Hi all, I currently own PMDG's 737 and am impressed with it so I have a few quick questions about PSS Airbus 320 or 330 in regards to whether I should purchase it or not.First, it says "fully featured panel", what does that mean?Second, is the A320/330 a good purchase, I noticed it's only $15 so I am wondering how good it is?Third, is it compatible with FS2004?Fourth, does it an FMC or whatever Airbus uses, I'm not real familiar with the Airbus fleet, and also what about it's Autopilot capabilities like Autoland and all of that good stuff?Finally, how does it compare to PMDG's 737 if anyone owns both?Your help is appreciated,ThanksJeff Smith USAF

Jeff,I have both plus the SSW Airbus. PSS is good, and is compatible with FS9. It is not however as complex as the PMDG737. The SSW also a very complex model and flies pretty well after the last patch. Again, to me, it does not at this time rate up there with the PMDG model. I enjoy all three but in all honesty I fly the PMDG about 90% of the time. Please understand my viewpoint is probably biased(note the sig) because I have been dealing with the PMDG folks since way back in the Fly! days and have never been disappointed with anything they do. First class products and first class service!

I won't tell you if the PSS planes are good, but I will make an observation about PSS and other planes in general.I own the Dash 8, A319/320/321, and 747-400 from PSS fame. All of these addons have been spectacular purchases and have served me well. However, they are *nothing* like PMDG's planes with regards to functionality. This is because(at least to me) it appears that PSS caters to a whole different audience then PMDG does. PSS planes are geared to the simmers that want to fly heavy iron, but don't want to press 147 buttons to get the plane started. This kind of simmer just wants to fly And this is fine, just a different taste of flying than my own ;)However, PMDG, SSW, RFP 747-200, and maybe some others are geared to the 'I have way too much free time on my hands' simmers(like myself). We desire to press 147 buttons, in the right order, to start the plane. Again, nothing wrong with this, we prefer to fly this way.People will undoubtedly disagree with what I have to say ;)

Couldn't have summed it up better Fred:)

I like buttons too, please tell me more about SSW, and RFP. What are their websites?

I agree, but only to an extent.You need to realise that the PSS 747 and 777 were initally written for FS2000 and were leading edge at the time.The A320 series were written for FS2002 as was the Dash 8 and again were pushing the bounds.The A330/A340 are written for FS2004 and do take advantage of some of the new facilities available, but with the 'bus there are not "147" features to replicate :)RegardsRussell Jourdain (NZL007/ZK-RHJ)

SSW - www.simsoftworkshop.comRFP - www.panelshop.comIn my opinion the RFP is the best of these two.RegardsRussell Jourdain (NZL007/ZK-RHJ)

SSW- http://www.simsoftworkshop.com/RFP-http://www.panelshop.com/Keep in mind that the Airbus is a totally different animal than the Boeing. It is "Automated" with FMC etc. The RFP is a 747 with steam gauges, no FMC, but great plane and lots of fun. Ralph at Panelshop is very responsive and knows his stuff. The folks at SSW are Russian so there is a little language barrier if you speak English. They definately speak a lot better English than I do Russian:)Both are good, very complex aircraft

JeffI also own both the PSS A320 and the PMDG 737NG. Whilst I got a lot of enjoyment from the PSS A320 when I first purchased it, it is in my opinion not in the same class as the PMDG 737NG. Since purchasing the PMDG 737 I haven't had the A320 out of the hangar except for one time, briefly, during which time I was amazed at how inadequate it now seemed after having flown the PMDG 737. If I were you I wouldn't bother purchasing it unless you're particularly interested in learning Airbus systems. Of course, if this is the case, then go for it.

I have all the PSS Airbuses: A319,320,321,330, 340. Plus I have as well the SSW A310 and PIC's A320.The A319,320,321 patch upgrade to FS9 was pulled recently by PSS. I had several problems with the patch until...I registered FSUIPC. For some reason their patch didn't work with FSUIPC (this will likely change with the new patch). The planes fly as beautifully in FS9 as they did in FS2002. There's only one problem - no clickable virtual cockpit and they don't intend on upgrading this as well. Too bad. The 15 POUNDS translates (for me) to approx. $30.00 Canadian. So no big saving here. What's WORST is that you pay for their livery set. And yes I bought the full livery set for this series. Total cost in Canadian dollars - approx. $160.00. Yes that's right. Now of course with the PMDG you will also get a fully clickable VC plus the liveries ARE FREE. One heck of a bargain at $39.99 U.S. or approx. $50.00 Canadian.I like the FMC for PSS' products and it has an excellent SID STAR database something sorely missing in the PMDG product. You can import FS flightplans as well. As far as I'm concerned the FMC is the only weakness in the PMDG product (right now I'm importing FSNavigator flight plans).The PSS A330, 340 have a fully clickable VC. You can fly the planes entirely from the VC! VERY nice couple of planes but again you're paying a mint for the liveries. The planes in terms of their interiors - A320 series and A330-340 - look viturally the same with respect to the textures, panels etc. Outside the planes are modeled nicely. No virtual cabins in PSS' Airbus series.Once you get the technique down for the Airbuses it's a joy to land. I've flown numerous CAT 3 duals.SSW A310. Fantastic looking plane and MUCH improved flying with the last patch. Good FMC with a nice SID STAR database The VC is one of the best looking I've ever seen. Problem: none of it is clickable. If the VC were made clickable it would be one of the all around best planes out there. Decent price, repaints on the site and in AVSIM and other places, etc. PIC A320. When it came out for FS2002 it was badly bugged. It has been patched a couple of times and patched for FS9. Fully clickable VC. No 2D panel. Virtual cabin. Interior textures are not very good. Modeled the panel nicely with several failures modeled as well. Hardly any repaints. Sporadic bugs still plague the plane and it is still painstainkingly slow even in FS9.My recommendation from the above: A330-340 from PSS.Len

