TorqueSim Islanders: Updates Released for X-Plane 12!

TorqueSim and X-Aviation are excited to announce the release of the following updates for our products, following further tweaks to enhance the aircraft for X-Plane 12.

  • TorqueSim BN-2B Islander 2.0.0
  • TorqueSim BN-2T Turbine Islander 2.0.0

To Update: Download your installer(s) here and re-install!

Don’t have the aircraft already? You can check out the products here:

As always, thank you for supporting TorqueSim and X-Aviation! Enjoy these latest updates, and stay tuned for further improvements in the future.

BN-2B v2.0.0 Changelog:

  • Fully optimized for X-Plane 12
  • Re-tuned flight model including tuned flap behavior and drag
  • New user-interface
  • Visual ice-accumulation on airfoil leading edges and surfaces
  • Reworked FMOD soundpack including new engine, gear interaction, and environmental sounds
  • New HDR lighting for the panel, cockpit, and cabin
  • Updated textures for 3D people

BN-2T v2.0.0 Changelog:

  • Fully optimized for X-Plane 12
  • Re-tuned flight model including tuned flap behavior and drag
  • New user-interface
  • Visual ice-accumulation on airfoil leading edges and surfaces
  • Reworked FMOD soundpack including new engine, gear interaction, and environmental sounds
  • New HDR lighting for the panel, cockpit, and cabin
  • Updated textures for 3D people
  • Updated engine start
  • Tuned fuel flows, ITT values, and idle speeds
  • Removed beta range

BN-2T Turbine Islander Update 1.0.1

X-Aviation and TorqueSim are pleased to announce the release of the BN-2T Turbine Islander v1.0.1 update. This update consists of a variety of bug fixes which we have integrated to improve the Turbine Islander, providing the most realistic X-Plane 11 Islander experience!

To Update: Download your installer here and re-install!

Here’s what’s changed in version 1.0.1:

Improvements / New Features:

  • Added engine failures for significant over-torquing
  • Added throttle and mixture lever detents
  • Added multi-sided prop disc logic
  • Added Alt. Static Source switch

Bug Fixes:

  • Elevator trim limits adjusted
  • Fixed HSI misaligned texture with night lighting
  • FMOD improvements
  • Updated libraries to resolve mt_uploader crash at launch that few users were experiencing
  • Right altimeter baro setting fixed
  • D/G-Slew Indicator added

As always, thank you for supporting TorqueSim and X-Aviation. We appreciate your feedback and support!

TorqueSim BN-2T Turbine Islander: Available Now!

TorqueSim and X-Aviation are excited to announce the release of the BN-2T Turbine Islander for X-Plane 11! It is equipped with 2 Allison 250 turboprop engines, has a 1500 pound useful load with full tanks, and can carry nine passengers. It has a 730 nautical mile maximum range and 170-knot cruising speed which gives the BN-2T Turbine Islander an even more diverse range of missions than the BN-2B.

The aircraft is available for $34.95 on X-Aviation, here. If you have already purchased the TorqueSim BN-2B Islander, you are eligible for a discount, bringing the price to $19.95. Check your email for an email from X-Aviation with instructions.

We also now have a bundle containing the TorqueSim BN-2B and BN-2T Islanders. Add both to your cart and use the coupon code 5798be55 when checking out to receive the bundle pricing of $54.95 ($15 off!).

Thank you for supporting TorqueSim! We hope you enjoy the BN-2T Turbine Islander as much as we did making it for you.

Features:

  • Highly detailed 3D model
  • Full PBR 4K Texturing
  • Custom Systems, including:
    • Fully custom electrical system, simulating the circuit breakers, buses, generators, and battery
    • Custom fuel manager
    • Custom lighting
  • Custom Avionics, including:
    • KFC225 Autopilot
    • GTX345 Transponder
    • KR87 ADF
    • M800 Chronometer
  • High-fidelity FMOD sound pack, with sounds recorded from the real aircraft
  • Carefully tuned and tested flight model based on real life performance data and input from Islander pilots
  • X-Plane GNS530/GNS430 (Also supports the RealityXP GNS530/430)
  • Support for RealityXP GTN 750/650
  • AFM G5 Integration (requires a copy of the AFM G5 plugin)
  • Custom Load Manager
  • Persistent systems (switches return to the state which they were left)
  • Fully custom C++ Plugin using the X-Plane SDK
  • Includes 12 base liveries, a blank livery, and paint-kit! See the liveries here
  • Long-term support, as well as additional features and updates planned

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TorqueSim BN-2T Turbine Islander Releasing Friday!

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’ll share final details for the Turbine Islander throughout the days prior to release. If you haven’t subscribed to our email list, make sure to subscribe here so you can stay up to date with all our projects!

You can also find us on our Discord server and all the usual social media sites!

Update 25 Jan 2021:

Regarding pricing and release logistics:

  • The TorqueSim BN-2T Turbine Islander will be available for $34.95
  • Everyone who has purchased the BN-2B through Thursday (Jan 28, 11:59pm EST) will be eligible for promotional pricing, bringing the price to $19.95 (43% off!). A coupon code will be emailed on Friday which will be valid for 60 days.
  • A bundle will be available containing the BN-2B and BN-2T for $54.95

All prices are in USD.

If you have any questions or want to discuss the release, join in at the announcement post on the forums here.

Here are some other great screenshots showing off the new visuals!

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Coming soon: BN-2T Turbine Islander

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!