I was sitting around doing nothing a few minutes ago, when something occurred to me...Why aren't there any Airbus aircraft included in Microsoft Flight Simulator?? I understand that Boeing is currently the largest aircraft manufacturer/supplier, but Airbus is really giving them a run for their money. I just think that it would have been nice to see how Airbus aircraft would have been modeled by Microsoft. ---Just a thought--- :-newbie :-hah

Boeing = USA. Gotcha?Airbus rules :)

I'm guessing it's geography first, design philosophy second. MS staff make a big point about only modelling planes they have experience with. The large number of Cessnas is due to a close relationship between MS and that company - the MS Team gets tons of performance data. I think one of the team owns a Baron - thus its inclusion. So, Boeing = close to Redmond, might be more accurate than Boeing = USA. At the conference in Reno told us that they purchased several days of sim time in each of the 747 and 777 simulators at Boeing for image capture and model benchmarks for FS2002 and that Boeing is helpful with performance data. It might be much harder and more expensive to get at an Airbus sim or get info like that because of MS' close proximity and past relationships with Boeing. Also, the Airbus is so automated that it might hold less interest for the general public than the 777 or 747, while also highly automated, are also designed for manual flight with their full yokes, full range of motion throttles etc. The AB would also require a ton of coding for all that automation. That's my guess.

All of what you've said makes perfect sense, and I'm sure that Boeing also purchases many, many thousands of dollars of software from MS for everything from design to accounting purposes. (Not that Airbus doesn't, as I'm sure they probably do also, but Microsoft is no doubt called on by Boeing for many things).Darrell

Who cares?The freeware stuff is better than the MS default aircraft. Project Airbus and POSKY have produced beautiful freeware Airbuses. In my opinion, that is! :-)Gavin

Microsoft is American, Boeing is American. Airbus is Europian. American like American products.CeesEuropian

>Microsoft is American, Boeing is American. Airbus is >Europian. American like American products. >>Cees >Europian I wouldn't necessarily say that, but I would say that nobody bothers with the default aircraft anyway. Other than the prop planes, I honestly don't think I have ever touched any of the default commercial planes. Although I admit it would be nice to see some, especially as AI traffic. (or course we have project ai for that as well).

Ahh yes. A lovely blanket statement based on ignorance.That's why we buy a lot of Asian cars and electronics. Why we buy German, Itialian, British cars. French wine. And so on.We just HATE anything foreign because we're snobbish, evil, war-mongerers. :-roll

And not to forget that a lot of the systems in the 'European' Airbus planes are made by American companies (and also the other way around of course) :).I think it's better to just see then all as nice international aircraft (and MS has more access to Boeing data probably, so those planes are in the sim) and not start with some transatlantic mud throwing again :D.Arno

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Member Netherlands 2000 Scenery Team[link:home.wanadoo.nl/arno.gerretsen]Arno's FlightSim World for scenery design hints, tips and other tricks...

JetBlue,At our conference (AVSIM) last fall, Boeing and Microsoft both had representives there and it was obvious, and stated several times by both parties, that Boeing & Microsoft have a open working releationship. Besides, they are just across the river from each other, up in the State of Washington. It really doesn't have anything to do with being American or European, or being Martian for that matter, it just why would you go halfway around the world for data when the largest producer of commercial airliners in the world is barely 5 miles away?Microsoft has stated several times that their choices of aircraft are always dictated by what is available for them to test for real or there is sufficient data available that it makes economic sense. Their choices also don't really have anything to do with what members of the FS team own either, otherwise we would have seen a Maule back in FS2000, that is because one of the program managers and one of the product managers each own one! Bear!

Hi Craig,Sorry for my stupid reaction.Cees

I guess also all flightsim's nav data and weather is supplied by Jeppesen, Jeppesen also happens to be one of Boeing's subsidiaries....