Hi pmdg team, i feel obliged in compiling this post. during the time scale in developing the forthcoming products, i have been browsing the net looking for a product aircraft as a filler for the meantime, without mentioning any developer names, i have failed to find any product that comes near to anything produced by the PMDG Team. I know it is a killer waiting for news but the light at the end of the tunnel is really worth waiting for. the old 737ng is in my book a very good product and it goes without saying that the new version will simply surpass it, of this i am quite sure. the MD11 is an aircraft to behold, i am really hooked on it and if the oncoming aircraft are even equal to it, i for one, will have no complaints. the bottom line is, if it is not a PMDG product forget the rest. many thanks PMDG. richard welsh.

Well, I'm certainly hoping PMDG's 737 is as good as it promises to be, and I'm personally of the view that the PMDG 747 is the best thing that ever happened to FS, as it really set the bar very high indeed, but I would not dismiss other developers so readily. There are actually a lot of products out there that are also as good as PMDG offerings, and certainly room for all of them too. A few off the top of my head, A2A's Accusim aircraft, Aerosoft's Consolodated PBY Catalina, the Level D 767, the Mad Dog and the Super 80 Pro, Aeroworx B200, etc. Plenty of other good stuff kicking around if you look.To dismiss all other developers out of hand, is to miss out on a lot of good stuff.Al

Don't forget Digital Aviation (Despite their slow progress with the VC and CRJ series) :(

Absolutely. The ones I mentioned were by no means a comprehensive list. A look down the Avsim product reviews (which in itself is not a complete list) will see loads of add-on aircraft jumping out at you and have you thinking 'oh yeah, that's another good one'.Al

The RealAir Duke was also another amazing product.

i think PMDG make brilliant aircraft for flight sim, and probably have made the most high detailed simulations for flight sim. Captain sim are also good at making aircraft. There 757 is the best 757 simulation in my opinion, also the 727 and 767! but they could do more to improve them, i only hope they do and that there 767-400ER that is "ment" to be in developement is as good as they claim!! Air simmers airbus, having never flown it, does sound a little good and bad. It is a good simulation, according to reviews, but is riddled with bugs! If the upcoming A380 from another developer, forgot who, is as good as claimed then it would be popular amongst wide bodied aircraft fans. Going back to CS there aircraft seem a little light once in the air. The 757 seems a little lighter then what it should be (but they are still good!!) Most of these simulations will be blown away when the PMDG Boeing 777 touches down! If this simulation includes all the varients(200/200ER/200LR/200F/300/300ER) it will dominate FSX. THe 777 is probably the GREATEST aircraft available for airlines to purchase today, its big, powerful, has a long range, quiet, economic, wide, beautiful and has great technology, as well as no fatalities under its belt, making it the safest to fly on. i dont think this aircraft will ever be replaced, like the PMDG 777 when made available. The Triple 7 is probably infact DEFINATLY going to be the most popular simulation amongst flight simmers, along with the MD11 that now is the most advanced for flight sim!What with the aircraft coming out this year and the T7 next year, the next 2 years promise to be the best for flight simulator! Aircraft like the A380, 320 advanced, F/A18, 707, NGX, 767-400ER, T7 it will be a close competition for developers, but i think pmdg will come top! The next few years will probably bankrupt most simmers, but give them SHEER ENJOYMENT.

Love my PMDG aircraft.For realistic airliner systems and flight dynamics, it doesn't get any better than the FSL ConcordeX, Leonardo MD82 2008, PMDG MD11, and the LevelD 767.

Love my PMDG aircraft.For realistic airliner systems and flight dynamics, it doesn't get any better than the FSL ConcordeX, Leonardo MD82 2008, PMDG MD11, and the LevelD 767.

I tend to agree...My personal favorites...1. Maddog 2008 with FS2Crew (I Love the Lan based CRM, wish other developers would invest time and research into how to get the shared cockpits going as Leonardo did)2. Concorde-X / MD-11 (Both awsome addons and amazing StudySims)3. Don't have the LDS 76, looking forward to thier 75 one day and spot three is reserved for that for the time being4. All the accusim products as I don't think there is any other product line that captures the imersion of being there better than accusim. 5. Have prepaid for the SuperBug X and I am really looking foreward to april 8th, which is the official release target for that addonThere are many more on my list, but these are just a few that come to mind.Out of all the developers, I think PMDG has the best business mind of them all. It seems that they have the incredible tallent to pick the right plane to model at the right time. So thier sales speak for themselves.Hats off to all the FS developers out there, without thier hardwork we wouldn't have this hobby.JB

I tend to agree...My personal favorites...1. Maddog 2008 with FS2Crew (I Love the Lan based CRM, wish other developers would invest time and research into how to get the shared cockpits going as Leonardo did)2. Concorde-X / MD-11 (Both awsome addons and amazing StudySims)3. Don't have the LDS 76, looking forward to thier 75 one day and spot three is reserved for that for the time being4. All the accusim products as I don't think there is any other product line that captures the imersion of being there better than accusim. 5. Have prepaid for the SuperBug X and I am really looking foreward to april 8th, which is the official release target for that addonThere are many more on my list, but these are just a few that come to mind.Out of all the developers, I think PMDG has the best business mind of them all. It seems that they have the incredible tallent to pick the right plane to model at the right time. So thier sales speak for themselves.Hats off to all the FS developers out there, without thier hardwork we wouldn't have this hobby.JB

