The way Reality XP has approached their marketing, is that the 530 and 430 are positioned as "Entertainment products" and priced as such. The Unlimited package is positioned as a "Prosumer" product, and priced accordingly..

 

Crossfill is the ability of the units to share information such as flightplans. The unlimited package also comes with traffic display and alerting.

 

To start with, I would suggest getting the 530. It has a bigger screen which gives you more information. For that, it does not fit into many panels that have "half-high" radio slots.

 

The RealAir Lancair is a nice way to start as it comes with the option to install a 530.

It is as good as it gets for FSX and is fast!

 

Another favorite plane is the Carenado C337 which likewise is pre-configured for the 530.

 

Or, if you like a fun plane for flying around, look at the Baytower RV7!

 

If you need any help with any of this - send me a PM.

 

Thanks for the advice. I think I'm going to go with the Lancair even though the Baytower looks interesting and I've saved it for future. I feel like I've stepped into a whole part of flight simming that I never knew existed...that you can actually buy upgrades to aircraft like you do in the real world. I also have been eyeing a few that have glass cockpits just because I want to see what they're like...Eaglesoft's Columbia 400 or the Carenado Malibu. The Malibu also takes the RealityXP stuff (though their larger units weren't rated that highly...more like 'adequate'...I guess I should expect that)

 

I'd be curious if you'd have a recommendation. All the glass is, perhaps, cool but without excellent flight dynamics it's just fluff.

 

Gregg

Thanks for the advice. I think I'm going to go with the Lancair even though the Baytower looks interesting and I've saved it for future. I feel like I've stepped into a whole part of flight simming that I never knew existed...that you can actually buy upgrades to aircraft like you do in the real world. I also have been eyeing a few that have glass cockpits just because I want to see what they're like...Eaglesoft's Columbia 400 or the Carenado Malibu. The Malibu also takes the RealityXP stuff (though their larger units weren't rated that highly...more like 'adequate'...I guess I should expect that)

 

I'd be curious if you'd have a recommendation. All the glass is, perhaps, cool but without excellent flight dynamics it's just fluff.

 

Gregg

 

Nothing wrong with the Malibu - but my advice would be to go slow..

 

Just like in the real world, you would not buy a couple of airplanes to see what

you enjoy flying.. you'll just end up getting confused and frustrated.

 

Get one plane and really learn to fly it! Get to know the Garmin avionics

inside out and fly VFR and IFR flights until it all becomes second nature.

 

If you are serious about learning to use the Garmin unit, invest in a good

book, like Max Trescott's GPS WAAS Flying Handbook - that is what RW pilots do..

http://www.mypilotstore.com/mypilotstore/sep/6565

Nothing wrong with the Malibu - but my advice would be to go slow..

 

I would echo that advice! The Malibu, in particular, is a plane I'd wait on - not because it isn't good, but because Carenado's, um... sparse documentation really starts to cause issues for planes like the Malibu and the C90 unless you have some experience with comparable planes in the sim or the real world.

 

BTW, the Malibu's flight characteristics are excellent, but the Garmin 500 "glass" in it is fairly sparse in implementation. It works fine, but like the default GPS's don't expect to use it as a trainer for the real thing.

 

If you're really wanting to explore glass, the Flight1 G1000 planes are probably a better choice. I have the Mustang, and the G1000 implementation is quite good. Don't have the 182, but I assume it's a comparable G1000 implementation.

 

Scott

The N- and T- gauges are brilliant. You don't necessarily need them for very well made addon aircraft that have their own high quality gauges, but I find myself replacing just about all of them anyway. The RealityXP gauges make the default FSX gauges look as crap as they are. You can't actually use the default gauges on the C172, for example, for IFR flight. They are awful and jerky. This is the case for most addon aircraft too. If I had to give up every FS addon except 3, the RXP gauges would be safe.

The Real Air Lancair and the 530 RXP Unit are a superb combination to start with.

If you're really wanting to explore glass, the Flight1 G1000 planes are probably a better choice. I have the Mustang, and the G1000 implementation is quite good. Don't have the 182, but I assume it's a comparable G1000 implementation.

 

I bookmarked the Flight1 aircraft for later. I have the Carenado 182. It's not bad. Flight dynamics seem close (I have a few hours in it, real world). Hate the green glass, the autopilot is crap. Any chance this stuff fits in that aircraft? I wouldn't use it on Vatsim...tough for me to find controllers at smaller airports...but it's my favorite airplane to beat up the pattern.

I bookmarked the Flight1 aircraft for later. I have the Carenado 182. It's not bad. Flight dynamics seem close (I have a few hours in it, real world). Hate the green glass, the autopilot is crap. Any chance this stuff fits in that aircraft? I wouldn't use it on Vatsim...tough for me to find controllers at smaller airports...but it's my favorite airplane to beat up the pattern.

 

The 182Q can be totally customized... here an example of a panel modeled after a real world

aircraft..

I guess I'm in a whole new jargon (and a surprising and interesting one at that...I had no idea these things even existed!) So it sounds like "Unlimited" is for crossfill. What is crossfill and why is it worth $100?

 

I don't think crossfill in FSX is worth it... not at that price... If I was flying for real still, then it probably would be... crossfill in a nutshell let's both GPS's read each other... so one flight plan entered into a 530W would be seen on the lower 430W... It's nice because you can be on one page on the 530 and another page on the 430 and it will display the same FP info. You could also crossfill between two GNS430W's or two 530's...

 

Just to be clear a lot of addons have custom gauges and the end user doesn't have to do much to get them in the panel. Some addons the user needs to edit the panel.cfg to add the gauges...

 

Also, fwiw, in the Lancair they've made a config that allows the user to add the gauge with a click of the mouse. Also I've got both the 530W and 430W operating in the lancair WITHOUT crossfill. Basically I use the 430 for terrain display and the 530 for FP information/map.

Thanks all you guys! I'm going with the RealAir Lancair Legend and the 530 for now. I'd been looking for something speedier with a big view and I want to try out the RealAir quality. And now with this Reality XP thing, it's a whole new world. I found some youtube vids that will get me started on understanding the 530. I know I'll be bugging you guys again when I start trying to fit the 530 in. :)

Thanks all you guys! I'm going with the RealAir Lancair Legend and the 530 for now.

 

I can't imagine that you'll be disappointed with those choices.

 

BTW, to update to June 2011 data for the 530, see this discussion: http://www.simforums...database update . As always, backup existing data before making the changes. It's a fairly straightforward process and works great, adding a substantial number of precision GPS approaches.

 

Enjoy!

 

Scott

 

A quick edit - BTW, if you're like most of us, it won't be long before you add the 430. :-)