B2 Bomber & T-7 Red Hawk Flight Simulator
High-fidelity cockpit development for military aircraft in Microsoft Flight Simulator, with performance optimization achieving significantly faster load times.
The Challenge
Top Mach Studios, a PC Pilot award-winning company specializing in military aviation add-ons for Microsoft Flight Simulator, needed detailed and fully functional cockpit implementations for the B2 Bomber and T-7 Red Hawk fighter jet. The cockpits required accurate replication of real flight instruments, and the simulation had to load quickly in MSFS's single-threaded environment without blocking the UI.
Our Approach
We delivered complete cockpit development with all flight systems, followed by targeted performance optimization.
Cockpit Systems
We meticulously implemented essential avionics and flight instruments including the Horizontal Situation Indicator (HSI), Electronic Flight Bag (EFB), Head-Up Display (HUD), Attitude Indicator (ADI), Flight Control System (FCS), Navigation Map, and Environmental Control System (ECS).
Performance Optimization
After initial development, we identified loading time bottlenecks. Through profiling, we pinpointed inefficient JSON parsing as a key issue. Benchmarking showed that replacing Nlohmann JSON with RapidJSON dramatically improved data parsing speeds. We also distributed loading tasks across multiple frames, preventing main thread blocking and keeping the UI responsive throughout.
Technical Stack
- Languages: C++
- Libraries: RapidJSON
- Platform: Microsoft Flight Simulator (MSFS)
- Focus: Avionics simulation, performance optimization
Results
- Fully functional B2 Bomber and T-7 Red Hawk cockpits
- All requested avionics systems accurately implemented
- Significantly faster load times after optimization
- Client satisfaction led to an additional fighter jet project award