Microsoft Flight Simulator Closed Beta - When Does the Alpha Test End?

What is the Microsoft Flight Simulator closed beta start date? When does the game’s alpha test end? If you’re eagerly anticipating the next entry in the series, these questions are likely on your mind. Luckily, both have been answered.

The Microsoft Fight Simulator closed beta start date is currently set for the end of the month, on Thursday, July 30.

Existing alpha testers will automatically get invited to the Microsoft Fight Simulator closed beta when it begins. A new wave of invites will go out to other Xbox Insider Program members on July 23.

Microsoft Flight Simulator Closed Beta Start Date, Alpha Test End Date

This also means that the ongoing Microsoft Flight Simulator alpha test will conclude on or around July 30, as long as nothing occurs to push the closed beta to a later date.

To be eligible for both the game’s alpha and closed beta tests, you need to sign up to the Xbox Insider Program, as its hub is being used to deliver the different test builds.

As it nears its final stretch of alpha testing, Microsoft Flight Simulator’s alpha 5 is now available. Here are its full patch notes:

Improved Content

FLIGHT MODEL

• The engine/propeller effects on all propeller planes has been improved for P-Factor, Torque, Gyro-Precession, and Prop Wash

• Flap lift and drag adjustments across all planes were made
• Belly landings are now possible for the Bonanza G36
• Overall A320 Fly By Wire (FBW) improvements continued
• TBM 930 Engine torque adjustments made
• Ongoing improvement to the ground effect formula to improve the overall “realism”
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Community Feedback and Fixes

TBM 930:

• The radio altimeter would continue to give indications regardless of the set bank angle

AIRPORTS

• [KMLB] Many taxiway signs were missing or were far away from the runway
• [EDDN] Users identified issues with several buildings, including some that were missing, that have now been corrected
• [GMMX] Users identified issues several buildings, including some that were missing, that have now been corrected
• General Improvement passes made to our procedurally generated airports to add any missing towers based on locations identified by users

PERIPHERALS:

• Pilots were reporting difficulty to understand or figure out how to delete their individual peripheral mappings. Please try again and let us know if the changes made have improved this.
• X52 Pro was reported as non-intuitive – we made efforts to improve the mapping and the trim controls to help

WEATHER

• Inconsistencies were reported between what was listed on the load screen and what appeared in game

Plane Specific Changes/Improvements

A320neo

• Vertical Speed (VS) improvements:
• No longer using pitch to aim target speed but corrected to use thrust instead
• VS no longer decreased upon activation of VS mode
• Stall warning no longer triggers when in Alpha protection
• Speed mode now correctly toggles when reaching the cruise altitude
• Fixed that the aircraft was sometimes not following its approach when reaching a transition
• Engaging the AP1 button would also engage AP2 – this is no longer true
• Auto Pilot was too aggressive – this has been tuned and improved
• Engines used to shut down when adjusting fuel mid-flight
• Improvements to APPR mode, fixed some issues where it was not working correctly
• We had a regression issue found in how the plane would level off in the last update, this is now working as intended

B747-8i

• Vertical Speed (VS) Improvements:
• Vertical Speed was not behaving as expected and would cause the plane to climb and descend erratically
• Using ALT mode would still allow control of the vertical speed selection
• We found animation issues with the wheels, now fixed
• We found that when spawning the aircraft, the front wheel would sometimes spawn in the air – now corrected
• FLT number now uses up to 7 characters as expected
• Overspeed warning no longer announces when under the cruise speed
• Speed protections are now working
• Auto throttle was not reaching the target speed during a climb
• Worked on aircraft overshooting turns when following the flight plan
• The check list is no longer missing the steps that enable the engine generators
• Adjusting the trim was having no effect in flight

DA40

• The glass cockpit waypoints now show correctly in the map and on the toolbar
• We corrected the Low Volt displayed after completing the checklist

BONANZA G36

• Audio: The engine audio on startup is now correctly synced to the engine startup
• Following the checklist, it was impossible to read the RPM because the MFD was OFF
• The Alternators 1 and 2 are no longer ON when starting from Cold and Dark

TBM 930

• You are now able to tune the NAV Radios using the touch screen
• The NAV screen sometimes showed flight plan errors and artifacts, improvements have been made here
• The tuned VOR was not giving a bearing
• Checklist issues:
• Prop RPM and TRQ was not achieving goals
• The engine was not turning off because the throttle was not reaching the Cut Off position

Airport Specific Changes

AIRPORTS

• ZBAA – There is a large green texture on the ground in the ZBAA Beijing airport
• KMCO – Landing Ribbons do not remain solid at KMCO Orlando International
• LXGB – Road traffic crossing over LXGB airport
• VQPR – Service vehicles fall from the sky when departing from Parking 20 at the VQPR Paro airport
• KLAX – Wrong departure runway at KLAX

Bug Fixes and QoL Improvements

ALL PLANES

• Auto Pilot was causing many aircraft to “rock” from left to right when ON
• The “Landing Gear” alert was spamming when at 16,000 MLS

AIRLINERS

• Mach Speed Management – we found issues that were affecting overall airliner performance that are now fixed. Mach numbers should now be more consistent
• Vertical Speed logic improved – the aircraft was only following the vertical speed and would not adjust for speed. This was having a negative effect on the Auto Pilot functionality. This has now been fixed but let us know if there are any other autopilot issues of which we should be aware
• Airliners should now be managing speed correctly – this was previously causing the aircrafts to overshoot their designated speeds

Live Air Traffic

• Live Air Traffic was only representing one or no planes during Free Flight
• Navigation Lights used to detach from the Live Planes
• We were missing pilots in the live planes – now we are not…

Cameras

• The 3rd person camera would shake when performing 45° degree turns
• Multiple Instrument Camera Controls were lacking functionality
• The user would get stuck while looking at instruments combined with the Right Click + Drag free look in Cockpit view

Flight Director

• The Flight Director was not always in sync with the activation of the FD button at the start of a flight
• Users were unable to turn off the Flight Director in some aircraft during flight

COCKPITS AND INSTRUMENTATION

• Issues fixed with the altimeter “jumping” during flight
• G1000: Auto-tuning the NAV Radio on a G1000 used to default to NAV1 instead of the selected radio
• G1000: the approach drawn after setting the direct to or classic-flight plan was not correct
• Glass Cockpits: Tooltips were corrected

MULTIPLAYER

• Issues fixed that were preventing pilots from seeing other pilot’s planes during flight
• Existing friends would display as disconnected in the friends list after launching the game
• Making changes to the Custom Weather settings was not applying those changes to all group members in a Multiplayer Session

Known issues

A320neo

• The aircraft speed does not maintain when changing altitude in the managed mode
• The NAV mode only activates when also activating the autopilot

B747-8i

• AUTO BANK gives bank angles that are too low (e.g. 5° instead of 25-30°)
• Once speed targets change to Mach, multiple interactions are then required to get your speed to follow the target

DA40 NG

• Cannot currently clear “Direct To” flight plan in the DA40NG
• The aircraft is currently rocking left and right during navigation

GRAND CARAVAN

• Autopilot currently overshoots too much to reach the FPL leg

TBM 930

• Airport info doesn’t appear when selected in the nearest airport list
• You are currently unable to monitor COM2 in the TBM 930 without also using ATC window
• The aircraft doesn’t follow the flight path during steep turns (smoothed trajectory)

MULTIPLAYER

• We are currently missing a notification when adding users to a group that is larger than capacity

PERIPHERALS

• Many keyboard controls are still missing – we will continue to add these and improve upon them

WEATHER

• Snow does not last on the ground surfaces as expected

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