Joshua Cowan and his team continue to update their helicopters in MSFS (X-Plane is not forgotten) and the L3 was now brought to version 2.0.
And this is quite the update!
Make sure you check the new manual as well, which can be found on the official website. As Joshua says, “90% of questions can be answered and that saves us time. If something does not work right now, there is a reason it doesn’t work. It’s either FPS related or simply not possible right now.”.
Please keep that in mind.
The changelog is quite big (which is normal) but there are a few items that are really important and exciting. Namely, the throttle fix, idle stop, G3X glass panel, and GTN650/750 were added as options as well. Quite amazing!
See the full changelog below.
- All hardware bindings are fixed, and several were added. See the manual to learn how to map them all.
- Some important ones added:
- Throttle (see manual)
- Idle stop (see manual)
- Search light (see manual)
- Increased the range of motion for the search light. Left/Right/Up/Down
- Enhanced the search light beam intensity, cone, and range.
- Search light changed to “taxi” light to separate binding from landing lights.
- Changed pilot/passenger weights for visibility to 170 lbs.
- The G3X glass panel was added as an option.
- The PMS GTN 650 & 750 and TDS GTNXi 650 & 750 were added as options. These are two different freeware and payware 3rd party products that must be installed separately. Once installed they will show up and work.
- Persistence code was added to save your weight and balance, and options configuration after shutting down. So, when you load your next flight all of your settings will be the same as your last flight.
- Added nav indicator button functionality. NAV/GPS
- Fuel consumption is fixed to reflect real world usage.
- Fixed the shadows in the cockpit.
- Fixed the floating flashing red light near the beacon.
- FLT files adjusted.
- Trim speed changes were fixed.
- Added click spots to remove doors in addition to the weight and balance settings.
- Fixed/added cyclic handling for VR users.
- Electrical enhanced.
- Systems enhanced.
- Camera views were added and fixed.
- New blurred rotor textures.
- Fixed see through solid rotor blades.
- Interior and exterior lighting was added to and enhanced.
- Sounds were added and most were redone.
- Some animations added and fixed.
- Lots of fixes to textures and modeling.
- TOT gauge code was added to make start and shut down a little more realistic.
- Major flight model overhaul. Basically, all new to align with real world pilots’ suggestions.
- Recalibrated assistance options. (assisted tail rotor and cyclic)
- Added blender model to package for 3D painters.
A fix for those finding an issue when loading with the engine running where the RPM would get stuck super high was also added.
If you don’t own the CowanSim 206L3 you can purchase it here. If you already own it, you can download the update from CowanSim’s website (or any other website you purchased it from – please keep in mind it may take those companies a bit to update their catalog).
