Many simmers are sitting on the fence trying to decide whether this is or isn't an aircraft to add to their hangar.

I don't think that those simmers are receiving help from 3 hours flight time and a Gold Star Award right out of the box.Some of us may remember the lengthy discussions on the Gold Star for e. g. the Feelthere E-Jets V2 while the letters p m d g seem to instantly form an award just for the sake of it. As much as I adore people writing reviews (and taking the critics!), some 3 hours of forum attention at the current state would have revealed far more than the nice 'Takes realistic implementation to a new level' phrase.I don't get the impression that this was placed as a 'first view', but as a 'fence kicker' since it not only leaves out freezes, CTDs and (still!) activation issues, but also doesn't take a look close enough to justify any statement about the promised system depth. One may also remember how PMDG acted up as iFly released their bird and had their first trouble. A not so professional behaviour could be seen while now giving you a 70 Dollar non-refundable 2 model package, with an even more prominent mousebug, a FMC with 'to be delivered' details and e. g. some Short Field Package which doesn't change any numbers when it comes to Vref (at least not in this FMC revision). Take the approach attitude, test the bird when going around or just put some electrical load on the APU and then write about a new level or the need for another service pack or hotfix (running #3 now).We've all read the texts about the rock solid testing and the high attitude over at PMDG and we all want to know how much of that is true and what parts of it are there to just raise some interest. If just a 'first look' was intended, it should be made clear that no forum or on the plane research took place and it even wasn't enough time to get more than some screenshots from the preview videos (so no own ones). To play fair, the advise from the other users to wait for PMDGs SP1 of course is more than correct.If the CTD, freeze and activation trouble then is completely ruled out, one can recommend the package for sure, but will still have to look closer to avoid judging a myth instead of a product. I'm therefore sorry since I truly applaud to the praises regarding the optics and sounds and also the neat details on the whole VC operation, but raise an eyebrow when the system depth thingy just gets repeated but not tested.Feel free to check the forums, the plane and the FCOM for the example issues given, I'm standing open to be corrected. Currently, the PMDG forums once again show the huge span of helpful and friendly people in regard to their opposites, one may call them 'fans'. You can e.g. place questions or even critics on e. g. the autoland behavior there while receiving some first answers in the way of 'why autoland, if you were a good pilot you would do everything manually!' or 'this can't be, it's PMDG!' on some other (e. g. FDE related) issues.If this is a thing to be recommended or even awarded with the product, maybe the fence is there for good reason. So I absolutely agree that a review should take place after SP1 while those advertised and awarded 'first looks" avoiding any critics while over-stressing some not tested phrases hopefully stay an exception.I'm once again sorry if this sounds offensive but the high class of Avsim reviews and insights wasn't reached here, which is somehow distracting when looking at the actual test object.

What have your people been doing?

I hope you realize we have a life outside of Avsim, eh? We have work, school, studies, etc etc. You should not be surprised if people haven't reviewed a specific product. People might not have had time or the interest to take a product on (especially since the iFly 737 really isn't your run-of-the-mill product, but a complex simulation that only few will dare take on. Even I stopped doing aircraft because I just don't think I know enough, nor do I have the time to work on an aircraft reviews). There's also no system in place that simply hands out products, perhaps against reviewers' will. We all are simply volunteers hoping to help. We are not "employed" as such that we are paid on a monthly basis. You do realize that, don't you? All in all, if you want that iFly 737 review so much, you may do it yourself. And I don't mean that in the angry, irritated manner you might think I meant it, but I meant it in the most genuine way possible. We always need more staff reviewers! However, if Robert says it is in the works, then it is in the works. Now responding purely as an Avsim reader and not a Avsim staff member, I'm reading criticism about stuff in this thread that I have either never encountered or never noticed. The 737NGX flies great for me... I had no idea that people had problems landing the bird, since it's always worked great for me. Sure, I had some problems, but these were always caused because of a fault of my own (not knowing something specific had to be set). I'll be heading over to the NGX forum to see what this is all about...

Benjamin-Regarding reviews of aircrafts- I actually get rather nervous once I see my review published as the general public can be rather nasty... and you dont really get positive feedback from your reviews .. only negative.

Lets not break the talk about this review down to one about every review.You can bet that quite some of the numerous Avsim readers and also posters in the review critique section are more than thankful for every reviewed product.The first stage of a positive feedback is the actual reading process and even if there is a sort of negative input in posts, I hope that at least mine give a perspective about what can be improved. At least that's my aim when posting.

Oh the feedback is not my problem, Aidan. I have often gotten positive feedback, just with some comments here and there, but overall people always seemed pleased to read my aircraft reviews. I simply don't have the time and patience anymore to do those reviews. They take very long and are difficult. I'd rather do scenery reviews: these are relatively easy. The only thing you need to have is eye for detail and some creativity, and some knowledge of the airport is always welcome (besides Google maps and such, I mean). For an aircraft you need to truly understand its operation... getting to really know a plane takes lots of time. More than 3 hours, that's for sure. CoolP: Indeed, which is why Stuart's and Randy's posts annoyed me.

