I have to admit it’s weird to see a company releasing a product without finishing the previous one. As we wait for the X-Rotors AW139 to get updated (and finished), the team not only has announced the AW109 some time ago, they are actually releasing it “soon”.
And the final version, not an Early Access one.
According to their website, “the forthcoming AW109 for X-Plane will mark a giant milestone in our production. Built from scratch under a completely new Blender-based workflow, the first release of one of the most missing X-Plane aircraft will spot the VIP version of the classic Italian beauty, the Power Elite, also known as the Ferrari of the skies. Thought to grow as a platform, our AW109 will be soon declined to other applications, from air ambulance to SAR and military LUH.”
This raises some questions from the community: what happened to the AW139? When will we see it updated? How can one trust a company that doesn’t finish a product and releases a completely different one? It’s an harsh question, I know. But it’s out there.
X-Rotors assured they were coming back to the AW139 after the release of the AW109, so that means we may find out more about any future updates (and possibly finally the final release of the AW139 once the AW109 is out). Hopefully, X-Rotors will finally break the silence about it and give us a better roadmap and a better perspective of what’s coming.
Meanwhile, here’s the official features list of what we should expect to see on the AW109.
Official X-Rotors AW109 features
The changelog, which you can also find here, indicates the following features list:
- Realistic flight model, weights, and handling tested by real AW109 pilot
- Classy, enjoyable, and incredibly easy to hover
- Rogerson Kratos NEO AV 500 EADI & EHSI with NAV source (N) and BRG (B) functions
- Electronic Display Unit (EDU) n. 1 with functional START and CRUISE menus
- Electronic Display Unit (EDU) n. 2 with functional MAIN and AUX menus
- Custom EICAS advisories, cautions, and warnings scrollable into EDUs
- Helipilot console with SAS, force trims, attitude indicators
- Auto trim
- Fuel management console and overhead console with motorized PMS
- Realistic 3-axis autopilot with cyclic trim functions
- Bendix King array of functional radios COM/NAV 1 & 2, ADF, XPDR and Garmin 530
- AeroTech LC-6 chronometer w/local time, UTC time, flight time and stopwatch functions
- Custom FMOD sounds with realistic dynamic effects
- Extremely detailed 3D model with hundreds of moving parts and 4K textures
- PBR textures implemented on all components
- Fast and secure installer for Windows, Mac and Linux
- 5 liveries included
- PSD template included to make your personal livery
- Reference manual included
