Fenix Simulations Releases A320 V2 Block 1

The long-awaited Fenix A320 update is finally here. Block 1 is now ready to download.

Posted: 10-Aug-2023 @ 15:00z

Fenix Simulations Releases A320 V2 Block 1

Fenix Simulations has just released the biggest update for the Fenix A320 since it was first released last year. This all-new version builds on the original with improvements to performance, flight modeling, systems, displays, and much more.

V2 Block 1 contains fly-by-wire updates, a new VNAV system and other avionics updates, some new displays, and performance optimizations. Fenix shared some results from the update that highlights the performance gains users will see.

The changelog, down below, is massive. Aamir even admitted this is a truncated version of a changelog, due to the sheer number of changes being massive (over 1000). Despite the improvements, there are a few known issues in this build. But none of them were seen by the team as worth delaying the overall build to the wider community by a few weeks.

Aamir also added, “whilst all of this is very exciting, there is a very important caveat that should be noted. You are about to go from a mature release that has been proven over 9 months by thousands of users, to a build run earlier today, and tested by a couple dozen testers. Whilst we’ve worked hard to ensure there are no super egregious issues that’ll ruin the fun, we do anticipate a fair few bumps and lumps in this version as we go from an in-house testing team, to the wild west of the entire customer base.”

This is the first ‘block’ of the v2 release for the A320. Block 2 is due to happen at the end of September and will see improvements to the visual modeling, a new version of the EFB, and the long-awaited IAE engines (plus improved engine modeling for the CFM engines). Once we learn more about Block 2, we’ll let you know.

Of course, this is all paving way for future products for Fenix. So far, we know that they plan on releasing the A319 and the A321 by the end of the year as an expansion pack.

You can head to your Fenix account now and download the update. If you don’t already own the Fenix A320, you can buy it for £49.99 from their website.

Changelog

A320 CFM V1.5.1.193

[APP]

Removed legacy display render options
Forced default to new display renderer
Added checkbox to enable legacy display selection, CPU only
Added checkbox to enable display synchronisation
Added “?” next to options in order to explain functionality, replacing tooltips

[EFB]

Fixed weight and balance discrepancies
Updated layout to 180 PAX
Updated EFB Map to support AMDB and new Navi Maps
Removed loading bars from Map and Charts to facilitate faster load-in

[DISPLAYS]

Complete rewrite and redrawing of PFD encompassing fonts, colours, element size and positioning, matched pixel by pixel to real display.
Complete rewrite and redrawing of ND encompassing fonts, colours, element size and positioning, matched pixel by pixel to real display.
Complete rewrite and redrawing of Upper ECAM encompassing fonts, colours, element size and positioning, matched pixel by pixel to real display.
Complete rewrite and redrawing of Lower ECAM encompassing fonts, colours, element size and positioning, matched pixel by pixel to real display.
Complete rewrite and redrawing of FCU encompassing fonts, colours, element size and positioning, matched pixel by pixel to real display.
Complete rewrite and redrawing of Clock Display encompassing fonts, colours, element size and positioning, matched pixel by pixel to real display.
Increased brightness of all displays for better visibility in bright daylight.
Rewrote the entire display render pipeline to increase performance, the old display pipeline is still supported but not recommended.

[FM, FBW & AUTOFLIGHT]

