Hi all,

For awhile now I have been flying GA aircraft (mostly from A2A and RealAir), but I also have an interest in airliners. The problem is that I have no idea where to start or what add-on I should get as my first high quality airliner. I am leaning towards the Majestic Q400, but I have also heard good things on PMDG's lineup of add-ons. Is one recommended a little more than the other for beginners, or should I just go with my gut and get the Q400?

Edited February 6, 20197 yr by blackbird7

Go with the PMDG 737. Lot of rw flight options, many variants and lots of airlines.

Flightsim labs Airbus 320 and 319 are very good also.  I also have the PMDG 737 which is also very good.  I also have the Majestic Q400 which is also great but is a Turboprop still a very fine aircraft.  I think any one of them would make you happy.  It many depends on you wants.  The Majestic and the PMDG  can be more hands on, but the FSL Airbus seems to me to be very easy to learn and fly.  Aerosoft also makes the Airbus family but I know nothing about them.  I am sure there will be many more Captains stopping by with more experience than me to give their opinions.  

If your not into spending big dollars, the Aerosoft Airbus and CRJ are fine products.

Maybe watch a few youtube videos featuring the ones you're interested in? See how they work.

All three mentioned above are great.

The Majestic Dash 8 Q400 is certainly a good choice, and if that's what you want to fly then go for it, since flight simming is about having fun. It's probably one of the most realistic simulations of an airliner you can get for P3D. It has the advantage of being a fairly short-ranged aircraft (which makes for fun flights which don't take hours and outstay their welcome), but it is almost as fast as a jet, so you don't have to limit the scope of where you fly it to in a relatively short period of time. All this means that you can spend more time doing the interesting bits of a flight (i.e. the landings and the take offs). It's good value too, with even the fancy all singing and dancing edition of it comparing favourably price-wise with everything else.

If learning to operate airliners is something which you might need to do a bit of study on, you may want to consider going for a Boeing 737 NG (either the iFy or the PMDG Boeing 737s are good choices - there isn't much to choose between then in terms of what they simulate, so you really can't go wrong with either of them). The reason the 737 NG is a very good choice for learning airliners is that, having been around for 52 years as a design, there is quite possibly no  airliner on Earth other than the Boeing 737 which has had so much written about it, video'd, made into tutorials and so on. The wealth of information you can find for it is absolutely exhaustive.

So if you were looking for something with tons of tutorials and information, there is literally nothing finer in terms of choice than a Boeing 737 NG. It's worth considering too that the 737 is a relatively simple aeroplane to operate, with an intuitive autopilot and a flight management computer which is comparatively easy to learn, not least because it has probably had more written about it than any other, since it was in fact the first ever airliner to actually have an FMC of the kind which is common these days put into it. Add to this that the 737 is well suited to everything from short hops to flights of several thousand miles and you've got what is probably the ultimate introductory airliner in terms of learning.

 

2 hours ago, blackbird7 said:

Hi all,

For awhile now I have been flying GA aircraft (mostly from A2A and RealAir), but I also have an interest in airliners. The problem is that I have no idea where to start or what add-on I should get as my first high quality airliner. I am leaning towards the Majestic Q400, but I have also heard good things on PMDG's lineup of add-ons. Is one recommended a little more than the other for beginners, or should I just go with my gut and get the Q400?

What are your system specs?  This will make a big difference with your decision.

The PMDG 737 is great, but it's also a bit long in the tooth. The 747 is a much more modern simulation with better looking visuals, much more realistic extras such as ground operations, and is a lot more impressive to explore. It's a very good addon. 

Another one to look at is Leonardo's Fly the Maddog MD-8x series. It's really, *really* good.

And I might (or might not, I don't know) be in the minority here, but I think the QualityWings 787 is also worth a look. Unlike the Maddog and the offerings from PMDG, it does not simulate abnormal operations, only normal flight, but it's a very good looking product that flies well and has a good deal of depth to the normal ops.

Edited February 6, 20197 yr by eslader

It all depends on what you're into... In my view:

 

If you're a Boeing man....

• Go with the PMDG Boeing 737NGX. It's a very good starting choice and it's - despite the fact that I own all of PMDG's boeings - the one from them, that I fly the most. Flies excellent and a huge number of liveries.

If you're more into Airbus - well...

