Great work Mr Boeing Skunk Works! :( I would like to make a cockpit one day......actually I have been looking for a VMax Yoke. Anyone know where I can find one?

Hi Ed,I think i found the yoke you are looking for, " AFCS III Yoke (USB) AETI ", but the site where it is for sale, it's damned by most flightsimmers and developers, I'm talking about: http://www.fsplanet.com/store.htmIf you care to go there and have a look, scroll down and look in the 'Hardware | Yoke' section. I think I've seen it there among others, although the price is a bit high. Please note that I'm not in anyway related or simpathetic to above mentioned site! Just trying to be of any help to you only!BTW I also go for the FS9 and have a lot of money spent on addons for it, since it come up for the first time in 2002, I think, if I'm not wrong, which is, if the date is correct?? already 7 years ago, being so the longest living Flight Simulator edition up until today?? But I also have FSX although only now a couple of days ago I installed and tried it for the first time since I bought it almost 2 years ago.But I'm reluctant in go definitly to it!! I'm still much in love with FS9!! I have all PMDG aircraft for both FS's as well as from other editors and developers like Flight1, Level-D, EaglesoftDG, Dreamfleet, Carenado, Aerosoft, AeroSim, PSS, Wilco-Feelthere and so on... either for A/C and for Sceneries. Lots of money spent and still spending since FS2002 and even before. Hard to let them go even the older editions. Starting now to buy for FSX also.Oh well, I also have bought, but have not installed or used yet, two X-Plane versions, the 8 and the last one the 9.x something. This FS thing is a very addictive 'vice'Long live MS FS9 aka: FS2004 'A Century of Flight' !!!I even I have a baseball cap from Microsoft/games celebrating itRegardsAntonio Lapa GomesLPPT - LPCS

I've been hearing for years now that Microsoft has been meaning to move FS over to some planned XBox platform that will have better user interface than the current one. Is that in any way true?

No, it is most emphatically NOT true. MS themselves have clearly stated that whatever they are planning to release will be distributed via their "Games for PC LIVE" channel instead of using brick and mortar CD/DVD sales.By taking this step, they can then keep the program continuously updated, control distribution/activation more easily, and greatly expand the visibility of the third-party market to all simmers, just as they are doing already with the other "games" that're available from "Games for PC LIVE."That said however, they have not given out any information as to what form such a "flying game" might be... We'll just have to be patient and await further information... :( In the mean time, neither FS9 or FSX is going to self-destruct, so we can continue to enjoy either one - or both - as long as we wish... :(

MikeHey, slow down buddy. I know you didn't bring up the music subject. I was just thinking out loud. I was intrigued by your thoughts, and might have been interested in a more in depth exchange. Sorry, you took offence. I am a musican and composer, and don't look at music only from a marketing point of view.Bob

Hey Bob!Sorry buddy, just had twin girls, haven't slept in 2 weeks, and much too much coffee! :(

You think you aren't sleeping now. Wait till they're teenagers.

Hey Bob!Sorry buddy, just had twin girls, haven't slept in 2 weeks, and much too much coffee! :(

Hey Mike. Good luck with your new addons. My experience with units of this type is that they require constant tweaking and regular updates. System wide crashes are not uncommon. Worth every moment.Bob

Hey Mike. Good luck with your new addons. My experience with units of this type is that they require constant tweaking and regular updates. System wide crashes are not uncommon. Worth every moment.Bob

I do have two of these addons installed, they require a monthly subscription fee, what raises monthly, while you use/see the addons less.Also, the crashed/clashes are time triggered, like a random engine failure hardcoded, and are actively been supported by the other part of the operating system.Finally, these addons will eventually start simming on their own, and have there own section in the program files folder in such way you installation is addon less again.The ultimate marketing strategy!

