I have purchased the past year or so FTX Central Rockies, Northern Rockies, Pacific Fijords, Pacific Northwest and 18 of ORBX 20 US airports. Last purchase was [KJAC] - Jackson Hole,WY airport. For me the quality of FTX / ORBX scenery regions and the associated airports is worth every nickel. I no longer use UTX or GEX as Orbx purposely obscures both products features anyway while in any FTX scenery region. The FREEWARE Portland scenery and the FREEWARE Pacific Norhtwest DEMO scenery region is a deal for sure and a good way to get your feet wet with the FTX / ORBX brand. I live in the western USA and prefer to fly only FTX regions. To put it another way A2A is to FSX aircraft what FTX and ORBX are to FSX scenery and airport add-ons. My $.02 - OK? Honestly,who can match the quality of either of these developers? I recommend these products above any and all of the similar competitive products. See you in the skies...:)

the triple 7 is more of a long haul while we know it will be outstanding if you only have the time to fly between 1 and say 4 hours in a single flight then the NGX will suit you, if you want to do flights that can be 8 hours or longer then wait for the 777. I buy based on the time i have to fly each day, if i had the time to fly for 8+ hours i would buy the 777 for that but 4 hours tops for each flight for me and the 737 fits the role but i dont fly the NGX i fly the 737-200 and it suits me and the way i like to fly.. got to love retro navigation.. much harder way to fly than pushing waypoints in a cdu :)

 

I'm leaning towards the -NGX and 777 because I got hooked on using the FMC/FMS in my Eaglesoft Citation X. It was frustrating and infuriating to figure out but rewarding when I did. This is probably due to my IT background.

 

I don't fly more than 3 to 5 hours in any given flight at this time but that's not really the issue. I'm thinking about the 777 because (1) I like the systems I've seen in magazines and on Youtube so lots to get frustrated with, I mean learn :rolleyes: and (2), I've never really been a fan of the 737. To be honest, if there was an Airbus of equivalent quality to the NGX from another developer, I'd rather get that.

 

I'm leaning towards the PC12, the Jetprop, and the Orbx scenery and calling it a day.

What about the Lotus L39 - fun little plane, super FPS friendly, decent systems modelling, excellent FDE, plus integrates with RXP GNS430W. There is no autopilot but I made a quick 2D popup with the default bendix gauge.

http://www.lotussim.com/

I have purchased the past year or so FTX Central Rockies, Northern Rockies, Pacific Fijords, Pacific Northwest and 18 of ORBX 20 US airports. Last purchase was [KJAC] - Jackson Hole,WY airport. For me the quality of FTX / ORBX scenery regions and the associated airports is worth every nickel. I no longer use UTX or GEX as Orbx purposely obscures both products features anyway while in any FTX scenery region. The FREEWARE Portland scenery and the FREEWARE Pacific Norhtwest DEMO scenery region is a deal for sure and a good way to get your feet wet with the FTX / ORBX brand. I live in the western USA and prefer to fly only FTX regions. To put it another way A2A is to FSX aircraft what FTX and ORBX are to FSX scenery and airport add-ons. My $.02 - OK? Honestly,who can match the quality of either of these developers? I recommend these products above any and all of the similar competitive products. See you in the skies...:)

 

I already have the PNW scenery from Orbx as well as UTX and GEX as I do a lot of flying all over the US. I totally agree with you on them being worth it.

 

What about the Lotus L39 - fun little plane, super FPS friendly, decent systems modelling, excellent FDE, plus integrates with RXP GNS430W. There is no autopilot but I made a quick 2D popup with the default bendix gauge.

http://www.lotussim.com/

 

That looks interesting but I was really looking for a turboprop single. It's very very tempting though.

The Flight1 PC 12 is on of these "old but gold" planes. I have flown around the world with it, and it is a great plane for that. Very high range, STOL capability and all. It is a high quality addon, but on the other hand it just looks old meanwhile. It looks more like a fs9 plane. The gauges and the panel appear very flat, no real 3D, and the textures are a bit simple. The view out of the vc is good and thats nice if you want to do some sightseeing or want to see where you fly.

 

The Carenado Jetprop looks far better. It cruises around 30 Knots slower. View out of the VC is limited.

 

Frames. I don't have the PC 12 installed atm. But I remember that frames were quiet good. When I used both GPS there was a certain frame hit I think. The Jetprop with all displays, GPS, weather radar on is not a fps wonder, but still ok. That depends on the system of course. I would say it has 15% - 20% less fps than the turbine duke (if that does say anything to you).

