Seven seven seven. The Queen of the Skies had her nod at 0.7.4.7, so here is one for the Triple Seven: long legs, two big engines, and very little fuss. This release is about being understood the first time and keeping the runway moving.
Understood the first time
Speech recognition now runs on your graphics card, with a larger speech model. What you say is understood sooner, and more of it the first time.
- Your choice, in Settings, Radio. The medium or the small model, on the graphics card or on the processor. If
answers feel slow, choose the small model. A computer that cannot use its graphics card listens on the processor with the small one.
- Hold the talk key for up to 30 seconds, long enough for a full clearance at your own pace.
- The crew reads the whole IFR clearance back, however much of it you say.
- More of the phraseology. "Vacate runway zero eight left via Alfa one zero", and runways said the way you
would say them on the frequency.
- Crew speaking speed has its own setting in the new Voice tab, beside whether you hear the pilots at all.
Move a label
On a busy taxiway the labels pile up. Drag one away, on either radar, and it stays there, joined to its aircraft by a line, and still selects that aircraft when you click it. Double-click it to send it home.
On the ground
- Pushback, the way you say it. "Pushback approved, facing north", or "onto Bravo" where a stand has more than one way out.
- No meeting head-on at a runway crossing. Two aircraft crossing the same runway from opposite sides no longer meet on it.
- Your taxi route, followed. A route you give is flown as you said it, without turning back on itself.
- A stand that cannot take the aircraft is reported by the crew on the frequency.
On the runway
- Landings leave the runway sooner. An arrival takes the first exit it can make at a comfortable speed.
- Arrivals in one stream. Arrivals from different directions are spaced as one line to the runway.
- An arrival keeps coming when the departure ahead will be in the air before it reaches the runway.
- Go-arounds in Settings. Realistic, More, Fewer or None for the crews' own go-arounds. A runway that is still
occupied sends an arrival around whatever you choose.
Smaller things
- The airport's frequencies are on the WEATHER ยท ATIS card.
- The Settings window is larger, and so is Airside in a window.
- A220s join live traffic, with Swiss, Air France, QantasLink and more.
- An airport with only one stand for jets now takes arrivals.
- Two simulator freezes are fixed.
- The free hour ends on time.
- Aircraft models installed in folders of their own are found.
How to update
Open Airside from its launcher. It installs everything in one start. This update brings the new speech model, a one-time download of about 2.3 GB.