Abacus "Fly the Airbus 380" would first purchasers plz ...

[AWACS 12]

Thanks Jeroen! This is all pretty interesting to me, not that freeware authors are being taken advantage of, but that there are more than a few shady figures in this community. This is important stuff and people should be more open about some of the more notable events that have occured in the past, it's suprising that only you and Doug have said anything to me about it when I asked, considering that some of these things could be considered beneficial to know more about.Jeff

[Guest ohioguy]

I'm sorry Tom, but it seems like you're protecting certain FS companies that support AVSIM. I'll bet that you would have a different opinion if you were just a FS fan. I understand though. It's your business.Not trying to flame.....really.

[Guest vas_yan]

Ok everyone, calm down, now that the NDA has been lifted I can tell you that I have flown the real A380 in secret test flights in the French Guyane. We had to take off and land from a 2000 foot dirt strip somewhere in the jungle, so no FLEX takeoffs, but apart from that no problems. From the pictures I would be willing to believe that this new product comes within 1% of the real deal (particularly in terms of systems modelling and flight dynamics) but I fear that it will fail to simulate one significant aspect; the german sheppard dog installed in the cockpit, trained to bark at pilots whenever their hands come close to a button or switch...Ferdy and Ferd Berful are not the same person. At least I hope not, because that would tarnish the image of one of my flight simulation heroes...Ferd Berful that is.By the weight, who is Ponderosa?

[Guest Debosonic]

I have just purchased the DF 727 and WOW!!This is what is all about..gents. I sometimes wonder why companies like perfect flight, Abacus even bother, I mean it's ridiculous. Look at those a380 abacus screenshots. Duhh!Hey but don't worry, Wilco are making an a380- now that is worth looking at.

[MarkRey 16]

When I read a headline at Avsim, and somebody correct me if I'm wrong but the product description is usually a direct quote no? - I go check the product out- then decide if it's worth anything to ME.If I think it's hooey how is Avsim to blame? Thanks but my eyes work well enough to judge the product myself.And even then is it a 'criminal offence' now to dare to sell anything lower than the bar set by LDS, PMDG or even freeware authors?regards,Mark3.2HT/1GIG/X700pro256

[W2DR 1,859]

I see Jeroen has explained Ferdy - if Ferdy can be explained at all - what a loser :-). Sure, I remember MicroWings, but to be honest I hadn't thought about that site in years. If I remember correctly, Robert MacKay, started Microwings back in 1993 or 1994. They were bought by PC Aviator a few years ago, 2002 I think. I probably first ran across the MicroWings site in 1995 when we finally got a reliable internet connection. The annual MicroWings conferences were quite the thing 10 years ago. Sort of what the AVSIM conferences have to offer now. Man, all this stuff makes me feel old....I saw a Level-D survey the other day about who you are, how old, etc. I flew my first Cessna solo before most all of the folks who replied were even born. Man, all this stuff makes me feel old....But it's nice to be reminded of the "old" days of simming. My kids got me into it with FS2 on an AppleII over 20 years ago. Man, all this stuff makes me feel old...:-).Doug

[Paul Golding 92]

>I have just purchased the DF 727 and WOW!!Now that's the kind of reaction we like :-)Thanks.http://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...BANNER_PAUL.jpg

[SQUAWKIDENT 3]

And here we go again.The usual suspects making ill-informed comments about a product they dont even own.Read the original post. If you own the product - post your thoughts. If you dont own the product how about going back to trying to find the serial number on your "photorealistic" 727 panel and save some bandwidth for the rest of us:DAdam

[Mike T 208]

