PMDG - Tell us the real status for the JS41 and P3D V4

[av8t0r 1]

Felt it was time to stir the pot...

After seeing posts below in 2017 of the JS41 being tested in P3D using the GTN750 and a FaceBook post with screenshots, there has been no communication.  I made the mistake of purchasing the GTN750 for use in the  "new" JS41...my bad.   So, I am asking PMDG to provide a real status for the JS41...is it or is it not going to be updated and released P3D V4?  There are many sim pilots who prefer to fly the smaller turbo props and the JS41 was a staple.  If the JS41 is not being worked and will not be released for P3D  V4 then the title of this piece of the forum should be PMDG Turbo Props (FSX).  P3D has been around long enough and taken the lead as the primary sim along with Xplane as a second.  FSX has been unsupported by Microsoft for years and represents very old technology. Do I still have it installed...yes...do I use it...no.  Thanks

[JLuis 409]

I would like to know too.

[Ephedrin 418]

I've given up to wait for the Jetstream.. I think they don't know themselves if they are going to (try to) finish it for P3Dv4. The last information we got was an unofficial statement from a beta tester that PMDG had problems to replicate the very special engines of the J41 in P3Dv4 a year ago or so, maybe half a year ago.. . And without them the airplane is simply not existent. It would be a pity if we lost the J41 but I understand that this airplane is not very high on their priority as it always has been a small side project next to the big and by far better selling Boeings. PMDG are a business and sometimes business decisions aren't the most loved decisions. Although some communication would certainly be neater and better than ignoring the customers completely. 

However, @av8t0r, to be honest I wouldn't expect to get any answers without you signing your posts 😉 

[RichieFly 728]

Yeah, Ephedrin.

A year ago last September a PMDG'er said it would be out soon. So, there you go.

If I didn't have so many awesome aircraft to fly, I might be sad. It would be nice to have though. It'd be the only PMDG/FSL/Leonardo/Majestic aircraft I've actually flown.

[ckyliu 1,749]

I think PMDG have given up on the J41. Would loved to be proved wrong, but even if PMDG think they haven't, they always seem to have something to do they consider more important. They canned the FSX:SE version and that just needed an installer and IAS hold tweak, they never got around to releasing it for P3D v1-3 either.

Any questions on J41 for P3Dv4 are generally met with an official silence, the unofficial information mentioned above is really all we have and its present status is frustrating given there's screenshots of it in P3Dv4 albeit without the GNS-XLS FMS. The J41 is the Cinderella that will never get to the ball 😞 There's no real study level alternative at this size either, the closest thing would be Carenado's Saab 340.

Edited January 16, 2019 by ckyliu

[Chrjs 61]

very sad - both the lack of any information and the fact that this wonderful plane seems not be able to make it across the finish line for p4dv4!

[Olympic260 415]

5 minutes ago, Chrjs said:

very sad - both the lack of any information and the fact that this wonderful plane seems not be able to make it across the finish line for p4dv4!

What lack of information? We have communicated that the 748 and GFO developement have been taken the resources from the JS41. From the moment there is no other communication on that it means that this is still the status

[ckyliu 1,749]

Once the 748 and GFO are out, there will be something else that's more important. That's the thing, the J41 is always bottom of the pile, its status is forever in limbo.

I personally blame GFO for our lack of a P3Dv4 J41, GFO appeared out of nowhere to crush my dreams (I say that somewhat tongue in cheek)

Edited January 16, 2019 by ckyliu

[Ephedrin 418]

To be fair Chris, for years there have been no statements about the J41, only about other projects to be more important. It somehow seems that PMDG struggles to avoid to give any answer on the J41 by constantly pointing the focus on other things. Be it the Queen or GFO. The last thing directly concering the J41 was „it‘s going to land soon“. After that everything else only sounded like „the 74X has taken the resources, GFO has taken the resources, the NG3 has taken the resources. And I’m confident that after their release any updates or new aircraft will officially take the resources. A simple sentence including the J41 and its planned future concering a possible release would be really great. Either a „yes we DO want to release it for P3D“ or a „we actually don‘t know or care about its release“. But this constant plead of other projects is really not fair to those who would love to pay you for it. The J41 isn‘t something that you bought and sell in a back street, it‘s actually a PMDG airplane with all the quality and perfection. But pushing it back all the time makes it seem like you wouldn‘t like it yourself, like if it was a pain that PMDG regrets to ever have done. I can‘t imagine that it‘s that hard for Robert to make a decision about this airplane, as there will always be a project that has a higher financial value.

Edited January 16, 2019 by Ephedrin

[ckyliu 1,749]

I don't know how Robert feels about the J41 but he must have (or had) considerable affection for it since he green lighted the original development of what is/was a fairly niché airliner by simming standards. Of course it was also convenient given he flew the J41 in service, but I like to think that fostered some warm feelings towards it. The J41 is technically quite impressive, OEW (6.5t) is much lighter than a Saab 340 (8.1t), Do328 (9.1t) or EMB-120 (7.5t) for the same seat count which I presume coupled with its smaller frontal cross section makes it the most fuel efficient, albeit at the cost of the most cramped cabin.

Edited January 16, 2019 by ckyliu

[DavidP 1,408]

26 minutes ago, ckyliu said:

it appeared out of nowhere to crush my dreams (I say that somewhat tongue in cheek)

I'm glad you qualified that statement 🙄

[ckyliu 1,749]

I knew it'd trigger peeps if I didn't qualify it! But in all seriousness I am a bit annoyed because I stayed on FSX a long time purely for the J41. I reformatted, upgraded and switched to P3Dv4 partly because PMDG said the J41 would be released for it soon. Then GFO reared its ugly head and pooped the party (especially annoying given the mixed reception its announcement got), very frustrating to see an apparently nearly finished J41 port deprived of resources to overcome its final few hurdles.

More fool me I guess - I've said for years make purchase decisions based solely on current product state, not future intentions of the developer!

Edited January 16, 2019 by ckyliu

[Ephedrin 418]

I'm actually really looking forward to GFO as it (hopefully) eventually gives some sense to my flying. A connected world of pilots and dispatch, airlines and issues is basically my wet FS dreams of years coming true. However I absolutely hate the matter that somehow everything seems to be more important than keeping "going to future"-promises. Robert usually takes enormous care of the words he uses to not say anything that he can't revoke. And I have learnt at school (yeah I know, my english has suffered a lot since that days) that the use of "going to" means something definite. Can be totally wrong of course in regards of the actual use of native speakers but again, Robert normally never does statements frivolously. I would fully understand if PMDG told us that they can't manage the engines of the J41 in P3Dv4 within a reasonable financial effort and they can't continue it for economical reasons. Or whatever reason it is that holds the j41 on the ground. But this silence after a definite promise (and there is no need to play with words now, that was a promise!) is actually not the kind way to treat customers you want to sell a NG3 or other products to. Sure, we'll buy it anyway and PMDG knows that. But still that's not exactly polite. Only a little "hey, we still plan to release it not too far from now" would probably help a lot.

At least the J41 is still up at 5 Millions on the PMDG website.. It's not officially dropped. 

[scandinavian13 5,192]

I was going to point to some information that is still relevant, and then I saw the commentary about my project...

Feels bad man...

[mpw8679 428]

2 hours ago, scandinavian13 said:

I was going to point to some information that is still relevant, and then I saw the commentary about my project...

Feels bad man...

Just remember this is an opinion from a very small percentage of users.  99% of us are happy with the direction of PMDG.  Keep up the good work!