FSX-MS MS' choice of default aircraft

[avgaskoolaid 292]

I'm wondering why Aces and MS chose the default aircraft that they did, specifically FSX's Did it have to do with which aircraft would allow them to? Or was it the opposite, did developers pay to have their aircraft featured? Also, if the software is an 'Officially Licensed' Boeing product, and they have had almost exclusively Boeings as their default airliners before (except for the Condorde in 2000), why did they include the A321 in FSX?

[Bjoern 1,153]

Interesting question.

 

My guess is that ACES simply took the most popular examples for aircraft of certain categories and implemented them so that beginner pilots have at least some recognition value. One might argue now that FSX should have retained the Concorde and used a different military jet than the F-18, but the former is now a museum piece and the latter is versatile enough and has been exported to a few countries.

 

The Airbus might be there to increase the appeal to european customers and to demonstrate the "FBW" code implemented into FSX. The former reason might also explain the presence of the CRJ for canadian users.

By that logic there should also be an Embraer and Tupolev or Antonov in the base package, but I guess that ACES simply wasn't willing to spend the time to create aircraft that looked too similar to the ones already present (ERJ -> CRJ, E-Jets -> 737, Tu-204 -> A321) or ran into licensing barriers with the manufacturers, or, in the case of the An-124 or 225, simply didn't think that they would be too unknown for Average Joe/Jane (Jr.).

[n4gix 4,947]

The decision to make the "default aircraft" in FSX was fundamentally a stupid choice. The default C172 on the ramp is a much better choice, as at least this aircraft has all of the basic systems required by any other aircraft.

[Avantime 81]

I have no idea why Aces wanted a trike in mid air as the default flight. I have to make another default flight with the C172 just so that I can have a cold & dark default state.

 

I must say I kind of missed the old Chicago Meigs airport.

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

I must say I kind of missed the old Chicago Meigs airport.

 

Which is why some of us have re-installed it.. B)

[avgaskoolaid 292]

The decision to make the "default aircraft" in FSX was fundamentally a stupid choice. The default C172 on the ramp is a much better choice, as at least this aircraft has all of the basic systems required by any other aircraft.

Why's that? I guess for FS enthusiasts they are a waste of space, but many of the people who buy FSX have no idea that it has such a strong community, let alone that you can download/install other aircraft. 

[Mean Aerodynamic Chord 269]

 

I must say I kind of missed the old Chicago Meigs airport.

Check out this interesting documentary about it: 

[Taildragger 2]

I have no idea why Aces wanted a trike in mid air as the default flight.

Recall that when FSX came out, very few PCs had the horsepower to give decent performance. My guess is MS decided the trike, being the least demanding default aircraft, would give the most favorable first impression to users. And in-flight in a remote area had better frame rates than a major airport.

 

John

[Bjoern 1,153]

Or, you know, just give absolute bloody beginners a taste of flight in the simplest aircraft possible. There's not much to worry about in a virtual ultralight instead of speed and altitude.

[Wobbie 938]

When FSX first came out, it was marketed in different world regions, & each region had their different default flight.

English version - Ultralight = Explore Friday Harbor and the San Juan islands in Washington State.
French version - Ultralight = Visit Mont Saint Michel near Pleurtuit-Saint Malo Airport in France.
German version - C-172 = Fly over Germany near Frankfurt/Main airport.
Italian version - C-172 = Fly along the coast of Italy near Reggio Calabria Airport.
Japanese version - C-172 = See the sights near Mt Fuji.
Polish version - C-172 = Tour the north coast near Lecha Walesy Airport.
Spanish version - C-172 = Discover the Spanish coast near Barcelona's El Prat Airport.

They are kept in the folder \Flights\Other - and one will be copied and renamed FLTSIM.FLT

 

Right-click ANY .flt file and "open with" FSX to immediatly go to that flight - this includes the regional defaults in the Flights\Other folders.
If you then save it immediately with a name of your choice, you'll have an accessible version in the normal "my documents\Flight Simulator X" folder. Whether you make it the "default" flight or not, is up to you.

As long as those files exist - deleting the situation section of the fsx.cfg file will cause FS to reset to the original default flight, provided you have not deleted the ultralight or the C-172 or change the title= line for the red ultralight or Paint 2 of the C-172.

[Bjoern 1,153]

German version - C-172 = Fly over Germany near Frankfurt/Main airport.

The default flight in that one was the Trike over Friday Harbor (at least in Professional).

[simmerhead 885]

Microsoft obviously had a close relationship to Boeing - both companies being Washington flagships, so some of the default aircraft aren't that surprising. Also, many of the files used can be traced back to FS2002, so they obviously did it out of convenience. The King Air and Baron aren't much different from their FS9 versions.