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Just my 2 cents: Flight simming in general as proved to be one of the biggest successes in computer games industry, and if not in sales number at least in longevity. Add to this hundreds or thousands of people having put a lot of effort in tons of first grade freeware and payware addons because of their love for this hobby.Look, esp. here on the avsim forums, what kind of support long forgotten franchises in the flight sim universe still receive by dedicated folks. There is even a reverse engineering project going on for Fly!2 to expand it and give it new life. One design group released in 2007 a new payware quality plane for this sim as freeware.Look at Flight Unlimited 2/3 (which I still have installed and enjoy flying once in a while). Still folks here tweaking it, heck, even having produced new scenery for an actual "closed" program.Not to mention the efforts in the x-plane universe. Give x-plane another 2 years and we hopefully will see some additions that have made MSFS a great platform.As for MSFS: if it weren't, someone had to invent it!!!!!! I bet my lower back part that, if MSFS ceased as a franchise (which we don't know yet if and how it will make a comeback or not) there would be people around the next 10+ years to expand, maybe even reverse engineer,making it an open source sim and such.Or, the former dev. team or some other dedicated and talented people pull off a new franchise, as it happened with the train sim market. Don't really know if the two are very comparable but my guess is, if they could do it in such market, they can do it in our's.While this all not necessarily means that FS9 will see such kind of dedication beyond everything, I also do bet that because of its already longer than intended life span by MS and payware contributors, a non insignificant numbers of individuals will keep it running. It could even become the default sim for a new generation of low budget laptops since many people seem to buy rather cheap laptops than desktops and there should be folks who want to run a flight sim even on the barest minimum config. Having said this, any new low price laptop by now should run FS9 all sliders maxed. What a joy!

Just my 2 cents: Flight simming in general as proved to be one of the biggest successes in computer games industry, and if not in sales number at least in longevity. Add to this hundreds or thousands of people having put a lot of effort in tons of first grade freeware and payware addons because of their love for this hobby.Look, esp. here on the avsim forums, what kind of support long forgotten franchises in the flight sim universe still receive by dedicated folks. There is even a reverse engineering project going on for Fly!2 to expand it and give it new life. One design group released in 2007 a new payware quality plane for this sim as freeware.Look at Flight Unlimited 2/3 (which I still have installed and enjoy flying once in a while). Still folks here tweaking it, heck, even having produced new scenery for an actual "closed" program.Not to mention the efforts in the x-plane universe. Give x-plane another 2 years and we hopefully will see some additions that have made MSFS a great platform.As for MSFS: if it weren't, someone had to invent it!!!!!! I bet my lower back part that, if MSFS ceased as a franchise (which we don't know yet if and how it will make a comeback or not) there would be people around the next 10+ years to expand, maybe even reverse engineer,making it an open source sim and such.Or, the former dev. team or some other dedicated and talented people pull off a new franchise, as it happened with the train sim market. Don't really know if the two are very comparable but my guess is, if they could do it in such market, they can do it in our's.While this all not necessarily means that FS9 will see such kind of dedication beyond everything, I also do bet that because of its already longer than intended life span by MS and payware contributors, a non insignificant numbers of individuals will keep it running. It could even become the default sim for a new generation of low budget laptops since many people seem to buy rather cheap laptops than desktops and there should be folks who want to run a flight sim even on the barest minimum config. Having said this, any new low price laptop by now should run FS9 all sliders maxed. What a joy!

I agree.Looking back, I had Fly!2 and thought that the default aircraft it came with were incredible at the time. The Hawker that it came with had a flight deck that was more realistic than almost any flight deck that MSFS add-ons had at the time. The patches they released were pretty impressive too.Flight Unlimited 3 was impressive at the time with its' AI flight lessons, missions, etc. I think it had an audio AI ATC system before MSFS did. I thought their rendition of the BeechJet was really good too.Unfortunately the above flightsim's do not work in Vista.The original Falcon 4.0 had incredible patches and updates -- All of which were freeware. Talk about some very serious dedication from the guys that kept that platform alive for years until Falcon Allied Force was released. Alot of guys still use the original Falcon 4.0 because they have tweaked it to a point where it is ideal for them.I have X-Plane 9 and I have seen where that platform is going, and all I can say is, WOW!Personally, I have FS9 & FSX, and I use FS9 almost exclusively because I have it setup right where I want it. Fluid fps, great add-ons, etc. The amount of top notch freeware add-ons for FS9, vs. that of FSX, is 10 to 1.FS9 has a long life yet to go in my home.brando

My main point was: If other media, let's use software as an example, becomes lower and lower as it ages from when it was released -- Why is it that certain flightsim add-on prices have not followed the same trend?

Software doesn't fall in price simply because it ages. It falls in price because buyers are no longer willing to pay the original price - usually because there are newer, better, more competitive, versions available.As long as the developer is happy with the number of people prepared to pay its asking price then there is no reason to reduce the price. If add-on A is still the best in its class after 5 years, then it can be just as valuable now as it was.

Software doesn't fall in price simply because it ages. It falls in price because buyers are no longer willing to pay the original price - usually because there are newer, better, more competitive, versions available.As long as the developer is happy with the number of people prepared to pay its asking price then there is no reason to reduce the price. If add-on A is still the best in its class after 5 years, then it can be just as valuable now as it was.

