I can't say that I wasn't warned about Ariane and it's lack of service (I can't even see an e-mail address for support questions on their site). Downloaded their BBJ tonight, but the .exe has a CRC error (same after 3 tries).Looking a little further down the order page, there's mention of having to upgrade drivers for GE cards in order for the download and installation to work. I've never heard of this before- how can a video card driver affect a downloaded .exe file, I wonder. I'm certainly not going to screw with my video card driver to install a plane.Anyway- I'm calling my credit card company now to cancel the payment. I don't mind waiting for PMDG's version of the NG, and I was going to get it anyways.I hope this message might serve to warn others.Thanks,Bruce.

Thanks for the heads up Bruce.

Ariane's Email: [email protected]

all simmers need to learn to avoid any company that Peter Tishma is involved in. B

i have been able to download the BBJ. i had no problem. maybe you have some Antivirus or desktop firewall running.what line type do you have 56k?my experience as a senior IT professional tells me that this is not Ariane related ;)and it's like with all products. first you need to check if all runs. when you got a problem, before anything else check if you applied all M$ service packs.

I did also have problems with my first try, but the second time it worked !I think that Ariane is a great group.... i don't care who they are at all, they are making great planes and thats enough for me :)Cheers

Thanks for the advice on the anti-virus software. I actually had Norton firewall enabled (usually do), but by disabling the firewall I could download the file with no CRC errors when I came to extract it.Obviously I was in the wrong rather than Ariane- but it really gets to me when I don't think I'm getting support for something I pay for, and I still can't see a support e-mail on their site (and thanks to the person who posted their e-mail address here).I'm not out to rip anyone off, and accordingly have had my credit card company re-instate the charge. I have yet to try the product (but the installer did run OK).Bruce.

Warning people for maligne companies is a good thing, but look out!Do not issue a warning for the wrong companies. By warning for Ariane I think you warned for the wrong company. It takes a little time to get the software company blamed by for an error in your own setup. An example is this topic...First reaction the exe file is corrupt, looking better into your system and setup will prevent companies to get a bad name. I take allways a few steps before getting to a forum and post a bad article out.My steps are:1 check the download file.2 check the setup of your PC (firewall, virus scanners...)3 check the FAQ's if available4 mail the company 5 have patience and wait a few days before getting angry and start a post.I know it is frustrating when a new piece of software doesn't do what it is supposed to do, but most of the times the fault is within your computer room and not the developers fault.Within a few posts a company can be hit very hard, it keeps a lot of time to get up again! Negative publicity travels faster then good publicity. Remember this when you post something.T.

Roger that!Sort of like the front page article by AVSIM without a 'byline'. It's old news and a cheap shot . . . but then again, I don't think I expected any less. I guess it's difficult for people to fail in this world and pick themselves back up.Hell, we give convicted murders another chance for God's sake.Anyway, my .02cents worth, like it or not. And just for the record, I think their products lately have been pretty good and I own several of them.Clay

