Since I'm absolutely unconvinced that this post would not be deleted if I posted it on the Eaglesoft Citation X forum, I'm posting it here.I participate in a lot of flight simulation forums and newsgroups, and have done so for the last few years. Until tonight, I've never been actively censored. Someone at Eaglesoft has a heavy editorial hand. That's their/his right but - it will certainly make me think twice about sending any more $ their way.History:Late in the afternoon today, I had read enough about the CX to want to buy it - I'd been a bit skeptical since I have no experience with other Eaglesoft products - but anyway I had one last question about it regarding how well external flight sim hardware works with it, since it's a very "customized" and highly functional airplane and many such aircraft require a lot of "mousing around" to control stuff. Within two hours, I had a response from (what I assume to be) one of the developers that was reasonably favorable, so I went ahead and purchased the airplane ($27.95 via Flight1's ECommerce).I did a quick 45 minute flight, was very (very) impressed, and in my usual style (when it's warranted) made a very enthusiastic post in their new, Version 2.0 CX support forum. (For whatever reason, they/he had locked the "old" forum and started a new one since my first post... weird.) Within minutes of posting it, the title to my post was changed to something akin to "gosh I love this Citation X" - which is not exactly how I worded the title. So, I made a followup post to my own, and asked that the moderator not edit my words. Bam! the entire post was deleted.Like I said, that's their prerogative but I've never had it happen before, and it's just odd that the moderator would have such a heavy hand on a complimentary post.So, this puts a mildly questionable taste in my mouth having just spent a respectable sum on a payware airplane. Hmmm, maybe I should stick to the payware vendors that I know.Therefore, I caution potential and current customers to be very careful in what they post, and also to note that what IS there has passed a rather arbitrary Stark Filter Of Approval.Dave BlevinsP.S. the CX really is a nice airplane - it's my first jump out of the smaller GA airplanes (Meridian, C421, etc.) to payware bizjets, and I'm sure I'm going to enjoy climbing its learning curve. In other words, I have no beef with the product, just the forum moderation.

Dave, if you had stayed around long enough you would have seen that we locked the entire CX support forum for reasons stated in the NEW CX Support Forum.:-)We retitled your thread to start a new sticky topic because we receive a lot of posts like yours and wanted yours to head up the Sticky Topic thread. Bad move at this hour and my apologies for doing so:-)While editing and setting permissions on the NEW Forum your second post may have gotten deleted.We assure you that your post and any follow up is welcome.No need to run over here and cause a stir when a simple email or even a little time would have resolved the misunderstanding:-)Be assured though that flaming, cursing, or other forms of abuse of customers or staff results in one warning, then folks are banned.We don't apologise for having rules or enforcing them. Those are our rules and we expect them to be followed just as the folks at Avsim do here:-)

Ron,Thanks for the reply. I was in a bit of disbelief that my post had been deleted - perhaps a bit more patience on my part in letting things settle down was warranted... But to be honest the swiftness in seeing my post edited and then deleted took me a bit "aback" and I came out with the big guns. I hereby promise to wait a few hours before getting all pissy next time 8^) .BTW the proof in the pudding is that, once we'd watched our movie tonight courtesy of Netflix, I climbed back into the CX cockpit and did another short flight. This time, I was able to appreciate some of the animation things that y'all've done - this airplane really is a stellar addition to the FS2004 world. There are many things I could mention, but I'll just say that I noticed the lighted wheel wells. (Does the real "X" have that?)I am always a stickler for realism - although I'm a rated (private) pilot I don't expect to get any CX stick time anytime soon... so seeing how everything fits together (avionics/framerates/cabin eye-candy/flight model) just warms me cockles and also makes me feel like I've gotten a taste of the real "X".Thanks for making such a significant contribution to our virtual world. (BTW please do the Cessna Citation Mustang next :-hah) .cheers,dB.>Dave, if you had stayed around long enough you would have>seen that we locked the entire CX support forum for reasons>stated in the NEW CX Support Forum.:-)>We retitled your thread to start a new sticky topic because we>receive a lot of posts like yours and wanted yours to head up>the Sticky Topic thread. Bad move at this hour and my>apologies for doing so:-)>While editing and setting permissions on the NEW Forum your>second post may have gotten deleted.>>We assure you that your post and any follow up is welcome.>>No need to run over here and cause a stir when a simple email>or even a little time would have resolved the>misunderstanding:-)>>Be assured though that flaming, cursing, or other forms of>abuse of customers or staff results in one warning, then folks>are banned.>>We don't apologise for having rules or enforcing them. Those>are our rules and we expect them to be followed just as the>folks at Avsim do here:-)

