11MAR06 PMDG News Roundup

[rsrandazzo 6,353]

Gents-Wow... I can't believe the last news update was 30JAN...Although it might seem like a long time, the days have been flying by for us on the development team. We had expected to put the 747-400F into beta testing in mid december with a release in late January. Unfortunately, Beta didn't happen until mid January- and from the day this airplane went into beta testing it has been a thoroughly exhausting process....(Here is a classic example of why PMDG never announces release dates! Can you imagine if we'd told you "yeah- mid January!" and here we are second week of March?!! Ouch!)As we have matured as a company- we have tweaked and adjusted our beta process to better suit the quality control needs of our products and customers. (No- we don't have openings! Sorry!)This beta process continues to roll along, and we are now prepping a ninth version for our beta team- we expect to deliver that version to them within days, and our expectation is that we are INCREDIBLY close to a release version on this airplane!(Hip Hip Hurrah!)This is a pretty incredible expansion for the PMDG 747-400 Queen of the Skies product line. When we'd finished with the "new 400F stuff" that we wanted to add, we spent a significant amount of time culling the forum to find things that folks had suggested, wished for or pointed out as "goofy" that might make good additions to the overall product quality. We've reached a point in beta testing now that a few of our technical advisors are really having to reach into the deeper recesses of 747-400 trivia to find problems in the airplane- and that obviously makes us quite happy.I'm putting the finishing touches on new livery installers for the 400F, and assembling the "mostly complete and final" list of things that we have added/tweaked/fixed or invented for the 400F.... I'll try to get that up here soon so that you can see it.So here is the news roundup for this week:PMDG 747-400F Queen of the Skies CARGO:=======================================This product is now in final testing- and we expect to make it available for purchase VERY soon. Stay tuned here for more product information and updates! (Anything you want to see?)PMDG MD-11:===========Please- dont fret this airplane. It is starting to accelerate down the product line, since the 400F is moving out of testing. Vin has been moved to the MD11 product full time and the VC model is progressing exceptionally well. (Dare I say it will again be improved over the 747-400s quality level? You Bet I Do!)We don't have much to show you just yet- as the airplane is still in very early alpha testing- but the technical advisory team we established for this airplane (no- we are not taking applicants! Sorry!) is doinga fine job of "keeping it real."PMDG TYPE COURSE 747-400:=========================Unfortunately, Vangelis and I have been far more wrapped up in the 400F than we'd anticipated- or we might have waited a bit longer before rolling out TC1. I am putting the finishing touches on a second TC edition, with a third and fourth to follow shortly after.New Products:=============No new news yet... Things are already in motion- but we will tell you about them after the 400F release!ENGRAVITY CDU:===============If you haven't checked out the new 737NG or 747-400 CDUs available for sale from our site, please do! These CDUs are available for simmers only (if you are training on an airplane/wish to use them for training- you may not do so without a unique license- please contact us) and while not inexpensive- they are well worth eating Raman noodles for a few weeks to get one. The CDUs are well constructed, "feel right" and they make a great addition to anyone's sim setup. We very rarely come right out and recommend products from other company's- but after working with the folks at Engravity- we felt so strongly about their CDUs that we decided to partner with them in order to ensure that they'd have a good chance to make some sales and have the opportunity to innovate on some new products.... Take a look at them, I'm sure you'll be impressed!ENGRAVITY CDU INTERFACE:========================If you already own an Engravity CDU and you want to use it with either the 737 or 747, be sure to pick up the PMDG-ENGRAVITY CDU INTERFACE that is also up on our site. Making the 737 compatible with this hardware was a significant challenge- and the 747, while easier- required a pretty hefty amount of cooperation between PMDG and Engravity. (This is where our enthusiasm for them came from...) There is a cost for this interface- to offset the work required to implement such a specialty task- but like most hardware, you'll soon wonder how you got by without it!NEW MEMBER OF THE PMDG TEAM:============================We just brought Ryan Maziarz onto the PMDG Team. Ryan is going to be helping us to manage our customer interface/customer support functions as we move forward. When PMDG first started- you guys could expect an answer to any question directly from one of us- and while we all still spend some time in the forum when possible, we are significantly busier than we once were- and this causes conflict between spending time with you folks- or making progress on products.Ryan (and Msrs JR and Mats) have contributed to the forum process during the past few years, and during Ryan's time as a member of our beta team he has always been one of the most vocal advocates for "PMDG Customers and PMDG Forum Users." So while advocating on your behalf- he is now going to take on the critical task of helping us to develop systems to better manage our interaction with you guys when it comes to technical support and giving you the tools you need to fix problems quickly without waiting on a reply from support@ or the forum!Ryan has some great ideas that we expect to begin telling you about in the near future.... I've spend considerable time focusing on these very areas of concern- and I'm very happy to have Ryan picking up responsibility for helping us implement his ideas.I'd say, "Welcome Aboard" but since he's already been here ahile- lets just beat him up so he gets all bruised like the rest of the forum moderators, shall we?Talk to you all later in the week!Okay- time to get back to wrapping up final beta details on the 400F....