Rudder authority retuned system side to provide consistent behavioural output to the user
Fixed a bug with aileron ground-to-normal blending law, now correctly blending in 0.5s per the real aircraft
Retuned aileron response times during blending
Retuned and refined fly-by-wire implementation re Yaw x Roll relationship, the aircraft should now more appropriately compensate for roll moments induced by introducing rudder input
Retuned lateral ground friction values in conjunction with the above rudder authority changes to ensure cohesive and consistent lateral control properties
Fixed a bug with the fly by wire inhibiting aileron orders being sent when the aircraft was in FLARE mode
Reworked spoiler deployment to dump lift faster, ensuring the aircraft settles quickly
Rewritten control surface parameters
Adjusted gyro and other stability factors in FM
Externalised elevator dynamics into system code
Implemented proprietary surface deflection and dynamic pressure simulation to elevator code
Adjusted aileron handling properties
Adjusted aircraft inertia
Adjusted elevator-code effectiveness to achieve desired pitch-rate in direct law
Adjusted roll rate in raw flightmodel/direct law
Rewrote Fly-by-Wire entirely with correct C* Law fundamental philosophy
Implemented corrected C* Law mathematics and computations
Adjusted data-flow for inputs/outputs used by the fly-by-wire algorithms
Adjusted/corrected data bias in C* calculations for different flight states
Added dynamic stick mapping as featured on real aircraft based on aircraft state and C* Limits
Fixed THS movement being inhibited while stick input is detected
Adjusted elevator limits in line with specified limitations on real aircraft in flight
Retuned FBW pitch axis for change in elevator
Retuned FBW pitch axis for less off-axis snap
Retuned FBW roll axis for change in aileron
Retuned FBW roll axis for less roll-in snap
Generalised AP PID tuning to accommodate large scale changes to flight dynamics
Retuned AP PIDs for more response, better behaviour in ALT Capture Modes
Retuned AP PIDs for better FD coupling
Retuned ATHR for better response and accuracy
Corrected FBW load factor limits per system spec
Corrected direct law elevator limits, resulting in a slight increase in nose “weight” when rotating
Retuned FBW roll compensator for increased precision during roll manoeuvres
Retuned FBW pitch compensator for increased precision during speed changes
Retuned FLARE mode properties for new flight dynamics
Fixed oscillations during substantial pitch manoeuvres
Fixed oscillations during 2x simspeed
Adjusted FLARE/GROUND flight control unlatch logic and properties
Adjusted THS zero logic post touchdown to incorporate correct activation gates
Adjusted trim entries in raw flightmodel for better accuracy and post-rotation stability
Improved autopilot rudder use for single engine flight (yes, we know, engine model still not good in single engine flight!)

[AVIONICS & SYSTEMS]

