VSKYLABS have announced the release of their latest ‘Test-Pilot’ aircraft for the X-Plane flight simulator after over four years of development; the Heinkel He-162. 

The Heinkel He 162 was a WW2-era single-engine jet-aircraft designed at the demand of the Reich Air Ministry for the German Luftwaffe. First used in 1944, the aircraft was designed as part of the Emergency Fighter Program to counter Allied bombing raids. Due to the restrictions at a time of strategic decline, most of the aeroplane is built out of wood and metal.

Powered by a single BMW 3 turbojet engine, the aircraft was capable of reaching over 900 km/h at 20’000 feet. Equipped with two 20mm cannons, it’s main role was shooting down allied bombers liberating Europe.

The developer adds another project to their ‘Test-Pilot’ series, the aircraft released as part of the series aim at exploiting X-Plane’s flight model capacities to their maximum. Just a few months ago, VSKYLABS released the Tensor 600X as part of it; check out our article. 

The fighter jet is the first aeroplane engineered by the software development company to be built to fully take advantage of the new Vulkan/Metal graphics engine. The jet is also fully compatible, as always with VSKYLABS, with Virtual Reality. The add-on is advertised as featuring a faithful reproduction of the aeroplanes original systems, flight dynamics and aircraft performance. The full list of features is available down below: 

• VSKYLABS 'Test-Pilot' project.
• Highly defined flight dynamics model of the He-162 First Generation Jet-Fighter.
• Damage simulation.
• Built around the powerful, native X-Plane's 'Experimental Flight Model' environment.
• Highly detailed model of the Heinkel He-162 aircraft.
• Systems simulation: All core systems of the He-162 are modeled.
• Fully functional VR (Virtual Reality) Ready.
• Multi-Layer FMOD sound pack.
• The project is under constant development: development road-map is including flight model refinements, enhanced systems depth, additional liveries and other improvements.
• STMA Autoupdater is included: Project updates are fast and efficient!
• Highly responsive VSKYLABS support forums.

The VSKYLABS Heinkel He-162 for X-Plane is available on the developer’s store for $24.85 USD.