Seriously giving some thoughts to purchasing this as I have been away from FSX for last 4 months.

 

Just want some feedback on the Pros and Cons from simmers who had the previous version and either upgraded/bought the new Extended Version. PC Pilot gives it a glowing review, but a glowing review in a magazine and feedbacks from actual users of this Add-on is a totally different perspective.

 

Thanks in anticipation.

Hi Rick,

 

I never experienced the 'Airbus X', but started with v1.04 of the 'AXE' just recently.

 

- v1.04 is not yet complete, flightdeck-wise. But there's an upcoming v1.05 which will make, IMO, the flightdeck "nearly" complete (remember: user expectations may differ ...)

- same holds true for the "user-interface": complete automatic panel state saving for example, including MCDU is not yet implemented. (But there's a 90% working user fix for this issue, however)

 

So, Aerosoft advertising to me is a good deal premature. This may have been a big issue shortly after release. To me it's no more with the v1.05 on the horizon.

 

It's a fine, reliable, stable aircraft to me, medium system depth, very good value for money, with a good deal of Aerosoft innovations: completely operated from VC, browser-based MCDU (optional, if you want to use a suitable external device), integrated spoken checklists which, of course, reflect the externally coded parts of the A/C as well.

 

I can easily recommend it in its current v1.04 state (plus a small hotfix 011).

 

You may want to have a look at the official Aerosoft support forum; there's a huge sub-forum, english spoken, well organized, with their lead developer around.

 

Any particular expectations, Rick?

I've read that review, too, and I can't really agree with it. I don't know, or actually I don't want to judge how it compares to the original Airbus X, because I only flew that once or twice, then parked it forever, because IMHO it had too many flaws. So the only thing I want to say to compare them, is that the AXE is actually flyable.

However, there still are some bugs, one of the most prominent of which (and actually the only one I've encountered myself) is that the TOD is completely wrong. But it is so obviously wrong that you can descend using the 3-by1 rule and make it to the runway without any extreme dives. Other problems I've heard about are wrongly drawn (and flown) SIDs and problems with custom waypoints.

 

But to be honest, Aerosoft achieved some great things IMHO: First of all, the modelling is fantastic! Another great thing is how FBW works on the AXE. It is a real joy to fly the thing by hand, because it keeps the attitude precisely until you give the next command.

 

Maybe the most important advice here: Don't expect PMDG quality! This addon was designed to replicate everyday operations of the Pilot Flying only(though not everything of that works as promised yet), so don't expect any failures or similar things. However, if that is what you want, wait for the FSLabs A32x.

 

As a last note, besides what Oliver just said, I recommend you to read through some threads here on Avsim, discussing the downsides of this product in detail (those discussions tend to go the "OMG, it's not the NGX quality" direction, though). Here's the link to one of those threads (probably the most informative one):http://forum.avsim.net/topic/394282-airbus-x-extended-released/

 

Regards,

Flo

And just to add my 2 (Euro) cents to what Florian just posted:

 

The "VNAV" (in Boeing terms) is the major topic worked on in the upcoming v1.05. So that TOD issue shouldn't last for long, anymore. They improve the 'LNAV' in v1.05, too. Not sure, however, whether that will completely iron out those SIDs and custom WP flaws, in particular.

Any particular expectations, Rick?

@Viele

Hi Viele(hope I've your name correct?). No, do not have any pre-conceived expectations. I've been flying the high-end PMDG, LDS, one CaptSim aircraft(the 707),and a few others for a while now, and have put off buying an Airbus A319-321 for a while as I was awaiting to see what the simmers here would plump for what a few developers were offering last year.

@Flo

Yes, I too did the same thing, just parked it. No, I never expect every developer to match PMDG all the time. That would not be a fair playing field. I like to support other developers too, but a product must be worth supporting. I lost count, as I probably guess others here have too, of how long I've been waiting for that FSL project to see light of day. I'm not easily swayed by the 'OMG, it's not PMDG.....' I take a consensus and then make up my mind.

 

Lastly, thank you to both for taking the time to share your opinions as asked for.

Just a heads up rick. The AEX only includes the A320/321 not the 319.

Is anyone working on an A318LR?

Airbus Extended is my fav aircraft at this point in time.. its my go to aircraft.. The auto thrust (once you set up your throttles properly) and FBW is just too much fun along with the eye candy.

 

I had the previous version and wouldn't work at alll. Eventually I got it to work but I had to disable the FBW but lost interest in it pretty soon.

 

But the new version makes up for the previous sins.

Right now the AXE is a good aircraft to fly, if still unreliable in many situations. There are legs which it will fly great with no major problems, but in some other it'll be a disaster. These are related to horizontal navigation behaviour, it can drift away to its will in many situations and vertical navigation behaviour as it doesn't respect most constraints and ignores the 250KIAS below FL100 in almost every case.

 

All of this is being worked on and i have faith that the next update will make this Airbus reliable and a friendly company in the skies. Right now, it's not much...

Right now the AXE is a good aircraft to fly, if still unreliable in many situations. There are legs which it will fly great with no major problems, but in some other it'll be a disaster. These are related to horizontal navigation behaviour, it can drift away to its will in many situations and vertical navigation behaviour as it doesn't respect most constraints and ignores the 250KIAS below FL100 in almost every case.

 

All of this is being worked on and i have faith that the next update will make this Airbus reliable and a friendly company in the skies. Right now, it's not much...

 

 

Excuse me, I can't confirm your experience in general, nor the 250/10k in particular. Are you running v1.04 for sure? (plus hotfix 011, maybe)

 

(And, as we have met in other topics and other forums, too: You don't mix this up with the 777 Captain, are you - just kidding ...)

 

Just a heads up rick. The AEX only includes the A320/321 not the 319.

 

 

... and no A318, no ACJ, either - and none of the bigger ones - no A330/A340.

 

Not meant to sound critical, just stating differences to those older 'Airbus series'.

Next update seems promising...

 

 

Miquel.

Are you running v1.04 for sure? (plus hotfix 011, maybe)

 

Yes. Not really important since from day one most issues are still there, but running 1.04.

My preferred Airbus for FSX at the moment is the BBS. In its current version 0.61 it is very flyable, and it has very nice VNAV with a reliable managed descent.

And, they have an A330 to be released soon!

Just a heads up rick. The AEX only includes the A320/321 not the 319.

@B747-400F

Thanks for that heads up..

@ Nuno

Obrigado for all that info.

@Michaei

Noted. I was aware of their developent as I had the previous standard-bearer,the now defunct PSS output but have not read of a massive take-up on their version.