Should I buy the FSL A320

[Gregg_Seipp 565]

3 hours ago, roi1862 said:

Wait till they fix the endless bug list first in my opinion... its already 4 months since last update and no word when they will release new update. I actually dispute my payment and got rid of it. At least till they fix it.

What are the big things?  Also, how is performance?  I have the Aerosoft one and I'm just wondering if it's worth it and what the differences are.

[anden145 2,284]

Would also like to know that... Haven't come across any (really noticable) bugs 

Regarding discount... Please just read the announcement I linked to (and quoted from).  
The discount is available UNTIL FSLabs releases the A320-X for Prepar3D V4. As soon as the A320-X is made available/compatible with Prepar3D V4, the discount is withdrawn.

IMHO the A320-X is the most immerseful and detailed airliner ever released for Flight Simulator. The sounds, lighting and system modelling is just amazing. I've always been a Boeing simulator pilot - but to be honest, nothing beats the feeling I got, when I first sat in the A320-X and powered it up from Cold-n-Dark. In my humble opinion,

it's absolutely worth every cent!

[YukonPete 585]

I also highly recommend you follow this guy on Youtube. He is a real world rated A320 pilot and does most of his lessons in the FSL A320. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe9fggL9PwEqSyMDrlLubVw

[Chock 17,769]

11 hours ago, Gregg_Seipp said:

What are the big things?  Also, how is performance?  I have the Aerosoft one and I'm just wondering if it's worth it and what the differences are.

The Aerosoft one is an excellent simulation of the A320, but to quote its feature list: 'Simulation of the Airbus A320 and A321 focused on the day-to-day operation of the aircraft from the left seat'. The point being that it simulates normal operations of the A320 very well. To do that, one can approach creating a simulation in such a way as to not concern oneself with questions such as 'what happens if I turn this off? Or what if this or that system failed?'.

This is the major difference between the approach FSL took to simulating the Airbus. Now you may not want to simulate the wings falling off your A320 on a regular basis, but what you might be interested in, is having a simulation of the A320 where literally every wire and hydraulic line and things such as the effect of fuel sloshing around in a particular fuel tank at a particular angle of attack is read and imparted upon how your simulated A320 is whizzing around the skies.

For me, this was something which mattered, since I worked on developing the Standard Operating Procedure Manuals for the real A320, 321 and 330, thus I had enough of a 'nerd' interest in the real thing to make having something which was a realistc simulation of the aeroplane 'under the hood' worth the price of entry. If that doesn't matter to someone else, they might easily be happy with the Aerosoft A320, since it does normal operations well and is certainly a lot less expensive. But if not, then with the FSL one, you are getting what you pay for, it  might not always obvious what that is to someone who isn't familiar with the real aeroplane, but even if you aren't that familiar, then the FSL one will serve to make you that familiar with it. Switch something on the overhead in the FSL 'Bus, and the sounds you hear and the affect that has on electical loads, or hydraulic pressures or whatever, is genuinely accurately reflected on gauges and readouts you see and has implications on what works and how well it functions. This is why it is a bit of a flight simmer's dream come true, since it is like owning the real aeroplane.

[MarkW 1,490]

Great addon but some glaring omissions for the price. 

1) no way to set a panel state from the menu. 

2) no release of an sdk so FS2Crew can make good FO addon.  

3) for some reason it seems some very major things can go wrong.  I could not resolve them and ended up completely reinstalling my P3D in order to fix. 

[spearmint_flyer 579]

The FSL A320 not only flies well.  This aircraft makes you *Feel* that you are flying one. In every aspect. Sound, visuals, systems. I mean talk about a guy that is obsessed with this plane. Right here 🙋

[vc10man 732]

29 minutes ago, MarkW said:

no way to set a panel state from the menu. 

Damn, I was about to make the buy. So, Mark, if no way to set a a Panel State such as C&D, how is it set?

There are a lot of pro-buy views here. Luckily I read your post.

[MarkW 1,490]

5 minutes ago, vc10man said:

Damn, I was about to make the buy. So, Mark, if no way to set a a Panel State such as C&D, how is it set?

There are a lot of pro-buy views here. Luckily I read your post.

Only way is to load up the default cub, cut the power, turn off the battery and then load the A320.  It is absolutely nuts for something of this price.  And the second way is when you forget to do the above and load right into the A320....you then spend a few minutes turning off things to get into the state you want.  Thankfully the menu does have ground power and air so at least that works but no pushback utility.  I have to say that the small little refinements of a PMDG aircraft really do shine when you compare to almost anything else (and I would say A2A is in the same category as PMDG with this stuff).

[MachTwo 386]

46 minutes ago, MarkW said:

Great addon but some glaring omissions for the price. 

1) no way to set a panel state from the menu. 

2) no release of an sdk so FS2Crew can make good FO addon.  

