Best Freeware or Payware 737-800 - 747-400 with Repaints VC-2D & Wing Flex

[mdexter 0]

Hi All,I have been using the Default 737-800 and the 747-400 Default FSX aircraft with Acceleration, as most of you know the landing lights in these models are not good and VERY dim and as the light is on the model it cannot really be fixed to make it brighter.I have decided to take the painstaking road and replace my 737-800 and 747-400 Fleet with eaither a Freeware or Payware aircraft.I am of course before I do this I need to know the following with what ever your recommendations are:I NEED THE FOLLOWING IN THESE AIRCRAFT.- 2D COCKPIT (If the model you suggest has a VC merge then this will be fine also - even if the default Panel or VC can be merged on either the 737 or 747- A Virtual Cockpit (If the model you suggest has a Panel Merge then this will be fine also)- A good amount of Repaints covering those Major airlines that we expect to see (Qantas, Singapore, KLM, British, Virgin etc etc)- Wing Flex- Good lighting including the tail being lit.- Jetway usage- A2A 3D Redux lights availability- Not too FPS intensiveMany thanks guys, I know POSKY has good aircraft but no VC, is there models for both the 737 and 747 with the above features.Your assistance will be crucial as you know replacing and entire aircraft with a new model, paints, panels, VC, sound etc etc is a big undertaking.I thank anyone who can assist in advance.With regardsMat

[AWACS 12]

Hi All,I have been using the Default 737-800 and the 747-400 Default FSX aircraft with Acceleration, as most of you know the landing lights in these models are not good and VERY dim and as the light is on the model it cannot really be fixed to make it brighter.I have decided to take the painstaking road and replace my 737-800 and 747-400 Fleet with eaither a Freeware or Payware aircraft.I am of course before I do this I need to know the following with what ever your recommendations are:I NEED THE FOLLOWING IN THESE AIRCRAFT.- 2D COCKPIT (If the model you suggest has a VC merge then this will be fine also - even if the default Panel or VC can be merged on either the 737 or 747- A Virtual Cockpit (If the model you suggest has a Panel Merge then this will be fine also)- A good amount of Repaints covering those Major airlines that we expect to see (Qantas, Singapore, KLM, British, Virgin etc etc)- Wing Flex- Good lighting including the tail being lit.- Jetway usage- A2A 3D Redux lights availability- Not too FPS intensiveMany thanks guys, I know POSKY has good aircraft but no VC, is there models for both the 737 and 747 with the above features.Your assistance will be crucial as you know replacing and entire aircraft with a new model, paints, panels, VC, sound etc etc is a big undertaking.I thank anyone who can assist in advance.With regardsMat

http://www.precisionmanuals.comhttp://www.flight1.com/products.asp?product=iflyfsxPMDG has the 747 available and their 738 is due out soon from what I've heard. That is expensive payware however. You might want to check out the iFly 737, because mark my words the PMDG 737 will be more expensive.

[mdexter 0]

Many thanks AWACS, I have checked out both they look great....I just cannot see if the PMDG 747 has a 2D as well as VC, and the iFly 737 only has the IFR 2d view..Many thanks for the info though AWACS...muchly apreciated, is there any others guys that have both.....?? P.S. Your I7 2600K can run at 4.8 with your voltage at 1.47 no sweat....have done it and it sits at a lovely 55C

[RudiJG1 172]

Many thanks AWACS, I have checked out both they look great....I just cannot see if the PMDG 747 has a 2D as well as VC, and the iFly 737 only has the IFR 2d view..Many thanks for the info though AWACS...muchly apreciated, is there any others guys that have both.....?? P.S. Your I7 2600K can run at 4.8 with your voltage at 1.47 no sweat....have done it and it sits at a lovely 55C

The iFly 737 has 2D in both IFR and VFR configurations along with separate 2D panels for the overhead, FMC, throttle, and radios.

[AWACS 12]

Many thanks AWACS, I have checked out both they look great....I just cannot see if the PMDG 747 has a 2D as well as VC, and the iFly 737 only has the IFR 2d view..Many thanks for the info though AWACS...muchly apreciated, is there any others guys that have both.....?? P.S. Your I7 2600K can run at 4.8 with your voltage at 1.47 no sweat....have done it and it sits at a lovely 55C

Oh very cool, thanks for the info, I think I might bump it up then. The PMDG 747 has both 2D and VC panels.

[Chock 17,769]

