Rob, first let me apologize if I have given you the impression that I have given RealAir a hard time. I appreciate the quality of your work. I really do. RealAir produces some great stuff. However, I did choose to engage debate on this one issue because I didnt understand what your cost base was. You have explained it to be Euro based, so now as a consumer I understand the pricing policy. Fair enough. Pointing out conversion rate advantage surely isnt a "hard time".I do have a personal price point at which I wont buy an FS addon regardless of what features it has. Thats an economic price point that applies to my personal budget and philosophy only...not a value statement overall. God bless you guys if you can get 50 euros for your work. Great for you. Only I cant afford that. I dont drive a mercedes, but do think they are great cars.I could buy your products without it being a huge deal of course, but I personally draw the line at 20 US Dollars. We FS folks are blessed because the quality of competition is great. Frankly more than we can consume. So, we get the benefit of being choosy as well as being price concious. (Aint competition great?)Best (truly)EricPS: In the spirit of fairness and good will...I just bought the Spitfire. I look forward to re-evaluating my value assumptions based on your product. (fair enough???)

Currently at $34.51... Better get it before the $ devalues more! :)

Dear Real Air,I own all of your planes so far, But I too am a little upset at the price as I am in the US, and $35.00 is a liitle high for me. I've been waiting for this for a while too. Is there any discount for people who have all your planes? I don't mean to be a Nagger, but gotta watch the bucks lately.Rockitglider

Hi Eric,A gentleman's reply, for which I thank you, and I will attempt a gentleman's response. I really do understand, from the US point of view, that sim addon prices appear to be on the up, unreasonably. But for so long now US citizens have been protected from the outside world by a thriving home economy which despite its great flaws somehow survives because of its dynamism.But this is no longer the case and if only the average bloke in the US realised it, the whole of Asia and much of Europe is being crippled by the conventional wisdom that pricing must be pulled on a lead by the dollar. Even when the dollar was in slow decline a year ago it was just possible to keep this status quo going, but nowadays, 7 US dollars will not even buy you a bunch of cheap flowers, a half decent bottle of wine, or a short train journey in the UK or France. It won't even buy you the cheapest pack of cigarettes if that is your habit.But many Americans still are under the illusion that the dollar has a meaningful value in the rest of the world. It doesn't. So $50 appears to an American to be a substantial amount of cash. In England this is an almost laughable sum. I can spend more than this buying a few simple groceries for two people for a day!The disparity between the European currencies and the dollar has become completely distorted. The dollar is actually in the deepest possible crisis but many US people do not seem to be aware of it.Coming back to Sim addons: it's not that the Euro is strong, it's that it is STABLE. You'll find that many sim developers will follow suit shortly if they are not already there.I don't want to get into the politics of it except to say that the US has to wake up to what other nations perceive about its economy, which is living on borrowed time. The same was true of the UK in the 1980's and early 1990's.BTW you said "good luck if you can get Euro 50". That is a sum not connected with anything to do with us. It's 25 Euros which is around 34 dollars. I do hope you enjoy the Spitfire and you'll see it includes a host of features, including a major scenery package, which makes it a lot more than one addon aircraft.Thanks again for your civilised reply....appreciated.Kind Regards,Rob Young - www.realairsimulations.com

"I don't mean to be a Nagger, but gotta watch the bucks lately."Again I sympathise. But we have to watch the bucks too, and if we continued to sell at the currently appalling dollar exchange rate we'd be literally out of business. What can I suggest....ask Mr Bush to reign his economy in maybe. Kind Regards,Rob Young

Hi Jan,Since you are the one designer whose talents and skills we hold up as the ultimate, I am humbled by your kindness.I hope the Spitfire gives you much pleasure.Kind Regards,Rob

Enough about the price. This is a real gem of an aircraft and has flight dynamics even better than the SF260. I don't know how you did it Rob but it's got to be the smoothest flying I have yet experienced.I was slightly nervous of the VC only option as I am definitely in the 2D camp but you have made it so well that the topic isn't valid. It felt absolutely right from the moment I "sat" in the aircraft. In fact a VC built as well as this should appeal to both the 2D and VC enthusiasts. It's what VC builders should have been doing all along.A really great aircraft and I'm going to have soooo much fun with it. Good news is that I don't have to pay for the engine replacements - gone through one already.. :)boneshttp://fsaviation.nethttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/ng_driver.jpg

