Microsoft Flight Simulator has been the digital equivalent of a Sunday drive at thirty thousand feet: run your checklists, dial in the autopilot, and admire how photogrammetry handles your neighborhood rooftops. On October 13, 2026, Microsoft and Asobo Studio traded that calm cruise for closed-course pylon racing at fifty to two hundred and fifty feet above the dirt. With the arrival of Sim Update 7 (version 1.9.18.0) for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, the National Championship Air Races expansion and a companion 40-plane DLC bundle called Racer Pack 1 have officially touched down.
While early headlines from outlets like HappyGamer noted the launch alongside Xbox Wire's announcement and raised fair questions about whether players were looking at another paywall, Microsoft's official release documentation clears up the pricing picture. The core National Championship Air Races expansion is completely free for all Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 players via the in-game Activities menu. The optional Racer Pack 1—which adds 40 named, real-world racing aircraft—is sold separately for $39.99 USD.
Free Pylons vs. The $39.99 Hangar
When the Reno Air Races first debuted in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 back in November 2021, simply getting onto the racecourse required a paid add-on. Five years later, Microsoft has flipped that model on its head. Anyone who owns or accesses Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 across PC, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, PS VR2, Steam, Game Pass, or Xbox Cloud Gaming gets the racing mode at no extra charge as part of Sim Update 7.
Here is how the release breaks down between free updates and optional Marketplace purchases:
| Content / Feature | Price (USD) | Included Details |
|---|---|---|
| National Championship Air Races Expansion (Sim Update 7) | Free | Reno and Roswell courses, 4 pylon classes, STOL Drag mode, Time Trials, private/public multiplayer lobbies, and updates to 44 aircraft. |
| Racer Pack 1 (Full Bundle) | $39.99 | 40 famous 3D-scanned racing aircraft (10 per pylon class: Unlimited, Jet, T-6, and Biplane) with authentic real-world paint schemes. |
| Class Packs or Individual Planes | Varies (Modular) | Players can buy single aircraft or 10-plane class bundles via the in-sim Marketplace, Microsoft/Xbox Store, or Steam. |
| Legacy MSFS 2020 Reno DLC Owners | Free Upgrade | Per Microsoft's September 2026 development update, players who previously bought the Reno Air Races DLC in MSFS 2020 receive the 40-aircraft package free on the same account. |
That last row is critical for veteran flight simmers. If you already shelled out for the Reno collection in the 2020 simulator, check your store entitlements and in-sim Content Manager before reaching for your wallet.
From Reno to Roswell: Five Ways to Trade Paint (Almost)
The real-world National Championship Air Races famously relocated from Stead Field in Reno, Nevada, to the Roswell Air Center in New Mexico. Rather than overwriting history, Sim Update 7 includes both the classic Reno venue and the newly recreated Roswell circuit, built from thousands of on-site measurements and reference photographs.
The expansion supports solo Time Trials, open multiplayer heats, and private lobbies for racing with friends, with Microsoft noting in its September development update that formal scheduled races are planned for 2027. On the tarmac, competition spans five distinct categories:
- Unlimited Class: The heavy hitters of closed-course racing. The only mechanical rule is a piston engine turning a propeller, resulting in heavily modified World War II warbirds like the North American P-51 Mustang screaming past pylons at speeds topping 500 mph.
- Jet Class: Non-afterburning, straight-wing military trainers—most notably the Aero L-39 Albatros—trading prop wash for turbine precision.
- T-6 Class: A spec-style showdown restricted to the classic North American T-6 Texan trainer and its direct production variants.
- Biplane Class: Nimble, compact aerobatic machines like the Aviat Pitts Special S-1S and S-2S banking inches above the desert floor.
- STOL Drag: Short Take-Off and Landing drag racing puts two bush-plane pilots side by side along a 2,000-foot strip. Competitors must launch, touch down, spin the aircraft around, take off a second time, and plant it to a dead stop within strict boundary boxes and time limits.
Inside the 40-Plane Racer Pack 1
You do not need to buy Racer Pack 1 to enter any of the five racing formats. However, for aviation historians and cockpit purists, the $39.99 pack adds 40 individually 3D-scanned aircraft—ten per pylon class—modeled after specific real-world contenders:
- Unlimited Highlights: Includes the P-51D Mustang "Strega" (an 11-time championship winner), "Voodoo" (holder of the world piston-powered speed record at 554.69 mph), and "Bunny," bearing the nose art and markings of Tuskegee Airman Lt. Col. Robert "Bob" Friend.
- Jet Highlights: Features the L-39C Albatros "American Spirit" (the first dedicated jet racer inducted into the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum), 2018 winner "Drop Bear," and class pioneer "Pipsqueak".
- T-6 Highlights: Headlined by the SNJ-4 "Big Red," once piloted by aviation legend General Jimmy Doolittle, alongside multi-time Gold champions AT-6B "Baron's Revenge" and T-6G "Six-Cat".
- Biplane Highlights: Brings Pitts S-1S icons including "Miss Diane," "Yellow Bomber," and "Blackhawk".
Physics, Redlines, and the PC Frame Rate Question
The most meaningful engineering change in Sim Update 7 isn't cosmetic—it's mechanical. Microsoft updated 44 aircraft for the racing expansion and introduced active flight-model hazards: wake turbulence, mechanical wear and tear, and engine stress management.
In earlier arcade-leaning air race implementations, winning meant shoving the throttle to the firewall and pulling back on the stick. With realistic wear-and-tear enabled in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, firewalling a modified Merlin engine for six straight laps will cook your components. Pilots have to manage power curves, temperatures, and propwash from leading aircraft while banking fifty feet off the ground.
Of course, precision flying at 500 mph brings us to the elephant in the server room: PC performance. As HappyGamer pointed out while examining Steam store data on October 14, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024—which was listed on a 30% discount at $48.99 down from its $69.99 regular price—still carries a "Mixed" overall rating across 23,027 Steam user reviews. While many virtual pilots praise the visual fidelity, frustrated reviewers continue to cite unpredictable frame rates, disappearing world map elements, and lingering Career Mode bugs nearly two years after the simulator's November 2024 release.
When you are sightseeing at FL350, a half-second frame stutter is a minor annoyance. When you are slicing past a Roswell pylon at 50 feet in a pack of ten Mustangs, a stutter puts you into the sagebrush.
If you are updating to Sim Update 7 (build 1.9.18.0) on Windows to test the races, follow standard MSFS maintenance protocol before judging performance:
- Clear the Community Folder temporarily: As MSFS Addons notes, Microsoft recommends moving third-party packages out of your
Communityfolder prior to launching a major Sim Update to prevent mod conflicts, stability crashes, or bloated loading times. - Test the free activity first: Because the National Championship Air Races mode is built directly into Sim Update 7, load into a solo Time Trial at Reno or Roswell and benchmark your frame pacing at low altitude before spending $39.99 on Racer Pack 1.
- Dial in terrain LOD for low-altitude speed: High-speed flight near ground level hammers CPU main-thread scheduling far harder than high-altitude cruising. Pulling Terrain Level of Detail (TLOD) back a notch during multiplayer heats can keep frame times steady when wake turbulence kicks in.
Section Summary: Sim Update 7 makes closed-course pylon racing and STOL Drag free for all Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 owners, leaving the $39.99 Racer Pack 1 as a purely optional collection for fans of historical liveries—and a free entitlement for past MSFS 2020 Reno DLC buyers. Because the mode costs nothing to launch, PC pilots can test how their hardware handles 500-mph desert runs before spending a dime.