TorqueSim and X-Aviation are excited to announce the release of the Turbine Islander this Friday (January 29th)!
We’re pleased to finally present our rendition of the BN-2T to you.
What began as a simple conversion grew into a completely new aircraft. This is the culmination of efforts spanning nearly four months, including updates to the 3d model, textures, texture mapping, FMOD sound pack, plugins, flight model, and many more small fixes and changes. If you enjoyed the BN-2, you’ll find the turbine version an absolute joy to fly!
You can see our preview flight of the aircraft here!
Many of the upgrades built for the 2T will also find their way into our BN-2 in the near future in the form of update 1.2. We very much look forward to sending that out as well.
We would like to thank everyone who submitted for their great entries! There were many fantastic screenshots! The three winners were picked by the TorqueSim team, with the following prizes:
We have released the version 1.1.1 update for the SR22 Series and the version 1.0.1 update for the SR20. All customers who have purchased either aircraft up till now have been sent an e-mail by X-Aviation with complete instructions on how to obtain your update(s). We have made this a very simple process! For those that purchase either aircraft from today forward, your purchased download will already be updated version.
We are looking to expand our team of programmers, and perhaps add someone to aid in our customer experience. If any of these positions below of interest, consider applying to join the team!
If you have any questions, email careers@torquesim.com and we will get back to you.
These positions are all contractor positions, you will be responsible for setting your own hours, providing your own equipment, and you will work from your own home. Please contact us if you have any more questions.
Written by Ulrich Oetzel, Islander Lead Developer, TorqueSim 3D Artist
This is a project I’ve wanted to do for a long, long time.
I’m sure some of you remember the old freeware FS9 Islanders by Marcel Kuhnt. Later came Flight1’s offering for FSX. While I enjoyed both of these very much, I distinctly recall always waiting for a Turbine Islander to show up. I loved and still love that plane.
It certainly made an impression on me. You could hear its twin Allison 250’s from what seemed like miles away, and the noise would build into a deafening scream when it came rolling across the apron. It was louder than a King Air, and most certainly louder than the 206’s and 402’s I knew! Little me would always cover his ears to shut out the noise.
At any rate, the years rolled on. The old 2T got sold a short while before the aging fleet was replaced entirely by Kodiaks, and I never heard anything about it again. Much in the same way, there was never any further talk of FSX (this is pre-P3D still) Islanders getting made, much less the turbine variant.
Which brings us neatly to my first entry: The trusty old 2B Islander. I grew tired of waiting. Tired of waiting for Flight1 to move their old model to X-Plane; tired of waiting for somebody to make it. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that “if you want something done, you should do it yourself” – or something along those lines. The end result of that was the TorqueSim Islander, which will soon be on version 1.2, with some serious upgrades over 1.1.
Now, I had always intended to make a 2T conversion of that aircraft. Even when I first joined TS, I knew that the Turbine Islander was somewhere in the future.
If only I had known. What started as a relatively simple conversion spiraled into extensive and intense reworks of the 3d model, the flight model, paint kit, interior, and myriad other items that needed improvement or alteration.
Now, with the project time dragging out (by no means a bad thing: more time means better quality), the 2T is essentially a completely new aircraft. It shares some minor features with our original model, in some places uses bits and pieces of the old textures, but it’s a whole different plane. Even the flight characteristics are much improved over the previous iterations.
All this also has benefits for version 1.2 our piston BN-2 Islander.
The new interior of the 2T can be retrofitted almost 1:1 to the older model. New interior textures, better UV mapping and texel density, new 3d models in the interior, all that comes benefit of the work on the 2T.
The changes extend to the exterior of the plane. Old repaints will of course remain compatible, however new textures on the fuselage and wing offer improved visuals, with better rivet work and cleaner joins. The default paint schemes have already been updated to match the new standard, and the new paint kits will support the new version of the exterior textures.