3) for some reason it seems some very major things can go wrong.  I could not resolve them and ended up completely reinstalling my P3D in order to fix. 

1) The option to instantly set the aircraft to a specific state has been added and will be made available in the next update. 

2) An SDK is being worked on. It's taking time, because a simulation of this magnitude and in depth has not been achieved before now for a desktop PC.

3) It's a very complex simulation and we exploit the platform more than anyone else does to achieve such high fidelity. Unfortunately, the platforms are very open to everyone and anyone adding/moving/deleting files. We can't be held accountable for the way other 3DP's install/manage their applications. 

[MarkW 1,490]

1 minute ago, MachTwo said:

1) The option to instantly set the aircraft to a specific state has been added and will be made available in the next update. 

2) An SDK is being worked on. It's taking time, because a simulation of this magnitude and in depth has not been achieved before now for a desktop PC.

3) It's a very complex simulation and we exploit the platform more than anyone else does to achieve such high fidelity. Unfortunately, the platforms are very open to everyone and anyone adding/moving/deleting files. We can't be held accountable for the way other 3DP's install/manage their applications. 

Glad to hear of these changes and updates to the A320.  Looking forward to it.

[vc10man 732]

10 minutes ago, MarkW said:

Only way is to load up the default cub, cut the power, turn off the battery and then load the A320.  It is absolutely nuts for something of this price.  And the second way is when you forget to do the above and load right into the A320....you then spend a few minutes turning off things to get into the state you want.  Thankfully the menu does have ground power and air so at least that works but no pushback utility.  I have to say that the small little refinements of a PMDG aircraft really do shine when you compare to almost anything else (and I would say A2A is in the same category as PMDG with this stuff).

Thanks for that, Mark. I am not willing to pay £105 for the FSX version to go through all that Default Trike silly nonsense.And your observations on the PMDG and the A2A for less price than this, is spot-on.

Glad I saw your post. No matter how astonishing this maybe, if for that price the basics of a C+D cannot be implemented, then it is a no-buy from me.My cheaper Aerosoft Airbus Triple Pack does that.

[vc10man 732]

Just seen Andrew Wilson's post. Now, that is reassuring after all. So, may still end up pulling the trigger.

[log_0_Inf 14]

Concerning the C&D state, I have been using a C&D Cessna as my default flight. You can then select the FSL A320 directly from the menu. Works flawlessly for me.

I agree however that communication to the community has been somewhat underwhelming by FSL. I understand that a lot has been going on behind the scenes, but some critical issues such as the missing transitions should have been resolved via an interim update imho. 

Anyways, still by far the most immersive add on in my hangar and really worth the money.

[Gregg_Seipp 565]

1 hour ago, Chock said:

The Aerosoft one is an excellent simulation of the A320, but to quote its feature list: 'Simulation of the Airbus A320 and A321 focused on the day-to-day operation of the aircraft from the left seat'. The point being that it simulates normal operations of the A320 very well. To do that, one can approach creating a simulation in such a way as to not concern oneself with questions such as 'what happens if I turn this off? Or what if this or that system failed?'.

This is the major difference between the approach FSL took to simulating the Airbus. Now you may not want to simulate the wings falling off your A320 on a regular basis, but what you might be interested in, is having a simulation of the A320 where literally every wire and hydraulic line and things such as the effect of fuel sloshing around in a particular fuel tank at a particular angle of attack is read and imparted upon how your simulated A320 is whizzing around the skies.

For me, this was something which mattered, since I worked on developing the Standard Operating Procedure Manuals for the real A320, 321 and 330, thus I had enough of a 'nerd' interest in the real thing to make having something which was a realistc simulation of the aeroplane 'under the hood' worth the price of entry. If that doesn't matter to someone else, they might easily be happy with the Aerosoft A320, since it does normal operations well and is certainly a lot less expensive. But if not, then with the FSL one, you are getting what you pay for, it  might not always obvious what that is to someone who isn't familiar with the real aeroplane, but even if you aren't that familiar, then the FSL one will serve to make you that familiar with it. Switch something on the overhead in the FSL 'Bus, and the sounds you hear and the affect that has on electical loads, or hydraulic pressures or whatever, is genuinely accurately reflected on gauges and readouts you see and has implications on what works and how well it functions. This is why it is a bit of a flight simmer's dream come true, since it is like owning the real aeroplane.

Thanks Chock.  Perhaps, if they have a sale at some point.  I love flying the Airbus but, for now, the Aerosoft will do well enough.

[roi1862 597]

1 hour ago, Gregg_Seipp said:

Thanks Chock.  Perhaps, if they have a sale at some point.  I love flying the Airbus but, for now, the Aerosoft will do well enough.

In its current state, i would say anyting above 45$ would be overprice...but then again its my opinion so keep things calm fslabs fans...