Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Sim Update 7.2 Rolls Back Drag Calculations and Fixes Cold-Weather Boeing 737 Starters
Now live across PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Sim Update 7.2 (build 1.9.24.0) targets critical flight model and aircraft systems issues introduced in the recent major update. Following community reports of broken flight characteristics on external add-on planes and engine ignition failures in sub-zero conditions, Asobo Studio and Microsoft have deployed a focused patch that rolls back a key aerodynamic change.
Pre-SU7 Drag Simulation Rollback Restores Third-Party Aircraft
The headline adjustment in build 1.9.24.0 directly addresses atmospheric physics. According to the official Sim Update 7.2 release notes, the development team has reverted the recent change to drag simulation calculations back to the pre-Sim Update 7 formula.
That rollback specifically restores backwards compatibility with third-party add-on aircraft whose glide ratios, airspeed curves, and fuel burn behaved unpredictably under the revised drag model. For PC pilots still encountering long loading times or instability, the team also advises temporarily moving outdated packages out of the Community folder before relaunching the simulator.
Boeing 737 Cold-Weather Starters and Realistic Helicopter Turbulence
Sim Update 7.2 also resolves two mechanical bugs that disrupted cold-weather and rotary-wing flights across PC and console setups, including players diving into the simulator after the recent Xbox PC app performance overhaul:
- Bleed Air Starters in Cold Temperatures: aircraft relying on bleed air starter systems, including the Boeing 737 and F/A-18, occasionally failed to crank and ignite their engines when ambient air temperatures were set very low.
- Helicopter RPM Spikes in Realistic Turbulence: rotary-wing aircraft could suffer from excessive rotor RPM and sudden, uncommanded lift whenever the Turbulence assistance setting was configured to Realistic.
- In-Flight Camera Menu: fixed a user interface bug where custom values inside the in-flight Camera panel were not being properly read or applied.
PlayStation 5 XML Gauges, WASM API, and SDK Fixes
PlayStation 5 aviators and third-party module developers also receive four targeted fixes under the hood:
- PS5 Cockpit Gauges: fixed an issue preventing
BMPimage files used byXMLgauges from loading properly on PlayStation 5. - PS5 WASM API: corrected the
fsNetworkHttpRequestGetStateWASM function on PS5, which previously returned an 8-bit enum value as a 32-bit integer without clearing the upper 24 bits. - DevMode SimObject Profiler: exterior profiling no longer selects wrong camera angles at random.
- SDK SimConnect Crash: resolved a crash triggered when custom SimConnect events with numerical IDs were paired with
F:KeyEvent.
My Take
In a flight simulator whose long-term ecosystem lives and breathes through third-party hangars, altering core drag calculations without a safety net is a guaranteed way to ground half the community's favorite planes. I much prefer seeing Asobo Studio swallow its pride and roll the drag formula back to the pre-SU7 baseline immediately rather than leaving add-on developers scrambling for weeks. And if you spent twenty minutes on a freezing runway wondering why your Boeing 737 bleed air starters refused to turn over, build 1.9.24.0 is a very welcome relief.
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