>Its funny but it appears that some people seem to feel beter>when they can talk bad about Abacus.>>Conveniently forgetting that Abacus also has FS Design Studio>and EZ scenery in its lineup. That they release Genesis Mesh>on CD (thats right its Justins mesh , you can't update it via>genesis.net but its the same top quality mesh). Some of the>Abacus add-ons are top quality.>>Let me suggest the following to Abacus bashers. If you don't>like Abacus steer clear of every add-on made with FS Design>Studio. You can't realy like anything that is made by an>Abacus product can you? ;-)Yes, they made FSDS. It's a pity they don't use their own program to make any cool models. (Note the previous statement is not aimed at the Connie, as it wasn't created in-house by Abacus.)

>My first thought on seeing it was what I wrote. Why would>someone buy that Connie when the FSDZigns one is available, as>is Mike Stone's.To get one with a VC, naturally.

Hi,>>>>To get one with a VC, naturally<<<

The FSD plane is the best imho.. but no VC, and I hope they bring one on it as soon as possible.. it cries for a VC.But yes, its THAT good, when flied properly.. the grandma of the Queen of the Skies....JohanA LITTLE LESS CONVERSATION, AND A LITTLE MORE ACTION PLEASE!HELP:http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=238882

>Hi,>>>>>>To get one with a VC, naturally<<<<>>Is that what they're relying on, perhaps? I like VCs as much>as anyone, but I would rather fly the other Connies without,>than the payware with.>Andy.>Obviously you don't like them as much as anyone. ;) (Little kidding there.) I know I won't fly anything without a VC.

Speaking on behalf of the FSDzigns Team.Thanks to all of you for your praise of the FSDzigns L-049A Connie. This add-on airplane was stricly a labor of love. There are literally thousands of man hours involved with the original release.Some of us on the FSDzigns Team has poured over Lockheed Manuals gathering as much information as possible on the L-049A. I can tell you that the fuel system in the model matches the real airplane as close to real world as FS9 will allow. We even took the charts and graphs from the real world manuals to account for the drag induced by the cowl flaps.As far as VC's are concerned, I would just like to say that FS9 is something different to everyone. Some people won't even look at an add-on airplane unless it has a VC. Some care about the visual aspect of the airplane. Others tend to look for accuracy with regard to the panel. Still others demand accuracy in the flight dynamics. Given the wide variety of expectations of FS pilots, our team had to make decisions on what to include and what to leave out. We chose not to incorporate a VC in the first release. We knew that would be a dissapointment to some but we also knew that we could not produce an add-on that would completely satisfy everyone in the FS world. Personally, I think we did pretty well considering this is the first add-on airplane this team produced.Thankfully, we had a good cross section of FS enthusiasts on the FSDzigns Team. Some members are very visual people. These people brought the visual accuracy to the project. Others, myself included, like the accuracy of the Flight Dynamics, we want the airplane to fly as close to real world as possible. We tend to fly from the cockpit view most of the time. It is these people who brought about the accuracy of the systems and the flight dynamics. As a side note, keep in mind that 100% accuracy is impossible because of the limitations in FS9.For those who are getting impatient about future releases, we are sorry. Yes we have had some setbacks that I am not at liberty to discuss, but I can tell you that if you knew, you would understand. Suffice it to say that family life and health are much more important than add-on airplanes for FS.The goals of the FSDzigns Team are still valid. We will strive to produce only top quality add-ons. We are not satisfied with mediocrity. We have a strong desire to bring all of the Connies to the FS9 hanger. We also want to offer VC and Non-VC models.We will keep working until it is no longer enjoyable for us to do so. We do this because we want to.Can we be everything to everybody in the FS community? No.Will we try to satisfy everyone? No.Will we enjoy our work? Yes.Do we hope others enjoy our airplanes? AbsolutelyRespectfully,Kent MorrisFSDzigns Aircraft Division Manager and Technical Director

Thanks Kent - it is obviously a labor of love.The only problem I've ever had is leaning the engines - but I do that manually. My fuel usage is a bit higher than the expected numbers but not something I worry about - except on that long flight from PHNL to KSFO. Never quite make it on fuel.

.>>Thankfully, we had a good cross section of FS enthusiasts on>the FSDzigns Team. Some members are very visual people. >These people brought the visual accuracy to the project. >Others, myself included, like the accuracy of the Flight>Dynamics, we want the airplane to fly as close to real world>as possible. We tend to fly from the cockpit view most of the>time. It is these people who brought about the accuracy of>the systems and the flight dynamics. As a side note, keep in>mind that 100% accuracy is impossible because of the>limitations in FS9.>Hi KentJust wanted to say that I downloaded this freeware when it first came on line several years ago ,and have never got tired of flying the Connie.The 2D panel is just outstanding.Your product has given me hours of pleasurable enjoyment and you can't beat the price. LOL:)Kenny G.

Hi CWD,What did I write there?! I do like VCs as much as anyone else does- the default DC-3 has a brilliant VC I think (which shows how much I know)- but some airplanes are so well modelled that it doesn't really matter (to me) that they are missing one, and the FSDZigns Connie comes into that category.I find it hard to believe you've never downloaded it, regardless of what you say about no VC, no fly!!Andy.

Well I bought the Abacus version over Easter, as part of their 40% off over three add-ons which meant it effectively cost me nothing. In fact it cost me a grand total of

Hi there Kent,>>>We even took the charts and graphs from the real world manuals to account for the drag induced by the cowl flaps<<

>I find it hard to believe you've never downloaded it,>regardless of what you say about no VC, no fly!!Believe it, Ralph. (As the old commercial used to say.)

>Its funny but it appears that some people seem to feel beter>when they can talk bad about Abacus.I wouldn't presume to know what other people feel. I do know that my own experience with Abacus products and support is very mixed. Abacus is a publisher...I believe most of all of the products they sell were developed by others and purchased by Abacus. Sometimes they pick winners, sometimes not. I've been using FS Panel Studio for years and think it's great. I've been using EZ-Scenery and love that one also. If you search the libraries here on Avsim you'll find a bunch of sceneries that I've made using it.I recently bought a plane from Abacus for the first time, the ATR-72. It's a really nice plane with a beautiful custom panel. After installing it I found a few minor problems with some of the gauges. Instead of complaining or bashing the product on a forum I took the time to send a detailed email to Abacus, assuming they'd be interested in fixing it. I sent that email twice and never heard a word from them. I ended up fixing the panel myself using FS Panel Studio. How's that for ironic? :-) I was interested in their Connie but don't think I'll buy any more planes from them.EZ-Scenery also had some serious problems when it was first released, and though Abacus fixed the problems (yeah!), their customer communication was very poor. They're also the only payware outfit I've seen that doesn't have a support forum.Sidney Schwartz KPDX

>Instead of complaining or bashing the>product on a forum I took the time to send a detailed email to>Abacus, assuming they'd be interested in fixing it. I sent>that email twice and never heard a word from them. Abacus isn't good at answering e-mails in my limited experience. I'm still waiting for an answer on how to remove their premiere collection module from my FS9 install now that I no longer have the 7-day trial aircraft.

HI CWD,If you go START, then SEARCH, type in 'Abacus' in the search box and with Search All Files and Folders I think it will bring up all those bits Abacus left behind and then you can just delete them from the box.Andy.