemented in V2. There is an openable PFD, MFD, and EICAS that can be freely moved around the screen or placed on another display. Autopilot settings can be controlled directly from the pop-up PFD by scrolling while hovering over the values.

The nav map has also seen a substantial visual upgrade, with a brand-new, high-resolution display, including the PLAN mode. 

They are also working on implementing the Electronic Flight Bag from the E-Jets into the ERJs, which will allow users to control ground objects, doors, performance calculations, weight and balance, and more. A secret set of features—which remains unmentioned—is also in the works.

The update will also improve the sounds, taking full advantage of the new audio technologies embedded within X-Plane 12.

‍

Due to the amount of work involved and all the new features, the ERJ v2 Update will not be a free upgrade. They intend to charge a $20 fee for v1 owners, and the base price for new customers will also suffer a slight increase. 

‍

There is no release date yet, but X-Crafts plans on releasing the Lineage 1000 first, which is scheduled to come out before the end of February if everything goes according to plan. 

‍

Please refer to the original blog post for further information on the update.

Stay tuned to Threshold for more flight simulation news!

‍