No problem Dave...we're a bit overwhelmed right now but please drop back in and feel free to enjoy our forums.:-)

"we're a bit overwhelmed right now"Thats what happens when you,ve just released a plane that has crossed new boundarys and rocketed to the top of the List of the Best of the Best. RegardsDennis Waggoner

See, now you guys are making want this thing. When I saw the price I had decided that it was more than I wanted to spend but all this gushing is making me wonder what I'm missing. Thanks alot. lol. B Bjorkman CFI

Yeah now I gotta go buy it too. Sweet looking airplane. Just a thought as a prospective customer. People always check the forums before purchasing, and the Locked forum looks wierd without an obvious explanation. I actually then decided just to come here to find out if there were problems. Perhaps "archives" would sound better. :)__Josh

>Yeah now I gotta go buy it too. Sweet looking airplane. >>Just a thought as a prospective customer. People always check>the forums before purchasing, and the Locked forum looks wierd>without an obvious explanation. I actually then decided just>to come here to find out if there were problems. Perhaps>"archives" would sound better. :)>>>>__>JoshHa ha, done! Thanks for your insight:-) Man I really do have to get some sleep:-)

I feel like I need to post some more data about this airplane, 'cause I feel a little guilty for posting so quickly yesterday after my misadventures with the ES forums - which were in the process of being updated at the time as I now realize. (When one learns that one's country's CEO is a liar, one gets a bit paranoid... :)) So, here goes... I have now spent about eight hours with the airplane, including a flight from San Jose to Kamuela/Waimea, HI (we have a vacation home just outside of town there). Unfortunately FS crashed about 150 miles away from HI, but I think that was an FS, FSUIPC, or PFC problem (I turned a knob on my radio stack and things immediately went wonky - and this after doing so for two or three hours prior). In other words, I don't think it was the airplane that caused the crash.Anyhoo, here are my notes, in no particular order:- the emulation of the CX's avionics is quite in-depth - and note that this is one of the first areas that I look at on an FS airplane. (It reminds me of the Flight1 Piper Meridian in many ways, although the CX's gauges are not based on RealityXP's technology.) Some will fault the FMC for not having NAV features (RealityXP's upcoming FMC should fill this bill nicely), but I have been using my RealityXP "Garmin" 530XP with the CX to good effect. The CX's PFD and MFD seem to "know" about the 530XP, which I presume is due to the ES folks being friendly with the RXP folks.-The FMC *does* allow you to do things like input your pax/cargo weight and fuel load, which can drive the PFD's V speeds automatically if you choose to set it up that way.-The PFD, MFD, and EICA displays have several functions/modes, avilable from the on-screen pushbuttons. The same is true for the radios, which can actually act as back-up nav or engine data displays.- cabin pressurization is modeled, complete with at least three dedicated gauges and a switch panel. I'm not at all familiar with this in real life, but things seem to work as they should here. Just remember that if your flight is going to go above 8000' you'll need to do some manual management of pressurization - that is, if you enjoy being conscious for all phases of flight.- My GoFlight panels (including the MCP autopilot)and PFC radio stack controls work perfectly with the systems of the CX, up to a point (The CX has several avionics controls that are not acccessible via FS's standard control protocol - this is expected). I was surprised at this, as I have had less luck with other "high fidelity" payware airplanes of late.- the 2d cockpit has something I've never seen before - an animated yoke. I didn't know this was possible.- from the VC view, the cockpit and cabin are very well-done. As a for-instance - a thing I discovered today (via the manual) is that when you turn on the nav lights, the "LCD TV" in the cabin turns on and displays a simulated TV broadcast for the pax to view. (Of course you have to "move" back into the cabin via the VC keyboard controls to see this.) It only a few "video" frames but nonetheless it's an indication of the attention to detail.- There is an animated female passenger, who fastens her seatbelt prior to t/o and opens her laptop once it's "safe". (It's a Dell, FWIW.) I have tried (not too hard, as my wife would frown upon it) to engage her in conversation, but she seems intent on her work. Maybe that glass of wine on her flip-down table will loosen her up a bit :).- The avionics access panel on the front left nose area opens with shift-E-2, and if you do things correctly (i.e. shut down the engines) a (female) avionics technician sets up shop there and attempts to fix that errant backup altimeter (or was it the oscillation overthruster? I forget).- although I normally don't pay *too* much attention to the external model, this airplane begs it. The engines' turbines are fully animated, and the PIC/CoJos' heads turn periodically. At night, with the gear out, all of the landing gear bays are illuminated!- I started with the Deluxe model (all four variations are directly accessible from FS's aircraft selector dialog), which is theoretically the most demanding on system resources. I haven't yet felt a need to back down to one of the "lite-er" versions. I did get some framerate chop with real wx clouds on climb-out, but I always get those (the 530XP contributes to some of this). My observation is that this airplane is surprisingly easy on my system given its complexity. (P4 2.4C, 1Gb RAM, GF 5700 Ultra w/128Mb, WinXP Pro.)- most of my time in FS (and all of it in real life) has been spent with smaller GA airplanes (most of it recently in payware ones), and thus I'm new to such a big airplane. But - the flight model "feels" right. I did a stepped climb to FL 510, and the performance felt appropriate. For instance, I had to linger a while at lower flight levels (40-ish) before climbing to Angels Five-One in order to burn off some Jet-A, so that my speed did not greatly drop off. Using this technique I eventually got Mach 0.90-91 at 51,000' which is very close to what the ES docs predict.That's what I can think of right now. The executive summary is that these guys have spent a lot of time getting many "finer details" right. That's what I look for in a payware airplane, and I judge it fully worth the US$27.95 despite my initial misgivings.Dave Blevins

