Find aircraft background, systems descriptions and manuals for the aircraft you are researching. Each note keeps its source and version context close by.
Simulator manuals describe the developer’s implementation. Aircraft background is research-based; pilot accounts describe an individual’s experience. Coverage here is limited to the selected notes and linked resources, not the full contents of every manual.
Beechcraft King Air C90B · Laminar Research · X-Plane 12
The smaller King Air's cockpit
The C90B guide identifies roll and yaw trim controls and the navigation and autopilot systems implemented in Laminar's aircraft. Its cockpit belongs to the 90-series King Air, with its own documentation rather than the equipment list of a larger King Air 350.
Archived simulator manual; installed package revision not observed · PDF pp.6,29
Beechcraft King Air C90B · Laminar Research · X-Plane 11
The smaller King Air's cockpit
The C90B guide identifies roll and yaw trim controls and the navigation and autopilot systems implemented in Laminar's aircraft. Its cockpit belongs to the 90-series King Air, with its own documentation rather than the equipment list of a larger King Air 350.
Archived simulator manual; installed package revision not observed · PDF pp.6,29
King Air 350 · Airfoillabs · X-Plane 12
Avionics choices and custom automatic flight
Airfoillabs's King Air 350 v2 combines avionics options with custom autopilot logic, including VNAV and approach behaviour. The product description also covers engine simulation, pressurisation and ice-protection systems. The reviewed current branch is for X-Plane 12; older King Air releases need their own version context.
King Air350 v2.0.3 December 2025; XP12 · Avionics & Autopilot; version and requirements
206 family · CowanSim · MSFS 2020 · MSFS 2024
Stability assistance and upper modes do different jobs
Cowan's HeloSAS uses small cyclic corrections to stabilise the helicopter. The manual distinguishes force-trim behaviour with SAS engaged and disengaged, and explains the difference between spring-centred and non-centring controls. Its upper autopilot modes become selectable above 44 knots in the documented implementation. Stability assistance, rotor-speed governing and route-following modes are separate systems.
Archived document; installed package version not observed · PDF pp.1-2
206 family · CowanSim · X-Plane 11 · X-Plane 12
Disconnecting an upper mode can leave SAS active
The X-Plane SAS guide distinguishes trim release, upper-mode disconnection and the underlying stability system. Its published force-trim-release and autopilot-disconnect commands have different effects: disconnecting the upper modes can preserve SAS. The documented 44-knot threshold applies to mode availability, not to a universal helicopter operating limit.
Archived X-Plane SAS/AP manual · PDF pp.1-4
Bell 206 family
Bell reworked an unsuccessful military observation-helicopter proposal into the commercial JetRanger. The resulting 206 family became widely used for passenger transport, observation and utility work. The familiar single-engine versions use a two-bladed main rotor.
The 206B JetRanger and stretched 206L LongRanger are separate branches of that story. Their cabins, engines and equipment are not identical. Cowan's simulator documentation also separates the models and their stability-assistance features, making the exact add-on name important when reading about trim or autopilot controls.
Aircraft / family
307 Stratoliner · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2024
Early pressurised-airliner cockpit equipment
The Stratoliner guide identifies the autopilot installation, elevator trim and tailwheel lock. These controls help place the 307 between earlier simple transports and the later jet-airliner flight deck, with period equipment that needs its own illustrated reference.
Archived simulator manual; installed package revision not observed · PDF pp.3,5
727 Series Professional · FlyJSim · X-Plane 11
Period autopilots and hydraulic flight controls
FlyJSim's 727 v3 documentation distinguishes FD108 and SP150 autopilot installations. It also describes custom control-surface behaviour for hydraulic pressure, blow-down and standby operation. Those details help explain the aircraft as a period trijet with its own systems, rather than a modern Boeing cockpit behind analogue instrument faces.
727 Series Professional v3 · Study Level Systems and Dynamics
Boeing 727
Boeing developed the 727 after the 707, arranging three engines around the rear fuselage and a high T-tail. The first flight took place in 1963, with service following in 1964. Its elaborate high-lift wing supported the programme's airport-access ambitions.
The -100 and longer -200 have different proportions, while freighter conversions add another role. In the cockpit, a flight engineer and period autopilot installations create a very different workflow from a modern 737. The simulator developer documents which installation its aircraft represents.
Aircraft / family
737 family · PMDG · MSFS 2020 · MSFS 2024
Control-wheel steering and hardware options
PMDG documents autopilot reversion to control-wheel steering when the simulated controls are displaced. An aircraft option can instead ignore hardware input during autopilot operation. The introduction also gives electric-trim travel limits that depend on the 737 body variant. These are useful configuration details when comparing how a particular aircraft responds to a desktop control setup.
MSFS introduction November 2022 · PDF p.30; AP reversion and electric-trim limits
747-400 Global Super Tanker · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2024
The firefighting 747 has a separate guide
The Global SuperTanker guide documents autopilot engagement, disconnection and the separate warning-acknowledgement action. Its flight-management computer calculates take-off trim from loading. Those details belong to this specialist 747 configuration and its own source material.
document snapshot; exact installed package not observed · PDF pp6,22,32
747-400 LCF Dreamlifter · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2024
The Dreamlifter differs behind the enlarged fuselage
The LCF guide states that the represented Dreamlifter has no auxiliary power unit. It also documents loading-based take-off trim and separate autopilot disconnect and warning-acknowledgement actions. The outsized cargo body is therefore not its only meaningful difference from a passenger 747.
document snapshot; exact installed package not observed · PDF pp7,22,32