Dillon:"1. You mentioned published specs, I'd like you to show me where they are. How can there be specs on an aircraft that hasn't had its first test flight??? :-hmmm"The A380 like the 777 was modeled almost entirely on supercomputers. To accomplish this an Aeronautical Engineer has to put in variables for every part of the aircraft facing the airflow. Every antenna, bolt, airfoil, GPS blister, engine nacelle, fan blade, etc becomes a mathematical variable. Add weight and mass to the variables and model the respective airflows on all of these thousands of points and you have an almost EXACT rendition of what it will do in the real world. The engineers ALREADY KNOW how the A380 will fly. The test pilots ALREADY KNOW how the A380 will fly (especially since they have a Level D simulator already built). ALL BEFORE THE FIRST TEST FLIGHT. Are you assuming that they just build it, take off and hope for the best? :-roll"2. Airlines purchasing this aircraft are subject to change. All liveries sold with this package are pure fantasy at this point. Orders can be cancelled depending on the Airline in question

[Guest GOP]

[John_Cillis 2,406]

Interesting post Mike, although one pet peeve of mine is post headings which single out a forum member.Considering MSFS's FDE modelling, I think you are right that given the general specs of the A380, you can get things pretty close within the limits of MSFS. But I don't think for a second that any current payware vendor did the hours of research needed to accurately model the panels and systems aboard an A380. Nor do I believe they poured over photographs and complex 3-views to nail the visuals.That doesn't mean there isn't value to someone who wants to enjoy flight in the A380, but the bottom line is these projects are rushed to exploit a more casual market and should be accepted for what they are. I don't think there's anything wrong with making a buck, but I think it's a huge stretch to think any A38x project sold today is done so for the serious simmer, or in the same league as PMDG, or Dreamfleet, Flight1, etc.... -John

[Mike T 208]

John:You are correct, I was singling out a single forum member! :-) But Dillon is a cool guy and I think he will understand :-)Well, I agree with you. BUT, at the end of the day, are ANY MSFS aircraft THAT spot on and for use other than entertainment? Yeah, I know, all developers now-a-days trumpet the coveted "tested by real (fill in the blank) pilots", and I am sure that is true. Still, even IF the aircraft flies by the numbers an aircraft "feels" different on the rollout flight than it does after 10,000 take offs and landings (especially a few of MY landings :-lol). Additionally, since we don't have control forces on our yokes and rudder pedals or 300 tons of aircraft behind us, which greatly change the flight experience because we have no inertia or other forces, we all are just going by: 1. what we are told, 2. what we perceive to be correct, 3. flight manualsFor me, I take this ALL with a grain of salt. As long as it is not egregiously erronious (i.e. default rocket-like aircraft) its a good attempt. HOWEVER, I agree with you...I doubt that PF took the time to attempt a reasonable flight model much less model FBW which means simply that the PF offering has very little merit from an observer's standpoint.Regards,Mike T.

[Dillon 2,197]

O.K. Mike, I have to admit your making some good points here... :-roll One thing is for sure I know developers like PF, Abacus, and Wilco aren't going to go to Airbus for the official specs on the A380. Wilco may get some official information as their screenshots look of a model that has been somewhat more thought out (I don't see any of these guys doing the work it takes to model the unique Avionics setup this new bird will have. Think of how much work Eaglesoft is putting in on the Cirrus project. Custom gauges take work which is not something I'm seeing in these various screenshots). PF and Abacus in my view are offering Freeware quality products for money which can be viewed by some as wrong but if people are buying who can talk. If some don't mind spending money and in turn are enjoying these products then so be it. Like you guys have said, some people really like the default birds (I actually love the vintage FS2k4 aircraft). I don't believe any of theses developers have spent the money and time in researching the vital information on the A380 that's needed outside of looking at a few pics on the 'Airliners.net' and watching the discovery channel.I have to agree that you could be right; the information on the A380 is out there on a need to know bases but what FS developer is going to get that kind of clearance??? Surely not the group I've mentioned above...Thanks for the informative post Mike, like I said you raise some valid points...:-)

[Mike T 208]

So at the end of the day, we ARE in agreement :-lol. Jeeze, I coulda saved my self all that typing on the original post! :-lolRegards,Mike T.