Sync’d systems and MSFS icing, icing now works and affects aircraft, anti-ice systems now effective
Swapped old nasty TERR out for new shiny PEAK mode TERR
Fixed crash in calculation of alternate fuel
Fixed MCDU LATREV page crash
Fixed spurious ECAM faults when IRS not aligned on ground
Added IR NOT ALIGNED ECAM
Fixed issue where ECAM advisories would not call the associated page because other advisories were still active
Added blinking ECAM align message for alignment failure
Fixed swapped left and centre gear MIP indicators
Fixed LNAV CF legs flying too for away before turning inbound
Fixed incorrect bleed temp on ECAM for engine 2
Fixed inconsistencies in wind data between IRS outputs on hybrid GPIRS system
Added DME bias to ILS DME classes and DME calculations
Do not change appearance of roll limit indicators in PFD attitude during alpha protection
Modified emergency exit signs to use LGCIU signal 12 and fix signs auto mode to use the same signal 12 (tl;dr – gear up ding now study level)
Fixed issues with ALTN FUEL/TIME calculation
Added clamp for new LNAV CF code to not be called if output is not a correct shortcut
Fixed ECAM advisories in single ECAM mode
Fixed PPOS on empty FPLN does not maintain the same ID
Fixed V/DEV jumps during descent when toggling between selected and managed speed
Small modification/clamp to idle descent angle calculation logic, calculations unchanged
Adjusted logic to clear active advisories when FWC inop
Fixed some DX12 bugs/crashes
Smoothed out aileron droop to align with flap extension
Fixed an issue where VNAV did not properly calculate distances, causing routing issues (EGCC23R/SONEX1R)
Make sure CLB or DES prompt appears when altitude constraint entered directly on FPLN page in cruise phase
Fixed an issue where some descend altitude constraints could be missed
Fixed ECAM CRUISE engine data not showing advisories for vibration data
When engine not running, display eng limit according to thrust lever position
Engine pressure indication should show values in increments of 2
Adjusted parking brake pressure
Added start valve not closed ECAM procedure
Improved conditions for detecting start valve faults
Fixed L/G not down ECAM message during go around with MCT thrust
Allow spoiler panel control on the ground
Fixed alpha floor engaging only at alpha max
Fixed FADEC fault displayed as engine failure
Fixed traffic indication on ND should not have the alt delta be affected by QNH setting (VATSIM fix)
Rewrote DECEL pseudo waypoint generation algorithm
Fixed SEC F-PLN distance calculation bug
Fixed issue with FCU alt being replaced by CST alt on RNAV approaches, despite FCU alt > CST alt
Keep departure runway visible on ND
Added lavatory smoke failure
Fixed null pointer exception (autoflight)
Added an extra alt constraint check after construction of the idle descend path to detect any missed constraints that were created due to the idle descend computation
Fix crash in descend validation (VNAV)
Fixed flight control surface droop while HYD failure active during flight, added new simulation for unpowered surfaces while in the air
Added new and improved autopilot asymmetric thrust rudder controller for single engine flight
Fixed and latched FLARE FMA on long/floated landings, should no longer revert to V/S and Heading
VATSIM TCAS fix… again (limitation as of current is users with different simulators appearing at different altitudes due to the differences in the way different simulators calculate/handle pressure)
Modified reversion from DES/CLB & OPEN DES/OPEN CLB when FCU altitude increased/decreased to above/below aircraft actual altitude
Fixed erroneous FMA indications during climb when current altitude exceeds next WPT climb alt
Removed custom ground friction code
Fixed reversal of FWC to master warning upper/lower annunciator connections
Added new transition selection logic, to autoselect transition if only 1 is available
Added discontinuity to route drawing if approach is selected, and two or more transitions exist but are NOT selected
Added VNAV calculations for speed and altitude in SEC FPLN
Set auto-TCAS off by default
LBS ZFW entry box corrected to 3 boxes instead of 2
PFD indications with ADIRS off have been fixed
ENTER DEST DATA message logic corrected, should no longer trigger for no minima
OPT FL on PROG page logic fixed, should now depend correctly on INIT A + B
CHECK IRS/AIRPORT POS and REF/GPS POS DIFF MCDU messages added
FAC autotest extended simulation added, to be refined further
FMGC autotest extended simulation added, to be refined further
Incorrect TOD calculation when an early and high alt restriction is input fixed
FMS approach page, “º” symbol disappears after inserting temperature value fixed
PFD FD in FMA has incomplete symbology, missing “1 FD -” and “- FD 2” types, now fixed.
1FD2 on PFD Logic Error, 1FD2 shown on PFD while FAC 1+2 are tripped, fixed.
Panel 50VU, APU TEST lights up wrong lights, now triggers APU FIRE LOOP
Caging always puts the STBY horizon to the correct attitude, fixed.