All this is a rather long winded way of saying we have a BN-2T Turbine Islander coming very SOON™ alongside a huge update 1.2 for the BN-2B.
We’re very excited to bring you both of these aircraft, and hope you’ll enjoy flying them as much as we enjoy making them!
As per usual, questions, suggestions, comments, and the like are welcome. Come find us on our Discord server, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter for regular updates and more screenshots!
In the meantime, we’ve prepared some pictures of the new Turbine Islander to tide you over while you wait. Enjoy!
TorqueSim, X-Aviation, and RealSimGear are excited to announce the Take Command! SR20 has arrived and is ready to join your hangar! Don’t be fooled by imitations. THIS is the SR20 simulation flight schools will be using! The systems simulation along with 3D modeling is incredible. There’s no other SR20 on the sim market like it. This is the perfect addition to the Take Command! SR22 Series.
While on the surface, the SR20 seems quite similar to the SR22, there is much more changed than what immediately meets the eye. We have worked to develop a fully custom engine model to implement the Continental IO-360-ES engine, with all its proper behaviors and quirks. With the systems, we had to go in and make the systems match a proper G3. The 3D model throughout is significantly revamped to match. This aircraft will be the perfect addition to any simmer’s hangar!
The Take Command! SR20 is designed to work perfectly with the RealSimGear G1000 and Cirrus Perspective Hardware. Learn more about the hardware options here!
The aircraft is sold separately from the SR22 Series. A discounted upgrade price was emailed to everyone who already purchased the SR22 Series before today.
TorqueSim, RealSimGear, and X-Aviation are excited to announce the SR20 for X-Plane will release this Friday (November 13th)! The SR20 is the culmination of thousands of hours of work, building on top of our recently released Take Command! SR22 Series to create the highest of quality aircraft.
The X-Aviation Take Command! brand of products represents the very best of flight simulation immersion, and assures you this TorqueSim product is one of the most sophisticated, study sim level aircraft available for X-Plane! Real world pilots test and assist in the development of these products, and real world procedures are followed. It tells you these products are unlike any other product you’ve seen outside of the ever growing X-Aviation catalog! Want to feel like a real captain? Take Command!
While on the surface, the SR20 seems quite similar to the SR22, there is much more changed than what immediately meets the eye. We have worked to develop a fully custom engine model to implement the Continental IO-360-ES engine, with all its proper behaviors and quirks. With the systems, we had to go in and make the systems match a proper G3. The 3D model throughout is significantly revamped to match. This aircraft will be the perfect addition to any simmer’s hangar!
The Take Command! SR20 is designed to work perfectly with the RealSimGear G1000 and Cirrus Perspective Hardware. Learn more about the hardware options here!
The aircraft will be sold separately from the SR22 Series. A discounted upgrade price will be available to those who already own the SR22 Series before Friday. As with the SR22 Series, this is for personal use only, contact us for information on commercial pricing. For more updates and to be the first to hear about the release date, sign up for our email list!
We have released the version 1.1 update for the SR22 Series. All customers who have purchased the SR22 Series up till now have been sent an e-mail by X-Aviation with complete instructions on how to obtain your update. We have made this a very simple process! For those that purchase the SR22 Series from today forward, your purchased download will already be updated to version 1.1 for you.
Following the wonderful reception of the TorqueSim/RealSimGear Take Command! SR22 Series, we have been hard at work developing the Take Command! SR20 to complement it! This is not a simple modification: it is a product of thousands of hours of work, creating the highest quality rendition of the aircraft for X-Plane.
The X-Aviation Take Command! brand of products represents the very best of flight simulation immersion, and assures you this TorqueSim product is one of the most sophisticated, study sim level aircraft available for X-Plane! Real world pilots test and assist in the development of these products, and real world procedures are followed. It tells you these products are unlike any other product you’ve seen outside of the ever growing X-Aviation catalog! Want to feel like a real captain? Take Command!
