Hi Jim,Thanks for your highly intelligent and dead-on summing up of the exchange/dollar issue further up the thread. Very helpful.Did you know you can set up our VC, and most others, so you CAN snap to a view instantly? This is a little known but great feature of FS2004. When you download and install, please read the flying guide section on views and you'll see full instructions there about getting views just as though you had a 2d panel.Cheers,Rob Young

Well there goes my self-control in attempting to wait till finals are done - didn't last more than 4 or 5 hours!Anyone complaining about the cost of this airplane - I can virtually guarantee that you will forget all about it once you load it up and go roaring away. It's that good. I'm not even a fan of old warbirds per se, and I'm saying this. This is a super super fun plane to fly.It's quite simply the most beautifully done FS addon I may have ever seen. The VC gauges really are smoother than most of the 2D panel gauges out there - think of how smooth the PMDG NG, the F1 ATR, and Reality XP CRTs are and that's what you've got here *IN* the VC. It's simply amazing - this is what people are always asking for when they talk about VC gauges being jerky - it's completely gone. As much as I'm sure RealAir wants to keep how they did this exclusive to themselves, I hope everyone else figures it out because it takes away any advantage that 2D panels ever had over VCs. Microsoft should pay you guys to make FS2006's VCs. As I said earlier, I would pay for upgrades to the other RealAir planes that add this new type of VC without hesitation.The sounds are amazing too - the plane actually creaks and shudders under G loading - you know exactly when to stop pulling lol!5 stars from me to Rob and crew and I suspect from the big FS reviewers as well... well done once again!P.S. - can you give us a machine gun in a patch?? ;) :D

Hi Ryan>P.S. - can you give us a machine gun in a patch?? ;) :DWhy, what are you going to shoot with it?CheersTimSpitfire Test Pilothttp://members.chello.nl/t.westnutt/realair.gif

LOL, I suppose you are right to a certain extent, but the fact is in reality your eye doesn't "snap" to one of 8 predefined and never changing positions. Afaic, even if the actual panning is not representative of reality, the feeling of the VC is closer to reality and the effect of being able to position your gaze with complete freedom is closer to reality. As noted, you can set predefined snap views in the VCs if that is your preference. I'd also recomend getting either Active Camera or the free F1 View utility to allow mouse-look, which does better simulate the quicker snap panning you're looking for. It seems to me that RealAir have finally resolved the only remaining issues that have kept the VC from completely removing the need for a 2D panel (for GA planes at least) - choppy gauges and poor framerates...

Well Rob, here's one (very) satisfied American customer who is proud of his President and of the special relationship between our two countries that has endured over many years. May it remain so for many, many more...Your Spitfire is a winner! Can there be anything more fun than taking off and landing a RealAir taildragger in a crosswind? I don't think so. The smooth transition from a crab to a sideslip on short final, the responsiveness during the flare, and then to kiss the pavement with the upwind main and let the downwind main settle as the speed bleeds off, all the while tracking the center line of the runway... what a pleasure! And a shock... it literally took my breath away. With all of the well-known "limitations of MSFS", I would have thought that was impossible. But then you guys are famous for doing the impossible!So is it worth the price? The ear to ear Muppet grin on my face as I flew this beauty answers that question.Thanks for yet another fantastic product,Ken

Hi guys.Before I add my two cents (not worth what it used too be,lol) to this pricing discussion, let me make it clear that I am currently downloading this baby because I believe in the product. I think that much of the feelings about the relative price increase to the Americans out there is justified in one way. Many of us look at the price of the BASE sim, in this case, FS2004, and compare it to the price of the addon. We see a complete package, meaning many aircraft, scenery, the game engine itself, etc, as being priced at $65 US when it was released. Now, these days, you can find it for $39.99 at most retailers in the USA. When we then see the price of a single aircraft, one scenery, and some AI planes, it just doesn't seem to balance out logically, and can be hard to justify, regardless of how highly developed the product is in comparison to the default FS2004 product.I see this as the single reason that people are taken aback by pricing. What many don't consider is scale. MS is huge, Realair is not, nor is any other developer when compared to the Gate's Mega Machine. (my DL is done! ) Then when you add in the complexities of currency valuation, well, many brains out there turn to mush. I am going to follow the lead of many wise people before me and not even start on the various political and economic reasons behind currency valuation. I'm no expert on that, and it's really depressing on this side of the pond. Suffice it to say, if I ran my budget like ....oh , you get it.Well, one thing is certain here. I will intercept the next credit card bill BEFORE my wife gets it. Now it's off to intall this bird and stop my tirade. Merry Christmas to all and thanks for a great new product.

>Well Rob, here's one (very) satisfied American customer who>is proud of his President and of the special relationship>between our two countries that has endured over many years.>May it remain so for many, many more...>KenAt last someone that says something very sensible on these forums, and I'm sure what you say will last.Going back to the Spitire, I shall get it tonight.Anthony(UK)http://www.reality-xp.com/community/nr/rsc/rxp-customer.jpg

Yep, "fantastic" is all I can say :) Gauges are indeed smoother than anything I've seen before, and the rest of the plane is even better than I had expected. Thanks Rob, Sean and everybody else who contributed to this project!VOlker :]

Hi Ken,Fantastic, eloquent description of precisely what we set out to achieve. I hope the muppet grin remains for a long while.All good wishes,Rob Young

Well, heres a little formation screenie to whet your appetites.

Heh. I did that as well, then found I was thoroughly lost somewhere over Kent and had to go looking for Manston - apparently exactly what a lot of WW2 pilots did when they were "temporarily unsure of position" - a quick splash of fuel at Manston, work out where 'home' is from there, a quick phonecall and get back out of there!I do have one comment on this otherwise excellent AI though... Don't the West Malling based squadrons have rather a lot of Squadron Leaders in them? :-hah(Well it looks like a SqLdr's banner under the canopy rim to me, anyway...)Ian P.

<No I didn't know that. I will give it a try. Keep up the great work.Regards,Jim

>> 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. Sorry about that, but 7 US dollars here, buys a Dozen Roses or more of any other kind of flowers, grown in CA. It buys an Excellent bottle of wine, from CA. It buys me a 50-100 mile trip on Amtrac at senior rates. And it will buy a couple of packs of cigarettes... If these are the prices in the UK or France, I'd say the inflation rate there is terrible. Bob

> If these are the prices in the UK or France, I'd say the>inflation rate there is terrible.Nothing to do with inflation, It's TAX! Wine and Cigarettes are taxed to the hilt in the UK, much more so than in the rest of Europe and don't even get me started on the price of gas in Europe!CheersTimhttp://members.chello.nl/t.westnutt/realair.gif

I asked a simple question.>>I'm not laughing, I was dumbstruck! Am I reading your message>correctly? You want buy and fly probably the fastest most>aerobatic most perfectly harmonised and superbly handling>flying machine created by one the best if not the best flight>dynamics genius working in FS today. All combined in the>aircraft that has been voted the best aeroplane ever built by>the TV station Discovery Wings and you want to fly it on>autopilot! >>It takes all sorts I know but why exactly would you want to do>that? There are far more suitable aeroplanes to fly around on>autopilot on. This aircraft is for people that want to really>FLY!!! >>>Cheers>Tim>Spitfire test Pilot>>http://members.chello.nl/t.westnutt/realair.gif