Ariane 737 Documentation Availability???????

[Guest HansGroenewold]

Hello,I purchased the Ariane 737 panel and I'm having difficulty finding documentation for it. I looked at Ariane's website and downloaded a file they said was the manual, but it is in Word format and doesn't look very detailed. Outside of lacking the FMC, Is this panel more or less the same as the Dreamfleet in terms of operation?Frankly, I was somewhat disappointed with the panel. I had expected a step us from the Dreamfleet, but it looks almost the same to me. If anything, I think the image quality of the Dreamfleet is a little better. The install instructions were not very detailed and you have to be careful making sure you install it correctly. I also had something strange with the 2D left forward view. When you look forward left out of the cockpit, you can see the wing as if it's located up front by the cockpit.I wonder if that's the "wing view" feature they mentioned on their advertisement, do they also have documentation for that in Word format? It would be nice to obtain some information on using this product. Thanks for any help you can provide.Sincerely,Hans Groenewold

[Guest Toni Rauch]

Lack of customer support - the hallmark of an Ariane product!!!Why not write to Bobbo (a.k.a. Peter) and suggest a real manual for the panel, view and other bugs? If you get a reply which is in any way actually helpful and addresses your questions, come back and share it with the community.From an operational point of view, the Dreamfleet panel is pretty well as close to 'reality' as is currently available for a 737 and if the Ariane panel behaves very differently, you should again ask Ariane why, considering all their claims about authenticity.Good luck!!!Toni.

[Guest Blueshockeynut]

Hans,I own both the analogue panel and the new Tacas panel as well, and I hate to say it, there is no documentation at all, I emailed the Ariane folks and they told me they were putting the finishing touches on it, but again these was a few months ago, so right now anybodies guess on when the documentation will be out is up in the air.JB

[Guest HansGroenewold]

JOB and Toni,Thanks for replies, I appreciate it. I got the analogue panel with the new Tacks as well. In fact, that's one of the reasons I bought it. The way it was advertised, the panel detail was second to none or is that second to Dreamfleet? Oh well, I'll just plug along and see what happens. What about the wing showing outside the left forward view out of the cockpit, you guys get that too? If so, how did you resolve that?Thanks,Hans

[Guest Toni Rauch]

HansIn my opinion, here's the problem - there's only so much you can do with a 737 panel (within FS) and Dreamfleet went almost 'all the way' with theirs. To date, in terms of operational authenticity etc, it's unsurpassed. Adding a TCAS gauge or a new bitmap (and at the same time introducing other new 'bugs') does not constitute a brand new panel with a brand new panel price tag. If you already own the original Ariane analog panel, what exactly have you bought that's 'worth it' in the new version (other than TCAS or autothrottle) to justify the expense? What Tishma is doing is to try and 'hype' his very limited product and is selling essentially the same thing over and over and over again to an unsuspecting public at full price. Surely this is wrong... Adding a new gauge or single feature should either be free to existing customers or no more than perhaps

[Guest Blueshockeynut]

Toni,I dont disagree with anything you said, like the Ariane website said about the whole update process, my god was that confusing as hell, even more so about the time and money part, but again, it is all a matter of opinion about who finds which panel more pleasing and easy to use, I own the Dreamfleet 737 as well, have for awhile, but some people might not want to go thru the whole FMC setup, some might just want to do a simple hop using the GPS buttom and away they go, it all depends on the user and what they like to do for the most part.

[Guest Toni Rauch]

Hi JBOf course,I totally agree with you regarding users and their preferences but who said to use the Dreamfleet panel you have to go through FMC procedures?If, as you say, you want to do a flight using basic GPS, there's nothing in the Dreamfleet panel stopping you.... (Long time since I tried it, but Shift-9 opens GPS screen I think.....)Toni.