While on the surface, the SR20 seems quite similar to the SR22, there is much more changed than what immediately meets the eye. We have worked to develop a fully custom engine model to implement the Continental IO-360-ES engine, with all its proper behaviors and quirks. With the systems, we had to go in and make the systems match a proper G3. The 3D model throughout is significantly revamped to match. This aircraft will be the perfect addition to any simmer’s hangar!
The Take Command! SR20 is designed to work perfectly with the RealSimGear G1000 and Cirrus Perspective Hardware. Learn more about the hardware options here!
The aircraft will be sold separately from the SR22 Series. A discounted upgrade price will be available to those who already own the SR22 Series by release day. As with the SR22 Series, this is for personal use only, contact us for information on commercial pricing. The SR20 will be available in just a few short weeks! For more updates and to be the first to hear about the release date, sign up for our email list!.
Since the release of the Take Command! SR22 Series, we have been hard at work adding features, fixing bugs, and making general improvements throughout! We are preparing to enter a Public Beta in the coming days (if you are interested in being a part of the Public Beta, you can sign up for a spot here – Note: spots are limited), followed by a general release to everyone once it is ready!
Here are some of the key features we have implemented:
G1000 Terrain Profile Indicator
We have integrated a custom terrain profile indicator on the MFD. This will help for situational awareness, especially in mountainous terrain, and help prevent CFIT incidents. The custom system is entirely multi-threaded to prevent any performance penalty.
Visual Icing Effects
We have been hard at work adding custom visual icing effects to the aircraft! This will help with situational awareness surrounding the use of TKS during icing conditions, as the simulated ice can now be seen on the wing, inlets, windshield, spinner, and other relevant surfaces!
Engine and System Model Improvements
There have been many improvements made to the engine model and system model. Here are a few highlighted findings from our debugging and fixing:
SR22TN Power Fluctuations
There was an issue leading to potentially severe fluctuations of engine power during takeoff and climb at high ambient temperatures and altitudes, on the SR22TN only. The cause of this issue has been eliminated. However, there may still be minor residual fluctuations on takeoff and initial climb under such conditions, largely attributed to mixture being slightly too rich for such higher density altitude takeoffs. It can be further amplified by too quick movements of the power lever. To get rid of any remaining fluctuations altogether, embrace the following steps when setting takeoff power at high temperatures and/or density altitudes:
Advance power slowly until the point where RPM rises above 2500 RPM (around 80% lever travel) and wait for manifold pressure to stabilize. This will take a few moments at altitude and is particularly important up there.
Start your takeoff roll and simultaneously advance power slowly to maximum.
Procedures allow you to lean the mixture to 34GPH for takeoff on hot days. It is suggested to follow this step at OATs in excess of 30-35°C to eliminate any residual power fluctuations.
Advance the mixture to full rich after obstacles are cleared. Also keep in mind that it is normal for the turbo-normalized engine to slightly fluctuate for a few moments after power changes before all parameters stabilize. Thus it is generally recommended to make power changes slowly on such engines, so even during go-arounds better take 2-3 seconds to advance to full power.
Random engine cutout during taxi
There was an issue leading to seemingly random engine quits during taxi. A fix is in place that has proven to work in internal tests.
Engine starting
The fuel-injected IO-550 engine can be challenging to start at times, so video tutorials to prepare you for all kinds of cold, hot and flooded starts you may face. We have also seen the most typical cause relates to mispositioning the power lever for engine starting (some even at maximum), keep in mind to set the lever to about 1/4” (i.e. at or slightly above the letter R in POWER). We have determined that there is no issue with the custom engine model.
Engine cutout after landing
When landing at higher density altitudes with the power lever at idle on rollout, it is to be expected that the engine may not be able to hold its idle RPM due to an excessively rich mixture. Lean the mixture to the appropriate X-T letters in MIXTURE immediately after landing and try to keep the power slightly higher than low idle to prevent the engine from quitting in such situations. We have determined that there is no issue with the custom engine model.
