I recently made the switch to X-Plane from Fly! 2K and am considering purchasing the CRJ 200 but i want to learn more about it before i make this pretty large investment. I am looking for some brutally honest feedback. I have not found a lot of unbiased reviews over at x-plane.org because of understandable commercial interests. I am particularly interested in real pilot involvement in the development of the flight model and flight dynamics. Here are some questions:Was there a real pilot involved in the development and for how long?Does the flight model feel solid and stable? Most X-Plane aircraft seem to have overly efficient control surfaces, which translates to over responsiveness and instability, especially in pitch?Are the avionics and cockpit exactly like the real thing, down to every small detail? Think PMDG. Does hand flying the plane provide a sense of inertia and stability? Think Rob Young flight models. Does the plane make the usual unrealistic tire squaling sounds while taxiing?I like to hand fly and my favourite simulation aircraft are still Rob Young's v88 Kingair and Navajo for Fly! 2K, but this brilliant sim is getting outdated and i decided to switch to something more modern. There are many things i like about X-Plane and i really hope to purchase an impressive pay ware aircraft soon. Thanks for your help. Feel free to compare to other products like PMDG for FSX. I would really like to know how the CRJ compares in all aspects.

I have not found a lot of unbiased reviews over at x-plane.org because of understandable commercial interests.

X-Aviation.com is the original place of sale and has the most background work in helping to develop this product. Product page here: http://www.x-aviatio...?products_id=68

I am looking for some brutally honest feedback.

Honest, unedited, non-deleted user feedback is posted here: http://www.x-aviatio...?products_id=68

Was there a real pilot involved in the development and for how long?

Three, to be exact, plus a number from SkyWest, as well as an engineer at Bombardier.

Does the flight model feel solid and stable? Most X-Plane aircraft seem to have overly efficient control surfaces, which translates to over responsiveness and instability, especially in pitch?

Without being biased but appearing so...yes, it feels solid!

Are the avionics and cockpit exactly like the real thing, down to every small detail? Think PMDG.

You will get no closer to PMDG than with this aircraft. Most everything in the real aircraft relevant to daily operations is in fact modeled. All displays, their interaction with the systems, and the FMC are custom based on the real aircraft. SIDs/STARS, etc. are all done through the Navigraph database, which you should be familiar with.

Does hand flying the plane provide a sense of inertia and stability? Think Rob Young flight models.

I can't honestly speak for this. Assuming you are worried it reacts as horribly as the default X-Plane models, I can assure you it does NOT.

Does the plane make the usual unrealistic tire squaling sounds while taxiing?

This is an X-Plane thing, not an aircraft specific thing.

I like to hand fly and my favourite simulation aircraft are still Rob Young's v88 Kingair and Navajo for Fly! 2K, but this brilliant sim is getting outdated and i decided to switch to something more modern. There are many things i like about X-Plane and i really hope to purchase an impressive pay ware aircraft soon.

X-Aviation.com is around to produce only high quality aircraft. That's truly the philosophy around it. I think you'll be happy with any purchase there, and customer service is top notch. Any questions are answered very quickly, and there is an awesome support forum to go with the products as well as general community: http://www.x-pilot.com

Thanks for your help. Feel free to compare to other products like PMDG for FSX. I would really like to know how the CRJ compares in all aspects.

Check out the videos on that product page I linked you to. I think you'll like what you see. :)

Does x-aviation support linux yet?

They always have.

Does x-aviation support linux yet?

Yes, for the CRJ Linux is supported. Products not supported in Linux will show it listed in the blue boxes below at each product page.

ah yes, missed that. thanks

I've just bought the CRJ and I'm still getting myself familiar with the all the nuts and bolts of this product.One recommendation I have is to download the manuals for free on x-aviation. Have a good read at the manual. For the main part the author has described real functions which are not (yet) simulated in red. So it gives you a chance to appraise how much work has gone into it.I do have to say though that hand flying the jet feels very nice and stable. A few bugs here and there which I've yet to report on (need to find out if they're bugs, or if I just simply haven't read the manual thoroughly enough).One thing missing though that you find in PMDG/Level-D is a document describing abnormal procedures. There's also nothing to advertise simulated failures. I'm guessing that's left to X-planes failure handling system, but I know the the PMDG747 had it's own failure simulation (with cascading effects if you don't take action). That's not found on this plane.

