For those who fly the Aerosoft Airbus Extended, would it be suitable for a newbie to airline flying like myself? I fly mostly twin props with my homebuild cockpit and have all the instruments I need. I do like to fly a Project Airbus with add on sounds a lot too, but I import the flight plan via FSX and let the autopilot follow the route after ATC vector me away from the airport. ATC direct me onto the ILS final, too.

 

I like buttons to press on startup though! Will the Aerosoft airbus allow me to use FSX flight plans, but give me more systems to enable and disable by following checklists? It may sound bizarre to some of you, but I don’t want to interact with the FMC much, since I try to use my cockpit set up for flying as much as possible, and only have the VC open at startup and shutdown. Given this … I need to know if the Airbus Extended is at all compatible with Saitek panels …

 

Hope you can help! 

Not sure about the Extended, I have it, but it's not been installed for quite a long time.  But I can tell you about the newer Aerosoft A320/A321 (also has the A318/A319 available).

 

It's not compatible with Saitek Panels, except the Radio Panel.  There are no SPAD drivers, but it's rumored that SPAD may make some in the future.

 

You can't import a Default FSX flight plan into any third party airliner which uses an Flight Management System, however you can use SimBrief (free) to export a plan that will work just fine in the A320.

 

The A320 is an Intermediate Level sim. You've already been flying Basic sims, so ti's the next step.  You'll have to do some reading to really enjoy the aircraft, but I went through it all pretty quickly when I started helping with the aircraft, and you likely won't suffer from a Boeing handicap as I had to overcome.

 

You'll need to use the VC, not only because of the Saitek panel non-compatibility, but because you'll need to access other panels as well.

 

If you want to just fly around, then I'd recommend staying with what you have. If you're thinking about the next step... come on!  It's TERRIFIC!

 

Hope this answers your question.

If u like to click here and there then in my opinion A320 is not for you.

If additionally u are not a fan of FMC then only choice for u is to take some older liners like Flight1 Super80.

No FMC and a lot of "clicking".

Frankly, those older liners are much more enjoyable than modern ones.

 

There are also other planes from that era, but with lower depth and accuracy of system modelling ( Captain Sim for example ) 

OK thank you for your replies, they have been very useful. I may have to pass then, my cockpit is fully functioning for a twin prop, but has no fmc so Id have to operate through the VC and I try to stick with the 2D forward view.