FSX-MS BlackBox Simulation- Airbus A330/40

[MindYerBeak 73]

 

 

I have just purchased the BB A330 and to be honest I am not impressed with this add-on.

 

I wonder if it'd be possible to use the FDE  Rob Young did for the wilco airbus a330  while we wait for bbs to update their buses. Itd be great

[HighTowers 1,439]

The good news is.... Aerosoft announced their own A330 a while back. This has now put pressure on BBS to deliver a much better product. Thier new update (0.85) is supposed to be coming in the next weeks, and it looks alot better and I would assume they are working harder now because of the Aerosoft announcement.

 

Dont you love competition.

[qqwertz 811]

The good news is.... Aerosoft announced their own A330 a while back. This has now put pressure on BBS to deliver a much better product.

Just to remind you: when Aerosoft was about to release their A320, BBS essentially abandoned their product and worked on the A330/A340 instead.

 

Peter

[MindYerBeak 73]

Thier new update (0.85) is supposed to be coming in the next weeks,

 

It  was also supposed to be coming in the next weeks back in November.

[HighTowers 1,439]

Just to remind you: when Aerosoft was about to release their A320, BBS essentially abandoned their product and worked on the A330/A340 instead.

 

Peter

Well thats not good news. But I was under the impression they were trying to develop both at same time since the similar systems. The updates alternate between the two.

 

It  was also supposed to be coming in the next weeks back in November.

 

True that! Apparently all the code changes in P3D 3.2 set them back. Hope its soon. Would like to get some use out of it.

 

[qqwertz 811]

But I was under the impression they were trying to develop both at same time since the similar systems

Well, that's what they say. I bought the BBS A320 in 2012 (version 0.55 I think) and switched to Aerosoft in 2014 around version 0.75 or 0.8 (and I liked version 0.55 much better). Slow progress can happen, but what disappointed me was that they pushed the other planes instead.

 

Peter

[Scarp 20]

That's just silly talk, there was a update in may or the month before. Claiming they've dropped development in favour of another product is just plain misinformation. If you dont care or like the plane it's up to you, but it's never clever to shoot your mouth off on thing's you obviously aren't aware of.

As far as I gather they are cross developing between the small and big busses, and the updates are carried over from one to the other each time. Apparently because the developent of the MCDU logic is the same. Last update for the 320 had a updated VC too, although not as developed as the comming bigbus update. But I recon that the system upgrade as well as a equally improved VC will carry over to the 320 once the 330/340 is out the door.  

[qqwertz 811]

Claiming they've dropped development in favour of another product is just plain misinformation. If you dont care or like the plane it's up to you, but it's never clever to shoot your mouth off on thing's you obviously aren't aware of.

Thanks for the friendly response. As I said, I bought the BBS A320 in 2012 with high hopes when it was v 0.55 or 0.6. That wasn't perfect but I enjoyed it. I think from 0.65 on the autopilot started to play tricks on me, and it never got better until the last version that I tried, which was 0.8. Now, four years later, they are at 0.85.

 

These are facts, not misinformation. Look at the timeline: from 0.6 to 0.85 in about 3 years, while during the same time they released two new planes. I think the description that they "essentially abandoned" the A320 is in line with this observation.

 

Good for you if you enjoy the BBS A320.

 

Peter

[Scarp 20]

Well there's enough negatives to point at, I dont disagree with that. But there's no point in making assumptions and state them as facts, that's all. As a actual matter of fact, you could have saved yourself from this if you had your fact's in order in the first place 

 

On a more ligh hearted note, I bought the plane when it wasn't even released. Had a heated email exchange with the developer over that way back when, because from the advertisement you would've believe it was. They later changed that and renamed it (if my memory serves me correct), but that's all water under the fridge now.

And I totally agree that thing's move rather slowly and that there's been build's that broke the whole plane where you had to wait for month's until the next update. Their customer support I won't even touch, and their insistance on dealing with customers over FB is the most *bleep* thing ever, IMHO.

 

Having said that, the newest A320 isn't bad, the VC still look's pretty much the same despite the update. But handling has improved, but they've still not implemented managed decent. And the lack of managed decent is a dealbreaker for me personaly, and only because of that I don't fly it as often.

 

I think they frown upon us calling it a beta, but that's what it is and that's how I look upon the project. And I'm fine with it. In terms of long time development, it's not unusual for complex aircraft, just look at the FSLabs, they started around the same time, and I have no knowledge of their resources or how many people work on it, but it's not released yet. It will be in my hangar when it does tho.

But with BBS we do know they're just 2 individuals who work on it, and compared with other similar developers they seem to be on track in terms of time spendt. Just remember the quality bar (in general) is pushed upwards with each year, even new sim's have appeared.  

 

My personal view is that on the bright side of being a paid-tester, we've been able to see and fly the different beta's instead of just hanging on a forum asking questions for years, like other developers. Pluss we got a new model as well in addition to all the different versions of the A318's, 319's and 320's when they introduced the A321. On the negative side the feedback loop is rather botched between the dev and customer at times, unless you use FB. And most times serious bug's have only been addressed after month's of waiting in the past. They've improved on that last part somewhat with the latest builds though by issuing fixes shortly after releasing the main builds. So again, I look at it as beta/early access, and I have no doubt's that the end product will be good. I just hope I live long enough to see the end 

[DavidP 1,426]

 

 

It was also supposed to be coming in the next weeks back in November.

 

A month ago FSL was almost ready to send of RC1 of only a very few. Since then, no more information, with talk of possible release censored in  the forums - the difference?

[MindYerBeak 73]

 

 

A month ago FSL was almost ready to send of RC1 of only a very few. Since then, no more information, with talk of possible release censored in  the forums - the difference?

 

Big difference imo. To be almost ready  could mean anything .A month or two whatever. BBS are famous for saying  *we will release* in 2 weeks (or 3 o 4) and then disappear.

[qqwertz 811]

Hi Scarp,

 

I was quite happy with 0.55, not thrilled that things went downhill from there, and not amused when they released the A330. When they announced the A340 I pulled the plug and went to the competition. I understand their business decision and it is their right to do that, but I decided not to buy their products anymore. I understand that their small team puts them at a disadvantage and I have no hard feelings. However, I am not interested in their products anymore. I wrote my posts because someone was asking about experiences.

 

Peter

[Azman2010 0]

Does anyone else have problems with the ILS on the BB A330. The a/c est the LOC, when the G/S is activated, the a/c starts to descend and then overshoots the runway, the QNH is all correct too.

[Scarp 20]

If you do everything correcty it could be that the ILS/AFCAD is not aligned with the scenery correctly. Have you tried on other airports?

Here's how you land a airbus with autoland: when the PFD displays the ILS, press the ILS button. Then press LOC. When the localizer/glideslope indic starts to move, select APPR and the second AP (that last step should arm the autoland function, should automatically engage around 400 ft).

[Azman2010 0]

If you do everything correcty it could be that the ILS/AFCAD is not aligned with the scenery correctly. Have you tried on other airports?

 

Here's how you land a airbus with autoland: when the PFD displays the ILS, press the ILS button. Then press LOC. When the localizer/glideslope indic starts to move, select APPR and the second AP (that last step should arm the autoland function, should automatically engage around 400 ft).

 

Thanks Scarp, thats what i do. Even at Gatwick with the UK 2000 scenery it flys over the airport lol...