I have both Md-11's and enjoy flying them both, however I was just wondering if anyone had opinions as to which of the 2 has more 'realistic' flight dynamics. I'm not a pilot and have no idea, so any input would be appreciated.

SimmersSky for sure...:-)

And you know this how?Do you have experiance of a real MD-11?I have both MD-11's, and I would be interested to know which one a more realistic.Dan.

What kind of question is that??? Who in this community really has any time in a real airliner, very few.... I know one thing, I most likely have more time in the MD11 cockpit than you. I used to work for FEDEX and prior to 9/11 used to jump seat quite allot in the DC10, MD11, and 727. SimmerSky has done a good job as far as freeware is concerned capturing the feel of the MD11...

I enjoy flying both but I fly the iFDG MD-11s more because I am *obsessed* with wing-views! I like looking back at the fan spinning away under the wing as I look back from the cockpit. The VC in the Simmers Sky MD-11 doesnt allow that (although I hasten to say its a very nice VC!)I also recommend the ACS panel - Im struggling to learn how to use its autopilot functions but it does (IMO) give a more realistic MD-11 "feel" than the panel that comes with the Simmers Sky plane.I too had the good fortune to spend some time on the flightdeck of a freighter MD-11 (Im not an airliner pilot BTW).Nice plane that, pity they fell flat on the range for the pax version which resulted in it being kicked out by some airlines, but its found its mark flying boxes around!

I wonder what's the real story as to why the airliners backed out on this bird. :-hmmm The FEDEX pilots I talked to stated one has to be very careful in landing the MD11 do to it's elongated tail. It's much easier than other airliners to scrap the tail on landing...Does anybody know the real story of the MD11???

From what I remember the MD-11 looked really good when it first came out. It flew around the world and was shown off to the major airlines out there. In particular the plane was heavily pushed to the Asian airlines who were told it was the ideal plane to use to the US West coast non-stop. One of its attention-getters was a flight over the North Pole.American Airlines recieved its MD-11s in due course and it was when they started flying it that problems began to surface. Analysis showed that the MD-11 was burning too much fuel (more than the books said) which meant that to fly to Asia, airlines had to stop on the US west coast to refuel and then carry on. Singapore Airlines was very unhappy after it conducted its own analysis and came to similar conclusions - the MD-11 did not have the range McDonnell Douglas said it would.From then on it was downhill for the MD-11 (at least when it came to flying people around). McDonnell Douglas tried desperately to fix the situation, they cleaned up the airframe to reduce drag - I think they fiddled with the winglets - and they also (if Im not mistaken) installed extra fuel tanks in the fuselage...but of course that took a payload penalty. All this made Airbus very happy and in the end Singapore Airlines threw out the MD-11 and bought the A330/ A340 series and American Airlines sold off its MD-11s to FedEx.I think the MD-11s best moment was when it demonstrated computer-controlled thrust-only landings. The controls were "frozen" and the computer landed the plane using just engine-thrust alone (made famous by the Sioux City DC-10 incident.Thats about all I can recall, perhaps someone else better versed than me on the MD-11 can add/correct this!