You've got two payware choices for the 747-400: PMDG and Aerosim, plus one freeware one, the iFly. You've got two/three choices for the 737: Ariane, iFly and (soon) the PMDG one. Plus another freebie alternative.Aerosim's 747-400 is a 'lite' simulation that you could soup up with the ISG FMC to make it a bit more realistic, it comes with a 400 and a 400D model, gets very good FPS, has a very nice VC with good FPS and 2D panels, but it is pricey for what is a 'lite' simulation. Probably only worth having if you really must have a 400D variant, or are worried about FPS.PMDG's 747-400 is the best simulation of a 400 you will find. It gets good FPS in the VC and has 2D panels. The VC could do with a bit of a tart up by modern standards, but it is still pretty good. Personally, I think this is the best aeroplane anyone has ever made for FS, and that will be true until PMDG get their 737 out. I'd recommend PMDG's 747 for sure, it's still the standard by which other things can be judged.iFly's 747-400 is a freebie, it's not as good as the PMDG one, but it is more complex than the Aerosim one. It's very good considering it is freeware, and for a freebie, you've nothing to lose in trying it out.Ariane were the first to get a 737 NG out for FSX, and it is pretty good, but there are a few caveats to be aware of. First up, it's pricey, since they charge for each model, and they charge for repaints too, so things can get expensive pretty damn quick. Activation can occasionally be a pain in the &@($* (it is via email), although most of the time that is not as bad as people would have you believe. It has no 2D panels at all apart from the FMC. The VC is good, and it gets blisteringly fast frame rates, but the systems are not as comprehensive as other 737 NG that are available. The FMC database is a bit ropey in terms of coverage for some parts of the world (probably about 60 percent coverage at a guess). It has a lot of fancy whistles and bells, for example, the galley entertainment system works on the thing and it actually sits lower when loaded up and flags you on the external model when it is out of GoG, in the VC you can change the MCP type on it and the standby instruments, and the VC is nice to actually use. This would be worth considering if you were worried about FPS, as that is its strong point for sure. Think carefully before buying though, it's a lot of money for one aeroplane.iFly got their NG out of the door recently, and that is more comprehensive than the Ariane one in most respects, which makes the Ariane one a tough sell now, especially since you get every NG and BBJ model with the iFly package apart from the ER variant of the 900. It has 2D panels, a nice VC, and is a comprehensive simulation of the real aircraft as far as systems go. So this one is the best bang for your bucks by a long way. Some people have complained about less than stellar FPS with it, but I've found that it runs pretty well. There is the odd minor glitch that will probably be addressed in a patch soon, but none of the problems are show stoppers. Another plus point is that it has an FS2Crew add on available for it (look out for an Avsim review soon), although keep in mind that PMDG's forthcoming NG will almost certainly get an FS2Crew add on in very short order too.PMDG have their NG on the way. this is clearly going to be the best of the bunch in terms of realism, for example, it has a collimated HGS, whereas both the Ariane and the iFly's HGS simulation is not collimated. It remains to be seen what we'll actually get in the initial release package in terms of models, but if I were to guess, I'd say they'll probably split the NG range in two and you'll get maybe the 800 and 900, or the 600 and 700, in either although that is just a guess. Since it isn't actually available yet, it's up to you to decide whether you want to wait, or get something else. It will probably be worth the wait, but how long that wait is going to be, is open to speculation.An alternative would be to tart up the default FSX 737 with ISG's FMC. That would be the cheapest way to get something capable, and if you are into customising your own stuff, the ISG avionics are worth having anyway.Al

[Fenric 0]

iFly's 747-400 is a freebie, it's not as good as the PMDG one, but it is more complex than the Aerosim one. It's very good considering it is freeware, and for a freebie, you've nothing to lose in trying it out.

Is there an FSX version, or will the FS9 version (here on Avsim) work well in FSX?

An alternative would be to tart up the default FSX 737 with ISG's FMC. That would be the cheapest way to get something capable, and if you are into customising your own stuff, the ISG avionics are worth having anyway.

Love using ISG and I've been flying the defaults to pieces of late waiting for new payware a/c. I may try fitting the ISG gear in the iFly 747....Also of note, Multi Crew Experience works well with both the iFly 737 and the PMDG 747.

[mdexter 0]

Many thanks Alan and you guys for your Help....ok so its the The iFly 737 and the PMDG for the 747 I guess, thats a real great help, they both have pretty much all that I am after, do they give you the Major Liveries for these aircraft or would they be extra?Cheer again, this has really helped me a ton :):)

[fwerff 70]

Many thanks Alan and you guys for your Help....ok so its the The iFly 737 and the PMDG for the 747 I guess, thats a real great help, they both have pretty much all that I am after, do they give you the Major Liveries for these aircraft or would they be extra?Cheer again, this has really helped me a ton :):)

Not wanting to confuse you any further, but you might want to wait for the PMDG NGX to come out and then make up your mind. I feel the NGX will be better albeit a bit more expensive. It will not take that long for the NGX to be released... Guess 1 or 2 months...

[Chock 17,769]

Many thanks Alan and you guys for your Help....ok so its the The iFly 737 and the PMDG for the 747 I guess, thats a real great help, they both have pretty much all that I am after, do they give you the Major Liveries for these aircraft or would they be extra?Cheer again, this has really helped me a ton :):)

There are stacks of free liveries for both the PMDG 747 and the iFly 737 (helped by the fact that the iFly's extensive library of FS9 liveries are fairly easy to convert into FSX paint jobs). There is a big painter's forum on the iFly's support forum too.Both have good paint kits as well. Flight1's library is the place where you will find most iFly 737 repaints although I know there are some on Avsim's library for sure, because I put one that I did on there a couple of weeks ago. PMDG 747-400 liveries are all over the place too, i think I did some for that once as well. There was even had a semi-official PMDG repainting contest last year on PMDG's support forum right here on Avsim, where people went mad doing loads of paint jobs for all the PMDG aeroplanes (I got roped in to be a judge for that one, which was tough because the standards were excellent).Incidentally, it's not often you'll find yourself getting charged for liveries. Examples I can think of are Ariane, Just Flight (very infrequently), and occasionally some very fancy HD paint schemes from McPhat for a few others. As far as I'm aware neither PMDG nor iFly charge for paint jobs - and are unlikely to ever do so either - as it is not a very popular policy. There is a grand tradition of repaints being free in flight simming since it is one of the things Avsim and many other flight simulator websites were founded upon, which incidentally, is one of the reasons Ariane is often disliked by people since they had a big barney over that with the FS community many years ago which Avsim got roped in on and for a long time there was certainly no love lost between Avsim and Ariane. Al