You might be interested in the impressions of the PSS Airbus support person (that's me) of the new FT/Wilco Airbus. There again you might not in which case now would be a good time to go and walk the dog.I have now flown a couple of flights using the FS9 version as I have not yet got FSX. - not wildly impressed with graphics on 2D panel on first sight, but got used to them and it generally looks OK. Fonts on FCU not as clear as PSS. I hate the VC but then I am not a devotee of VCs anyway. - cold and dark can't be set from the folder containing the config file, it has to be done from the menu inside FS. Not a real problem. - 0601 AIRAC didn't have any SIDs or STARs for any airport. I know some others have reported this and some have said they DO have the SIDs and STARs. Odd. I'll download the current cycle from navigraph and see whether they are there after that. - some initial CTDs when on the overhead panel but after a couple it didn't happen again. Occasional CTD when entering data into MCDU (it happened on one occasion when trying to enter the landing runway). And FS never does CTDs for me so it must be the FT Airbus. - doesn't hold v2+10 very well on climbout. - alt constraints. I'll have to look at this further but they do not seem to be adhered to very well. - Very smooth PFD fluidity. The PFD is excellent. - very smooth FDE, has a very solid feel to it. - nice steady climb - climb in V/S mode worked OK - smooth turns throughout, again a testament to the excellent work by Rob Young on the flight dynamics - holds modelled and it flew the hold quite well. But had trouble exiting the hold - hold fix in F-PLN page had been deleted automatically and so had to do a DIR. Not good. - hold at current position does not seem to be modelled. - RAD NAV page doesn't automatically pick up the correct ILS freq, entered manually and then everything OK. Perhaps this has something to do with the navdata seeming to be incomplete. - localiser and glideslope capture seemed OK. - but very loose g/s maintenance and way too much deviation; it tried to put me in the water at Marseilles 31R 100 feet before the threshold requirng some urgent corrective action. Also very poor when on approach at Cardiff. Autolands will be interesting to test. - reverse thrust - how? My joystick throttle control at the minimum leaves the thrust at idle (as it should) with no apparent way of going to reverse thrust. I might have to look at re-calibrating it perhaps via FSUIPC for this one aircraft only. The manual is no help here as it doesn't give a keyboard alternative. - can't turn engines off on pedestal, clicking the ENG1 and ENG2 does nothing. This happened on both flights and is a bug. I will not be able to use this aircraft for BAV flights unless this is fixed as our ACARS won't record engines off (because they aren't!) - switching between managed and selected modes worked well. - still no secondary flight plan. This has been an irritation for me with the PSS and I hoped FT would include this. - Some suspicion over fuel flow predictions but I'll watch that over a few more flights as it could have just been my mistake. - good fps, I was getting over 30 throughout both flights. My overall impression having only downloaded it this morning and flown two short flights is that the FT/Wilco Airbus is very good in some areas (flight dynamics, PFD), poor in others (glideslope deviation) and with at least at one crucial bug (the engines not switching off). Although you would expect me to say this I just don't think it adds much over the iFDG/PSS and won't replace it for me. It's a reasonable addition to the hangar without being any leap forward. I'll continue to test it.Edit: in the last few mins over on the BAV forums I have been told that right-clicking the ENG1 and ENG2 turns off the engines. I'll try this but it is a bit baffling to me that they would make this a right-click. Also I believe F2 will put the engines into reverse. I'm told this is what happens with default MS aircraft (which I haven't flown for about 6 years) so I'll try that as well. Rob Elliott, EGPE InvernessPSS Airbus Support andAirbus Fleet Training Captain, British Airways Virtual [email protected]http://www.speedbirdonline.co.uk/airbus.htmlhttp://www.bavirtual.co.uk

Rob, for reverse thrust use Page Down key, I read it somewhere else here on the forum because i was looking for it also:)About fde, for the 320 I've been experimenting a bit, thrust_scalar at 0.96, parasite _drag 1.12 and in the air file adjusted the cd_ds (drag coeff of spoilers) to 0.13.This helped a lot, it doesn't climb like a rocket anymore, descends without being so 'slippery' and the spoilers seem to have a reasonable effect now. Again, this is for the 320 but others might not be far off.Cheers,Martin.P.S. I only did manual lands (following fd bars though after manually setting ILS) and it flies very well then ;)

>Edit: in the last few mins over on the BAV forums I have been>told that right-clicking the ENG1 and ENG2 turns off the>engines. I'll try this but it is a bit baffling to me that>they would make this a right-click. Also I believe F2 will put>the engines into reverse. I'm told this is what happens with>default MS aircraft (which I haven't flown for about 6 years)>so I'll try that as well.You have to right-click just below the engine switches to turn them off. You'll get the hand icon when over them, but it won't do anything.F2 and Page Down both work for the reversers. Just discovered that reverser animations are strictly based on throttle position...i.e. they open with engine shut down, hydraulics off etc. And the amount of travel seems to vary with the throttle as well...i.e. min reverse results in the reverser shroud only cracking slightly open rather than going to full open position as it should.CheersBob ScottATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VSantiago de Chile

Thanks for that Bob, most helpful.Rob Elliott, EGPE InvernessPSS Airbus Support andAirbus Fleet Training Captain, British Airways Virtual [email protected]http://www.speedbirdonline.co.uk/airbus.htmlhttp://www.bavirtual.co.uk