I have never tries any of the FS2Crew products honestly, because I've never managed to stay long enough with one airplane to fully understand and operate it. I think, though, that this will change with the Maddog 2008, and as I eventually intend to buy Tropicalsim's sceneries for the Netherlands Antilles and I'll do a repaint for the Maddog in SLM livery, I will have plenty of nice places to fly too. of course, with SAS having a fleet of MD-80s, I'll also have a lot to fly in europe (not really a fan of flying in America I'm afraid, because I don't know it. I live in Europe, and the towns there mean something to me, and the Netherlands Antilles, like Surinam, were once part of Holland, so i feel I ought to fly there too. I'm from Holland, is why). So, thanks for posting! I'll keep it in mind. Will you also do a FS2Crew for PMDG's J41?

If any of you are interested, I'm doing an FS2Crew for the Leonardo Mad-Dog. It's nearly done.I'll say that in terms of system detail, the Leonardo Mad Dog is on par with the best, such as the Flight1 ATR or PMDG stuff.The level of systems modeling on this plane is really quite impressive.

Hey, that's great, count me in. I came late to the Leonardo, but it dominates my sim time now. I recently had to re-install all my software (new OS - Win7) Leonardo is the first and only (so far) commercial aircraft I've reinstalled (I've got LDS767, PMDG747, Feelthere170/190 sitting in the hangar). What impresses me most is how well-rounded the sim is. It does have minor faults here and there, and the developer appears to gone on a (well-earned) sabbatical, but the combination of system detail, decent visual model, radar, sophisticated failure generator, configuration options, weight and balance tool, etc. can't be beat.

Sorry to bring this topic up again, but I made a promise. I said I'd say what I think of the Maddog once I bought it. Well, I bought it, so here's my opinion:WOW.I have never. ever thought it'd be this complex, advanced, and what not. I mean, the details on this plane... My god. You can even fiddle with the little switches and buttons and what not that are on the big electrical circuit board, ya know, the panel that in most aircraft is a flat bitmap, and unaccesible to the pilot. I am awed by this. Printing out the tutorial now, so I can get some reading done. But by god, while the VC is not state of the art, it does the job finer than fine (the window, you actually have to unlatch it first before you can open it! THAT'S the attention to detail I love and find completely and freaking awesome!), and I'm already liking it.But this is complex. I have never seen something like it before, and while PMDG aircraft are renowned for their systems, I'm not quite sure how the Maddog compares. I have the feeling it gives you much more options than at least PMDG's 737, 747 and J41 (don't know about the MD-11).So, just my opinion, but I'ma very happy buyer. Not just because of the overall greatness of the system simulation, but also because you can save the panel state, which makes this plane officially better than any of Ariane's 737 planes, where you can't save the panel state. This small, but for me very important fact, makes it possible to do longer flights without having to re-adjust all buttons again upon loading the flight.*sigh*Greatness in a 217MB package. Well done Leonardo!

I hate to say it but, 'I told you so'... :( From reading the various post here we get right up to the point but stop short of saying it. I'll officially say after spending considerable time with this add-on and being involved with FS since 1986: 'The Maddog 2008 project is the best airliner simulation ever created/released for any version of Flight Simulator throughout it's 20+ year history Period (hands down)'. Those that own it and know it know I'm speaking the truth...This effort tops Level-D, PMDG, and anyone else whose ever dived into the hardcore arena. Now this is only because of the nature of the aircraft simulated here. The very nature of the 767/744/MD11 is more ease of use for the pilots and PMDG nailed that aspect. For the type of jet the MD80 is where you have to monitor things like how you treat the engines, brakes, and procedural startup no other add-on holds the simmer more accountable for screw-ups and/or over-sites like the Maddog 2008 project does. Yes Level-D can model failures but holding one accountable for improperly starting the engines is something altogether different. I'm waiting to see what Aerosimmer does but once again the vary nature of the Airbus is ease of use for the pilots and unless they model such things like the IAH engines required a longer process to start (especially in cold conditions) versus the CFM engines the Maddog simulation will still reign supreme. No other add-on available beats out the Leonardo 2008 Maddog in the hardcore department. We've never seen this kind of detail in an airliner simulation up until now... The bar has been raised and it's high time we fully acknowledge that so other future hardcore projects have a marker to beat or at least contend with.

/////////////And I have it now. as well ;)One word = AWESOME.PMDG eat your heart out!

/////////////And I have it now. as well ;)One word = AWESOME.PMDG eat your heart out!

