Best A330 (free or payware) for FSX right now?

[FlyinIron406 3]

As the topic says, can anyone recommend the best A330s out there? Thanks

[lowlevel 0]

In my opinion it would be the Wilco Airbus Volume 2 (payware)

[Benjamin J 751]

In my opinion it would be the Wilco Airbus Volume 2 (payware)

I agree. it is the most complete A330 we have at the moment. The exterior model is absolutely not the best, but the system simulation is okay. Always worked okay for me, anyway.

[lowlevel 0]

I agree. it is the most complete A330 we have at the moment. The exterior model is absolutely not the best, but the system simulation is okay. Always worked okay for me, anyway.

Exactly. Average addon plane with sufficient systems simulation to be on the good side. Easy to fly and fun since you are not required to learn how to fly it digging through 2000+ pages of OMs and QRHs or whatever. Easy on the framerates too.

[squadros 2]

Agreed. But it is only the best because there isn't any other... Best airbuses are from Peters Aircraft (http://petersaircraft.com/). Unfortunately, they are for X-Plane only. His A380 is simply awesome, a work of art! And yes, it simulates FBW.

[tf51d 284]

I agree. it is the most complete A330 we have at the moment. The exterior model is absolutely not the best, but the system simulation is okay. Always worked okay for me, anyway.

As stated the Wilco is your only choice for a complex A330 right now, (and for the near if not distant future, as I haven't heard of another one in development) You can however replace their inferior external models with Thomas Ruth's models, they look really good!!!

[Chock 17,769]

Yup, it's pretty much the Wilco one or nothing. It's not 100 percent accurate, either as a model or as far as the finer points of the ECAM goes, but unless one is a real Airbus pilot, or an afficionado of the way they work for real, you'd probably have a hard time spotting that. There is certainly enough authenticity there to make it feel different from a simulated Boeing, even if it isn't fully authentic. Look out for a sale, you can find it for a tenner or so if you scout about some of the online stores from time to time. The 'evolution' upgrade you can get for it adds some additonal functionality, but it is of questionable value to be honest, and is less of an evolution and more of a patch that should have been free three years ago. Al

[Benjamin J 751]

As stated the Wilco is your only choice for a complex A330 right now, (and for the near if not distant future, as I haven't heard of another one in development) You can however replace their inferior external models with Thomas Ruth's models, they look really good!!!

May I ask, have ytou succeeded in getting the gauges (the displays) to work in the VC? If so, I might try to get that merged myself. His models really are very nice! EDIT: Just saw that the Wilco Airbusses have a seperate exterior and interior model file. I'm going to try and see if I can use the Thomas Ruth exterior with the Wilco interior. I'll report on my findings here.

[Chock 17,769]

I tried the Wilco VC in the Just Flight Airbus exterior model, it was a lot of hassle and I never really managed to get it working well. Al

[tf51d 284]

May I ask, have ytou succeeded in getting the gauges (the displays) to work in the VC? If so, I might try to get that merged myself. His models really are very nice! EDIT: Just saw that the Wilco Airbusses have a seperate exterior and interior model file. I'm going to try and see if I can use the Thomas Ruth exterior with the Wilco interior. I'll report on my findings here.

Yes, in fact I flew a flight today in her!! Merge from model to panel not the other way around. in other words, Make a copy of the Feelthere A330 folders for the variants you are merging (So you can still use the Wilco/FT models if you want) Copy the Tom Ruth's external model into the Model folder of the copied folder Make the change in the model.cfg to reflect the new model. (Keep the interior model entry the same!) Copy texture folder for the livery(s) you are using into the copied F/T A330 folder. Either use the fallback texture.cfg file pointing to the base Wilco/FT texture folder (You can use the one in the one of the variants of the default 737 texture folders.) or copy the interior textures from the base texture folder to the livery folder. (The former option is easier.) edit the aircraft.cfg file and replace the View, lights, exit, and contact point sections with the one in Tom Ruth's A330 folder. Create a Fltsim entry for each livery converted. pointing to the appropriate texture folder. Use an existing entry as a guide. Remove all other existing fltsim entries as they will cause duplicates from the original folder. That should do it.!!

[Benjamin J 751]

Wow, thanks for the easy-to-follow-guide! Will try it soon.

[MindYerBeak 73]

Yes, in fact I flew a flight today in her!! Merge from model to panel not the other way around. in other words, Make a copy of the Feelthere A330 folders for the variants you are merging (So you can still use the Wilco/FT models if you want) Copy the Tom Ruth's external model into the Model folder of the copied folder Make the change in the model.cfg to reflect the new model. (Keep the interior model entry the same!) Copy texture folder for the livery(s) you are using into the copied F/T A330 folder. Either use the fallback texture.cfg file pointing to the base Wilco/FT texture folder (You can use the one in the one of the variants of the default 737 texture folders.) or copy the interior textures from the base texture folder to the livery folder. (The former option is easier.) edit the aircraft.cfg file and replace the View, lights, exit, and contact point sections with the one in Tom Ruth's A330 folder. Create a Fltsim entry for each livery converted. pointing to the appropriate texture folder. Use an existing entry as a guide. Remove all other existing fltsim entries as they will cause duplicates from the original folder. That should do it.!!

When you sit in the cockpit of the wilco a330 and you are in the air if you look out the cockpit at the wing tips you will see 2 wings on each side,one on top of the other. If you merge the tom bus with the wilco and you look at the wings from the cockpit you see only one wing only but it is pitch black. anyway to fix this wing thing when you merge the planes ? Thanks

[tf51d 284]

When you sit in the cockpit of the wilco a330 and you are in the air if you look out the cockpit at the wing tips you will see 2 wings on each side,one on top of the other. If you merge the tom bus with the wilco and you look at the wings from the cockpit you see only one wing only but it is pitch black. anyway to fix this wing thing when you merge the planes ? Thanks

You would need to include the Virtual Cockpit wing and engine texture from the Wilco model (If one for the livery you are using exists) I believe it uses the same texture as it's external model.

[MindYerBeak 73]

You would need to include the Virtual Cockpit wing and engine texture from the Wilco model (If one for the livery you are using exists) I believe it uses the same texture as it's external model.

Done that.I forgot to say that when I mean "cockpit" I mean virtual cockpit.It's all I use.

[Benjamin J 751]

Just a small update that I merged the Feelthere VC and Thomas Ruth exterior model of the A330-300, and got it working brilliantly. Now doing KBOS-EHAM with a Delta A330-300. Having this exterior model is somewhat of a relief... EDIT: there I was thinking I could fly to EHAM with this crappy plane. FSX crashed, and I made the mistake of thinking that a panel state would be saved. Of course that didn't happen, and 40 minutes into the flight I might as well start again without any guarantee that I'll make it anyway. Thanks you FSX. Thanks you Wilco, and thanks you Feelthere. Again 40 minutes of my life wasted. These are always the sort of moments that I just don't understand why I even use FSX. Anyway, good to know that the Wilco long haul Airbusses just don't work out for me. That'll save me the trouble of trying to merge the other types with the Thomas Ruth busses. *sigh* Truly seems like the only long haulers I have that are reliable are the PMDG MD-11 and 747. The rest either randomly crashes or does not sport the level of detail that I'd like to see. And of course Windows' logbook isn't of any help either, mentioning "g2d.dll", of which I've never even heard before. Probably is caused by the 2D panel, as some sources say. Sorry for the rant. Needed to get that off my chest.