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magentajim

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About magentajim

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  1. A little anecdote about my flying career. I have been flying FS for quite sometime (since the old Commodore 64). Always wanted to be a pilot. Finally got the opportunity in my 30's (about 2000ish). Had practiced with FS9 the startup for a Cessna 172 to perfection. Had it down. Did really good. Reality set in on my long solo cross country. Here I was, 70 miles from home, visiting an airport I have never been too, on approach and making a landing alone in the aircraft. Reality sets in at that point. I cannot tell you the enormous feeling of accomplishment when I landed, turned around and headed for home. The approach was harrowing (weather was perfect, sun was just right, virtually no wind) because I kept saying (not thinking) all me, I stick it or cash it in. No instructor, no reset button. It was the most exhilarating thing I have ever done (except maybe that F3 race car in Dubai but that was different kind of exhilarating). The thing was all the pressure and it was just me and a plane that is smaller than my small car. I did later do some helicopter flying and got 7/8ths of the way through IFR training but I will never forget that flight. So now you are talking about a huge, complex, 100,000 lb plus jet aircraft with 75-300 other souls on board and you think a little playing around on a desktop computer is going to prepare you for landing one? I may read about going to the moon but it is a little different actually going there.
  2. Hands down the best freeware of the year. The sound set is unreal--it is spectacular.
  3. In other words you bought a Chevy...... Me niether. The only issue I have is that I can't really import a PFPX flight plan easily and the fuel/pax loading app is a little obtuse. Other than that I think it is pretty good.
  4. No I do, but your argument has shifted to macroeconomic terms and you apply an artifical barrier to entry. You have the option of not buying at all. That is the Free Market. Or you make one yourself. That is the Free Market. If you make one and there is a demand, you can charge money for it. Again, free market. If you put a lot of time into it and make it really pretty and lots of people like, you can charge more money for it. Free Market. If someone else make one, but it clearly is not superior you can market that yours is better quality so you can keep your prices the same. That is competition. Even if your customers go over to the other guy, you still are good because you have enough willing to pay for your products. Free Market. If some of those customers come back to you because the other guys stuff was terrible but yours was great, and the other guys goes out of business that is the Free Market. That too is the free market at work. If there is not enough demand to be profitable, it is not done. There is no barrier to entry in this niche. It is not a locked out proprietary environment, if you wanted to design a panel, make a plane, or even create your home airport, it can be done. The SDK is included and it is free. The only barrier to entry is the size of the market--which in this case is minute. But some do pretty well by working smart or charging an arm and a leg where it is needed to cover expenses and (!) make a profit. I own every single PMDG product. I also own some Captain Sim and even some Abacus and the price varyied greatly along with the quality. If the game would not run unless you paid money for something--then we are starting to close it up and that would not be a free market. Which is why Flight was a collosal failure. Contrast and Compare Mercedes Benz and Porshe with Ford and Chevy. In short-- You percieve the lack of competition of your airport example as a result of s barrier to entry and demonstrates the lack of a Free Market in the world of FSX. I see it as the opposite--The market is too small to be profitable for someone to spend time making your airport example unless they charge a lot for it so the Free Market dictates that it is not undertaken at all(demand is not sufficient for profit to occur unless significant effort is undertaken). By the way, I own Carenado products as well as Captain Sim. They are just fine and worth what I paid. Free Market.
  5. No it's a free market. You are NOT forced to buy anything. FSX comes with airplanes, there are free ones available and it also has an SDK and basic 3d tool so that you could make your own. Buying one that is already done for you is a free choice that you make (the market) but it is not neccesary to enjoy the game as marketed and sold to you. You may also choose to buy very accurate representations or simple ones, but again, the choice is yours and one of the choices is not to buy anything at all. A limited market is one where you must buy something to recieve basic or better functionality (such as those "free" online games that require to make micropurchases to gain maximum benefit of the game).
  6. It was a great add-on (one of the best) but its best days are past. I recently sent mine to the boneyard in Arizona. There are so many good newer things out there that I found myself flying it less and less. Sadly, it was time to retire it.
  7. I use REX 4 and Active Sky Next. I am very happy with the result.
  8. The changed Runway number should have no effect on the ILS as they are ground based and not dependant on magnetic heading that much. In the FMS I see that sometimes I am looking for Runway 10 and the FMS says Runway 11 -- but I guess that's why I am the pilot (lol). The only time I see lots of offset issues is when I have a LDA approach or a Sidestep approach.
  9. I have and tried dozens of controllers ( I will try and take a picture sometime ) but the one I keep coming back to is simple to use, cheap, does not take up huge space and yet has fantastic feel, has a throttle and is a twist grip. http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/300980463123?lpid=82
  10. PDF Kneeboard screws up my anti-aliasing.
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