• My personal choice and recommendation would be the FlightSimLabs Airbus A320-X and/or Airbus A319-X. It's probably one of the most realistic airliners you'd find for P3D. The system fidelity and sound immersion is just unbeatable. But be prepared for some studying... 🙂

Other options? - Well ... :

• Another option could be the Maddog MD-82, which has been re-developed for P3D. I don't know this one, but I had the previous version for FSX. I was very impressed with it. The new version looks even better!
• QualityWings Boeing 787-8/9. It's a very good representation of a highly modern airplane and it flies quite well. Sounds are also quite nice, IMO. 

If you like smaller range regional jets/props:

• If jets: Go for the TFDi Boeing 717. It's absolutely magnificent and a little different than the usual setup 🙂 
• If props: My choice would be the Majestic Dash-8 Q400. As @Chock said - it's most likely one of the best representations of an airliner you'd find. From systems, to handling and sound. But again - be prepared for some studying... 

 

Well, there's something for you to dive into... My own personal choice for starting out, would probably be the PMDG 737NGX. The learning curve isn't so steep as some of the other planes above and it isn't SO automatic, that it gets boring... 🙂

2 minutes ago, Anders Bermann said:

Well, there's something for you to dive into... My own personal choice for starting out, would probably be the PMDG 737NGX. The learning curve isn't so steep as some of the other planes above and it isn't SO automatic, that it gets boring... 🙂

+1

19 minutes ago, eslader said:

The PMDG 737 is great, but it's also a bit long in the tooth. The 747 is a much more modern simulation with better looking visuals, much more realistic extras such as ground operations, and is a lot more impressive to explore. It's a very good addon. 

Another one to look at is Leonardo's Fly the Maddog MD-8x series. It's really, *really* good.

And I might (or might not, I don't know) be in the minority here, but I think the QualityWings 787 is also worth a look. Unlike the Maddog and the offerings from PMDG, it does not simulate abnormal operations, only normal flight, but it's a very good looking product that flies well and has a good deal of depth to the normal ops.

The Maddog X and 747 would be a bad first step into airliners.

The transition from GA to airliners involves two basic challenges--coping with speed, and coping with complexity.  Speed, because at turboprop and jet speeds things happen significantly faster than in a GA prop acft, and complexity because you are now a systems manager as much as you are a pilot.

From the perspective of speed, the Q400 is a good choice because it's faster than GA, but things don't happen nearly as fast as they do at jet speeds.  It's an incremental step forward.

Complexity covers a wide gamut, and is a combination of the more complicated navigation/autoflight systems and acft subsystems (e.g. hydraulics, electrics, pneumatics, pressurization etc).  The Q400 has an FMC that is not especially intuitive, but the acft systems are fairly basic, so it is, again, a measured step forward.  There are a number of  B737-200 add-ons out there (Milviz and Captain Sim) that are basic round-dial panels, and with fairly simple systems.  The FSL and Aerosoft Scarebus add-ons represent a fairly complex navigation system, but the 'bus has mostly automatic acft systems that are complex, but easy to manage in a nothing-ever-goes-wrong sim environment where in-depth systems knowledge isn't mandatory for basic operation.  The B737NGX (PMDG and iFly) have more straightforward FMC/navigation systems (and no fly-by-wire flight controls like the 'bus), and have mildly complex systems that aren't as automated and therefore more hands-on.  And then the MD-80 (Leonardo Maddog), 777 (PMDG), 787 (Qualitywings), and 747-400/8i (PMDG/iFly) are big, fast, complex aircraft with a lot going on in both, and would be a whole lot to chew on all at once.

So with all that said, I think the Q400 would be a good call for a first step into faster, more complex aircraft.  The others will still be there when you're ready for more.

Regards

 

If you like historic airliners, the Aerosoft DC-8 is excellent. It keeps you much busier during flight than modern airplanes since you have to keep track of de-alignment of the inertial navigation system, power settings, and fuel tanks. 

Peter

If you are just learning them...I'd say Aerosoft Airbus, with its co-pilot and checklist feature turned on.  This will really help you learn, and reduce your workload so that you can concentrate on other aspects of flying the aircraft and operating its systems.

The ones mentioned here. I anyway put the Qualitywings 787 on the list, even if PMDG pilots here won't agree. It is not as perfectly simulated as PMDG or FSL, but it has one killer feature for me: "jump ahead" to whatever waypoint in your FMS you want. As I do not have the time for real-time long haul flights and time compression sometimes does not really work with complex addon aircraft such as PMDG, it is the only possibility to do long haul flights for me within 2-3h (max). Besides that, the model is beautiful and 08/15 operations work pretty well.