Having read the review of the Abacus PBY and the fact that one can test fly for free most of their aircraft, I say kudos to Abacus for allowing a test flight time period of 7 days for free. I hope that others will follow suit which may save money by letting one decide before buying if the product is not what one really wants or does not live up to expectations. How many of us purchase a car without test driving first, or try on a pair of shoes before buying? This type of policy would have saved me some cash on PMDG's Beech 1600D which, for me, was a little disappointing. I would have chosen the 1600C instead after having test flown the 1600D.Now I have never purchased an Abacus product. I have now test flown the PBY and now I'm test flying the Lockheed Constellation.The PBY was nice to fly but was lacking in several areas that made me decide to forgo the purchase, saving me $19.00. Still am undecided about the "Connie". There are a couple of issues that need resolving. One is that on push back, stopping causes the Connie to tilt back and hit the tail end on the ground. Second is that the documentation mentions that the fuel system operation would be discussed later on, but doesn't. Documentation ends without any further discussion of the fuel system which is 'complicated'. But with their policy of fly before you buy, I will test the others as well and who knows, maybe I'll be purchasing one or more.So thanks for the opportunity Abacus. Jim D.

Not that my opinion is worth anything, but..........Abacus has a few really good products, like FSDS, FSRepaint, and VASS. But there aircraft are lacking in a lot of areas. There is an excellent freeware Connie with a nice VC that came out last year I think. Maybe someone else has a link for you. I think it's much better than the Abacus version.*Edit: Try this file here at AVSIM - lockheed_c121a.zip

Thanks for the link. I forgot that I already have this one in my hanger. Yes, the VC and the 2D are much better represented. However, it lacks documentation and the FE's panel, which is more interactive in the Abacus Connie. I remember that FDZ, I believe, had a beautiful Connie. But the author sadly died before ever completing the VC. Someone was to complete it, but I don't think it got very far.Maybe someone will come out with one on the same platform as PMDG or Level-D's high end aircraft.I still applaud Abacus for the 7 day test flight so one can make an informed decision.Jim D.

"I still applaud Abacus for the 7 day test flight so one can make an informed decision"No arguments there. I wish I could have done the same with a lot of products I have purchased over the years. I fear that the pirating of software may be bringing the days of try-before-you-buy to a quick halt.

ANY flight1 product has a money back option. You don't like it, you get your money back.It works because I have done it.

This is the Connie I refered to in my previous post. Author was John White. fsdzl049a_v1.zip here at AVSIM. Heading still says a VC will be added, but never was. Too bad.Jim D

>>ANY flight1 product has a money back option. You don't like it, >>you get your money back.>>No arguments there. I wish I could have done the same with a lot of products I have purchased over the years. This is very true, and I vigorously applaud Flight1 for their customer satisfaction policy in the midst of a very paranoid and unforgiving arena of software vendors. I wish Flight1 sold EVERYTHING I wanted these days -- unfortunately, I have decided to not purchase software at SimMarket because of their total lack of any kind of a satisfaction guarantee. This has been doubly true in light of what's been going on recently with the performance of the US dollar vs. the Euro, something that doesn't affect the prices at Flight1. Bravo, Flight1!

As near as I can figure, Abacus does not have their own team of developers...they mainly market products that they buy or license from others. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it does seem to make the overall quality of their product line somewhat hit and miss. I bought FS Panel Designer and EZ-Scenery from them and thought they were both worth every penny. The only plane I bought from them was the ATR 72-500 from their Premier (cheap) Collection. Turns out it was originally created as freeware for FS2002, but the Abacus version was supposed to be compatible with FS2004. What bothered me was that I emailed them about a few things that didn't work properly and never got a response. Maybe they figured I didn't deserve any support because I only paid $10 for the plane. That left a bad taste in my mouth and I don't think I'll buy any more aircraft from them. It's nice to be able to test drive the product, but if you're having problems (like the pushback thing) you should take that up with Abacus and see if they provide any support. If they don't help you now, they probably won't after they have your money either.Sidney Schwartz KPDX