My apologies for keeping you all waiting so long for this update. As my projects grow in complexity, and as I strive to experience more of these aircraft in person, development can appear to slow down at times, but I’m always working on new aircraft and features behind the scenes.

Although the Black Square Commander 114 will be the next of my aircraft to release, I would like to start with a long overdue update on the Twin Commanders. I recently developed a new full state saving system for the Twin Commander, and decided to add it to the 114 at the last minute. The system is based on the second of two state-saving methods available to me as a developer in MSFS. This system appears to have better consistency across multiple platforms, which gave me the confidence to add persistence to nearly every custom variable in the aircraft. For the Twin Commanders, this is 445 saved parameters, including failures, and 220 for the 114.

The new full state-saving system allows you to choose the level of persistence that you desire via three toggle switches on the tablet’s options page. The system also monitors the phase of flight to ensure that no inappropriate state is loaded; for instance, if you end your flight after a full shutdown and subsequently start a flight mid-air. All saved parameters have defaults for different phases of flight, or even time of day. If you prefer the default states you’re already familiar with in other Black Square aircraft, simply leave all three toggles deselected.

Another significant new feature added with the 114 are multiple new engine sound layers that depict subtle or severe, normal or abnormal, engine operating conditions. I found the effect of these sounds so convincing that they triggered subconscious knowledge of the engine’s state, which is a capability I hadn’t realised I developed during my real-world flying. Other real-world-inspired sounds include airframe vibration/resonance and nose gear shimmy.

You can expect several technical overview videos covering this aircraft’s new features in the coming days, as the release date approaches. Of particular note are the new avionics, hydraulic gear system and functioning stormscope. The aircraft also features two versions: normally aspirated, and turbo-normalised. The turbo-normalised version is additionally equipped with crew/passenger oxygen and an aftermarket air conditioner.

I’m particularly partial to the 114’s warm interior, which makes it feel like home during cross-country flights or sightseeing over cities at night.

Rather than post an exhaustive list of all the new features here, I hope you enjoy this faux magazine feature PDF that I couldn’t resist making for this cozy piston single. In addition to the Feature Highlights PDF, the full 154 page manual is also now available for perusal.

As is tradition, we also have our First Look video of the Black Square Commander 114 to signal the release of the manual and the beginning of previews from our fantastic community partners.