@Thraini: You've missed my point entirely. I don't have any doubt that AVSIM staff are busy. Who isn't? What I do question are their priorities. Why skip over a product that was released several months ago in favor of its weeks-old competitor? For time-limited people, that makes no absolutely no sense. Unless there are other reasons, some of which I suggested. AVSIM has spent years helping the av-simming community, in large part due to its objectivity and neutrality. Reviews have generally been well-thought-out and helpful to people who are considering purchasing a particular product. But this review puts all of that integrity and usefulness into question. And that's precisely what annoys me.

Stuart, I have not missed your point; I get it. Your point is not the point in this matter, however, and it's not the thing that I really replied to. What I replied to was your view of how Avsim reviewers operate. See, it seems to me that your idea of how Avsim reviewers operate is simply wrong with all due respect. You speak of priorities, as if Avsim is a corporation and we are the employees, but priorities rarely are of any importance when choosing a product to review. We get presented with a list of products to be reviewed, and we choose the product we want to review - that's it. Of course, those products that are longest on the list should get out as soon as possible, but if there's nobody willing to take it, then it will stay there. No reviewer is forced to do a review of a product that may not interest him because it's high priority or needs to go off the to-be-reviewed list. "For time-limited people, that makes absolutely no sense." Yes it does, but it depends on how you look at it. If I understand you correctly, then your way of thinking is something along the line of: "I have little time, so instead of wasting it on the newest or just minor releases, I will review those products that have been released first and are pretty major. Then I'll move on to the next major release, etc etc". This is a very logical way, and in all honesty it is the best way of going about which product should be reviewed next. However, the moment this product that ought to be reviewed is a product that you don't really care about, you're going to not like writing the review for that product. See where I'm going with this? So, the way I see it, is that I want to use my reviewing time to review something that seems fun, not something that I ought to review but actually doesn't interest me at all. That's not fun - that's a chore. This results in me choosing products that I actually want to review, not products that are major, or released first. I choose whatever product seems interesting and fun to look at, and I'm quite sure that most, if not all reviewers go about it this way. It's not like it's our job to do these reviews - we are but humble volunteers, so we get to choose whatever we want to review. If it were our job, then I'd agree with your view of priority, but given the way it is, I just don't see priority as a relevant factor. If you think things should be different, then I cordially invite you to join the reviewing team. You can contact Robert Whitwell for details and instructions.

It's been over 6 weeks since the last post here. In the meantime, the iFly 737 has been awarded the AVSIM Readers Choice Award for Commercial Aircraft. And yet still no AVSIM review. Still too busy I guess.

The iFly 737 NG IS also a very complex aircraft - actually it doesn´t lag much behind the PMDG. So why has that not got it´s share of interest from Avsim reviewers ?

It has, I'm currently reviewing the FS2 Crew add-on for the iFly 737 NG. I had a bit of an illness recently and that slowed things down somewhat when coupled with me being fairly busy with my real-life work, but that review is coming and does cover a lot of the iFly 737 NG as well, and it does so in light of the PMDG FSX NG also being available (which you will see is relevant when you read the review, not least because the NGX's glitches are slowing down an FS2 Crew release for it). I'll be submitting that review soon and I hope you'll enjoy reading it, since it involved a lot of work. There are a lot of reasons why reviews can take some time, for example, I am currently also reviewing UK2000's Liverpool Extreme scenery for Avsim, and that one is being held up by me awaiting a reply from the PR staff at the real Liverpool John Lennon airport, whom I have asked permission from to be allowed to photograph areas of the real airport for comparison shots, which involves security clearances and stuff like that, for obvious reasons. Hopefully they will get back to me this week and I'll be able to get out there the following week to take the shots. Al

The PMDG review should be available shortly. I'm doing my finishing touches on it and will be submitting it tonight for publication.

Chase-Wouldnt it be best to wait for SP1? Thats only a few days away!

Right you are. Fairest thing for the plane/company and the review, as it will surely have more than 3 hours of flight time logged.

around 150+ specific items and another 50 or so that are non-specific fixes.

shouldn't be missed. I wouldn't give too much on the scheduling though.

Me too. I recommend you hold the review until the SP1 release can also be evaulated. I think the SP1 is going to be a major update and there are still lots of folks stating they are yet to be able to fly the PMDG 737NGX even with the latest HotFixes. Fortunately, I am not in that camp and mine flies just fine and has since day 1. I have avoided all the hotfixes simply because I am from the old school - don't fix it if ain't broke. Of course, I will be upgrading to the SP1 as it should add 150+ necessary fixes, if I am reading the forum correctly. Ray

raymar I am with you, have had a dozen or more 2+ hour flights in mine, all with zero issues. But, if SP1 really does fix that much, I WILL install it! :)

Chase-Wouldnt it be best to wait for SP1? Thats only a few days away!

Me too. I recommend you hold the review until the SP1 release can also be evaulated. I think the SP1 is going to be a major update and there are still lots of folks stating they are yet to be able to fly the PMDG 737NGX even with the latest HotFixes. Fortunately, I am not in that camp and mine flies just fine and has since day 1. I have avoided all the hotfixes simply because I am from the old school - don't fix it if ain't broke. Of course, I will be upgrading to the SP1 as it should add 150+ necessary fixes, if I am reading the forum correctly. Ray

I thought long and hard about it and for the same reasons you, Raymar, decided not to install hotfixes, I decided not to wait until the SP1. I had no issues at all from purchase to power downs. I will still install SP1 and make a couple paragraphs on it once I get it. But not enough to stop an entire review from coming out.