 

What is more fun?I loved the PC 12 but meanwhile, even with all the good memories, it feels a bit outdated. It seriously was one of the best addons in its time. But I am a guy for whom a realistic look is important. The Jetprop is a typical Carenado (like pointed out by many in another recent thread here). So I never developed real enthusiasm for it.

 

The PC 12 is still full price as far as I know (?).... . For that I would almost say go for the Jetprop or wait for the TBM 850. (If I had known that they had this one on the line, too, I would have waited for that one, before I purchased the Jetprop).

 

Just my 2 cp.

Are you referring to the JetProp, that turbine conversion of the Malibu?

 

Yes...

The NGX is in my view the single biggest achievement in flight sim history. The 777 looks to follow suit. I simply cannot recommend it highly enough.

I already have the PNW scenery from Orbx as well as UTX and GEX as I do a lot of flying all over the US. I totally agree with you on them being worth it.

 

That looks interesting but I was really looking for a turboprop single. It's very very tempting though.

 

While the F1 PC12 accepts RXP 430's the visual model is dated and you might be dissapointed. Carenado's upcoming TBM850 will be nice but I'm guessing it won't have updateable navdata - maybe it will have a slot for RXP 430 or 530 though...

While the F1 PC12 accepts RXP 430's the visual model is dated and you might be dissapointed. Carenado's upcoming TBM850 will be nice but I'm guessing it won't have updateable navdata - maybe it will have a slot for RXP 430 or 530 though...

 

So the F1 PC12 is old and he Jetprop is slower than the PC12 but looks better. Maybe I'll just get the Orbx scenery and wait for the TBM.

 

So many options its confusing.

 

Wish I knew when Iris Simulations PC21 will be available..

They've got a freeware PC9 (used to be payware). It's alright...

http://irissimulatio...lassics-pc9.php

 

The jetprop is much much slower than the PC12. Jetprop probably does 220 ktas in the lower flight levels. PC12 easily 280 ktas. It does look good - jetprop (I owned it for a day hehe), but a little too slow for me.

I first bought the orbx PNW scenery and love love love it -- especially since I live in Portland Oregon. I then bought the US Central and Northern Rockies. I may be partial because of where I live, but I definitely like the PNW scenery the best, especially flying from the Pacific Coast to the Cascades. Next best is the Northern Rockies, and lastly are the Central Rockies. A lot of the landscape in the Central Rockies is more barren (and less green and interesting) terrain. I probably will eventually buy some of the orbx airports, but their price seems way over blown?

 

The orbx scenery combined with REX cloud textures and the Active Sky 2012 weather engine has literally transformed FSX into a different and wonderful breed of animal.

They've got a freeware PC9 (used to be payware). It's alright...

http://irissimulatio...lassics-pc9.php

 

The jetprop is much much slower than the PC12. Jetprop probably does 220 ktas in the lower flight levels. PC12 easily 280 ktas. It does look good - jetprop (I owned it for a day hehe), but a little too slow for me.

 

I have the PC9. Fun plane but not really interesting.

I first bought the orbx PNW scenery and love love love it -- especially since I live in Portland Oregon. I then bought the US Central and Northern Rockies. I may be partial because of where I live, but I definitely like the PNW scenery the best, especially flying from the Pacific Coast to the Cascades. Next best is the Northern Rockies, and lastly are the Central Rockies. A lot of the landscape in the Central Rockies is more barren (and less green and interesting) terrain. I probably will eventually buy some of the orbx airports, but their price seems way over blown?

 

The orbx scenery combined with REX cloud textures and the Active Sky 2012 weather engine has literally transformed FSX into a different and wonderful breed of animal.

 

I have PNW and I agree that Orbx + REX makes for great scenery. I did a flight from 5S6 (Cape Blanco State, Oregon) to CAU8 (Rivers Inlet SPB) in my Lancair Legacy. That was a fun flight with great scenery.

To be honest, if there was an Airbus of equivalent quality to the NGX from another developer, I'd rather get that.

FSlabs is working on really high quality A320, I think it might be released before end of the year, not sure as I haven't been following announcements so well lately. However that will surely be worth buying if it's anything near quality of their Concorde.

PDX Flyer: "I probably will eventually buy some of the orbx airports, but their price seems way over blown?"

 

Just wait for the next "Grand OrbX Sale"!

 

B)