I own them all, too.And although I also have all of the others, too (except the turboprops like ATR), I must admit that from time to time, it's just fun taking a little "simpler" airplane like the PSS A330 out of the hangar and fly it. I like this as much as flying the old Convairliners.The bad thing about the A320 series and upwards Airbus models in FS is that none comes close to a real one in terms of the flight model. Not a single product has fly-by-wire implemented. They all try to simulate it, but the all badly fail. That's really sad, because FWB is one of the main characteristics of the Airbus planes. For that reason, hand flying the buses that are available for FS can be very adventureous (e.g. A320PIC).My suggestion: if you want complex airliners, go for the 767PIC and Dreamfleet's 737 if you still use FS2002 (these two add-ons alone are worth keeping a second PC with FS2002). For FS2004, I recommend the 747 RFP and SSW's A310.The 737NG is a class completely of it's own. I never experienced something that close to reality ever before (and I'm with FS since FS 2 for the good old Commodore 64, and I also own other Simulators). PMDG did an incredible job. This add-on alone is worth to buy a high-end PC, some flightstick and FS2004.If you like to fly on automatics, all products are nice, and also are PSS Airbus products. And I think the PSS A340 outperforms all others in terms of range...The A320PIC is like a "medium" steak: in many areas it's way ahead of the competition. But in fact, it's a FPS grabber, and the autoflight system is unreliable especially in the last phases of flicht where you need to switch from full auto to "manual" auto, directing the bird by manual autopilot entries, decoupling it from the MCDU. PSS does a better job here.Andreas

I don't own PSS products and if given a choice I wouldn't fly in a real life airbus. When I flew from LA to Heathrow on Virgin you can be darn sure what plane I made sure I was on. :) (look at my usename)I highly recommend RFP's product (www.panelshop.com). It is intense and a clickable dream. The support there is fantastic and friendly. I usually don't spend the time starting from cold and dark in the RFP model simply because of the time it takes. The flight model is superb, very much on the level of PMDG's. The navigation is done by thier INS (Inertial Navigation System.) however, it is buggy and I belive most users have opted for either a third party nav system like the GNS530 or the wonderful freeware CIVA INS. I believe I learned about the CIVA from RFP themselves actually. (if online I use the GNS because this plane took 3 people to fly IRL and its so realistic I really need a little help out there to make sure I don't flub up and look like a goof)My only complaint is that the engineers 2d panels look a bit cartoony. This never bugs me really as it is really quite immersive enough. They also have a superb VC. One last thing, RFP has also taken the route of paying for liveries. I only bought the basic set which had a Northwest and an Air Canada. That being said. If you see me on Vatsim you will see me in a PMDG almost all the time. ___Josh

For me there is a time before and a time after the 737 NG. I have a hard time now to find any other jet I like. Why ?1. It is very rare to have a flight model and an Autopilot, that almost perfectly complement each other. In many other Addons you see compromises in that direction, e.g. overnervous flight models, that have obviously been made to deal with a not that sophisticated Autopilot. Mostly then it fits not really together.2. In all flight phases you can look in real world performance data and the PMDG 737 is fascinating close. This goes down to the fuel consumption. In Flight Operation Center 2003 (a router/dispatcher program made by an ex Swissair dispatcher, bit toned down for FS) you can generate flight plans based on real world 737-700 data. Whatever plans I generated so far, the PMDG 737 is as close as 1%.Don't even try, you won't find that accuracy in any other Add-On.The SSW A310 is a very nice product, gives you the chance to evaluate what Airbus has done one generation before the 320/330/340, with an amazing level of system complexity. It has a partially very well done Autopilot (excellent Autoland, etc.), but it's not that balanced as the 737NG and suffers a bit from an overnervous flight model.The new PSS Airbusses have been heavily critisized by a German A330 pilot mostly due to inaccurate and unsafe vertical modes and poor waypoint sequencing. PSS even forgot to evaluate the differences between the 330 and the 340, the MCDU sets e.g. identical power values for both. With a bit of crosswind, the Autoland puts you in the grass. Hopefully it gets more patched to a better state in future.Just BTW, I'm talking about FS2004 Add-Ons, just if anyone might wonder where 767PIC is in my comparison ;) Mike

This is the type of review that means something ;). It shows that you know what you are talking about. Sure I am a beta tester, have some of my cockpit art in this plane etc but still believe that Mr. E. M. Vangelis (flight model A/P etc) is the best in the business. You see the key to a one of a kind product is the love and self satisfaction these type of developers get out of their models, not just a money value (the amount of time spent was worth much more) you see the same kind of thing in PIC team. I am very proud to be a small part in this project. [h4]Best Wishes,Randy J. Smithhttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/betaimg.jpg

Fred, nicely said. My sentiments exactly :).Tero