Well Mr Young and the rest of the team, what can I say that has not already been said. WOW, FANTASTIC, GREAT, GOOD JOB etc... just dose'nt seem like enough. I am in total awe with your latest offering.I knew it would be a must have, but not this much of a MUST HAVE. As for the price, for what is included in this package, price was not even a thought for me (and I do live in the USA). As a matter of fact I did'nt even look at the price before I bought it. RealAir is one of the few payware companys out there that when a new plane is released, I buy on the spot no hesitation what so ever. So once again you have done one awesome job, and I am a very happy simmer. :-)Keep up the great work guys,Hawk

Thanks for the positive comments chaps. We really do enjoy our customers having a ball with our aircraft. Best Wishes,Rob Young

Hi.If the answer is Yes, is that allowed now?If the US $ is so value less why is this thread / developers here at all?Should AVSIM be compensated for the band width? I am sure US$ will be accepted. TV

Haven't bought it yet (it would be highly detrimental to my final exam preparation this week) but I've got a question:Will you guys consider updating the other RealAir product VC's to this new smooth gauge system? I'd probably be willing to pay a small upgrade fee to have that in the SF.260 and Scout...

Yeah lets not put down my country or it's leader please when discussing a flight smulator's price tag. It takes more than one man in any position to mess things up but that is another story for another forum. Anyways concerning the new baby, I always believe procing should reflect not economics but quality of the product and by the looks of it this little birdie seems to be in the great tradition underv the RA banner. Hopefully I will be able to purchase it after the new year since my new Dell Laptop is killing my budget ;-)Best Wishes,[h4]Randy J. Smith[/h4]http://www.rawbw.com/~bdoolin/shinault/southparkcartmad.gif[h3]PMDG 747![/h3]Caution! Not a real pilot, but do play one on TV ;-)ASUS KV8 DLX | AMD 3200 64 | 1 GIG PC 3200 DDR | GIGABYTE 5700 ULTRA | ViewSonic VP192b 19" |

HI Ryan,The honest answer is "doubtful". It's not a simple matter of just updating because the technology used is completely different, a bit like expecting Microsoft to simply update FS98 so it looks like FS2004.Cheers,Rob

Ah Mr Avcomware, right on cue.RY

In addition to being a RW pilot, I am also an Registered Investment Adviser and have been for 35 years so I will take the liberty of butting in on the issue of the Euro/Dollar relationship.When the "gold standard" was abolished many decades ago, with very few exceptions, world currencies began to "float" in value against each other, including the Euro which, like the other world currencies, fluctuates in RELATIVE value every day.It happens that the Euro, as one of the newest of the major world currencies, has risen dramatically in value relative to the dollar during the period of the existence of the Euro. But as noted above, the Euro floats against all major currencies including the Pound Sterling. In fact, the Euro has risen in value vs. the Pound, or to put it another way, the Pound has declined in value relative to the Euro by nearly 5% since just this past June.From RealAir's point of view, therefore, they have LOST exchange rate value, not only in terms of the U.S. Dollar but ALSO vs. the Euro over the past several months. Such is the lot of the multi-national business enterprise.But without question, RealAir is more than justified in charging what they do and are equally justified, rather forced, to price their product in terms of the Euro which, while rising relative to their home currency, the British Pound, is RELATIVELY more stable than vs. the U.S. Dollar.There never has been, nor do I suspect there ever will be a freeware version of an aircraft up to the leading edge standards set by RealAir. If there IS a free ship as good, I hope my fellow simmers will point it out to me.I only own RealAir's Marchetti but it, together with the FSD C115 are the standards of excellence in single engine aircraft IMHO, when visuals, flight dynamics and FRAME RATES are taken into account.But the point is that as a commercial, for profit enterprise, all RealAir is doing is pricing given the realities of the world markets into which they sell their products. Clearly, they can do no less and stay in business and just as clearly, they ARE NOT engaging in price gouging.Regards