Captain Sim 707 1.1 out and WOW

[Tim_Capps 474]

I think the unspoken assumption is that $70 for a glass plane is fine whereas $70 for a mere classic is prohibitive.Do you like visuals? x4 the detail, which is value you can see on the screen, especially in the crisp VC. You won't see anything near that in offerings from developers permitted to charge that kind of price without generate complaints. The VC instruments are beautiful, with an 3D artificial horizon ball looking like you can take it and play softball with it. Everything is sharp and easy to read. Do you like failures? While not as many as some, it has more than most, with at least engine fires (only one I've discovered so far). (Better check those circuit breakers, too; while dummies the popped ones are a nice touch.) People have traditionally made a big deal about dumping fuel as the sine qua non of realisim (why, I'm not sure). Well, you can dump fuel. There' s even a little pipe you have to deploy to do it. Other touches are like this: without the hydraulic switchs turned on, you can't lower the flaps, BUT, you can if you use the alternate flap switch on the overhead.How about a working doppler navigation system? Forget about programming your route and doing sudoko the rest of the way. You have to stay on top of things in this airplane, programming the inactive channel while the active one is guiding the plane. Or, you can use the installed INS. It wasn't included at first, nor was there an intention to do so. But the fans said they wanted it and and Captain Sim responded. When a mistake with the HF antennas was pointed out, Captain Sim rushed to fix it in the update. By the way, the update for this August release was promised for September, and, what do you, it was actually delievered on time per their promise. All of a sudden, Captain Sim is the most responsive developer in the business.For me, this airplane is worth every penny. I have the PMDG MD-11, and, as nice as it is, I would get rid if it before I got rid of my 707. I have a lot of other glass airplanes and wouldn't miss it. But this is the only long-haul steam bird I've got. $70 is a lot of money, but, like a Cecil B. DeMille film, it's all up there on the screen. When I divide the price by hours of enjoyment it is still cheaper than Netflix.

[CoolP 283]

What is it about 1.1 that makes the 707 at $80+ a "great value"?

If "value" would be defined be the price only, I would understand your question. A 10 Euros addon would automatically have a higher value than the 20 Euros one and so on.But it's not so easy. It's the relationship between what you get and what you had to pay for it.I've payed nearly 40 Euros on the new Airbus and got ... well, I wrote this somewhere else I think.I've payed 60 Euros on the now 1.1 707 and got a well done aircraft coming in three variants and as far as I can see, it's working and flying just fine and as expected for one of its type.Sad enough, that the last point is one to mention nowadays and still sad enough to read that other devs can release addons in the same price range without being asked about their real value (at least in the typical forums).As mentioned earlier, 60 Euros aren't cheap in any way but they are ok for what you get with 1.1 now. In 1.0 you only had one variant, one livery and loads of flaws to be corrected. 1.1 wiped those downsides away and therefor raised the value. I understand everyone to take a closer look before spending that amount of money.My small critics just circle around the fact, that, at some devs, people just buy (maybe including me on that Airbus) and at others, they ask about "value" in some meaning.Maybe Captain Sim puts out a demo in some time like they did on the 767. Seems like a good and fair option to me.And before someone gets a "he's a CS fan guy" thinking. My last great value was experienced (and still is) on the Concorde, another great aircraft from one of the newer or smaller names in the business.Before that, Simcheck received a buy from me and just needs one patch in my eyes to be perfect (for me).Of course, I have the glassliners from the big names too and like them, but found some of them to be somehow overrated in terms of "great systems". Especially the 747 cash cow with those funny new variants still is a good plane but is loosing its value with the outdated optics, some missing details and of course the unrealistic variants with an "optics only" fitting.Not my kind of plane any more but still priced around 60 Euros here.As you can see, personal preference defines my value too.Tim, great post above. Thumbs up.

[Benjamin J 751]

God, my fingers are itching to get this bird. I mean,this plane looks stunning and I have heard nothing but praise. My only question: how is the performance? Flying around FlyTampa's TNCM in the CS727, I can get approximately 20FPS, although it might go down to 15 here and there. What can I expect from the 707?

[Brett_Henderson 5]

Dinner and a movie costs about the same.. and you get to do it once.You can take this girl on a many dates as you like :(

[Tim_Capps 474]

God, my fingers are itching to get this bird. I mean,this plane looks stunning and I have heard nothing but praise. My only question: how is the performance? Flying around FlyTampa's TNCM in the CS727, I can get approximately 20FPS, although it might go down to 15 here and there. What can I expect from the 707?

