Hey compared to this the PMDG 744 is actually a big achievement! ;-)Take a look:http://abacuspub.com/airbus/I mean what the heck is an A350-800? Is it the future A330 that Airbus was thinking of or is it just a humiliating typo and it should be an A380-800...And just take a look at that cockpit - sheesh. The default aircraft look better than that (and the abacus guys used default gauges)I wouldn't even download it if it were freeware let alone pay $30 for it!!Cheers,Adrian

Adrian,While i agree that the cockpit is not really up to todays standards, There is a A350 on the drawingboard - Abacus is just a little ahead of time - hence their "acording to spec" for that type.

the PMDG 744 is actually a big achievement, period.

I looked at it as well this morning when I saw the announcement here on Avsim. I have been wanting to add another Airbus to my hangar for quite some time, but this isn't it. :-(However, I am sure it'll please the "plug in and fly" pilots. $29 for 6 planes is not bad at all, but it somehow looks even worse than Aerosoft's "Holiday Destinations", which attempted at least a hint of realism.The package appears to have a cabin, which is nice, but the 2D and VC looks just bad with the default FS gauges and doesn't look anything like a Bus.*sigh*

No this is not the biggest rip off. The recent release of that A300-600 package is.Jason

>Hey compared to this the PMDG 744 is actually a big>achievement! ;-)>>Take a look:>>http://abacuspub.com/airbus/>>I mean what the heck is an A350-800? Is it the future A330>that Airbus was thinking of or is it just a humiliating typo>and it should be an A380-800...>>And just take a look at that cockpit - sheesh. The default>aircraft look better than that (and the abacus guys used>default gauges)>>I wouldn't even download it if it were freeware let alone pay>$30 for it!!>>Cheers,>>AdrianYou would be paying $5 for each aircraft which isnt bad. I consider of all the payware add-ons I have purchased, Abacus to be an entry level persons add-on. This isnt necessarily a bad thing, but there are a lot of people that dont want to drop $40 to $60 for one aircraft.I personally dont own any Abacus aircraft, but I dont think $5 each (what it boils down to) is that bad of a deal. There are also some great freeware addons of most of the same aircraft that are available, so it becomes personal choice. Same can be said for the PMDG 744. Why spend $60 roughly for an addon when you can get a freeware POSKY or MelJet 747? I have all PMDG aircraft, and love each one of them, but I bought PMDGs because of the realism factor and beautiful modelling, but they come with a hefty price. I will never call someone's offering a "rip off" just because it doesnt meet my likes, but their offering is an addition to a very limited number of Airbus aircraft out there in a market already saturated with Boeings.

I can't believe Abacus is charging for that garbage. I'f I'm paying for JUST an aircraft/panel/ etc (not the simulator itself), I want the best. Abacus panels look like a panel I would have made and I have never ever touched panel design....worse then stock FS panels. Those panels look like they were designed for fs98.Granted I can't really even tell about the visual models, but half the package isn't worth 29.95 even if the planes themselves look great.Just my opinion, flame away.-Steve

The fact that anybody makes anything is an achievment IMHO If you don't like it ..just leave it.I must admit the package is certainly not up my street but if you could do better then please do :)

regardsEd

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"The fact that anybody makes anything is an achievment IMHO If you don't like it ..just leave it.I must admit the package is certainly not up my street but if you could do better then please do"Requiring people to be aircraft designers to make comments on payware is rather unfair. He isn't making an observation about freeware, and while a purchase of this product may be completely reasonable, users need to know that the package isn't up to the same standard as many other payware offerings--or up to the same attention to detail.One example--why include a virtual cabin if you aren't going to try to get the windows right? The A320 has rather oval windows (I hate 'em, they're too small when I'm flying in an A319 or A320). The screenshot of the A320 Cabin shows windows rather crudly cut, squarish, certainly not the shape of an A320 window. This airliners.net link serves as an example of the real thing:http://www.airliners.net/open.file/799683/M/ I'm not here to pick apart the project, but I will always subscribe to the belief that payware should be better at matching reality vs. freeware. Anyone is welcome to comment on it in these forums, and no prior development experience is required. If they are unfair in their observations, they will certainly know about it. For someone who expects payware to be better, they may perceive these packages to be ripoffs, although in my opinion I do feel the thread's author was too strong using that term. It's better to say that a project may not be a fit for everyone than to suggest it's simply a rip off. As already pointed out, Abacus targets a different user than the "Does it have an FMS and every rivet hole?" crowd.-John

Folks, let's put this in perspective, shall we?There are essentially three "tiers" in the Addon Marketplace:1 Real Pilots2 Enthusiasts3 GamersOf those three groups, the latter are by far the largest segment. While actual statistics are difficult to ascertain, I don't believe that a "guesstimate" of around 95% is all that unrealistic.Given that Abacus's "mission" is to provide "Entertainment Quality" packages to the mass market via world-wide retail distribution, and have been doing so since 1995 (Abacus itself has been around since 1978), I should think that both their "mission" and "business model" have proven themselves successful.Consider that whenever someone buys a copy of FSXXXX at the retail store, quite often they'll find Abacus' product on the shelf as well. Being 'newbies,' they will frequently buy one or more of Abacus' CD packages at the same time.I'm am quite positive that Arnie Lee (the owner of Abacus) could care less about "tier #1 or tier #2" folks' opinions of Abacus' products, and is laughing all the way to the bank... ;)Keep in mind the economic principle of "economy of scale." It is far more profitable to sell millions of copies of a single release for a relatively tiny profit margin than it is to sell - at most - ~3,000 copies of a project with a higher profit margin. ;)

Airbus has in fact announced that they're working on a new aircraft called the A350.It's to compete with the 787 and initial drawings released earlier this year seem to indicate it's based loosely on the A330.Of course no data exists at all at this time about the aircraft except those early artist impressions and extremely preliminary figures for planned range.

No.It's simple package for an entry level market.There will be more people buy, install and be happy with this package than will download any freeware Airbus aircraft, search for repaints, search for a workable freeware panel. (I still haven't found a good one for an A320 yet - any panel which needs fssound.dll is NOT an FS2004 panel).I actually think there might be a good market for mid-range aircraft. Quality models, good cockpits, but simple to fly. Anyone want to loan me startup money??Too many people who've been around FS for years forget how daunting and difficult the intial task of installing that first freeware, that first panel, that first repaint is to a newbie.Also the newer people don't have our experience of working with text files, comand lines, etc.They want an installer which is "Click, Click, Click" and it works.Everything I've ever seen from Abacus is flawless in that regard.

>However, I am sure it'll please the "plug in and fly" pilots.I guess I'm not a "real virtual pilot" :-roll But I wouldn't touch these just based on the models (and paint) alone.Cheers,Todd

five bucks a pop for an easily installed entry level Airbus package seems perfectly reasonable to me, 'level d' 'hard core' simmer that I am :)have lotsa fun all so inclined.regards,Markhttp://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a319/markrey/lsd2.jpgXPHomeSP2/FS9.1/3.2HT/1GIG/X700pro256

I'm amazed no-one has mentioned those awful repaints.It doesn't even fit! Hence all the lines around the aircraft.Shocking stuff.