Hi,

 

I just bought the Abacus 787 and think it is very quality my new favorite plane but I don't understand why it says "smokeing" and why the rudder moves perpendicular instead of side to side. Also the winds seem way too curved up and the wingtips swing way up instead of back. Is this normal?

 

Also I think there is something wrong with my system because there aren't very many buttons on the cockpit at all, it just looks all black for the most part. Can someone help? Thanks.

That is all normal, rudder moves that way because it has been modeled incorrectly, wings and wingtips curve up because they have been modeled to do so in Abacus 787, and there is not too many systems because Abacus didn't put more than that into its cockpit.

 

Their 787 was actually made way before first flight of 787, I think way before first 787 was even built. It is based just on speculations from that time about how 787 would look, not on what it really looks. And that rudder thing seems to be failure in animations I guess, nothing you can do to it as its Abacus fault.

 

So it's most likely just working normally, this kind of problems are very common with all planes from this manufacturer.

http://www.abacuspub.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1

 

I don't understand it says officially licensed by boeing. And Abacus says they are "the world's leading developer of Flight Simulation . . . add-ons."

 

Are you sure it's not something with my system or something? Rudder should not move horizontally instead of vertically.

Here is an example of what the rudder does, look at first picture: http://www.flightsim...59cc513ce9f3ef2 See rudder tils across instead of just side to side and the wings are super high, should not be like that on the ground. Maybe I try deleting FSX and reinstalling?

 

Is that normal? As in, the actual 787 moves this way? If Abacus says it's officially licensed from Boeing then I guess Abacus must be right, 787 just has very strange rudder system?

Don't reinstall FSX. That problem is completely with model and 787 does not have that kind of rudder system in real life, I had the same problem some years ago when I bought their 787, didn't know what kind of company Abacus is back then.

 

Installing this patch should fix the rudder problem, haven't tried myself though as I don't fly Abacus. http://www.abacuspub..._FSXUpdate1.exe

 

That "officially licensed by Boeing" seems to be nothing more than marketing speech. Most Abacus addons range from extremely horrible to medium bad, especially all their aircrafts. Some programs are good though. I don't recommend buying anything from them.

The Abacus design was actually based on the Boeing Sonic Cruiser concept which originally was supposed to be the 787. Boeing changed the design but Abacus didn't change theirs. Not that it matters because Abacus modeling is so bad you can hardly tell the difference anyway.

 

And yes, Abacus is a ripoff, sorry you got taken. I would say that a lot of flightsimmers have been ripped off by Abacus over the years at least once. Just because someone says they are "licensed" doesn't mean it's going to be a good product.

I don't understand it says officially licensed by boeing. And Abacus says they are "the world's leading developer of Flight Simulation . . . add-ons."

 

That is true, but it doesn't mean what you probably think it meant.

 

Any product which anyone wants to sell which has the Boeing logo on it, or is claiming to emulate a Boeing jetliner in some way, has to have a llicense granted to it by Boeing, since it is their company's trademark, and a developer would therefore need permission to use it. Even if you wanted to sell a coffee cup with a Boeing logo on it, you would need that same license, but that licensing wouldn't make that coffee cup an accurate simulation of a jet aeroplane any more than it would make the Abacus 787 accurate. An officially licensed product is no guarantee of authenticity in anything other than having the logo on it.

 

Abacus are indeed the leading developer of Flight Simulation add ons, but this simply means that they make and sell more of them than anyone else regardless of whether they are any good, thus they are the leaders in numerical terms rather than necessarily in quality terms. Compare it to the musical charts for example; Justin Beiber sells more records than Peter Gabriel and is probably one of the leading musical acts in the world, but I'm pretty sure everyone knows that Peter Gabriel would blow Justin Beiber off the stage in every way possible, and can certainly make a more musically credible album than JB is ever likely to.

 

Presently there is no truly authentic Boeing 787 for FSX, but there are two other options. AeroSim make one which is far better than the Abacus one, although, nice as it is, it is not hugely authentic when it comes to in depth simulation of all that you would find on a real 787, and it is expensive too. Quality Wings has a 787 in development at the moment, which is likely to be more complex than the AeroSim one and certainly more complex than the Abacus one.