"....Sort of like the front page article by AVSIM without a 'byline'. It's old news and a cheap shot . . ."I couldn't understand why Avsim posted that article, since they've pulled some threads I've posted in which were far less critical of Ariane. In their defense, they could have pulled them based on a response I missed. My chief complaint has been the way Ariane advertises, communicates to the community, and supports their product. I'm sorry to say that it does resemble P/T in a lot of ways. It's a heck of a business style to emulate. Our society does give murderers another chance, but I think we draw the line at one or two chances, don't we? :)If you get the product installed without need of support, then I think you are left with a good product. I still favor the Ariane '300 on any flight over 300 miles or so. I applied a few simple tweaks to the flight model, and it feels like every 737 I've ever flown in. Spent 100's of hours as a 737 pax, and you do gain a feel for the way they behave, especially if aviation's your hobby of forty some odd years....Some (including meself) have suggested waiting for the FFX aircraft. I've seen the FFX '300, and while good, I noted that subtle issues like engine and flap pylon shape aren't quite there. I emailed Erick on this with backup shots from airliners.net, but the prerelease shots of the FFX '300 show the same issues. The Ariane '300 really nailed the look of the 737, IMHO.... If you want something close to perfection, you can't get much better than Ariane's--for a price. OTH, the FFX 200 is excellent, and very accurate all the way around.... FFX is doing a great job and their work on the 200 and 3/4/500 has kept me from investing in more Ariane liveries. From a distance, I think the FFX aircraft look superior to Ariane's by employing modern features, like dynamic shine... Closeup though, Ariane has nailed the subtle structural detail.... Look too close, and anyone can find flaws in any aircraft... I've seen many who say Ariane's 737's don't have enough, but no one dissin' Ariane for not including a V/C or panel can accuse them of leading buyers to expect otherwise. Their site is a good "what you see is what you get".... But wading through all the prose, and seeing constant failures on promised release dates, leads me to feel a large part of that is luring some of our younger simmers to the site to impulse buy... That's kept me from going for the BBJ, or having an interest in the NG series. That, and the fact that the spoiler deployment and pylon texture anomaly issues were never fixed in the GMAX '300. For a product which costs more than half of 2k2's current street price, I'd expect a half hour's work in GMAX to fix these issues......

JohnCi,I feel the same way about Ariane. I was impressed with their web site and all the screen shots promising the most detailed 737 cockpit available. The visual model is very good, the panel is not nearly as good as the Dreamfleet which is now about two years old.Their documentation is nonexistent and their update downloading method is very confusing. If I had to do it again, I'd stay away from it. Of course, there's always the PIC A320, but we won't even get into that.When you compare their web site to another one such as the Ready For Pushback site and others, you'll know what I mean. Take care.Sincerely,Hans

Those threads were likely pulled because at the time there was no proof and as such they could be cause for legal action against Avsim.Now there is proof...

Personal I like the cockpit better as the Dreamfleet one. (Talking about the TCAS II cockpit as I don't own the previous one). It is a -300 cockpit, so no FMC or what so ever, neither the 747-200 of Ready for Pushback has. I don't know if you have the BBJ of Ariane, but it includes a 75 pages manual. They are also working on a manual for the 737-300 and -400 for over 100 pages. It is the same quality as the RFP manuals!! I do have a sample copy so I know what I am talking about.For those of you thinking I am a member of Ariane design group, I am not!I think if you have a problem with Ariane, just mail them and solve the problem. Mailing address is [email protected] and I am sure you get a mail in return.T.

Stop bring Ariane schop down, because they make the best 737 series, ever made. I don't want them to crash, because negative publicity.Enough is enough. If you don't like there work, don't touch it. Nobody want's to make the NG 737 series exept Ariane. PMDG is very slow in developing, so you can wait until, who knows how long, maby for nothing. If you want to complain, go to Wilco publishing for there ridiculous 3D panelsBest regards,

Clay<....I guess it's difficult for people to fail in this world and pick themselves back up.>I fully agree with your sentiments here - I'm all for giving someone 'a second chance' providing that someone has learnt from former mistakes and has shown a degree of regret for them.However, P.T. is unfortunately not in that category. He has never apologised to those he has hurt - on the contrary, he blames them for his downfall. He continues to treat the community with contempt by threatening those who do not publically support him, and uses very dubious marketing ploys to 'suck people in'.But here, I.M.H.O., is where the real problem is: Given that his products are in no way cheap (as someone else said, about half the price of FS2K2 for a single 737 model with a couple of paint jobs), the total lack of transparency is most worrying in that:1. you're spending your money with a 'business' with no published address,2. you're spending your money with a 'business' with no published phone numbers,3. the 'boss' won't tell you his real and full name (i.e. calls himself 'Bobbo') and goes to the most extraordinary lengths to hide his identity,4. has a very 'hit & miss' attitude to answering support questions, in that you're ignored if you complain,etc. etc.So I ask this simple question: If you have nothing to hide, why hide?The 737 itself may well be 'pretty', but the business practises and/or the person behind them are highly suspicious......Form your own conclusions of course, but I fully agree with Avsim - CAVEAT EMPTOR !Toni.