Edited February 1, 201214 yr by anthony_d

I have been contemplating doing a piece on this particular model; however, having just completed a rather complex and lengthy review coupled with a RL move back stateside at the end of February I don't feel comfortable taking it on until March at the earliest.The other issue being I will NOT be doing X-Plane reviews under XPX until I feel happy with it's level of maturity. I could happily test under v9.7 but that might be an issue for a lot of folks who have jumped directly from FSX (or whatever) to XPX.Not to mention I am not much of a virtual jet flyer. I just picked up the excellent Ramzzess SU-100 Superjet as a little treat for myself and am slowly working my way through that aircraft simply for enjoyment as I quite like the Russian aircraft (both payware and freeware). It serves as a moderately complex and capable airliner in X-Plane for me to have a standard of comparison given that within FSX the only payware jet I have bothered with (and soon put back in my hangar from lack of interest) was a quite capable systems-lite 757 package. Not the aircraft's fault....all the button-pushing was less like flight and more like programming a robot in my eyes. Never mind these sorts of aircraft are really designed for 2-person flight deck management and the task loading for a single individual seems a bit unrealistic.But thats just me.I'll tell you what.....if nobody has picked the thing up for review from AVSIM by the time March rolls around I'll take it on under XP9.7. Although I am sure you cannot wait that long :(

I see Aerosoft has a CRJ-200 for sale. Is that a separate product? How does it compare with X-Aviation?

It's the same product. JRollon sells through X-Aviation, X-Plane.org and Aerosoft.

Thanks a lot for the helpful replies. Waiting until XPX becomes more stable is probably the best thing to do right now. Keeping my fingers crossed for some good news form PMDG. Some more questions about the CRJ:I am not familiar with the Navigraph database, i can usually find the sids, stars and airport diagrams online and don't care if they are a bit outdated. I don't fly online. Does the aircraft come with pre-loaded outdated sids and stars or do you have no other choice but to purchase the additional Navigraph data?I looked at some youtube videos of the CRJ and the 3d cockpit is pretty impressive, but i prefer photo realistic 2D panels. The switches on the 2D panel are easy to press and the impact on frame rate is not as severe. Does the CRJ have a good set of photorealistic 2D panels (I'm thinking Fly! here again) in addition to the 3D cockpit? If the aircraft has a 3D cockpit only i may have to consider Track IR which just adds to the cost.

The CRJ comes with outdated navdata. It only has a 3D cockpit. Most, if not all, new add ons for X Plane do not have 2D photo-real panels anymore. It is a very big job to make them properly and the demand isn't there to justify making them.Actually, adding a 2D texture based panel will DECREASE framerates in X Plane. X Plane handles 3D mesh EXTREMELY well. Adding more textures will tax the graphics card more than using a 3D cockpit based add on.

I see Aerosoft has a CRJ-200 for sale. Is that a separate product? How does it compare with X-Aviation?

Hi, Larry,Same product. The difference is that on the X-Aviation side you will have direct access to us as developers and a quicker support response time when/if issues arise. It's a bit more of a personable experience, as we're the original authors.

 

Actually, adding a 2D texture based panel will DECREASE framerates in X Plane. X Plane handles 3D mesh EXTREMELY well.

Now that's something I didn't know (Or did, but didn't quite understand in the xplane blog).I infinitely prefer the 3D panels. :(

I bought it the other day and am impressed. The visual model is very nice and the 3D cockpit is fantastic, I certainly don't miss having a 2D panel. If (like me) you're quite new to X-Plane you might find the view modes a bit hard to get used to, but I found my way round it in the end, and actually it's far easier to move the camera around in the cockpit than it is in FSX. The handling of the aircraft in flight is excellent. It is a joy to fly manually and land, and the autopilot system works well too. It has no autothrust system (the real CRJ doesn't either) so you do have to maintain manual control of speed and choose the right thrust settings, though it does have FADEC control which prevents you from exceeding the engine limits on take off for example. The autopilot/flight director is coupled to a feature-rich FMS containing a full nav database with SIDs/STARs, which though I have no personal experience with real CRJs, seems accurate and is comparable to the higher complexity-level airliners i've seen in FSX. The FMC is not perfect (as of version 1.4.1 which is what i'm currently running), I have had a couple of excruciatingly frustrating moments where executing something in the FMC has caused the whole program to crash - once was on the ground prior to start-up, the second time was in the final stages of the descent following an hour long flight, which I was NOT happy about! Not sure if it's a pattern but on both occasions it occurred after I accidentally inserted into the wrong line. Hopefully this will be fixed soon. Apart from that it's a really nice add on, and I really hope the future brings more of this quality for X-Plane. It has one of the best 3D cockpits i've seen in any aircraft add on, both XP and FSX. There are a few features that are not modelled, mostly things like test panels, but pretty much everything you would use in a normal flight scenario is modelled accurately.