Fenix Simulations, the developers of the popular Fenix A320 for Microsoft Flight SImulator 2020 and 2024 have updated their A319/A320/A321 to BFU Patch 2.
The update brings a handful of features, but the most major feature is a completely rebuilt autothrust system, making it much closer to their real life counterparts.
Prior to BFU Patch 2, the autothrust system would keep the speed and alt pinned to where it needed to be, and would rapidly change the trust to achieve it, whereas the real aircraft acts nearly predictively to anticipate and smoothen out thrust changes, and filter through what’s needed immediately, and what’s needed as part of a broad picture of a longer period of time.
Now with BFU Patch 2, Fenix Sim have rebuilt the autothrust system to capture what’s mentioned above, so it behaves just like it would on the real aircraft., making it slightly more intelligent and calmer.
Fenix Sim note that the aircraft may now sit a few knots off the target speed as the system works with broader tolerances, and so you shouldn’t be alarmed if you see this when flying the aircraft.
Soft Cruise is also a function that Fenix reworked alongside the new autothrust system. You can now expect to see the aircraft deviate more in both speed and altitude during the cruise phase, as the system prioritizes passenger comfort by trading energy instead of adjusting the engines.
The patch also continues to refine the fly-by-wire. The roll axis has been reworked to provide a greater sense of inertia, a change validated against professional Level-D simulators and the feedback of type-rated pilots. Fenix have also updated the sound system, clearing up a few issues with the new sound system, especially for the CFM56 engine, along with higher-quality wind sounds.
Lastly, those in China no longer need to resort to third party payment schemes when purchasing the Fenix via their store, as they now support Alipay and WeChat pay. They’ve also added other payment methods, such as IDEAL for those in the Netherlands.
You can find the full changelog of BFU Patch 2 below.
Avionics and Systems
- Reworked roll PID behaviour
- Retuned roll channel for all variants in accordance with new roll PID behaviours
- Reworked A/THR: better estimation of required thrust changes, improvements to APPR mode, and improvements to SOFT ALT, fixed sluggish behaviour when moving throttle lever to limit N1/EPR
- Added sim rate reset LSK
- Added a “restart display” button to the launcher for instances when the systems are running, but displays have failed
- Added Y HYD STEERING to the list of livery-configurable options (fnx_yellow_hydraulic_steering)
- Improved rendering pipeline (removed display sync option)
- Improved launcher UI around restarting displays, safe mode, and CPU rendering
- Fixed the start valve position showing incorrectly when the FADEC is unpowered
- Fixed incorrect handling of UserCfg.opt files
- Fixed RMP standby frequencies not being settable from the simulator (e.g. via SimConnect events)
- Fixed stuttering/freezes when switching ND modes/heavy rendering
- Fixed INVALID WIND UPLINK not showing
- Fixed DMC switching not waiting for the self test to complete
- Fixed flight number showing on F-PLN when offset
- Fixed metric altitudes on PFD not being rounded to the nearest 10 m
- Fixed sometimes being unable to open/close cargo doors
- Fixed potential crash in SimConnect code
- Fixed launcher being stuck on “starting Fenix”
Art and Sound
- Added WXR INOP sticker (visible when safe mode rendering is on, it should be off to see WXR on the ND)
- Improvements to sounds, particularly CFM
- Improved wind recordings and volume level across cabin and flight deck
- [2024] Fixed THS wheel indicator animation looping
- [2024] Fixed windows not being hidden when the cabin is disabled
- [2024] Fixed cockpit text having blurry decals
- [2024] Fixed D1L closing when switching walkaround modes
- [2024] Fixed pilot not being visible
- [2024] Fixed A319/A321-specific cockpit decals not being used
- [2024] Fixed incorrect A321 speed placard
- [2024] Fixed incorrect wing emergency exit roughness on A319
- [2024] Fixed cargo door handle not locking in position
- [2024] Fixed holes in A321 cabin
- [2024] Fixed right landing light only turning on if the left was turned on
- [2020] Fixed high altitude landing dots overlapping annunciator
- [2020] Fixed maintenance bus switch not working
- [2020] Fixed external power panel being closed when GPU is connected
- [2020] Fixed cargo bay lights being overly reflective
- Fixed hydraulics playing when switching views
- Fixed cargo station decals rendering incorrectly
- Fixed high altitude landing button inverted
- Fixed hole in latch when cockpit door closed
- Fixed cargo door handle not opening far enough
EFB
- Added synchronisation of imported flight plan between all EFB instances
- Added EFB sleeping when activating Cold and Dark panel state
- Improved resilience of EFB connection to systems
- Fixed duplicate preliminary loadsheets sending
- Fixed METARs being fetched for invalid airports
- Fixed errors in loadsheet generation
- Fixed errors when attempting to load custom PDFs
- Fixed weights being modifiable when boarding is in progress or finished
- Fixed user fuel changes not being applied to loadsheets
If you don’t already own the Fenix set of aircraft, you can purchase them from https://fenixsim.com/