Performance is on a par with the 727. I keep my frames locked at 25 and might see a dip to 24 on the ground.

[Epikk 62]

Hi again,Maybe someone knows why the FO's MAGNETIC HEADING PICTORIAL DEVIATION INDICATOR (MHPDI) is showing NAV1's deviation instead of NAV2s... Maybe I missed a switch somewhere??

[CoolP 283]

Too old and expensive.

Conversation with you must be a pleasure, Sir :Just Kidding:Sorry, just wondering about every single line guy in forums, nothing personal here. Freedom of speech meats oddity of statment or so.

[Tim_Capps 474]

I said I would report any problems, so here's a big one with 1.1, and I don't seem to be alone.There is a fatal error shortly after takeoff. So until this gets resolved, I can't recommend it. This was not a problem with 1.0, nor with the first couple of flights with 1.1. I'll wait for a fix before I try any more flying with this airplane. Maybe they tried to do too much too quickly to get a massive upgrade out the door less than a month after original release.

[CoolP 283]

Epikk, MHPDI working here. Both independently when tuning different VORs. I've tuned two VORs with DME and you can see different readouts (Course is set to 261 on both sides) on Course and DME.The FO showing the Nav1 values was a problem in 1.0, 1.1 fixed it on my system.Tim, can't agree on the crashes here too. Looks system dependent right now and I think the support guys are waiting for some answers asked in the thread about the random crashes :(

[PIC007 82]

Im with Tim on this, the update has some major problems, I hope CS moves fast on them as otherwise its a beautifull plane.

[Tim_Capps 474]

Well,last two flights have been perfect, with no fatal errors. I did change out some hardware controllers in the meantime, so maybe it had something to do with that. I'm back to loving this airplane again lol That was really the only thing I noticed, Jay. EDIT: CS thinks they know what the problem is and have suggested turning off the full cabin for the time being. I guess I'll miss those Marlboros in the smoking lounge for a while.

[Epikk 62]

Epikk, MHPDI working here. Both independently when tuning different VORs. I've tuned two VORs with DME and you can see different readouts (Course is set to 261 on both sides) on Course and DME.The FO showing the Nav1 values was a problem in 1.0, 1.1 fixed it on my system.Tim, can't agree on the crashes here too. Looks system dependent right now and I think the support guys are waiting for some answers asked in the thread about the random crashes :(

Thanx for your answer CoolP... I think the strange thing that I saw was that when tuning an ILS freq in NAV1 the GS deviation/indication was also showing on FO's side... ODD...

[CoolP 283]

I think the strange thing that I saw was that when tuning an ILS freq in NAV1 the GS deviation/indication was also showing on FO's side... ODD...

Might arise from the lack of an independent ILS receiver in FS. FSX always uses Nav1 for this, the real world has an extra box. I don't know about the 707 in detail but I think the ILS readout on both normally independent instruments is done by design. So maybe feature instead of bug.First time I flew the 707 I wondered where that Glideslope might be until I found that really small bar on the left. Not a problem of CS I think, but one of the early cockpit designers.

[Epikk 62]

First time I flew the 707 I wondered where that Glideslope might be until I found that really small bar on the left....

Had some hard times finding it too... So small!

Might arise from the lack of an independent ILS receiver in FS. FSX always uses Nav1 for this, the real world has an extra box. I don't know about the 707 in detail but I think the ILS readout on both normally independent instruments is done by design. So maybe feature instead of bug.

Yup... Some other devs do it "correctly"... But I'm sure they DO NOT use the standard FSX SDK... Not a biggie anyway... I don't consider the CS707 as a "hardcore" add-on... It's all good.

[CoolP 283]

Agreed. "Hardcore" for Captain Sim and everything but "light" or "medium" overall but the hydraulic fluids can remain unchecked and you still have a safe feeling when flying. Although there are some engine failures and stuff implemented and I really like those loose circuit breakers too. Have to try these engine failures, until now I went through without blowing some of the expensive stuff.They are suggesting some FO callouts in the CS "wish" forum, "glideslope deviation" could be one of it in my understanding (which is naive, I admit). Maybe you want to join that thread there?As you proved to have a sharp eye, maybe you find my small list of bugs remaining after 1.1. The most annoying one is the pressurization system for me, the rest are small glitches. I just need some more people to tell me if I'm wrong or the machine.I can't find anything not sympathetic on this plane (like on the other one we both own), so work here would be much appreciated and allows the dev to develop fixes.