Microsoft is adding helicopters and gliders to Microsoft Flight Simulator on November 11th. The 40th Anniversary Edition of the game will be available free to existing owners or Xbox Game Pass members and includes helicopters and gliders for the first time since 2006.

“In addition to the helicopters and gliders, we will introduce another highly-requested community feature: a true-to-life airliner, the sophisticated Airbus A-310 where nearly every single button works just as expected,” explains Jorg Neumann, head of Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Image: Microsoft

The 40th Anniversary Edition is a rather big update for Microsoft Flight Simulator, as it also includes seven famous historical aircraft, including the largest wooden plane ever made: the 1947 Hughes H-4 Hercules. Microsoft is also adding four classic airports, 10 glider airports, 14 heliports, and 20 classic missions from past versions of Flight Simulator. In total there are 12 new aircraft.

Ahead of the 40th Anniversary Edition, Microsoft Flight Simulator is also getting a German cities update today that coincides with Gamescom (held in Cologne). The update includes improvements to five German cities: Hanover, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Bonn, and Cologne.

Microsoft has been gradually adding more high-resolution cities to Flight Simulator alongside performance improvements and even a Top Gun expansion since the game’s launch in 2020. Microsoft Flight Simulator also arrived on Xbox Cloud Gaming earlier this year, allowing Xbox One owners to access the title for the first time.