Agreed 100%.You hit it right on the head.In reality it is FSX that will keep FS9 alive pure and simple, the supposed newer better version of MSFS has its own issues that have prevented many from fully embracing FSX.Just because PMDG decided to go with an FSX only version of their upcoming J41 product, does not mean they won't go back later on and repackage a version of it for FS9. They will let demand for an FS9 version make that decision for them.If the demand for an FS9 version is there , that is something very hard for developers to ignore for very long.Regards.Ernie.

I see both of your points, and respect your opinions.However, outside of MS being a huge entity compared to the size of add-on companies -- If software according to mgh, "...doesn't fall in price simply because it ages. It falls in price because buyers are no longer willing to pay the original price - usually because there are newer, better, more competitive, versions available." What would the reasoning be behind the price of FSX itself falling? Anyone can buy FSX and the Acceleration pack in one package (FSX Gold Edition) for $40 now. Why?If I would have known that the price of FSX and the Acceleration pack (SP2) would drop to $40 combined, so qickly - I would have waited and in-turn saved myself approximately $60.Is the only reason for the drop in price of FSX the size of MS vs. the size of add-on companies? MS does not have a newer version of flightsim in the market, or a better one, nor a new competitive version out there.Another example in the flightsim world of a platform's price being lower now than when it was originally released would be Falcon Allied Force. Anyone can buy that software for only $20. When it first "hit the shelves" it was $40, and it does not have a newer version of itself in the market, or a better one, nor a new competitive version out there either. What would the reasoning be of Falcon AF as another example of software dropping in price be?

I see both of your points, and respect your opinions.However, outside of MS being a huge entity compared to the size of add-on companies -- If software according to mgh, "...doesn't fall in price simply because it ages. It falls in price because buyers are no longer willing to pay the original price - usually because there are newer, better, more competitive, versions available." What would the reasoning be behind the price of FSX itself falling? Anyone can buy FSX and the Acceleration pack in one package (FSX Gold Edition) for $40 now. Why?

Mgh's point still applies.The price falls when 'buyers are no longer willing to pay the original price'.The point being if sales remain steady the price usually does not fall.Its when unit sales start to decrease the developer considers reducing the price.For FS add-ons sometimes a product will not get a huge amountof sales at the initial release, but rather a product may get a consistent lower level of sales for a long period of time.For some products after the initial surge of sales the opening week or month, unit sales can level off and basically remain at the lower level for months or years.And of course there are those products that may have an initial surge and then the sales take a hugedrop as interest wanes quickly. When unit sales are fairly consistent, so too tends to be the price.

If I would have known that the price of FSX and the Acceleration pack (SP2) would drop to $40 combined, so qickly - I would have waited and in-turn saved myself approximately $60.

You would have been waiting 1.5 years though.Not everyone is willing to wait that long, especially with no guarantee the price will actually fall later on. Regards.Ernie.

Does your FS9 installation still work? Are your disks still intact?Can you archive all that you currently own on an external hardrive via usb cable?Can you access FS sites for free downloads and information? Can you access your favorite commercial vendor?If the answer to all of the above is affirmative then FS9 is certainly not dead.In fact in remains viable for your and others use. :(

I really enjoy flight simulation, but I do wonder how long we can stick with these old products. I am not much into "Gaming"FS 9 still works for me. I don't own FS X yet, but will probably buy at some point. Like many others, I have a lot, although not as much as some of you, invested in add on's. Given that both my Wife and I's companies have had some layoffs over the past year +, we are being smarter with our money, the way our grandparents were, and don't buy what we don't really need, focusing that extra money on debt reduction. Unlike our current president, I don't think you can borrow your way to prosperity. I have the PMDG 747 and that is complex enough to keep me busy. For me, $90 is too much for the MD-11 at this time. That is money I can throw at the car payment and get out of debt. The SST Sim Concorde takes a lot of time and dedication to fly successfully and is also fun. The Dreamfleet 727 is a good simulation of one of my favorite airliners. On the freeware side, I have some more planes to go and download thanks to some of the other posters on this thread and my patience to read it all. I also have a ball flying the Section8 F-86!I snagged another 2 copies of FS 9 awhile back when I saw then on the $10 software shelf and they scanned for that ( some kind of mistake or just my lucky day?) as I had only ever seen 2002 on the bargain shelves.