MSFS20/24 1500R Sport v1.2.0 Now Available!

Following the release of and first update for the Pietenpol Air Camper, I have been working on the second update for the 1500R Sport. This update backports a lot of fixes and quality of life improvements that I made to the Piet.

One of the biggest features in this update is the addition of a Wind Volume control slider on the Blueprint options. You now have the ability to make the wind sounds even quieter or much louder for a better open cockpit experience! This slider is persistent and defaults to about what the wind volume levels were in the previous update.

On top of these sound changes, a new wind sound has been added when slipping the aircraft. The mix of the engine sounds has also been improved, with a lot of the focus on how the exhaust sounds spread.

For those of you flying with other 1500R’s in multiplayer, all control surfaces will now animate and the multiplayer AI sounds have also been overhauled, fixing a day 1 issue that prevented the RPM sounds from playing back as intended. Overall, the aircraft sounds a lot more pleasant now (Or as pleasant as a 2-stroke making 7000 RPM can)!

In addition to all of these changes, another issue that was brought to my attention after the release of the Piet was that the radio was unusable for those of you flying in legacy interactions mode. That has now been corrected with the added ability to left click to select (previously it was right click only). Alongside this improvement, I also fixed transponder modes and the ident button not functioning, which should now make it fully compliant with Vatsim.

These are just a handful of the improvements available in this update!

• Added 2024’s brake fade simulation.
• Added keybind support for: SMOKE OFF, SMOKE ON, SMOKE SET, SMOKE TOGGLE.
• Added wind volume control to blueprint (persistent).
• Adjusted elevator trim push rod length.
• Adjusted mix of combustion sounds.
• Adjusted mix of wind sounds and increased max volume.
• Changed active comm frequency preset to 122.8 and standby to 121.5 (guard).
• Changed dirt type to REGULAR for increased accumulation rate.
• Choke is now mapped to the Spoiler Axis.
• Fixed an issue with other addons overwriting the default smoke effect.
• Fixed blueprint markings fading as camera zooms out.
• Fixed dynamic registration colors on exterior.
• Fixed chocks visible in flight when slewing into the air with the parking brake on.
• Fixed elevator, ailerons, and control stick not animating in multiplayer.
• Fixed elevator downward deflection angle (animation was not reaching 100% down).
• Fixed incorrect template used for right main tire.
• Fixed multiplayer/AI engine sounds (Missing pitch curve, causing RPM transitions to be linear).
• Fixed toggling covers from blueprint turning off engine. Added dynamic tooltip description.
• Fixed radio select interactions in Legacy interaction mode (added ability to left click to select).
• Fixed sounds and improved interaction feedback for radio buttons 1-4.
• Fixed transponder ident not working (simvar wouldn’t change).
• Fixed transponder mode unable to be changed while on the ground (simvar wouldn’t change).
• Fixed wrench sound sometimes playing when entering slew, even if prop was not broke.
• Improved autostart: Preflight covers will now be automatically removed.
• Improved prop strike detection code (now angle-based).
• Increased scale of static port preflight covers.
• Migrated persistence to EX1 scoped vars (your blueprint preferences will be reset).
• Radio screen now integrated with EFB brightness settings.
• Reworked elevator trim interaction and animations.

• Added keybind support for: SMOKE OFF, SMOKE ON, SMOKE SET, SMOKE TOGGLE.
• Added wind volume control to blueprint (persistent).
• Adjusted elevator trim push rod length.
• Adjusted mix of combustion sounds.
• Adjusted mix of wind sounds and increased max volume.
• Changed active comm frequency preset to 122.8 and standby to 121.5 (guard).
• Choke is now mapped to the Spoiler Axis.
• Fixed an issue with other addons overwriting the default smoke effect.
• Fixed blueprint and compass markings fading as camera zooms out.
• Fixed elevator, ailerons, and control stick not animating in multiplayer.
• Fixed elevator downward deflection angle (animation was not reaching 100% down).
• Fixed multiplayer/AI engine sounds (Missing pitch curve, causing RPM transitions to be linear).
• Fixed radio select interactions in Legacy interaction mode (added ability to left click to select).
• Fixed sounds and improved interaction feedback for radio buttons 1-4.
• Fixed transponder ident not working (simvar wouldn’t change).
• Fixed transponder mode unable to be changed while on the ground (simvar wouldn’t change).
• Improved prop strike detection code (now angle-based).
• Reworked elevator trim interaction and animations.
• Pitot cover will now be removed during auto-start.

For those of you who already used your free trial option, I toggled the reset option upon release, so you should have the ability to run another 1-day free trial if you wish!

The v1.2.0 update for the 1500R Sport is now available from the Emerald Scenery Design website (must be logged in to follow link) as well as ORBX, and will be rolling out on Marketplace in the near future!

PS5 Users: This update will need to be onboarded and tested by Sony before it can be released. Neither Sony nor Microsoft give us a time estimate on this process, so it could be a few weeks or more (based on how previous aircraft releases are still pending).