Overall I'm happy with my purchase.  Pretty nice on the frame rate.  By self admission I'm very new to flying airbus.  I've been a boeing/MD88 guy.  A few questions I suppose. 

 

-FLAPS/THS when prepping.  I attempted to enter 1/UP4.5 and it said bad format.  Not sure what I'm doing wrong here.  

-Fuel burn is much higher than I was expecting.  Atleast compared to simbrief.  Simbrief suggested I put 38,865lbs for ATL-DTW.  This was load, not trip estimate.  That would have been burned before I ever reached DTW. 

-GSX.  When I attempted  (and reattempted) to pushback it would say locking gear.  But then never move past that phase.  I went with a shift-P instead. 

-The release notes were very clear not to use shaders.  But most hardcore P3D flyers all seem to use them.  I use tomatoshade with rdpresets profile.  Cockpit is definitely very dark and the windscreen looks like I'm viewing thru sunglasses.  Yes we were advised not to use shaders... But we all do. 

-Idle seems fast.  Easily 20-25 knots with throttle at idle.  This could be normal as I was very light.  Handled very nicely on the ground however.  

 

Anyway in the air now.  NAV tracking is good.  Just some initial thoughts/questions. 

 

 Here are my quick impressions (so far):

External details:

Very nice modeling, both externally as well as internally (VC). I originally thought the aircraft had its PBR tuned down way too much, but after flying it for a bit in different lighting conditions, it seems fairly well done. Having said that, a little increase in the PBR effects probably wouldn't hurt and I wouldn't kick them out of bed. 

The VC seems to be getting mixed reviews from people. For me, there are areas I like and areas I would suggest a second look it. While the modeling itself seems quite well done, there are certain aspects that stand out, at least for me, as problem areas. First off, the fonts in some of the menus seem "bugged out", or more specifically (wonky?). For instance, on the doors menu, the font seems too small and somewhat "jumbled". Another area is the EFIS. I can't read it, it's too dark. Now, I must say, I do use tomatoshade which AS recommends against using quite openly. Except, it's not the cockpit itself that is too dark (a potential byproduct of Tomatoshade), its the text on the EFIS. It is very faint. Picture a very dark brown area with a less dark area in front of it, now change the opacity of the less dark brown area and that is sort of what it looks like. Tl;dr: it's hard to read in any lighting condition outside of one where you'd turn the gauge lights on. 

Sounds:

The sounds are quite nice. That RR "howl" is present and sounds great. Taking off feels powerful. It sounds like you are flying a large and fast. I don't think I heard any looping sounds, so if they are there perhaps I did not notice them. The AS 330 RRs sound nice.......and mean at full power. One area I actually quite enjoyed is the internal sounds in the cockpit while flying. It doesnt sound ike you are sitting in from of and industrial warehouse fan, it has a certain crip amd clean sound to it that I find difficult to really describe. It's almost...classy sounding? Is that a thing? Well, it should be. 

Flight Dynamics:

I'm no more an A330 pilot than I would safely assume 99.9% of the other people here are. You can't whip it around. You can't do barrel roles. You can't slam it on a runway after dropping a Hades bomb to save your Dad either, Dough Masters, you American pig dog. The AS 330 is comfortable fly and represents, at least, what I think a large aircraft would feel like. I haven't once found myself hoping they would add it to DCS.

She follows the AP well and I didn't have any issues. I put it through some pretty crazy direction changes and it didn't go kukoo for cocoa puffs once. She held the line well and it never felt or looked awkward like it was trying to do something it shouldn't be able too. 

The A330 is easy to operate on the ground and taxing didn't make me want to "warp to Rwy 25L". Not much to say here. Easy to control. Didn't have issues maintaining the taxiline or centerline on takeoff. 

Performance:

I have a pretty fast system so take my performance results with a grain of salt. I run mostly maxed out settings with a few a little lower. I tested the AS 330 from AS Frankfurt to MK Studios Dublin. I think my framerates only dipped below 25 for a second or so when I first arrived at Frankfurt and perhaps with a few slight stutters as AI and whatnot loaded in, and to be quite Frank.....furt, I really don't remember my performance going below 45-60 fps during my flight. Smooth as glass.

Specs:

I9900k @ 5ghz

32gb GSkill 

GTX 2080 Ti

Aorus Master Mobo

 

Closing impressions:

The AS 330 is not like the FSLabs Airbuses. There, I said it. The horror. Good news though, it was never meant to be. The level of systems simulation can't be compared to the other more study-level simulations. Now, this is not to say that the AS 330 isn't detailed, it is. In fact, it probably has the precise amount of detail quite a few people want and/or have the time for. Now, don't take that as jargon for, "watered down", because it isn't. AS makes no mistake in telling people their aircraft cater to people who want to participate in airline-like operations. The AS 330, imo and not unlike their Pro A320 series, does precisely that. Yes, there are bugs, yes it will probably need a few patches. The current bugs are not the end of the world, and although the font text was annoying, it didn't really take away from my enjoyment of the product. Would I buy it again knowing what I know now after flying it? Yep. 

