Looking back at the last week of 2018, the Navigraph 2018 survey reveals that X-Plane 11 is likely eclipsing on Prepar3D on sim popularity in 2019, with more overall users using X-Plane than P3D. To add, major aircraft developers in X-Plane 11 such as the Rotate MD-11 will be another landmark airliner release, following the likes of the IXEG 737 and the FFA320. 2019 looks to be the ultimate year in which X-Plane 11 will become the primary consumer flight simulator.

The first week of the new year is off to a strong start, and it looks like 2019 will be another year full of surprises. TorqueSim kicks off 2019 with new previews and information of their Pocket Rocket in development, also known as the Impulse 100:

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Steaven McKenzie also noted that development of the aircraft is approach beta stage, meaning that the product can be released in the first half of 2019. In addition the joint venture between AFM and Attitude Simulations also has the Draco and Turbulence in parallel development.

Shortly after TorqueSim’s update, Dan Klaue of Thranda Design followed through with the announcement of the Wilga 2000, which will be a competing product to Attitude Simulation’s product. The Wilga PZL is an earlier variant of the Draco, so this will be an interesting competition between the two aircraft developers:

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Following through the next day, The 1st of January brings us news of Captain7 currently converting Nuremberg (EDDN) for X-Plane. The scenery was released on the ESP platform to critical acclaim and was jointly developed alongside 29Palms:

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Over on the ESP platform, the 2nd of January FlightBeam and iBlueYonder has finished Portland International for Prepar3D, and at the same time enquired users whether there be any interest in porting the scenery to X-Plane. Reactions were mixed, as some voiced opposition as MisterX has already published a detailed PDX for free and FlightBeam’s port of PDX would not be as successful. Others welcomed the prospect of FlightBeam using PDX as a pet project to delve into X-Plane development and would provide a platform for the developer to explore and experiment further.

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The 3rd of January brought news that X-Crafts has opened beta testing positions for their upcoming mid-end Embraer ERJ series - developer Marko Mamula requested that they are in need of mature, reliable people to join the test team ahead of beta period later this month. Applications are now closed. Three types of ERJ will be modelled, ranging from the 37-seater E135 to the E145, capable of seating 50 passengers. The product would admittedly (by the developer) be a fun simulation for people to fly and is not targeted to pro simmers.

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The start of the weekend brought us more information of Bergamo Airport (LIME) by Aerosoft, one of many projects that Aerosoft is slowly porting to X-Plane. Converted by Windsock Simulations and originally developed by TailStrike Simulations, the airport will have native SAM support for Jetways:

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On the same day, HighSkyTech has provided further information on the delay of their upcoming weather product, xAmbience. They cited last minute bugs were the reason the original 'next-day' release date was postponed. Since then, the team has frequently posted information and new previews and we’ve collated them all. The team has also published a new website detailing system requirements and product features:

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To end the week on a sweet note, Sunday brought joyous news to Helicopter pilots as Nimbus Simulations released new previews of their Huey in development. Development has started in early March 2018, but has been standing in the shadows of their O’Hare v3 scenery:

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That’s all for the first week of 2019! Here’s to an incredible new year, we cannot wait to see what’s to become for X-Plane.

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