EGPWS functions available with LOW NAV Accuracy now fixed, should no longer provide enhanced coverage when nav accuracy is low
OPT FL available on the progress page with no data inserted, fixed
ADIRS Test Behaviour refined
CHECK IRS/AIRPORT POS and REF/GPS POS DIFF MCDU messages missing refined further
Corrected SOFT CRZ activation parameters w.r.t timing lockout
Airway Entry page should no longer auto-scroll
Improved Metric/Imperial unit standardisation, Fahrenheit (ew) added to duct and cabin temp readouts
Enroute VORs should no longer double display on ND
Fixed random decelerations and speed reversions in VNAV
Rewritten descent vertical submode switching logic according to speed margins and descent segment (early/pressurisation, idle, geometric)
Redefined criteria for VNAV over/under speed and speed margins
Changed logic for speed targets in DES (VUM/VLM/Vprof, Vhold, etc)
During LGCIU 1+2 fault, APs are now added to inactive systems
“Altitude waypoints” should no longer display altitude CSTR on ND
Corrected ND symbology when TO waypoint with MANUAL LEG
L/DEV showing on non RNP AR SIDs (temp fix – have removed them, but waiting on better data from Navigraph to ID RNP ARs on SIDs before adding them for <0.3nm cases)
“ATA” or first time on the FPLN page should now show in large font on MCDU
Corrections to FMA logic w.r.t armed modes during descent
L/DEV and V/DEV scales on PFD for NPAs should appear once approach phase activated in MCDU, not APPR PB on FCU.
Corrected FCU 1+2 Fault under LAND mode to inhibit loss of APs/FDs/FMA
Corrected landing capability freeze below 100ft RA
SEC 1+2+3 Fault Direct Law condition corrected to Flap Handle input
FMGC predictions now work without IRS aligned
Corrected EWD memo for TLA not in idle during start
Fixed issue with incorrect speed targets being fed to MCDU during DES
Fixed Hydraulic failure/off ACCU PRESS logic on HYD page
Adjustment to speed change/magenta markers logic
Corrected FOB amber box
Fixed holds with trackCode HM should not show as MANUAL in the MCDU, correct layout now built
Improved guidance in DES mode
Improved F-G/S and DES in APPR phase logic
Added CONF2+ condition for switching to G/A phase by TLA position
Fixed null battery data causing a crash in displays
Prevented incorrect selection of FCU speed
Returned belowProfile as an overspeed recovery option
Improved DES in approach phase VPath speed logic
Adjusted reversions for DES and F-G/S modes in approach
Fixed incorrect distance map causing VNAV errors
Adjusted XPNDR edit logic, entry inhibited when 4 digit entry present
Adjusted A/THR FMA mode display – cancelled IDLE msg override by the actual EWD
During ANN LIGHT TEST, ATC Panel digits corrected to ‘8888’
Corrected IRS/GPS data mixing during startup flow, inhibiting NAV ACCUR UPGRAD message during aircraft power-up
Attempted to reduce nose-down moment on touchdown by correcting FLARE logic control bias post-touchdown
Inhibited V/S during pushback manoeuvres
Added logic to CABIN READY memo, now occurs randomly during taxi-out and approach – in order to expedite, push CALL BUTTON
Fixed incorrect EPE that showed when no data was available, it is now dashed if no EPE is computed
DES guidance will now always honour the alt CST in holdings and FCU alt even if no level-off flag is set.
Fixed and connected both LP valve power sources to fire buttons
Fixed issue with DES not dashing MCDU PROG CRZ alt.
Added automatic assignment of CRZ ALT if none inserted on takeoff
Change FCU ALT > CRZ ALT, CRZ FL Update in MCDU behaviour to correct spec
Fixed FCU Alt > CRZ Alt not updating in PFD
Fixed “IRS IN ALIGN” should always show the “Greater Than 7” Symbol when time to align is equal to 7 Minutes or more.
Disabled Brake Temps simulation when NWS Disconnected
Removed Sidestick Realistic Option.
Fixed setting Thrust Levers to TOGA with Engines Off causes both Avionics Ventilation In and Outlet to close. Should stay open with Engines Off.
Fixed MCDU INIT B FUEL PRED page bug when cold and dark
Fixed “IRS MONITOR” on the MCDU shows time to align double.
Fixed VNAV bug with block altitude restriction targeting wrong alt

[VISUALS]

Cockpit & displays made brighter during the day and at higher altitudes
Slight texture cleanup to reduce level of wear in cockpit
Cabin & galley optimisations (increase in performance noted in testing)

[SOUND]

Engine start and shutdown sound logic improved (no more start noises when wind-milling with the master switch on)
Buzzsaw improved (especially during climb/cruise)
N2 whine reworked in all phases of flight
Engine inlet airflow noise improved
Cockpit wind rebuilt to be 3D with better recordings
Cabin packs sample improved
AEVC volume in cockpit adjusted
Exterior sound volume levelling
Exterior doppler effect added
Rear cabin soundset returns
Call Buttons enabled/working
Gear retraction recording improved
Gear wind noise improved
Optimisation of the soundset (lower memory/CPU cost)
Spoiler drag noise improved