I must also mention that if you currently own any of the Pro series Airbuses from Aersoft (not the FSX extended version of those other ones) than the cost with the discount comes out to about $41. IMO, it's a steal at that price....early access or not. 

Hope this helps somebody if they wanted some impressions:)

 

Edited December 10, 20196 yr by Arklight1

11 hours ago, DaveCT2003 said:

 

They are already in the works... the Delta will be ready by the weekend.

 

I'll be the judge of that Dave!😉

(Of course I did say you may be flying her this weekend...if the real world doesn't get in the way)

I started on the fuse....but a lot still to to do....

....but I think I have the tail textures aligned and ready for final touches...

And this one surely needed to be done (And I have a "few" LH paints under my belt, LOL)

I don't think it will be too long before all the repainters start to get busy on her....sooooo many liveries for this one (even if some will be fictional for the time being)

2 hours ago, Greggy_D said:

The extra 10% pulled me in.  Coupled with the A320 discount, final price was $39.91 .  I'll let the plane bake in for another 6 months before trying it.

How are you guys managing to obtain the A3xx  discount + the additional 10% ?  According to Mathijs Kok it isn't "stackable", which seems to be my case over at Simmarket, where I'm only getting the A3xx discount (for a total of EUR 40.56 ).

Thanks!

-E

3 minutes ago, evaamo said:

How are you guys managing to obtain the A3xx  discount + the additional 10% ?  According to Mathijs Kok it isn't "stackable", which seems to be my case over at Simmarket, where I'm only getting the A3xx discount (for a total of EUR 40.56 ).

Thanks!

-E

It just happened that way. I used the AS store, and it stacked. As I don't get charged VAT it tuned out very cheap, with a 10% and 31% discount respectively.

16 minutes ago, ZKOKQ said:

It just happened that way. I used the AS store, and it stacked.

Ditto

22 minutes ago, Greggy_D said:

Ditto

Same

9 hours ago, DaveCT2003 said:

First, some streamers are not using release versions, so I really can't comment about that.

Something else which has existed in all our Airbus models, if you forget to turn the fuel pumps on, you won't get any fuel burn.

The fuel system works just fine in the late Beta and release versions.

Best wishes.

 

It has nothing to do with the fuel pumps, but with an apparent bug of the refueling system, as it is being reported by multiple users here:

https://forum.aerosoft.com/index.php?/topic/148649-a330-refueling-in-air-bug/&tab=comments#comment-955540

3 hours ago, Greggy_D said:

The extra 10% pulled me in.  Coupled with the A320 discount, final price was $39.91 .  I'll let the plane bake in for another 6 months before trying it.

How do you couple them together?

In AS forum they wrote that the 10% does not apply if you use the upgrade discounted coupon as well.

Managed...

Edited December 10, 20196 yr by Shomron

3 hours ago, Shomron said:

How do you couple them together?

In AS forum they wrote that the 10% does not apply if you use the upgrade discounted coupon as well.

As I said above. It is done automatically.

Edited December 10, 20196 yr by ZKOKQ

7 hours ago, regis9 said:

I believe this is standard operation for an Airbus, the tail light goes out automatically I just can’t remember if it’s when the weight is lifted from the main landing gear or some other trigger.

Ah your probably right.  I had a look again while on the ground and indeed my tail light was on.  So interesting that this is perhaps simulated. 

8 hours ago, micstatic said:

is there a way to enter ZFW directly instead of having to select pax and cargo separately? 

Not in the AS Fuel Planner program, but I  believe it should work directly into the FMC

7 hours ago, micstatic said:

-FLAPS/THS when prepping.  I attempted to enter 1/UP4.5 and it said bad format.  Not sure what I'm doing wrong here.  

 

its 1/UP4.5    (Corrected. My bad.   Thanks to Richard P for pointing it out. )

But 4.5 is very high.  Dont think Ive seen it anywhere near that in the busses.  You want to keep it as close to 0 as possible. At least its like this for the smaller buses but cant imagine its any different with the heavies. Its still based on COG.   Try adjusting for better weight and balance. 

Edited December 10, 20196 yr by HighTowers

in a tale of 2 stories just landed from an 8 hour overnight.  It experience was 100 times better.  Yes theres a few thinghs that need fixing, and by sure its no way in the same league as the FSL but its not too bad, just have to get used to it i guess.  It stuck on the managed descent like a boss and paused this time at TOD, I only really had a few niggles.

11 hours ago, fluffyflops said:

1. Forgive me if im wrong but you cant click on the FMC to pop it out ??

 

 

Hi,

Yes you can😎. Have a look in the Pdf Vol1. Sorry I don't have it in front of me.

Richard

8 hours ago, regis9 said:

I believe this is standard operation for an Airbus, the tail light goes out automatically I just can’t remember if it’s when the weight is lifted from the main landing gear or some other trigger.

At least on the A320 you can't switch the logo lights on separately since the single switch controls the nav and logo lights.

The logo lights are on with weight on wheels and/or flaps >15°. 

Edited December 10, 20196 yr by FDEdev