Bendix King?

Why is it that we don’t see “Bendix King” on any of the instruments or avionics like in past sims?

BK probably didn’t license the use of their products in MSFS or more likely, the dev’s made a choice to go with Garmin. I doubt they are going to use multiple products for stock aircraft. Third party may use BK at some point perhaps.

Both Bendix King and Garmin have been in default MSFS aircraft for the last twenty years though.

Licenses are likely not lifetime, and a new contract would need to be drawn up for a new sim.

I don’t think anyone here can definitively answer that question. But if interested, there is a Wishlist topic for having the old Cessna 172 back, with the full Bendix stack:

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Bendix radios are available instead of the GNS430 in PMDG’s DC-6

Legacy Bendix-King radios like the KX-155 Nav/Com are no longer manufactured. Current Bendix King GA systems are much more like the Garmins in terms of look and feel.

Putting an obsolete, no longer manufactured (for good reasons), and in many places, non approved (Wide Frequency spacing) KX-155 is about as ridiculous as fitting a LORAN into a GA Plane !!

But it really depends on what MSFS 2020 is trying to “SIMULATE

  • CURRENT AVIATION ?
  • Historic Aviation ?
  • Fantasy Aviation ?

This is one of many things about MSFS 2020 that is unclear to me, as I suspect it is unclear to many others.

MS/Asobo can hopefully answer…

PMDG and other third parties can get Bendix King licensing but MS/Asobo can’t? Doesn’t make sense to me.

True, but the steam gauge 172 and the 152 in MSFS would have the older Bendix King units.

This doesn’t make sense. The KX-155 was not obsolete when the steam gauge 172 was in production and there are plenty of aircraft still flying today with it…

It seems you’re not the only one thinking it doesn’t make sense, that it is not possible 3rd party vendors might have any such agreements that MSFT/Asobo/WT could or couldn’t have. Some are so sure of themselves they even prefer posting libelous comments instead of discussing it with 3rd parties…

I’m not sure that licensing is really required simply to emulate the outward physical appearance of the display and controls of a basic Nav/Com like the KX-155. It has appeared in countless aircraft in FSX, P3D and X-Plane. The sticking point would be the use of the trademarked name “Bendix King” on the unit. If it did not have that, it would probably fall under the “fair use” doctrine.

I doubt that a license would be hard to obtain - considering how long simulated King KX-xxx units have been used in previous MSFS versions. Perhaps MS simply didn’t feel it was necessary to do that since most of the avionics in default aircraft are now Garmin.

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