PMDG have the BEST VC out of all the competitiors but as mention earlier they are in a small group as to having the best. Each has its on meritsPMDG = VCMaddog = 2D and operational and failure generatorLVL D 767 = operational and good frame ratesCaptain Sim = outside body work and frameAeroworx = operational Project Opensky = 777 outside body workProject tupolev 154= all around greatany many many more payware and freewareCarl Perry 7+ year Sim pilot

THe 777 is probably the GREATEST aircraft available for airlines to purchase today,

I don't think any short/medium haul low cost carriers would agree with you! :( Iain Smit

THe 777 is probably the GREATEST aircraft available for airlines to purchase today, its big, powerful, has a long range, quiet, economic, wide, beautiful and has great technology, as well as no fatalities under its belt, making it the safest to fly on. i dont think this aircraft will ever be replaced, like the PMDG 777 when made available. The Triple 7 is probably infact DEFINATLY going to be the most popular simulation amongst flight simmers, along with the MD11 that now is the most advanced for flight sim!

I can understand you liking the Triple Seven, but do you know that in the airline industry it acquired the nickname of 'the Cripple Seven'? This was because several electrical systems were prone to breaking, meaning it often had to be dispatched with deferred repairs. It's a good aircraft, but it is far from perfect.There has actually been one fatality with the 777, although not from a flight incident; a guy was refueling one at Denver and he was killed when there was a fire. As far as casualties from flight incidents go, there have been several for the 777, with a total of 13 people injured, these all being from the belly landing at Heathrow of G-YMMM, a BA 200 series ER variant. To be fair though, it was actually a design flaw in the RR engines that caused that, and not the 777 design itself. Because of the numbers of 777 there are in comparison to other types, and the number of flight cycles they make, statistically this actually makes the Boeing 737 the safest airliner type to fly on.As far as the most popular with simmers goes, you'll probably find that short and medium haul aircraft are more popular with simmers, since they don't require as long to simulate a full flight. This is one of the reasons why PMDG have made the J41 and are making the their 737NGAl

Let's not forget the Dreamfleet 727 for FS9, she's a work of art.Cheers, Chris Dalgarno

Hi Folks,Well I thought I would weigh in on the debate too. Real life pilots (of which I am not one unfortunately) have 100% trust and confidence in the capabilities of the aircraft they fly. This means that the aircraft does what it is supposed to do when it is supposed to. When I enter the cockpit of any of my PMDG aircraft, I know too, that it is going to do what it is supposed to 100% of the time. I can enjoy a flght from A to B knowing that if any problems occur it is due to piloting error on my behalf.On the other hand each time I use another developers aircraft except the LevelD 767 ( A first class product), I really never know whats going to happen. Inevtiably something goes wrong. The most common issue that bugs me is that no other developer seems to be able to get VNAV functions correct and FMC's are very poor. Aside from that there seems to be and endless amount of bugs etc that just take the fun out of flying in addition to extremely limited Nav data. If one was to fly online with Vatsim in say a Wilco Airbus and you suddenly received a "fly direct to something something intersection" from ATC, there is an extremely high chance that intersection will not even be in the database, not to mention SID and STAR procedures. In my opinion the worst offenders are the CS 757 and both Airbus series from Wilco, they are just crap all round. It seems that PMDG is the only developer that has the expertise to develop sim aircraft as they should be. Level-D is very good too, but their activity seems to be almost non-existant these days.So im my opinion PMDG has no compitetion, they are in a class of their own and deserve it. Sure, I wish we could get aircraft a little quicker from them, but I would rather wait for an aircraft that works properly, and as PMDG has informed us there are alot of aircraft in the development pipeline. There are other good developers for smaller not so complex aircraft., but when it comes down to highly complicated systems modeling etc., thre is only one name: Precision Manuals Development Group.On another note, as a poster above mentioned, I also think that upon the release of the PMDG 777 it will be the aircraft to dominate the flight sim skies for years to come. So thats my two cents worth.HAPPY FLYING,NicholasBB

For me a good filler for PMDG products (granted you are in to classic aircraft) is A2A simulations. If I want modern aircraft I come to PMDG. For classics I go to A2A. I have all their Accu-sim products: B377 Stratocruiser (classic prop airliner), P-47D, and J-3 Cub. Their Accu-sim adds such environment, and realism to the aircraft. That B377 is a real challenge to fly with those 4 big 28 cylinder radial prop engines. I think you would maybe have fun with that in the meantime. Is always refreshing after flying those birds to go back to the fully automated MD-11, or even pilot friendly J-41. Makes me appreciate the technology a whole lot better. :(

So im my opinion PMDG has no compitetion, they are in a class of their own and deserve it. Sure, I wish we could get aircraft a little quicker from them, but I would rather wait for an aircraft that works properly, and as PMDG has informed us there are alot of aircraft in the development pipeline. There are other good developers for smaller not so complex aircraft., but when it comes down to highly complicated systems modeling etc., thre is only one name:

I agree for the most part, but I feel that my Leonardo MD82 2008 is as complete and complex, if not even more, than my PMDG aircraft. The Leonardo with the voice edition FS2Crew and VATSIM makes FSX feel very realistic. The Leonardo uses the same nav data from Navigraph that the PMDG aircraft use, and has weather radar, ground crew/flight attendant coms, a fantastic load manager that produces dispatch sheets, icing, and maintenance operations. Also, my FeelThere E-Jets, although not as complete with the systems and failures, has an extremely well simulated FMC, and the AIRAC data from Navigraph is great.