I,m thinking of purchasing a new plane. I have been following the TFDI website and waiting for final version since Jan. I have P3Dv4 and wondering if its stable at its current state? Looking for something that works and I don't need to spend a bunch of time tweaking I just want to fly:)

Thanks,

Tom

It is a fantastic add-on. Not being a real-world pilot, I don't really know what's missing for it to be the complete package but was far as I'm concerned, it was everything for it to be a complete flight. There will be no tweaking and the lighting is simply superb.

Edited May 21, 20188 yr by tamsini

This aircraft has improved considerably since release, and while it still needs more work it is stable enough to fly.  Technically the B717 for P3DV4 is still in Beta but it's a public Beta so if you purchase the aircraft and Opt In for the public Beta then you can use it in V4.  Updates to the B717 are extremely slow in coming.  Also there is a problem with the aircraft that results in CTD after changing from internal to external views (I believe I've found the problem but I need time to test it).  We've have 5 very active and experienced pilots (including me) who have suffered from this issue.

The private flight sim group I manage has used the B717 as an entry level shared cockpit aircraft for new members, though we'll likely replace it with the Aerosoft Airbus once it's released and we have Connected Flight Deck (Aerosoft speak for Shared Cockpit) which isn't due until SP1. After the B717/Aerosoft Airbus we transition our new pilots to the Majestic Dash 8 Q400 Professional and (in the coming months) to the Maddog.

The B717 is very simple to learn and operate as it's highly automated. 

I don't know which type of aircraft you're looking for or what you plan to do with it, but if you're looking for simple to learn and operate then this one would be a good buy.

Best wishes.

Edited May 21, 20188 yr by DaveCT2003

14 minutes ago, DaveCT2003 said:

This aircraft has improved considerably since release, and while it still needs more work it is stable enough to fly.  Technically the B717 for P3DV4 is still in Beta but it's a public Beta so if you purchase the aircraft and Opt In for the public Beta then you can use it in V4.  Updates to the B717 are extremely slow in coming.  Also there is a problem with the aircraft that results in CTD after changing from internal to external views (I believe I've found the problem but I need time to test it).  We've have 5 very active and experienced pilots (including me) who have suffered from this issue.

The private flight sim group I manage has used the B717 as an entry level shared cockpit aircraft for new members, though we'll likely replace it with the Aerosoft Airbus once it's released and we have Connected Flight Deck (Aerosoft speak for Shared Cockpit) which isn't due until SP1. After the B717/Aerosoft Airbus we transition our new pilots to the Majestic Dash 8 Q400 Professional and (in the coming months) to the Maddog.

The B717 is very simple to learn and operate as it's highly automated. 

I don't know which type of aircraft you're looking for or what you plan to do with it, but if you're looking for simple to learn and operate then this one would be a good buy.

Best wishes.

Dear Dave, 

I'm experiencing similar CTDs while switching between external/internal views. What do you assume is the problem? Please keep us up to date with the results of your testing. Thank you. 

From what I hear, supposedly a very solid aircraft, with only minor issues. Have been considering purchasing it myself, so hoping there's some sort of sale coming to celebrate the upcoming FlightSimExpo.

Mike

Although I'm experiencing some issues, noted above by Dave, the plane is fantastic. In terms of FPS, its performance is good: the textures and sounds are also good. If you're already well acquainted with Boeing procedures/systems, then there would be a small learning curve. Plus, the icings on the cake are the lighting and windshield effects! 

I don't agree with updates being slow, seeing as we have been releasing updates at least once a month with a new batch of fixes and improvements. Most other addon companies only release an update as much as once a quarter. Regarding the view switch crash, that is one bug that seems to rear it's ugly head every update. We are actively researching and have a small internal beta test team of people having the issue and have been sending them builds for the last few weeks trying to isolate what it is.

3 minutes ago, GameSyns said:

I don't agree with updates being slow, seeing as we have been releasing updates at least once a month with a new batch of fixes and improvements. Most other addon companies only release an update as much as once a quarter. Regarding the view switch crash, that is one bug that seems to rear it's ugly head every update. We are actively researching and have a small internal beta test team of people having the issue and have been sending them builds for the last few weeks trying to isolate what it is.

If you take a look at the frequency of updates since the initial release then they are abysmally slow.  That I'm afraid is a fact.  Additionally, updates to the Addon Manager itself (not the aircraft don't count).  Moreover, the aircraft is in Beta, so one shouldn't compare it to released aircraft - but even if we do (I'm on the Leonardo Beta Team, the internal Aerosoft Beta Team, the Majestic Beta Team, the FS Reborn Beta Team, the SunSkyJet Beta Team and the OVPA Beta Team (who works with many different developers not listed), and many other Beta Teams over the past 30 years, so my assessment of updates is not from a casual user.  This is just for accuracy sake, I'm not bad mouthing the product itself.  If I'm wrong, then simply provide a list of the updates (including what was updated) and release dates since the product was made available for purchase, okay?  I never mind admitting when I'm wrong about something, but I don't think this is the case here and I think it's wrong to just pop in and say someone is wrong without clarification.

I narrowed down the fix for the issue in about 2 hours, so I hope you guys can get a solution out soon!

 

Most sincerely and respectfully,

 

What's the fix?

Edited May 21, 20188 yr by GameSyns

@DaveCT2003 You can see an itemized change log, along with the dates of release, here: http://forums.tfdidesign.com/index.php?/topic/2268-beta-change-log/

Regarding the view switch CTD, I'm very interested to hear your findings. We've been attacking it from the debugging side but have been sent down the rabbit hole of random, unrelated DLLs and useless call stacks, so a different input on it will definitely be a good thing.

A very interesting aircraft for short to medium flights. Easy to learn. personally I'm glad to own it.  

1 hour ago, DaveCT2003 said:

This aircraft has improved considerably since release, and while it still needs more work it is stable enough to fly.  Technically the B717 for P3DV4 is still in Beta but it's a public Beta so if you purchase the aircraft and Opt In for the public Beta then you can use it in V4.  Updates to the B717 are extremely slow in coming.  Also there is a problem with the aircraft that results in CTD after changing from internal to external views (I believe I've found the problem but I need time to test it).  We've have 5 very active and experienced pilots (including me) who have suffered from this issue.

The private flight sim group I manage has used the B717 as an entry level shared cockpit aircraft for new members, though we'll likely replace it with the Aerosoft Airbus once it's released and we have Connected Flight Deck (Aerosoft speak for Shared Cockpit) which isn't due until SP1. After the B717/Aerosoft Airbus we transition our new pilots to the Majestic Dash 8 Q400 Professional and (in the coming months) to the Maddog.

The B717 is very simple to learn and operate as it's highly automated. 

I don't know which type of aircraft you're looking for or what you plan to do with it, but if you're looking for simple to learn and operate then this one would be a good buy.

Best wishes.

Thanks Dave for the input very helpful. I think you have convinced me to purchase.

Tom

It's a solid airplane, very detailed, but it's hard on the Frames. I wish they would improve the performance. 

I love flying it, and it’s a rocket ship unlike most others on take off.  The most fun real life takeoffs I’ve even experienced were in 717’s.

I purchased from Week one of release and opted in for the Beta release. Since purchase I have flown it over 200 hours through my VA and found it now, a vast improvement on what it was at release. VNAV TOD calculation still needs work. The real glass feature in rain, shows droplets form then streak along the glass as airspeed washes then away, something to behold. Still waiting on the much promised Official Paint kit, but users have improvised and there are many liveries available.

Won't be disappointed if you buy it.