Since this thread is a bunch of wishful thinking, I will side with those who wish for a PMDG MD-80.  I don't know what I would do with myself if that happened.  While there are a few MD-80's on the market, none really put it all together.  I know the probability of a PMDG MD-80 is tiny to say the least, it would get my vote anyways.

 

Here a little MD-80 motivation

http://youtu.be/7R0CViDUBFs

I second the MD-80, but if they do the 767 or the 75, man that would be really awesome. I guess I'm just getting tired a bit from all the automation the new aircrafts have.

Don't get me wrong, I would absolutely love a PMDG quality 75/67 and wouldn't complain one bit if they decided to go ahead and do it.  There are many planes that I would like to see done in over the top quality, but if I had to pick one and one alone, it would be the MD-80, something about that plane...  

I'm hoping for a 787... But you know, I don't think it will happen. It's going to be a DC-3/6 and the 747V2 from everything we've seen and heard... Dreaming, Hoping and Praying for a 787 though :(

A 787 would be great but it's a very complex aircraft. Is enough known about it in detail to produce a PMDG quality sim? All PMDG products have been of mature aircraft types.

 

One thing that strikes me is that just about everyone would be pleased if the secret project turned out to be a 757 and/or 767. It reminds me of when there was a clamour for a 777. It would fit nicely with existing modules from the NGX, 777 and 747v2. Finally the market is potentially enormous. It wouldn't be my first choice but I'd certainly buy it.

 

Added to that, there would be the surprise factor of revealing something so often previously denied.

Come to think about it... Do we know for sure a new secret project actually exists? The last secret projects I remember were the DC-6 and the 747-400v2.

Of course, there's the X-Plane "secret project", but I'm not sure whether that really counts.

 

 

The last secret projects I remember were the DC-6 and the 747-400v2.

 

I don't think the 744v2 was one of the secret projects. I think one of the projects was the Operations Center. I can't remember all of the old posts, though, so I could be imagining things.

 

You're correct in that the X-Plane project has not been made public yet, so that could definitely be considered a "secret project" of sorts.

Always fun to speculate.  

 

I forget what they said about v2 of the NGX.  Is it happening? 

Always fun to speculate.  

 

I forget what they said about v2 of the NGX.  Is it happening? 

 

No version 2, just an update to come in the next day to decade.

Well, if we knew the secret project, would it be a secret project?

Completely respect those looking forward to an old DC as a more exciting challenge than FMS glass-cockpit jets. I wouldn't go for it oersonally, though a DC3 might tempt me (extraordinary aircraft).

 

Why not meet in the middle and make a 747-200? Man a PMDG 742 would be manna from heaven. If, however, they do a 767 like some have suggested, I shall be very pleased with that too. Just an enormous fan of PMDG all-round really.

No version 2, just an update to come in the next day to decade.

 

Only fact here is that they won't be touching to the NGX until they're done with the 744 AND all its service packs, that's at least 1+ year imo.

 

They have changed whats coming or what will be happening to the NGX several times already so why not wait and see?

 

I'm confident we will get a nice 737 from PMDG sooner rather than later

 

Derin Boz

My armchair speculation based on what I think would make sense for PMDG's business model is that we will see a regional jet, possibly one of the Embraer line. Next likeliest is the 787, then the 5/6 as distant third/fourth possibility.

 

Why an ERJ? These are popular but underrepresented in the sim world. PMDG are moving toward having professional licenses for training line pilots. Thus they need aircraft that newly minted pilots will come across in their career. They can corner the market for study sims among new pilots. For the same reason they will eventually do a 787. These will be boeing's staple aircraft for decades. It may take a few years but pmdg will do one eventually, sply to keep up with the distribution of boeing aircraft in the skies. Next, although there are still plenty of 5s and 6s flying today, their days are decidedly numbered. So as much as we can hope, it may not be worth it as a company to build a study sim for an aircraft that most budding pilots will never encounter.

 

 

Why an ERJ? These are popular but underrepresented in the sim world. PMDG are moving toward having professional licenses for training line pilots. Thus they need aircraft that newly minted pilots will come across in their career. They can corner the market for study sims among new pilots.

 

Except the regionals are too cheap to pay the pilots much of anything, so this presents two issues:

1. The regionals likely won't buy licenses for anyone, because, well, if they would, they'd probably also pay a little more; which leads to

2. The pilots really aren't paid enough (especially in the beginning) to justify paying for a study sim.

 

They usually don't have the time, either, unless they're on reserve, and they definitely don't have the money then. No offense to them, but that's like targeting college kids - it's not a rich market unless you're selling pizza or Natty Light (or ramen noodles).

 

I don't have any hard numbers to back any of that up, but that was just my surface analysis of it.

 

 

 

For the same reason they will eventually do a 787. These will be boeing's staple aircraft for decades. It may take a few years but pmdg will do one eventually, sply to keep up with the distribution of boeing aircraft in the skies. Next, although there are still plenty of 5s and 6s flying today, their days are decidedly numbered. So as much as we can hope, it may not be worth it as a company to build a study sim for an aircraft that most budding pilots will never encounter.

 

The 787 makes sense. I'm not sure the logic is sound on the latter part, though. The 72s stuck around beyond a decade after the cessation of production. The MD-11 just stopped seeing commercial service, but it'll still see heavy use in the cargo world for a while. I wouldn't exactly call the 75 and 76 days "numbered." I wouldn't even say they've peaked yet. They may be at a plateau, but they definitely aren't declining. As I mentioned (I think in this thread) they both have some of the highest numbers on FlightAware at the moment (outnumbering even the ERJs).  At this moment, there are 184 B763s up in the air, while E145s are at 114. The B752s are just below the number of B763s at 179 (dead even with the B744s at the moment). As I mentioned earlier, this isn't irrefutable evidence (I'm sure a case could be made that the type of day is somewhat cutting into the ERJ numbers), but it's somewhat indicative at the very least. They'll be here for quite some time. They're a mainstay with United, that's for sure.

 

...and let's be real:

United is putting up with the hassle of the logistical nightmare that their early-gen 75s are. Most people don't know this, but FMC hard drive space is actually pretty limited. UAL has to limit their 75s to certain areas of the globe because the hard drive can only take so much data. With the limited data, they're just limiting what airports, SIDs and STARs go in there, which limits where they can use the plane. Moreover, the early 75s don't have GPS - they're DME/DME/IRU. RNAV GPS approaches? Nope. Can't do it. (You might think that that can since most charts don't say "GPS REQUIRED" explicitly, but a lot of them do have a note that says "DME/DME RNP-0.3 NA," which basically rules out that approach for the poor old 75).

 

So, if UAL is still putting up with that logistical nightmare to keep the 75s around, I don't think they're too willing to part with them. Not yet at least.

 

That's also not mentioning FDX's replacement of its 72s with them, as well.

 

 

 

Just offering counterpoints.

You're correct in that the X-Plane project has not been made public yet, so that could definitely be considered a "secret project" of sorts.

My thought is the DC-6 is the X-Plane project. In some thread regarding the DC-6, I remember RR stated, "We're doing something different with this one". The DC-6 is my most highly anticipated release in a long time. So if it turns out to be X-Plane, I hope there's an FSX version as well. Now I'm getting way ahead of myself. No one really knows but fun to speculate I guess.

Best,

Brian