 

So unfortunately, you bought a bit of a crappy add-on. We've all done that at one time or another, and will probably do so again at some point, there's not much you can do other than to just chalk it up to experience. Fortunately, since the Abacus 787 is only about 17 quid, it is not the end of the world, it is just the end of you having an additional 17 quid to spare.

 

Al

Thank heavens I read your piece,Al, as I spotted this add-on at CEX Arndale Manchester for £4, and tempted as I was, based on previous Abacus buys, decided to pass. Glad I did now.

Yup, Abacus offer cheap and cheerful stuff much of the time, there's the odd decent one in amongst their catalogue, they're not all bad ones, but most of them are not likely to make you go wow, and especially their 787, which is among the worst of them.

 

Much of their stock in trade is cheapo CDs of stuff that will end up in places like PC World and Curries, where someone who has a passing interest in FS might have a punt on one of their efforts for maybe a tenner. Unfortunately for Abacus, the days of CDs in high street computer store outlets are coming to an end, and with that, their supreme reign on the add-on world is likely to come to an end too, since anyone looking online for an add-on airliner they can buy on disk or download, is likely to find that things such as the PMDG 737 are out there, check out the screenshots and list of features, and then the game will be up for them.

 

Al

PC World and Curries,

Better not be curries, or a lot of diners in Rusholme will be having more than 'Delhi- Belly', Al. I know you actually meant Currys. Faux pas.

Compare it to the musical charts for example; Justin Beiber sells more records than Peter Gabriel and is probably one of the leading musical acts in the world, but I'm pretty sure everyone knows that Peter Gabriel would blow Justin Beiber off the stage in every way possible, and can certainly make a more musically credible album than JB is ever likely to.

 

I wish I could click the thumbs up button over and over lol

I just bought the Abacus 787 and think it is very quality

 

Well you're probably the first!

Hi,

 

I just bought the Abacus 787 and think it is very quality

 

Okay....why do you think it's "quality"?

 

but I don't understand why it says "smokeing" and why the rudder moves perpendicular instead of side to side. Also the winds seem way too curved up and the wingtips swing way up instead of back. Is this normal?

 

Yes, this is normal.

 

Just a tip, Google reviews for a Flight Sim add-on before you buy it.

 

All of the Abacus 787 reviews point these flaws out

 

Also I think there is something wrong with my system because there aren't very many buttons on the cockpit at all, it just looks all black for the most part. Can someone help? Thanks.

 

You're new to Flight Ssimming aren't you?

 

These things are normal with low end add-ons, especially Abacus products.

 

The lack of buttons is because Abacus didn't model anything beyond basic functionality (there are no more cockpit controls period. The darkness is to hide the lack of detail, since Abacus didn't go out of their way with the 787 (ie. the spelling errors) so there's just nothing to see.

 

I can not emphasize enough the importance of researching add-ons before purchasing them.

To choose your next addon, go to the homepage of Avsim, look down in the left menu under FBO destinations. There is a link to all the Avsim reviews. Go check it out. Some excellent reading and research can get you an addon you'll be glad you own.

To choose your next addon, go to the homepage of Avsim, look down in the left menu under FBO destinations. There is a link to all the Avsim reviews. Go check it out. Some excellent reading and research can get you an addon you'll be glad you own.

There are two AVSIM reviews of the Abacus 787 and they both say that the Abacus is not half-bad. Neither mentions anything about a rudder problem.

 

http://www.avsim.com.../Abacus/787.htm

http://www.avsim.com...207/787/787.htm

 

I read them both before purchasing.

 

I still like it, it is very quality except for rudder problem. I tried patch linked above but now the entire rudder is gone so I will go back to the old way, maybe rudder turns that way in real life. So overall I have to change my rating from very quality to mostly very quality but if rudder behaves that way in real life and is modeled correctly then I change to very very quality.

 

Okay....why do you think it's "quality"?

Very good modeling it flies like I imagine real 787 would fly and it has nice virtual cabin where I can sit and pretend I am coach passenger looking out small window and pretend it has electrochromic window instead of regular window shade. Also it makes improvement on real 787 with nicer nose.