Glade to see you've given this bird a second look Dave, it's truly the best out there... :(

dilloll0: No real need to say "told you so" since I never contradicted you. Anyway, whatever the case, you were completely right and I actually fully agree with you. I do think the Maddog 2008 is better than anything I have ever seen, which includes the LDS767. PMDG's latest plane, the J41, though, is an airplane that comes into the same class as the Maddog 2008. It truly is a wondrous aircraft and I can't remember enjoying FS so much as I did with PMDG's J41. BUT: the J41 does not have all the extras the Maddog has. Granted, it's also cheaper, but nevertheless, that's the case: the Maddog comes with a host of features, like the ability to save and load your entire panel, failures and all kinds of stuff like that. The J41 doesn't have that, although, when you save your flight, all buttons are saved together with the flight (except for the FMC status! But, you can easily save your flightplan so you can get back at it without fuss).I think I'll write an article about this for FSXWorld, actually. This is an interesting topic: "PMDG's J41 and the Maddog 2008; the top of FS."And I stand behind that a full 100%. I think these aicraft maybe aren't better than the LDS767, but they are way more fun for me to fly than the 767 or 747. So okay, I'm guilty: I recently purchased the PMDG 747X and I might go for the MD-11 too, while I'm at it. But still, they won't beat the J41 and Maddog.

... No other add-on available beats out the Leonardo 2008 Maddog in the hardcore department. We've never seen this kind of detail in an airliner simulation up until now... The bar has been raised and it's high time we fully acknowledge that so other future hardcore projects have a marker to beat or at least contend with.

Again. Agreed 100%. :( "Numero UNO" in hardcore department. :(

Glade to see you've given this bird a second look Dave, it's truly the best out there... :(

To add...I'm in love with this bird. Best of all, an FS2Crew voice addition is on short final for this plane!

Again. Agreed 100%. :( "Numero UNO" in hardcore department. :(

One BIG question for everyone who owns this plane ( and I do). If this sim plane is so real to life and if you make a critical mistake and crash as I have, can it be said that the real thing is just so unforgiving as the sim plane. I know of only one recent MD80 crash in Spain. I now want to meet the pilots the next time I have to fly in any MD-80 series.Carl Perry 7 year sim pilot

REAL pilots train go knows how long to even get to fly an airplane, let alone fly a MD-80. They get extensive training, we don't! The crashes they might suffer is in an airline simulator, and so, when they get into the real plane, they know the ins and outs and they don't crash their plane. So, in short: they know their plane (or should know their plane) like nobody else does. That's why MD-80s don't drop out of the skies like stones.

Well I have spent a total of 6 hours to date on this one, reading the tutorial etc and haven't got off the ground yet. :( The forst time I made the Boeing mistake of fire-walling the throttles for takeoff and realised my mistake but it takes so long to restart this aircraft that when I do get to FL50, I will throw a party. Hehehe :(

I say read the tutorial very carefully, and do it more than once.

So...I've been flying the heck out of this plane, and I have forsaken all others :)I thought I'd relay a couple of cool things that have happened or that I've noticed the last few weeks:1. I was reading the CVR scripts of the ASA261 crash and found a reference to standard approach EPR (1.2). I hadn't thought about it, but next flight I set EPR to 1.2 once established and was nailing the approach speed. Now, give or take a bit I can fly the final approach segment "by the numbers"2. ART showed up INOP one day. I reviewed the MEL, followed the procedures, and a few days later it was "fixed". Pretty cool.3. I had a generator fail in flight. Followed the abnormal checklist and the rest went off without a hitchThere are definitely a few quirks and support has proven to be substandard, but this bird is definitely worth it. I love it!

well im looking for a complex smallish (smaller that a MD 11 anyway heh) aircraft and from what im reading this may just be it.Well I get paid tommorow so I think I will take the plunge and buy this. I love complex aircraft and all the really complex ones seem to be long haul or not quite enough for me. I do like the PMDG j41 but its FSX and my PC has trouble with frame rates so I need Fs9 addons. I get very good frame rates (28FPS in built up areas with the PMDG MD 11 and activesky-Ultamate traffic) so I think it will run ok.

Well I have spent a total of 6 hours to date on this one, reading the tutorial etc and haven't got off the ground yet. :( The forst time I made the Boeing mistake of fire-walling the throttles for takeoff and realised my mistake but it takes so long to restart this aircraft that when I do get to FL50, I will throw a party. Hehehe :(

Dave look on YouTube for the tutorial for starting up the engines. It's really easy once you get the hang of it.The reading materials can be a bit long winded. If you need more help PM me and I'll give you the basics of getting this thing off the ground. I was a little put off at first but once I got the hang of it this add-on is quite rewarding.