Aerosoft CRJ 500/700 for Microsoft Flight Simulator gets a release date

After several months of waiting and delaying, Aerosoft has finally pulled back the curtain on the final release date for its new CRJ 500/700 payware add-on for Microsoft Flight Simulator. The regional jet will formally take to the skies on March 16, 2020.

The CRJ 500/700 is a hotly-anticipated release by many in the core sim community as this will mark the first true payware “study-level” airliner to come to the new Microsoft Flight Simulator.

High fidelity recreations

“Study-level” refers to highly-advanced aircraft add-ons created and developed by professionals that are so close to the real deal, even real pilots can use the content for training/refinement. This release is sure to be the first of many to come from Aerosoft, as well as other payware companies for Microsoft Flight Simulator.

While the default aircraft in Microsoft Flight Simulator created by Asobo and its partners are all pretty decent, what companies like Aerosoft do goes well beyond in terms of the level of complexity. Basically, all of the default aircraft in the simulator are push-to-start, and although they behave relatively accurately, they’re far easier to fly than the real deals. This is especially true of the airliners, which core simmers are finding rather underwhelming. That’s why the new CRJ 500/700 has been so hotly-anticipated.

This aircraft is for the folks who don’t just want to fly; they want to learn. In partnership with Aerosoft, YouTuber “The Dude” has been releasing a series of videos of the CRJ in action. His latest video, just posted today, finally shows him taking the aircraft out for a real flight. The prior videos have simply shown all of the different systems that this complex add-on will pack in.

A complex regional carrier

The complexity of such an add-on really cannot be understated. This isn’t to say that newcomers can’t fly something like this; it’s just that such an add-on requires more time and patience to master.

Aerosoft has not yet released a price for its new CRJ 500/700 for Microsoft Flight Simulator. With the release being two weeks away (as of the time of publication), those details should be coming soon. Its CRJ products for other flight sims range between $50-$75 USD, so that should give you an idea of how much this latest release should cost.

Yes, these add-ons are quite the pretty penny. Again, this all ties into the sheer complexity of such a project and all the time and effort it takes to research and develop something of this caliber.