Hi Dave,I'd be curious as to how you got the 530XP to work with the CX. I'm not stranger to editing panel.cfg's and I tried a couple different things but I had nothing but trouble trying to use the 530XP in the CX. I certainly couldn't go to FMS mode on the MFD. It would just flash FMS1 and go right back to NAV mode. Using the default GPS 500 has worked flawlessly though. Post your panel.cfg if you feel like it. Or did you just use the EZConfig utility? Maybe I should try that. I usually do things manually and trying the EZConfig popped into my mind just now.Cheers,Jim

>"we're a bit overwhelmed right now">>Thats what happens when you,ve just released a plane that has>crossed new boundarys and rocketed to the top of the List of>the Best of the Best. >>Regards>Dennis Waggoner>>>Thanks Dennis:-)

I used EZConfig. Worked the first time.I try to avoid editing .cfg files as much as possible 8^) .One thing I did do though, after using EZConfig, is comment out the Window14=Reality XP 530 AVIONICSWindow15=Reality XP 530 VORlines. In particular, the first one causes problems for me because I use GoFlight buttons for my audio panel, and 530XP's Garmin audio panel uses non-FS-standard command codes. And, of course, you don't need either the audio panel or the VOR in the CX.cheers,dB.

Hi Jim, please check your RXPGNS.ini file in the FS root folder for an entry GPSSSwitch=YES|NO If set to YES, you have to switch between NAV and FMS mode with the CDI button of the GNS 530 - it takes control over the default NAV/GPS switch (NAV/FMS in the Citation X).

Hello and thanks guys.Uwe... since going back to just using the default GPS 500 it had occured to me that perhaps what I was missing was using the CDI button on the 530XP. I will edit the panel.cfg again and use your instruction. I'm sure that'll get it working. ;-)Thanks Again,Jim