Incidentally, for those who haven't got the iFly or the Ariane NG, both of which have a non collimated displays, is is still fairly useful even when like that. Sure it doesn't always overlay the runway unless your eyepoint is in the right place, but all the other info does allow you to keep looking out of the window, thus it is good for staying on the centreline on take off, staying level on rotation in a crosswind, or laying off on a clear departure or approach, so don't feel too cheated, after all, there are quite a few NGs that don't have an HGS at all.Al

You are right, Alan. I actually liked the "static" feature on the Ariane before, but after seeing what collimation and TrackIR offers (on e. g. the VRS Superbug), it lost some value. But nobody said that the iFly will stay non-collimated for ever. As far as I could read their support and dev attitude, they are very open to user demands and maybe even a fan comes up with a collimated mod, who knows?And I wouldn't reduce some nice plane to the sheer fact if it has that HGS collimated or not since there's so much more to enjoy and we for example still have to test how the fps of those two detailed planes are on customer systems. Fancy features are great, but not if your frames go (severely) down because of them. So lets see how all the stuff performs when the first customers (of both companies) report their experiences.As said, I'm happy about the videos from Jeremy for example, they looked ok to me with that weather and airport around the plane.

Yeah, I don't mind having a simpler simulation of the HGS. I think the way it is going for me is that I'll get both the PMDG one and the iFly one, and probably use the iFly one for regular Air Hauler stuff where I don't want to simulate the possibility that the screws might come loose on the cup holders, and the PMDG one when I want to go into 'total nerd mode' and do indeed want to simulate the possibility of the carpet needing vacuuming in the galley.What with having FS Passengers, Topcat, Flight Keeper, TSR Autobrake, ACE, MCE, Radar Contact, FS2, a real manual sat on the desk and all that other propeller-head stuff, it is something I like to do sometimes, but other times I just want a nice easy time of it LOL. That's why I have two other FS 747s in addition to the PMDG one, both of which I bought after the PMDG one, even though I know the PMDG one is the better simulation.Al

Just a minor heads up, or hug or whatever you want to call it, there is now an FSX version product page on the iFly site, which somewhat tantalisingly has a 'buy now' button on it, but don't get too excited, it only links to Flight 1, where the product is not yet available. Nevertheless, it does at least show that they are getting the thing ready to go. Apparently it's looking like Monday when you'll actually be able to buy the thing (i.e. tomorrow).Al

For those wondering, my system specs are listed on the description section of each of my videos. For those that don't know, currently the BBJ's on the iFly have a heads up display, BUT they will be adding it as an option for the other models in the feature pack which is to come after the FSX version is released. There's a log list of things going into the FP and Steve and the team are very open to user requests. Also, I have been told that they are considering a terrain radar also for the FP.

For those wondering, my system specs are listed on the description section of each of my videos.

Found them! Sorry, only looked superficially there. :( That's a very current system indeed, so frames have to be good.Are those (first) feature pack contents already explained somewhere in the free section of the forums (I'm no iFly customer yet, so I can only access the free part)?

I don't want to simulate the possibility that the screws might come loose on the cup holders, and the PMDG one when I want to go into 'total nerd mode' and do indeed want to simulate the possibility of the carpet needing vacuuming in the galley.

But you liked that on the Katana, didn't you?

Found them! Sorry, only looked superficially there. :( That's a very current system indeed, so frames have to be good.Are those (first) feature pack contents already explained somewhere in the free section of the forums (I'm no iFly customer yet, so I can only access the free part)?

No worries! The excitement of seeing the video overrides reading the description lol. Unfortunately no, it's only in the licensed member forum. Let me state for the record that they haven't said what is all going to be in the FP, but they are planning quite a bit. The nice thing about Flight1 is the 30 day refund policy. Trust me when I tell you though, you won't be needing it! I used to only fly FSX until the iFly for FS9 came out. Until we got a hold of the FSX version, FS9 was all I flew, FOR ONE AIRPLANE! Lol

Sounds good. Would be nice to have another company one can trust with their statements and policies, and from reading the current iFly customer outcome, this looks like such a company indeed.I've seen so many 'soon to come' or 'we're on it' statements since using the sim, so you may read this as a small retrospective, not as a general complaint about an oh so bad market. It's actually a quite nice one, with some (sadly bad) exceptions (don't worry, I'm not speaking about PMDG of course) here and there.As I don't know the iFly way yet, I'm excited.

But you liked that on the Katana, didn't you?

Actually yes, and I'll tell you why: A long time ago, I was taking off in an aeroplane (this is in real life, not a sim) and there was a screw loose on the main instrument panel, nothing major, but it made the thing buzz and distracted me, so there I was, in a steep climb out, looking down under the panel wondering what the hell this buzzing noise was, and when I looked up, I was very nearly at stall speed and very nose up too. I jammed the stick forward and fortunately did not stall, but it taught me a valuable lesson, in not letting things like that take my eye off the stuff that really matters, so when there are things like that on sims, I think they are actually very useful, since you never know when that kind of stuff might actually teach someone the same lesson and save their life in a real aeroplane.Al

You are right, sometimes the little things are the major ones (what a sentence!). The Katana also has those flies in the cockpit, when will we see that feature arriving in the 737? :ph34r:And regarding those distraction things, I can remember some CFIT of a DC-9 or something because of a "broken" gear warning bulb. Have to look up the details, but this will lead us even more off topic.Edited. Found it, but I've mixed up the type of the plane. See details here.Ehm, as said, I'm happy about the failure simulation on both upcoming 737s.

Yeah, that was the Florida everglades crash with a Tristar, Flight 401 I believe, with everyone on the flight deck trying to fix a busted gear light bulb.Al

yay for the changes on the main site hehe. I means they are doing stuff =)

Yeah it's a great time! Only thing now is who comes out first. If PMDG's comes out first with its higher price and hype, will be a harder time to convince people to buy two 737s so soon.

Looking that the avsim demo survey .. most aren't hurting for money.  I bet many will have both.... its a 50$ purchase (dinner at Olive Garden)

Looking that the avsim demo survey .. most aren't hurting for money. I bet many will have both.... its a 50$ purchase (dinner at Olive Garden)

Well , if both get released the same week. iFly's core FS9 flyers will more than likely upgrade to the 14.00 dollar upgrade price. PMDG hasn't said prcing yet, but if I had to guess I would say 89.00-119.00 dollar range. So to get both on launch from scartch would be (guessing) 150-180.00 dollars. Big investment to split your time between. I could see paying for one, learn it inside/out then get the other in the future. I know I'm getting them both as I like certain aspects of both.

Well , if both get released the same week. iFly's core FS9 flyers will more than likely upgrade to the 14.00 dollar upgrade price. PMDG hasn't said prcing yet, but if I had to guess I would say 89.00-119.00 dollar range. So to get both on launch from scartch would be (guessing) 150-180.00 dollars. Big investment to split your time between. I could see paying for one, learn it inside/out then get the other in the future. I know I'm getting them both as I like certain aspects of both.

If PMDG sets the price as high as that, I can see them losing customers quickly. That is way too much for a single FSX aircraft addon, no matter how realistic.They are gonna lose customers to iFly, and that very quickly. A realistic price of some 60 dollars is gonna keep the things in perspective though and here I would see many people getting both.

I reckon PMDG could get away with charging 90 Dollars for their NGX, and to be honest, I'd pay more than that, but whether they will is another matter entirely, they might pull in more buyers at a lower price and make more cash that way. I paid way more than that for the old DOS Airline Simulator 2, and that was years ago.One thing is for sure, I would not like to be the one to make that call on what to charge for it.Al