So how's the new CLS A330/340?

[Peter Z KCLE_EDDN 335]

Hi there,I'm really curious as to how the new CLS Airbus is. I'd love to see some VC shots but haven't found any yet. I'm in the market for a good 330 but I'm not quite sure which one is better Overland, CLS, maybe even PSS although a bit dated.I know the CLS includes a "lite" panel and as long as the texture quality is good I don't mind it to be limited and not up to Level-D or PMDG standards.It would be great to hear some comparisons and pictures. Thanks in advance.Cheers,Petehttp://members.aol.com/pzsoulman/myhomepage/logo.gifGIGABYTE Light 3D Galaxy II Liquid CoolingENERMAX Galaxy EGA850EWL ATX 850W Power SupplyNVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel MoboCore 2 Duo E6700 1066MHz FSB 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775CORSAIR XMS2 2GB SDRAM DDR2 800GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI ExpressSBlaster X-Fi XtremeMusic 7.12 x Western Digital Raptor 150GB 10000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA Raid01 Seagate Barracuda 320GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/sWinXP Home SP2CH Yoke/Pedals

[Tobei 0]

Hi.If you're interested, there are two shots over at the flightxpress forums. It's pretty much the same as the -500/-600 panel ("lite" or freeware quality) but with old style standby instruments. As much as I like the look of the models I think there pricing policy is very self-confident, maybe even exaggerated. Just my opinion but 33

[out 769]

>I'm really curious as to how the new CLS Airbus is. I'd love>to see some VC shots but haven't found any yet.What about those on CLS site?http://www.commerciallevel.com/index.php?id=65Best regards,Rafal

[Peter Z KCLE_EDDN 335]

Thanks for the feedback guys, haven't seen those pictures before.Still not quite sure because of the steep price. I'd love a nice 330 but maybe I should wait for Feelthere's.....Cheers,Petehttp://members.aol.com/pzsoulman/myhomepage/logo.gifGIGABYTE Light 3D Galaxy II Liquid CoolingENERMAX Galaxy EGA850EWL ATX 850W Power SupplyNVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel MoboCore 2 Duo E6700 1066MHz FSB 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775CORSAIR XMS2 2GB SDRAM DDR2 800GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI ExpressSBlaster X-Fi XtremeMusic 7.12 x Western Digital Raptor 150GB 10000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA Raid01 Seagate Barracuda 320GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/sWinXP Home SP2CH Yoke/Pedals

[Guest mikealpha]

33$ just to fly visual models around, no matter how ? Less than half-baked Airbus panel, the usually borrowed Microsoft standard Autopilot and I assume no Airbus flight feeling at all.Nothing wrong with lite products for those that don't want to read 200+ manual pages. But even not so experienced simmers could be given at least *SOME* Airbus feel.Mike

[Guest 3202b]

It's good a lite product, the model is very nice and the huge amount of free liveries are very nice bonus to buy.

[Sherv_CLS 0]

Hi there! Of course I am biased because I'm the model designer for the CLS A330/340 but here's my opinion on this.For $43 USD it is a very good value. You are getting the A330-300 and A330-200 with all 3 engine versions and the A340-300/200. Also like someone mentioned, you get 150 liveries. That is unheard of. That's basically less than 11 dollars per plane. Also yes this is a Lite product so it is not a complex airplane to fly. In essense, Justflight already has an A330/340 professional series made by PSS. We could not make a product to compete directly with them because Justflight will be our publisher for the DVD series. I will say this though, after 6 years of evolution, I have created an A330/ 340 exterior visual model that is unmatched by anything on the market today. Good luck with whichever product you choose!Sherv

[Guest]

if only CLS worked a little harder on the systems, FDE, and vc functionality it would be almost perfect.

[Guest mikealpha]

Ouch, thanks for the correction. It is $43USD, not 33.CLS has no effort to develop Airbus systems. No effort to develop an Airbus style Autopilot/FMGS. No effort to develop FBW.I sincerely hope other developers do not notice how easy it seems to be to get money out of simmers these days.MikePS, by todays standards, the a bit aged PSS product should be classified a 'Lite' product.