[Guest captaingrice]

Great news mate, cheers for the update.All the best,Steve.

[runibl 0]

Great news, it's good to be updated.I'm looking forward for the 747-400F and also the next type courses.The MD-11 is also very exciting, can't wait to see what's next (hoping for a 777).You asked what we wanted to see of the 747-400F. A preview video would be a very nice thing to see on the 747-400F if ever possible. But since you are propably very busy in beta testing, i will understand if it is not possible.

[Guest Matthias1975]

Thanks for the update Robert...and please don

[Datalink 26]

I was just about to post saying its getting a little quiet around here LOLExcellent news! I'm looking forward to seeing the list of features and news of future (hopefully FSX) aircraftAlso congrats to Ryan

[rsrandazzo 6,353]

Runi-We have alternately started and stopped work on a video for the 400F. I believe we are just about to shift the process to Vin for production- but my "spidey sense" tells me that his wife went into labor today with their second child....So we are cutting him a little slack today. One day only. :-)No promises on this one- but we're working on it in the background.

[Guest A32X]

Hi Robert,I can't wait to read the added/tweaked/fixed list. It was amazing reading it when the 744PAX patch was released...-Paul :-)

[Tabs 2,790]

>Also congrats to RyanThanks Alaister! It is nothing short of an honor to be asked to contribute in this way. I have something in the works that is going to help you all learn more about flying PMDG aircraft to an absolutely unprecedented degree in the FS addon world. I can't say exactly what it is right now, but you can bet there will be more news as we get closer to unvieling it.

[Datalink 26]

This sounds interesting, looking forward to this surprise>It is nothing short of an honor...Definately! these guys are the best in the business as far as im concerned!

[Guest flight78]

Yup couldnt agree more PMDG rocks the simming world. Their simply the best out there no doubt :). Keep on rocking PMDG.Kind regards:Alexander

[kmanning 12]

Hi all,There's one thing I was wonering about the 747-400F. I'm not much into the cargo or frieght version but will the 747-400F compliment the 747-400 Queen of the Skies we have now just as the 737-800 and 737-900 complimented the 737-600 and 700 series? What I mean is such items as the EPR engine indications on the upper EICAS, along with other things that may compliment the 747-400 passenger version we have now. Ken.

[michal 44]

> and while not inexpensive- They (Engravity CDUs) are indeed very, very expensive. I wonder how many will purchase them - I predict not very many. If I had literally everything - expensive yoke, rudders, MCP panel then maybe I would be thinking about it. I am having hard time to understand and justify Engravity's pricing - there are hardly any moving parts, PFC can sell you very nicely forged yoke for almost half the price. It definitely makes sense for someone who is building a 747 cockpit and where money is no object.Michael J.http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/pmdg_744F.jpghttp://sales.hifisim.com/pub-download/asv6-banner-beta.jpg

[Guest Tom C.]

>PMDG MD-11:>===========>Please- dont fret this airplane. It is starting to accelerate>down the product line, since the 400F is moving out of>testing. Vin has been moved to the MD11 product full time and>the VC model is progressing exceptionally well. (Dare I say>it will again be improved over the 747-400s quality level? >You Bet I Do!)>>We don't have much to show you just yet- as the airplane is>still in very early alpha testing- but the technical advisory>team we established for this airplane (no- we are not taking>applicants! Sorry!) is doinga fine job of "keeping it real.">Guys its great to hear the Queen "F" is near but the real news I've seen here is above.Finally a Quality 3 holer is on the way.You have my credit card's undying attention and affection lol. Unfortunately She Who has to Obeyed cant understand how I can drool here day by day and refuse to give said plastic to her. I'm convinced there's something wrong with her.You guys want a trade in?Best regards, soon to be alone pilot.Tom.

[Tabs 2,790]

>Hi all,>There's one thing I was wonering about the 747-400F. I'm not>much into the cargo or frieght version but will the 747-400F>compliment the 747-400 Queen of the Skies we have now just as>the 737-800 and 737-900 complimented the 737-600 and 700>series? What I mean is such items as the EPR engine>indications on the upper EICAS, along with other things that>may compliment the 747-400 passenger version we have now. >>Ken.Absolutely - the 400pax is also updated with the new engine instrumentation and other features of the F!

[mburkhard 23]

>PFC can sell you very>nicely forged yoke for almost half the price.Michael,Sorry for getting off-topic but have you actually taken a close look at that one big Yoke (Jetliner Yoke) you can get from PFC?To be honest the construction and mechanical quality is just lousy and there is a major design flaw in that thing. The part where the yoke is connected with the socket it is just metal rubbing against metal, there is NO bearing between those two parts!Result -> After using that Yoke for about half a year you'll hear a loud creaking noise everytime you pull or push your yoke. That is not what I expected for such an expensive piece of hardware. And there is no way you can ever completely remove that noise by greasing or oiling the metal, you just have to live with it...So what did I learn from that? Quality has it's price!Regards,Markus