I was given a $100 visa gift card for Christmas and I'd like to spend it all of it on FSX add-ons.I have LVD 767 and Captain 757 and love both.Looking for other commercial aircraft. Which 747 is best? Any other solid products out there? Also looking for the best FMC program (one that can help product complete routes i.e. Sids/Star etc).Thanks for your help!

I was given a $100 visa gift card for Christmas and I'd like to spend it all of it on FSX add-ons.I have LVD 767 and Captain 757 and love both.Looking for other commercial aircraft. Which 747 is best? Any other solid products out there? Also looking for the best FMC program (one that can help product complete routes i.e. Sids/Star etc).Thanks for your help!

Depends on your system specs, but I would hold off a few weeks for the PMDG 737. Should be out soon and from what ive been reading, it will be amazing.Rob

Which 747 is best? Any other solid products out there?

PMDG 747 is great if you like complex a/c. It works well and i've been flying it since Oct pretty regularly and haven't had any issues with it. Plus it gets really good FPS on my rig which is always a plus.Their NGX will be great as well if you can wait for it and want a 737.If you live in the US and have a Fry's or Best Buy near you, you may be able to find the PMDG 747 for $30. I bough mine in Sept at a Fry's in Dallas for $29.99.

PMDG 747 is great if you like complex a/c. It works well and i've been flying it since Oct pretty regularly and haven't had any issues with it. Plus it gets really good FPS on my rig which is always a plus.Their NGX will be great as well if you can wait for it and want a 737.If you live in the US and have a Fry's or Best Buy near you, you may be able to find the PMDG 747 for $30. I bough mine in Sept at a Fry's in Dallas for $29.99.

Wow - thanks to both of you. Just saw the 737 PMDG and really got excited! Definitely one on the list. I'll take a look at the 747. Sounds like Precision Manuals is a good company?

Yup, if you are looking for a realistic B747-400, then the PMDG version is absolutely the best one you can get, very realistic systems-wise. Learn to fly that thing properly and you could probably drive the real thing, it's that realistic.If you prefer an older 747 variant with traditional gauges rather than the glass cockpit of the 400 series, the CLS 747-200/300 is worth a look. It's not as realistic systems-wise as the PMDG 400 model, but it is still complex enough to be enjoyable and it has the virtue of being fairly inexpensive with a nice expansion pack for freighter models that is only about another five bucks if I recall correctly. The CLS can have either an FMC or an INS cockpit too, depending on your preference, so it offers some nice variety where navigation is concerned.There are a few other 747s out there for FSX, such as AeroSim's short range high density 747-400D model and such, but really, if you want the best 747, it's a no-brainer to get the PMDG one.SimCheck's Airbus A300 is another airliner well worth a look if you like realism, but bear in mind that it uses an inertial navigation system and not an FMC. However, if you want an INS-equipped wide-body airliner, you won't find one better than SimCheck's A300. The visual model could be a bit better, but as far as systems go, this is an excellent add-on which is pretty realistic and great fun to fly.The best standalone FMC program is probably the Smiths FMC which is included in Integrated SimAvionics, ISG 1 gauges pack. You have to add these to aircraft yourself, by editing aircraft panel configuration files in a text editor, so it is no 'drag and drop' affair, but the manual explains it all and it isn't desperately hard to do, after all, if I can do it, I suspect anyone can LOL.What you might prefer if you don't want to mess about with config files, is to get hold of a flight planner which can include SIDs and STARs, and if you do want something like that, I can recommend FSBuild, which ironically enough, is made by Ernie Alston, who is the guy who makes those ISG 1 gauges as well.Al

If it were me, and with the assumption that you listed all your add on's I would not look at another aircraft at all...I would suggest a good weather program like ASE, and texture booster program to compliment it like REX. The I'd look at either a mesh program like FS Global FS Genesis and/or another broad based texture package like GEX. A good landclass package like UTX for the are you fly in would also be a high priority. You can't have it all for $100 but you can make a good start at transforming the look of FSX especially if your system can handle it.Just my .02 worth.Blaze

I think Best buy and others sell the PMDG 747 on cd for a lot cheaper than you can get it online, so to save money you can do that. I'd highly recommend the PMDG 747X, my favorite heavy iron addon ever. Still fly it today.

I would wait for the PMDG 737..It should be out in a couple of weeks...Well worth the wait.....

If I were you I'd be getting my hands on the Aircraft Factory HE-219, the A2A Wings of Silver 377 Stratocruiser (with Accu-Sim, of course) and as always be on the lookouts for the next Wings of Power 3 aircraft. Dave.

Just a note, Best Buy is no longer selling the 747. I tried to purchase it both online and in the store last week and it was listed as a discontinued item.

I would wait for the PMDG 737..It should be out in a couple of weeks...Well worth the wait.....

great advice ... if you like to fly realistic aircraft on realistic routes . .then the 747 is really limiting, unless you have time to do 8-16 hrs flights.  

If I were you I'd be getting my hands on the Aircraft Factory HE-219, the A2A Wings of Silver 377 Stratocruiser (with Accu-Sim, of course) and as always be on the lookouts for the next Wings of Power 3 aircraft. Dave.

How exactly do you go from advanced current aircraft with glass cockpits and FMC's to those suggestions? I'm sure they're good airplanes but still

great advice ... if you like to fly realistic aircraft on realistic routes . .then the 747 is really limiting, unless you have time to do 8-16 hrs flights.  

Not really, there are a lot of 747 flights that remain in the US and are only 2 hours or less. I was looking at flightaware the other night and found a bunch that go from KDFW to KORD, KATL to KORD, KORD to KJFK, KSEA to KLAX, etc, etc. I could go on but there was quite a few short routes on both the east and west coast, however the majority of them were cargo if that makes a difference. Then again its certified by PMDG to operate the 744 at up to 8x time compression without messing up the calculations the FMC does and going haywire, so if your in a hurry and want to do a quick LAX to JFK run you could do it in a timely fashion, unless of course your so inclined to sit and stare at the screen for 6 hours to ensure complete realism. Then again the way I look at the 744 is that I will fly it any route that I want just because I enjoy flying it regardless of whether an 744's really fly from KDFW to KMIA.

Just a note, Best Buy is no longer selling the 747. I tried to purchase it both online and in the store last week and it was listed as a discontinued item.

He'd probably have to go to Fry's them. The last time I was in Fry's a few months ago when I got mine they still had 3 copies left and their probably not flying off the shelf like other software is. That's probably the only place left to get it for that price if Best Buy doesn't have it any longer.

Looking for other commercial aircraft. Which 747 is best? Any other solid products out there? Thanks for your help!

I'd recommend the Flight1 BN-2 Islander. It may be at the 'tiddler' end of the commercial aircraft spectrum, but it's a cracking simulation and is just so stable and easy to fly. And perfect if you want your flights measured in minutes rather than hours!Ian

Why not go spend the $100 on a fam flight down at your local flying school.Do it at a busy airport so you can get a sense of ATC.You'll get a real sense of how 'different' simulated flying feels from real flying.Cheers,