Ooh catty JP!My thoughts are go for:PMDG 737 NG, it's the default choice now, with an amazing VC and quality that takes your breath away. Perhaps its familiarity makes it an uninspired choice these days. Still, it's arguably the best there is and PMDG's customer backup is spot on.Dream Fleet 727, a worthy follower to the classic DF 737-400. The 727 looks amazing, is a fun (if a bit of a handful) beast to fly but handles very nicely. Every approach I shot in the CS727 was unstable and downright scary, but DF's model you can plant right where you want it. I can't get enough of this bird.Captain Sim's 707 tackles most of the issues of the earlier 727 and is a great looking, good to fly aircraft. Give it a thought.I'd personally stay away from the RFP 747. I haven't got the latest version but I find the panel a bit average, with some lazy default FS gauges in evidence, and the VC isn't a patch on the latest around. The exterior model has a FS2002 look about it also. It's also pricey, and you have to pay extra for all the paints. If you're a fan of the queen of the skies, wait for the PMDG 747-400, which looks to be awesome.Also bear in mind the imminent LD 767, which if it's as good as it looks will be right up there with the very best.RD

With you on this RDRgsEd

Yes.

"I am new to the sim-community and bought the 737-900 ng from Ariane. Why doesn't anyone mention this airplane. I think the activation security system is way to complicated...but the aircraft seams to be well made."Amazes me that you would be new to the sim community, yet already invest money in what is arguably the most expensive aircraft add-on ever created. Something doesn't jive when people "brand new" come into the forum and drop the Ariane "bomb". -John

Yuu can't compare these planes directly. CS is a two year old product; PMDG models a highly automated glass cockpit; Dreamfleet models one of the great planes of the early jet-age, using all that FS2004 can deliver, but also challenging the pilot to both fly and navigate using, by today's standards, primitive avionics. Some, like me, find that challenge great fun. Others really like learning the systems of the morem modern plane. That is up to you - nobody else. The only one I would eliminate (I have them all) is the CS model. I don't like the way it hand flies. Inertia is poorly handled, and the plane doesn't go where you point it - something that the DF 727 does very well, as does the PMDG plane. Both DF and PMDG are outstanding hand fliers.You won't go wrong with the PMDG or the DF planes. The products are terrific, the support is great, and the people behind them are absolutely first rate. Colin

The following is my opinion only blah blah blah(1) RFP best total package ever; has "labor of love" written all over it.(2) DF727 is a pilot's airplane that is a joy to fly and won't put your eyes out with too-small instruments. I may come to love it as much as the RFP.(3) I can find no flaw with PMDG 737s. I'm just so over the whole glass cockpit thing :-)

>Amazes me that you would be new to the sim community, yet>already invest money in what is arguably the most expensive>aircraft add-on ever created. Something doesn't jive when>people "brand new" come into the forum and drop the Ariane>"bomb". >>-John.... especially when the original post is by someone called PAPATANGO ;)

>"I am new to the sim-community and bought the 737-900 ng from>Ariane. Why doesn't anyone mention this airplane. I think the>activation security system is way to complicated...but the>aircraft seams to be well made.">>Amazes me that you would be new to the sim community, yet>already invest money in what is arguably the most expensive>aircraft add-on ever created. Something doesn't jive when>people "brand new" come into the forum and drop the Ariane>"bomb". >>-Johni'm curious,i never read there's a ban on the Ariane product here,so if one desires to mention it,they are able to.aren't they?or is it expressly forbidden to name Ariane?tataJP.

No one's forbidden to mention it, but neither are we forbidden to question the way the name is used in some of these threads. Considering the way Ariane advertises and the vague origins of its ownership and management, I think it is legitimate to suspect the motives and the origin of some of the users who appear out of nowhere extolling the virtues of the Ariane product, especially the NG product. We're not talking "entry-level", novice simmer product here. And by the same token, I have the right to believe that Ariane has priced the product so high as to not consider them a viable competitor or worthy of consideration for the rank and file forum users. So I think it naive to not question the posts, unless one is so gung ho Ariane that they're defensive about any comment. I've gone through great lengths to avoid Ariane threads, but as long as I particpate in the forum I will question anything I wish--that is not forbidden.-JohnEdit: I should have also noted that the "your brain" remark to the post was a little bit closer to forbidding comment from an Ariane user.

>No one's forbidden to mention it, but neither are we>forbidden to question the way the name is used in some of>these threads. Considering the way Ariane advertises and the>vague origins of its ownership and management, I think it is>legitimate to suspect the motives and the origin of some of>the users who appear out of nowhere extolling the virtues of>the Ariane product, especially the NG product. We're not>talking "entry-level", novice simmer product here. And by the>same token, I have the right to believe that Ariane has priced>the product so high as to not consider them a viable>competitor or worthy of consideration for the rank and file>forum users. >>So I think it naive to not question the posts, unless one is>so gung ho Ariane that they're defensive about any comment. >I've gone through great lengths to avoid Ariane threads, but>as long as I particpate in the forum I will question anything>I wish--that is not forbidden.>>-John>>Edit: I should have also noted that the "your brain" remark>to the post was a little bit closer to forbidding comment from>an Ariane user. thanks John,a truly gentle answer ;)the "your brain" comment was meant as a joke,but since receiving some PM's about the subject i do believe it wasnot the best joke i ever made.i do not care for Ariane nor PMDG,and do own neither one,so i would not know what to say about it.thank you,JP.

"the "your brain" comment was meant as a joke"I've made a couple of jokes myself that have backfired. My pilot friends here like to kid me that I "crashed and burned". What's worse, my wife is from Latin America. Our first years were almost a disaster when one of us would joke with the other. But I swear delivering a good joke is a million times worse in the forums.-John

>vague origins of its ownership and management, I think it is>legitimate to suspect the motives and the origin of some of>the users who appear out of nowhere extolling the virtues of>the Ariane product, especially the NG product. And one might add such popping out of nowhere users usually show total number of posts below 3. What does it tell you, ha? It is elementary Watson ;-) ;-)Michael J.WinXP-Home SP2,AMD64 3500+,Abit AV8,Radeon X800Pro,36GB Raptor,1GB PC3200,Audigy 2

well,i certainly crashed and burned myself then :-lolmy wife is from a different region,and she speaks their language,which also accounts for hilarious and/or bad situations..cheersJP.

G`day guysWhoever mentioned the Tinmouse project 732 - good on ya! Its freeware, and a work in progress, but the work so far is superb. You can team it with the choice of Erick Cantu`s 732 models and it comes with sound too. The gauges are also open-source..http://tinmouse.org - I think they must be suffering from a bandwidth limit because the site says "We`re closed" at the moment but keep checking if your interested. CheersRottenlungs