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.
Cirrus Vision SF50 · Laminar Research · X-Plane 11
An ILS approach still requires manual speed control
The manual’s autopilot-assisted ILS follows the localiser and glideslope, while the pilot manages speed with the throttle and completes the flare and braking manually. This is the documented X-Plane procedure; later real-aircraft autothrottle and Safe Return accounts describe different equipment.
Archived Laminar SF50 manual · PDF p.35; no installed revision observed
Cirrus Vision SF50 · Laminar Research · X-Plane 11
The Vision Jet's documented configuration
Laminar's SF50 guide covers flight controls, autopilot and trim/configuration indications. It covers the bundled Vision Jet's equipment; later real-aircraft upgrades and other developers' packages have separate references.
Archived simulator manual; installed package revision not observed · PDF pp.7,46-47
DHC-6 Twin Otter · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2024
Navigation assistance still leaves speed with the pilot
The documented autopilot offers heading, navigation, approach, altitude and vertical-speed modes, including capture of a selected altitude. Approach mode follows the localiser and glideslope; the guide expressly distinguishes this from autoland and provides no automatic throttle or speed control.
Archived MSFS 2024 AOM · PDF pp.35–36
DHC-6 Twin Otter · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2024
The Twin Otter's working cockpit
The aircraft operating manual identifies the armrest-mounted autopilot controls, trim and flap indications, and hydraulic-pressure instrumentation.
Archived simulator manual; installed package revision not observed · PDF pp.7,11,21
Diamond DA20 / DV20 · Aerobask · X-Plane 12
A Continental Eclipse with a SkyView cockpit
Aerobask’s X-Plane 12 package represents the DA20-C1 with a 125 hp Continental IO-240. Its custom SkyView includes synthetic vision, touchscreen controls, autopilot and Navigraph charts. Instruments offer popup and separate-window views, with additional options for their presentation.
Gathered Aerobask page · DA20-C1; package revision not stated
Got Friends DoubleEnder · Got Friends · MSFS 2020 · MSFS 2024
Compatibility and navigation updates
The v1.0.6 notes record MSFS 2024 compatibility, WTT GTN650 support and autopilot/navigation fixes.
DoubleEnder v1.0.6
C-47D Skytrain · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2024
A period Gyropilot and hydraulic system
The C-47 has separate trim controls and a Sperry Gyropilot for maintaining a selected attitude and direction. Its hydraulic system also serves landing gear, flaps and other auxiliaries. The manual explains the pump and selector arrangement, providing context for a cockpit that predates modern route-following autopilots.
Archived simulator manual; installed package revision not observed · PDF pp.5,10,28
DC-3 · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2024
Choose a period or modernised cockpit
The DC-3 guide describes trim tabs and hydraulically operated auxiliary systems. It also offers a vintage Sperry installation or a modern GNS/autopilot configuration. Those choices represent different cockpit equipment, making the selected version important when looking up navigation or automation controls.
Archived simulator manual; installed package revision not observed · PDF pp.5-6,10
DC-3 · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2020
Choose a period or modernised cockpit
The DC-3 guide describes trim tabs and hydraulically operated auxiliary systems. It also offers a vintage Sperry installation or a modern GNS/autopilot configuration. Those choices represent different cockpit equipment, making the selected version important when looking up navigation or automation controls.
Archived simulator manual; installed package revision not observed · PDF pp.5-6,10
DC-3C Airliner · VSKYLABS · X-Plane 12
Released product and variants
The DC-3C is a modernised civilian development based on a C-47A. VSKYLABS equips it with G1000-based avionics, a matching autopilot and a passenger cabin; the military C-47B is sold separately.
Official developer / designated-store reference · checked 2026-09-14
DC-6 · PMDG · MSFS 2020 · MSFS 2024
Understanding the automated flight engineer
The automated flight engineer maintains its selected phase, so it can override manual power, mixture or carburettor-air adjustments. The June 2021 guide describes Abort as the return to manual systems management. It also separates the assistant's responsibilities from the pilot's: the documented version does not operate the autopilot or start the engines. Its cruise setup is a chosen compromise among several settings in the handbook.
PMDG DC-6 Pilot Introduction, June 2021; archived version and its documented assistant limits · PDF pp.12–14
DC-6 · PMDG · MSFS 2020 · MSFS 2024
Control tabs, trim tabs and the Sperry autopilot
The DC-6 manual distinguishes spring control tabs from trim tabs. They are different mechanisms, even though both involve small surfaces attached to larger controls. The Sperry A-12 autopilot also has a trim servo that responds to sustained pitch imbalance. That period system helps explain why the DC-6 cockpit is organised differently from a modern jet's flight-guidance panel.
Archived document; installed package version not observed · PDF pp.15,57,87
