How could anyone not want to fly the drop dead gorgeous A330?

 

Exactly! I'd drop dead before I would call it gorgeous.

Alex, 

 

On the outside yes she is pretty, the systems on the other hand are just flat out ugly! Meh, just some random talking out the rear..

 

Exactly! I'd drop dead before I would call it gorgeous.

Harsh!!

She does look better than her 767 counterpart lol, as for the systems I hear no complaints from RW Airbus pilots, one jetBlue guy even said "I don't get why there is such animosity from Boeing pilots most of whom who probably never flew one hour in the real deal, must be envy". His comment made my day lol 

"I don't get why there is such animosity from Boeing pilots most of whom who probably never flew one hour in the real deal, must be envy". His comment made my day lol 

 

While I'll admit bias, and have made A v B comments before, I will say this:

It's different.  For some reason, in the aviation industry in particular, different means scary.  I can't tell you how many meetings I sit in and hear people reject things simply because it's different from what they're doing now.

 

For what it's worth, I had never flown a stick-based aircraft in the real world until two weeks ago.  Furthermore, I'd never flown a stick-based aircraft with my left hand, ever (my Saitek is left hand throttle, right hand stick).  I managed to get checked out in the plane in 1.2 and three landings.  It's not too incredibly hard to transition the concepts of flight into new mechanics.

 

...but, before all of that did you hear me give Diamonds a hard time for being fighter-pilot-wannabe planes with their center sticks, having an unsettling use of GFRP with a tiny tail boom, and an option for an all-glass panel (which I have written proof I griped a little about)?

 

Yes, most certainly.

 

Why?

 

Because it's different, and different is scary.

 

Luckily, with my opportunities, I'm slowly washing out some of my preconceived notions and beginning to appreciate some of the differences in aviation.

For what its worth FSL are making an Airbus...which will be  up to PMDG standards. 

Under the hood and behind the scenes, Boeing and Airbus are very different indeed. This is why, based on things written and spoken by key PMDG personel, Airbus development is highly unlikely. The frustration and sometimes anger shown in relation to something like this , baffles me. Maybe if PMDG had limitless funds to hire more people they could try to make every plane request. 

For what its worth FSL are making an Airbus...which will be  up to PMDG standards. 

And waiting for it just as long, too.

For what its worth FSL are making an Airbus...which will be  up to PMDG standards. 

 

By the looks of it, I think it has major potential to be up to standards and higher - along with companies such as Enigma Simulations. 

And waiting for it just as long, too.

 

2013 should be interesting for FSX. PMDG 777 , PFPX, FSLabs hopefully as well.

For what its worth FSL are making an Airbus...which will be  up to PMDG standards. 

More reason why it's fantasy land (forgive the phrase) to think PMDG would utilize resources to compete with FSL's efforts. Kind of like asking PMDG to make a Concord.. :ph34r:

 

...but, before all of that did you hear me give Diamonds a hard time for being fighter-pilot-wannabe planes with their center sticks, having an unsettling use of GFRP with a tiny tail boom, and an option for an all-glass panel (which I have written proof I griped a little about)?

 

I love the stick, feels more natural than flying with a yoke but my only experience flying glass was one hour in a Garmin equipped Cessna and lets just saying the PFD is a huge improvement over steam gauges especially with the altimeter. I prefer the airline style mechanical altimeter over the "clock" style that is dominant in GA flying. 

I love the stick, feels more natural than flying with a yoke but my only experience flying glass was one hour in a Garmin equipped Cessna and lets just saying the PFD is a huge improvement over steam gauges especially with the altimeter.

 

I'm indifferent on it.  We'll see how I feel after 3-4 hours of flying on Saturday down to RDU (for a hockey game of all things).  I felt like I was really active on the stick - either I was overcontrolling, or I was just fighting the turbulence against the giant DA40 glider wings.

 

I actually noticed for the first part of my flight that my eyes naturally settled on the backup altimeter and airspeed indicator.  I like that the G1000 places all the information in one spot, but I think my brain is used to the shapes, sizes and colors of the old gauges, so it locked onto the stuff I'm used to.  That and everything else was so foreign (the stick, the speed, the performance, the feel of the plane, the placement of the buttons, and so on) that my brain was probably latching onto the few things that felt familiar.  Once I noticed that, I just made a conscious effort to glance more at the 1000.

 

My only complaint on the whole setup is that the starter is in a weird spot.  In order to do all the right things with the throttle and mixture with your right hand, you need to use your left hand to start the engine, but the slot for the key is in the center of the plane.  Not a huge deal, though...

 

turbulence against the giant DA40 glider wings.

 

Yea turbulence is much more noticeable in the DA-20 and during my discovery flight 2 years ago we always bumped around whenever we passed over a hot patch on the ground during one blistery August day. I like flying the Diamond because its cheaper to rent and the plane is very responsive, I barely have to make any inputs to make the plane do what I want it to do. 

 

Furthermore, I'd never flown a stick-based aircraft with my left hand, ever (my Saitek is left hand throttle, right hand stick).

 

That's interesting, my simming configuration is opposite - left side stick, right side throttle. I found it's better in that way because I can use mouse and hold stick in the same time. Beside that, I'm left handed, maybe that's one of reasons. Even IRL, I never sat in right seat, I guess I should try it once.

That's interesting, my simming configuration is opposite - left side stick, right side throttle. I found it's better in that way because I can use mouse and hold stick in the same time. Beside that, I'm left handed, maybe that's one of reasons. Even IRL, I never sat in right seat, I guess I should try it once.

I'm left handed too, but I've always used my sidewinder joystick with my right hand.  I also have a thrustmaster throttle and joystick controller and again I use throttle on the left, stick on the right.  But that's the conventional single seater layout.  My very limited real flying experience has mostly been with yoke controls (Cessnas and Cherokees) but I did fly with a stick once (Beagle Pup) and it felt so much better and more instinctive.

 

However in an airliner flightdeck (I'm not a pilot, so I'm talking about simulators) I usually sit on the left, so the yoke is mainly in my left hand, throttles with the right hand.  If it's an Airbus then there's no choice, left seat, left hand.  Either way it isn't a problem.  If I fly from the right seat it feels strange for a few minutes then I get used to it.  It's no different to switching from a RHD car to a LHD.