I have been flying Aerosof't's Airbus X a lot more lately. My initial enthusiasm had turned to regret as I was plagued with nosedives on final and other problems. But it was just so beautiful I couldn't resist returning to it. The more I practiced I learned the way fly-by-wire is implemented and, frankly, just got better flying it. We are also at version 1.22. Now it is among my favorite airplanes. I have just made a couple of flawless flights tonight. It's not perfect, and the moment of turning off the autopilot is something of an adventure since behavior can sometimes be a bit unpredictable. It is not an in-depth simulation, but perfect for what it was intended to be:something for the "after-work pilot" who wants a quick trip in a very nice looking airplane. Just thought I would add this remark given my earlier negative reactions to it. Is anyone else flying it?

Im flying it. I like it. It has its quirks, as you have said, but all in all, I like it a lot. I dont fly airliners too much, but between the AS airbus and the CS 707, Im getting back into flying Airliners again.Rob

Nope, I've not been tempted. I'd be interested in buying their proposed souped up version of it that will supposedly have more realistic systems which they mooted, but at the moment I don't really see the current offering as all that different from the default A321 or the lite Just Flight Airbus offerings - at least where it really matters to me - given that it doesn't make a serious attempt at the major functional differences in how an Airbus actually operates. We've had plenty of 'lite' and half-assed attempts at an Airbus FBW system over the years, and the current offering from Aerosoft is only a prettier offering in that same vein under the shiny external model. The better exception to that trend is presently the Aerosoft/SimCheck A300, but that's no FBW affair of course, even though it is a very convincing incarnation of the Airbus it attempts to portray.The first company to get a realistic FBW Airbus out the door which has a decent stab at doing the systems justice will have my money on the very day their product goes on sale, and I'd bet I'm not alone in that, so I'll be interested to see who wins that race. Since the Airsimmer A320 appears to have gone into an unrecoverable spiral dive at present, my money's probably on Flight Sim Labs managing it first, but I guess we'll see if Aerosoft decide to go for it fully on their present offering. And I hope they do, as it is a great looking model for sure.None of that should be taken to mean I think it's a poor product; I'm aware that some people don't give a damn about FBW intricacies, and I wouldn't wish to deny them that pleasure, it's just not the product I want. Gimme a realistic A320 for FSX and I'll cheerfully throw 200 quid at it for the privilege, and I don't even care if it has a naff external model either, it's the systems I want to see simulated, because that's really what makes an Airbus, an Airbus.Al

I'm beginning to think that this platform- FS9/FSX is just not conducive to producing a working realistic Airbus. Maybe that's why PMDG shied away from it?

I happen to be flying it right now. I don't believe it is the same as the default A321 at all. I flew the default vc merged with the PA Airbus for almost a year and they are very different.I agree Tim. It does have its quirks and I hope they work on them but it is still a decent aircraft. It is still, however, several notches below the QW757. The QW is has the right level of systems simulation for me but it is far from the default A321. I also agree that the visual model is fantastic.I think the thing with them that has annoyed me the most is that they released so few paints. At their price point, they should have released a ton of paints and they didn't. To me, that doesn't make it a good value. On their product page, they implied that they would be releasing dozens of paints shortly after the initial release. In the end, they meant a bunch of freeware painters would be releasing paints. Kind of lazy of you ask me. Yesterday, a kind painter finally released the US Airways A321 but none of the freeware painters are biting on the Spirit A321. There are two freak'n airlines in the US that operate the A321 and they couldn't have included at least one in the initial release? The only US paint the release at all was the US Airways A312. No other US paints, no Asian paints... For their BA A320, they didn't even get the callsign right in the aircraft.cfg. Easy fix but it just makes their work look sloppy. IMHO, this is euro-centric BS. I bet when they release their simulator, the entire US mesh will be at 1m above sea level with no scenery. They will advertise worldwide mesh soon to be released but what they will mean is we will have to wait for freeware developers to create it. Germany, of course, will be depicted in full detail.If you think I am crazy for making a big deal about the Spirit A321, consider that I mostly fly US-Caribbean-Mexico routes. No US Airways or Spirit A321 means I can't fly their A321 at all. 75% of the reason I bought the thing in the first place was to have a nice A321 for my typical flights.

Well, to be honest, the same accusation could be leveled at FSX, with its US-centric focus, such as an 18,000 foot transition level all over the world and US accents for ATC in every country etc, which is understandable given that it is made in the US, and I think pretty much everyone who bought FS around the world accepts that. So I guess you can't really blame a German company for making an aircraft that suits Germans a little bit better, although in fairness, it would be a lot easier to sling a US paint job in that Airbus package than it would to make FS multicultural.Al

Nobody in Germany files sid/stars apparently either.

Nobody in Germany files sid/stars apparently either.

That bit is realistic, it simulates the pilots not knowing how to work the systems on their Airbus LOLAl

So what's your view of the Feelthere/Wilco A320 then, Al?Ian

Not the Al you wanted to hear from but my biggest beef with the Wilco Busses is tha fact it refuses to work with a 64bit O/S.As for the Aerosoft Repaints, look on their forum in the downloads section. Many repaints in there....

my biggest beef with the Wilco Busses is tha fact it refuses to work with a 64bit O/S

I can report the opposite (they ran on Vista and now Win7x64 for me, flawless and without a problem) and it would have been nice if the Aerosoft one would have been more Airbus than the FSX default one or at least would develop some character of flying Airbus-like. But I'm glad that version 1.22 seems to work now.

Not the Al you wanted to hear from but my biggest beef with the Wilco Busses is tha fact it refuses to work with a 64bit O/S.

Hm, not really... I'm using them without problems on Win 7 64 bit. The systems are good and quite detailed (but I'm no expert) but the VC is outdated.. said mildly.

Not the Al you wanted to hear from but my biggest beef with the Wilco Busses is tha fact it refuses to work with a 64bit O/S.As for the Aerosoft Repaints, look on their forum in the downloads section. Many repaints in there....

And I too can be added to the list who happily uses the Wilco busses on Windows 7 64bit. I'm afraid the problem is with you, my friend.

I have to disagree.. The wilco jets are very unstable on 64bit. I cannot use the PIC737 on win7 64bit because there's a big chance i get DLL errors. There's a win7 fix but it didn't fix anything. I reinstalled PIC737 several times and even on a clean format I get DLL errors....So right no there's no proper 737 for FSX..even though FSX has been out for years. (737 is only the most flown jet in the world :( )PMDG better hurry :Big Grin:edit: oh and it doesn't work with FSINN either

I am really tempted to buy this bird while waiting on the NGX, which is becoming a drag btw.