[twasono 3]

IMHO.. a payware aircraft add-on should have FMC feature...other than that, I would rather flying with freeware models like Project Opensky's....if you are not a serious simmer, then this product is definitely for you... :)Regards,Tri Wasono

[Guest JTEK99]

>PS, by todays standards, the a bit aged PSS product should be>classified a 'Lite' product.Well, while I really am partial to more complex, FMC-enabled aircraft, this statement strikes me as ridiculously 'out of touch' with the majority of MSFS users. First off, "age" bears no relation to complexity. And, as crazy as it might seem to you, the vast majority of FS users fly 'Lite' aircraft as you call them. A quick glance at the tens of thousands of repaints of 'Lite' aircraft in comparison with those for payware, FMC-enabled aircraft will illustrate my point.It might also surprise you that the larger percentage of MSFS users have never (gasp!) even visited AVSIM or any other flightsim site/forum. And here's something that will really bake your noodle: I remember someone from Microsoft writing up their estimate (during FS2004's reign) of how many FS9 purchasers flew only the default aircraft, and even with those, never add a single repaint, modification, etc.. Amazingly, it was estimated at something like 65%.The stark truth of the matter is that "complex" aircraft users are a relative minority and that's why companies like CLS endeavor to sell to a larger, oft-untapped (and admittedly easier-to-please) crowd.

[Guest JTEK99]

>if you are not a serious simmer, then this product is>definitely for you... :)Tri:Again, in an echo of a few sentiments stated in my previous post, I can't help but feel that this sort of statement is kind of denigrating to the vast majority of flight "simmers". It's sort of like saying:Well, Tri... I guess if you're not serious enough to be a real airline pilot, flying on a 2-dimensional computer screen with a plastic yoke or joystick is definitely for you! ;)

[Guest mikealpha]

JTEK99,you have put my PSS remark a bit out of context, it was directed at the 'Professional' label. Sure it was a very good product, giving the user a goood impression of the Airbus philosophy. But these days it is somewhat behind 'professional', because it has numerous flaws, e.g. the F-16 style climbs/descends.As said further above, I have nothing against beginners products, but IMO the CLS 'Lite' style is just a marketing trick for selling minimum effort products.Even not so experienced user should be given at least *SOME* Airbus ideas, it would be very well possible without being too complex. What do they tell users about Airbus ? Just two examples : It is flown with vertical speed mode up to cruise altitude ? With a little bit crosswind and Autoland an Airbus lands in the grass beside the Runway ? Unavoidable when borrowing the Microsoft Standard Autopilot. Such an impression should not be given to users paying 40+ US$.Mike

[Tobei 0]

Sherv I've always been a big fan of your work starting with the 777 a long time ago (hope I dont mix things up here). Your A330/340 series with Posky was a milestone including the flexing wings and I was looking forward to another update even as you decided to go payware. Unfortunately for some reason you had to stop that project and later joined CLS. The good thing is that we now have the chance to fly another great model by you. As I can't accept the concept behind that group I wont buy it nevertheless. I wish you all the best and whoever decides to spent money on that release will get some amazing models, thats for sure.However, I still disagree with your opinion about the good value. There are serious addons on the market at about the same price range and talking about a direct competitor, what about Missi's "Fly into the sky series". Maybe it's ironical as all "CLS products" till now (except the DC10) are parts of this product with better marketing and higher price, but this package offers the whole Airbus (or Boeing) product line for 19

[twasono 3]

>Well, Tri... I guess if you're not serious enough to be a real>airline pilot, flying on a 2-dimensional computer screen with>a plastic yoke or joystick is definitely for you! ;)Hi JTEK99,I totally agree with you that I (FMC aircraft simmer) am just a minority in the flight sim worlds... :)And I also admit that CLS products usually contains wonderful and well modeled aircraft....But my point is.. with that sort amount of money, I could get another payware product with working FMGS/FMC feature..I'm just sharing my thoughts and opinion to other simmers...The decision are actually on their own hands... :)Regards,Tri Wasono