Interesting review and comments. I agree with it except I don't think it was that big a deal that it needeed a patch. CS did pretty well with this one after losing it over the payment fiasco. But hey, they were expecting a bunch of cash to pay bills and suddenly there wasn't any. It must have been a tense moment. But with the forums open, a great release of the C130, and an update of the 707 and 727 coming, they have sure made me come to think that maybe the company can become as good as their products. It would be an awesome combination. billg

Yeah I agree, it's like they are knocked (What I don't like about) for patching which is pretty standard for software....[h4]Randy J. Smith[/h4]AMD 64 4000+|ASUS K8V DELUXE|SAPPHIRE ATI X800XT PE|MUNCHKIN 3200|80 gig SATA|DELL 1905FP 19" LCD|TRACKir PRO|PFC JEPPESEN MOONEY YOKE|CH PRO PEDALS|

I feel most reviewers take awarding 5 stars to a little lightly. 5 means PERFECT. Cannot be improved,perfection,as good as it gets ectYet I always see a 5 star rating go along with a paragraph worth of issues or could have been betters.I also feel most of us do not really pay much attention to the rating anyway but more concerned about the review as a whole and even more important, what poeple are saying in the forums.And if it matters, I give the c-130 a 4. Still has a few problems.And if adjusted for CS initially abandoning me and putting me through all that crap, a 3.

The CS C-130 has become nearly perfect after the SP1. I can't find anything that reduces my enjoyment of the package significantly! One of my best add-ons for FS2004... definitely yes!BTW, there's another good review out there:http://www.fsstation.com/reviews/legendaryc130.html

>> Yeah I agree, it's like they are knocked (What I don't like>about) for patching which is pretty standard for software....>Yes, even Microsoft patches Windows every week. The C-130 is great and deserves 5 stars IMHO. It is at par with PMDG747 and LDS767, for me even better. I think that 4,5 is unfair. It's great I have the Herk and can make up my own impression about it. Wish you the same :)

I'll say it again: the reason for the recent turnaround at Captain Sim is because non-a really excited user posters here on this forum beat up on them every day. Eventually, they realized that they would put their entire company in jeopardy by ignoring THE ONES WHO PAY CAPTAIN SIM'S BILLS - us, the consumers. Plus, the paypal fiasco probably gave them a good reality check. As a result of this, we got the following:1) A relatively quickly patched C 1302) A reopened forum3) A promised patch for the 7274) A promised patch for the 707Pretty decent return, I'd say.ricardo

I think the 2 part review was a little questionable by the author. So basically you can talk about the "great" product in part 1 without mentioning the problems and say you will do a 2nd part. How convenient to ignore the problems and not give them a bad rating but wait until they release a patch. Way to add to the salesSo basically CS does what other addon companies are expected to do, and we are supposed to kiss their feet? I purchased the hercules but haven't had a chance to fly it yet, but think this complaining of people bashing a company who screwed them with both the 727 and the 707 is ridiculous.Anyway the attemps to never give CS a bad rap by some reviewers and people has come out in full force. Fix the 707 then the 727 and then we can talk about PMDG type quality. Until then, they rushed a patch together because of the complainers knowing they wouldn't be able to sell a product again if they didn't do something about the hercules after its release.

I think CS seriously messed up with their handling of recent events, but the abusive, offensive or agressive comments that some people insist on making are the reason why developers close or moderate forums more than the reason they open them.I think - no, I will state as an absolute fact - that most of the people you call "a really excited user" were trying to solve the problem rather than exacerbate it. I will also state as an absolute fact that if more people did that, 99% of the problems in this hobby would be solved a heck of a lot more easily. I don't see it happening, though. It's too easy to hide behind the internet, when there's no real risk of the Police being called when someone threatens or abuses someone else. Unfortunately a small minority of both customers and developers are guilty of this.I don't own the CS707. I don't own it because to be frank, I never got a good report on it from anyone who I don't suspect was under pressure to do so (by advertising revenue, primarily). The 727, on the other hand, got good reports after the initial patches for FS2002 so I got the boxed version and don't feel "ripped off" at all. It's an FS2002 product that was patched to FS2004 and will always come out unfavourably when compared to the vastly newer Dreamfleet offering. While it'll take something special from CS to get the 727 up to the new standard set by the DF model, though, it doesn't make the 727 a bad aircraft for the time it was produced. It has problems. So do a lot of other commercial products, which receive a lot less abuse for far more serious problems.It is my opinion that CS's "about turn" was more about needing to get income flowing again than about responding to shouts and screams about how criminal they are for not having a forum. I hope, however, for the sake of the hobby, that they keep going the way they are.On the original topic, I have read both parts of the review and don't see any massive "conspiracy" to help generate money for CS or "bash" them either. I think it was intended only to inform people what the model they will be buying - that's the patched one now - is like.I won't comment on the number of stars it should or shouldn't have got. I made my feelings about that system well known to Tom and Maury a long time ago and I still ignore the number of stars when reading reviews now... :-hahCheers folks,Ian P.

they closed their forums down because of all the bug reports that they were ignoring. People have a right to be angry when a company accuses and refuses to listen and acknowledge problems with software people paid for.

Yes, I agree. Angry does not necessarily have to mean abusive, though.If someone abuses a member of staff in a shop or public location, no matter how angry they are, the Police or security staff will almost always be called. When this has happened in the past at places I have worked and/or been visiting, the abusive person has been removed and often threatened with arrest if they do not calm down and deal with the problem in a sensible way.You don't have that option online and a small minority of people - I was including Captain Sim's past threats when I mentioned developers above - use that to their advantage. Whichever "side" does it, it always hinders rather than helps the situation. That is a fact, not conjecture. Captain Sim seriously hurt their cause by closing their forums, the people who were bellyaching on it rather than working to solve the problems did nothing whatsoever to help theirs by being the reason CS closed their forums. Is the 707 usable yet? By all the realistic evidence I've seen so far, it isn't.I object strongly to being called names, or e-mailed with abuse and threats, because I want a situation resolved rather than to just to shout or rant about it. I don't think that gives me the right to call names or be abusive back, nor do I think it would help in the slightest if I do so.Anyway. I don't think this thread - or forum - is really the right place for this discussion so I am ending my part in it here. I would ask you to reply to me personally via PM or e-mail if you want to discuss this further.Cheers,Ian P.

The CS C130 should be rated 5 stars without a doubt! They did a fantastic job especially with the patch. There are a very few minor issues left and most of them are listed on their forum. I feel sure they will address needed fixes. (the aircraft is so good I even hate to mention this). I think they did a really great job of turning around their customer service problems and they deserve to be praised for the improvements. I rate the CS C-130 in the top 1% of FS9 aircraft.

So far I haven't tried the patched version, as I got a chargeback on my Card against PP over it, and the money is back in my account. As soon as I can I will re-purchase the C130 but don't think it would be fair of me to use the aircraft until then.I'm thinking of holding fire until the JustFlight boxed version comes out as it has some extra features I'm looking forward to.