I am looking to buy a high quality payware version of the MD-80. ONly question: which one?I know there is the LAGO Maddog with the JCA exterior model (which I like), but without having studied in detail all the reviews and comments on the forum, this product seems to have some flaws/shortcomings. Which? Bad enough to recommend staying away from it?Or should I go for the FLight1/Cool Sky panel? How does it compare to the LAGO? WOuld it be mergeable with the JCA aircraft?Thanks for your input!Chris

Hi Chris,stay away from the LAGO ? Absolutely not, it is VERY enjoyable in V1.50 now. Checkout the review by former SAS MD80 captain Stellan Hilmerby :http://www.hilmerby.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=422I think the Flight1 MD80 has a very nice concept and atmosphere, but it was just released and is not ready yet (some very nasty Autopilot bugs and many other details need fixing).Besides that, the Lago Maddog is equipped with FMC, while the Flight1 MD80 has the older and much more simple PMS/ONS combination. Nice to have both, but to compare them directly has something of that famous apples and oranges comparison :)Mike

I go with the FLight1 MD80 and stay away from the Lago offering. Support from Lago is little to none and with FS10 hopefully out next year you don't need the hassle of a promised patch that may never come. You'll get more mileage out of the Flight1 offering...

The Flight1 version is a delight.There are a few bugs which a beta pre-christmas fix will address and a very friendly support forum.

>Hi Chris,>>stay away from the LAGO ? Absolutely not, it is VERY enjoyable>in V1.50 now. Checkout the review by former SAS MD80 captain>Stellan Hilmerby :>>http://www.hilmerby.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=422>>I think the Flight1 MD80 has a very nice concept and>atmosphere, but it was just released and is not ready yet>(some very nasty Autopilot bugs and many other details need>fixing).>>Besides that, the Lago Maddog is equipped with FMC, while the>Flight1 MD80 has the older and much more simple PMS/ONS>combination. >>Nice to have both, but to compare them directly has something>of that famous apples and oranges comparison :)>>Mike>>>Thanks Mike, you got me "tempted" - but I figured the LAGO product is only of interest if I can merge it with all of the Jet City Aircraft fleet. I am not quite clear on this: can the LAGO panel be merged with all of the JCA MDs, or only the MD-82? I understand I need to buy the JCA planes separately from the LAGO purchase, but I worry about compatibility and the availability of a merge application.Thanks!>

I don't have any comment on the Lago, but I've had the Flight 1 MD80 for about 2 weeks now. It's growing on me :-) There is some issues, as was mentioned. However, I expect a service release soon, and I believe when that is done then the CD version will be available. I would say wait until the next release then go grab it. Mike

I have the F1 MD80 (not the other one). It has a great VC and pre-FMC V/LNAV AP, which is fun to learn.There are some issues with v1.0 but support is great and the developers seem to be very committed to this product so a patch or two later, it would be a great aircraft. It's about 98% there.I fly the SF260, PMDG744, and LDS763. This MD80 is definitely a keeper.PatAMD A64 4000+ @ 2.6GHz, Zalman7700Cu cooler, Corsair XMS 1GB DDR, LTK6800GT-OC, Asus A8V MoBo, WDRaptor10KrpmHDD, TrackIR4, XP-hsp2

Actually, Lago/JCA supply a merge application. It works great.Bill

I like them both! The Flight 1/Coolsky version has a VC that gets better framerates than any other payware aircraft I have, and I have most of them.Jeff

I will stick with the F1 MD80. I believe the few bugs that exist will be ironed out soon. And Espen has done a terrific job providing support and answering all queries in a very positive manner. I did look into the MDMax product, as I wanted an EFIS version of the MD as well, but Espen mentioned that an EFIS/FMS upgrade is down the road. Might take some time to see that happen, but I can wait.:-) Miltos

>> can the LAGO panel be merged with all of the JCA MDs,yes, you can merge it with all JCA MDs. However, LAGO will soon release a small and final patch optimizing the LOC intercept. After that, JCA can do their final merge.There are some liveries (Finnair new livery, Fly Nordic, Snowflake and Itali) available here in the library or at fsnordic.net. They are directly for the JCA model in Maddog and do not require any merge. Stellan Hilmerby has opened a support forum exclusively for the LAGO Maddog. You get comprehensive answers directly from a former MD Captain. For me, it's very satisfying to have an MD to repeat his advice on that detail level. Sure, the statements about the LAGO support are true, it was not great. But you want to fly today, not yesterday, so it's not really necessary to care about that.I can not understand that users buy the Maddog, wait for a year until it's close to the final state now, then skip it and move on to the Flight1 MD just to wait for patches again. If the Flight1 MD would be checked with the same detailed measure as Stellan did, it certainly would fall short. Especially regarding Autopilot logic/behaviour and that's the meat of an Airliner simulation. The sympathic Flight1 support forum is impressive, but it does not change the fact one has to wait for patches. Mike