UPDATE 2022/11/21 # i heard during a developer livestream that the upcoming ATR will have a cargo version available 
so this post is deprecated now.
hello people, new guy here,
i am very happy to know that the ATR 42-600 is coming to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020. i was unaware of the existence of the company ( and the aircraft ) before i saw and heard the announcement of the ATR 42-600 by Jorg Neumann. i am looking forward to this plane because all of the existing ( default ) planes do not fit my personal preferences. after some research, i discovered that the ATR 42-600 does fit my preferences.
however, i prefer cargo planes. from what i could find, ATR does not make a freight version of the 42-600, however, there are real-world third-party companies who make conversion kits to make a real-world 42-600 into a 42-600 for cargo / freight. i would be VERY happy with an official ATR 42-600 cargo / freight edition from Asobo Studios.
thank you.
You can install liveries from here and then youāll be able to fly using freight company liveries.
i forgot to mention that i also fly my own liveries because i dislike the use of real-world companies. and, the plane in the game is a civilian passenger airplane, NOT the actual cargo version.
Well in that case, canāt you make your own cargo liveries yourself? that way you technically do a āconversionā of your passenger ATR into a cargo / freight configuration?
like i said, just painting the plane does not make it a cargo plane. the cargo plane does not have passenger windows and it has a big cargo door, which the passenger version obviously does not have.
Ahhā¦ I seeā¦ okay. I thought we can just paint over the windows and then just paint a small outline to āmakeā a big cargo doorā¦ You know to āpretendāā¦ since itās a simulator and weāre all āpretendingā to be a pilot anyway.
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just now, i discovered that ATR makes a cargo / freight version of the 72-600ā¦ but i prefer the 42-600.
also, i play the game with a different mindset. i do not pretend to be a pilot. i just play the game, fly, land, enjoy the views, enjoy the challenges, and so on. i do not pretend to be a pilot nor do i ever want to be one.
Well, since livery creators are able to make the default 747-8 into a Cargo livery with blocked out windows. Iām pretty sure the upcoming ATR can be treated the same way too when itās released.
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i understand. but i prefer the actual freight version.
But you said there is no official freight version of the 42-600 by ATRā¦ Which means thereās no official specification on what the frieight version would be. Without the official specification, they canāt simulate the freight aircraft properly.
But then again, if you are expecting a freight version in terms of flight model and mechanics, then I think itās also possible. Itās just changing values, changing a different lift values, drag coefficient, changing the MTOW and capacity, these can be done through mods.
So Iām sure with enough interest, someone could mod the upcoming ATR to behave and flies like a freight version. The 72 would be easier since the specs can be found from the real life freight variant. But the 42 would be a challenge since it doesnāt exist in real life. So simulating a cargo freight version without a base documentation on what it should behave is difficult.
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A cargo version with the short upper deck is not developed though. The freighter version.
Should not be difficult ( not that i can do it ) but i am surprised nobody did.
if a real-world company makes a freight conversion for the 42-600, then somebody has the specificationsā¦ so it is possible to get an accurate freight version. although i do not really care if it flies like the real thing or not. i would be happy if it flies like the passenger version.
Iām just confused between your comment saying:
But you also said:
From my understanding that means all you need is a cargo livery, right? And my point is since livery creators have been able to create cargo liveries by blocking out the windows for the 747-8 aircraft, that means itās technically possible to make a freight livery for either ATR models as well. Since you donāt mind if it flies like the passenger version, then thereās really no need to mod it into the freight version specs other than using a freight livery on it. Seems easy enough to do since weāve been doing it for the 747-8.
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you misunderstand or did not actually read what i said.
i want to fly an ATR 42-600 with an actual functioning cargo door and all the other things that are different on the cargo conversion ( which DOES exist in real life, but not made by ATR from the factory ). if it does not actually fly like the real thing, i would not care because i would never be able to notice, because i do not fly the actual real world aircraft, so HOW it flies is irrelevant to me.
if you still do not understand my request after this reply, i will stop responding to your comments because it is my opinion that this conversation has become weird.
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OPās point stands, tbh - if PMDG are churning out the BDSFās (which are also fully STCād) then the excuse of it not being an āofficialā product isā¦wellā¦it isnāt an excuse. The point is there is a spec (because it is āofficialā, just the work not done directly by ATR/Leonardo/Airbus/whoever they are this week) and theyāre in common use.
A separate issue is one of developers getting their hands on one, and/or its paperwork (cooperation with ATR doesnāt necessarily mean cooperation with AKKA). But thatās a long shot given ATR have got their stamp on it and gave out the spec 
Doesnāt mean thereās not some weird reason theyāve been blocked from reproducing it in the sim, by someone, somewhere in the chainā¦
