15 minutes ago, Ricardo41 said:

The Aerosoft Airbus Professional gives you all variants for around $80. If you buy everything from FSL and add VAT it'll cost you about 3 times as much. Does the FSLabs give you 3 times more what the Aersoft version provides?  

Yes. 

Edited May 18, 20206 yr by flycln

Deleted

Edited May 18, 20206 yr by Jean-Claude

Chaps, the OP’s question is pretty clear - “best hardcore airbus for Prepar3d v5”.

So people go ahead and recommend 1. Aircraft that are not v5 compatible or 2. Aircraft that are not Airbuses.

I could join the trend and suggest “The Level D 757!” or “The A2A Cub!” but no. I will provide the actual answer which is (cue: rage from the FSL disciples)

- The VIRTUALCOL A220

why?

- It simulates a modern aircraft with Rockwell Collins Proline Fusion 15 inch avionics displays, much better than those found on the old-fashioned A320.

- It will not install malware on your system, as even if they wanted to I don’t think the Virtualcol boys could code a decent virus.

- It IS an airbus.
- Of the airbuses that are available for Prepar3d v5, it is the most hard core.

Cheers!

Edited May 18, 20206 yr by OzWhitey

The a220 is a control e engine start. Enough said. It’s an arcade plane imo

Sure, my FSL A320 allows me to start the plane with engine running, so let’s call that an arcade game plane as well by your definition. I am happy with that.

If we’re now talking arcade gaming, the FSL A320 may - arguably - be better than the Virtualcol A220 for virtual dogfights and barrel rolls, but it’s not better in Prepar3d v5 as it does not work in that sim.

Aerial combat winner: Virtualcol A220. FSL A320 did not get off the ground, so Virtualcol established complete air superiority.

As the Virtualcol also won the “simulating air transport operations in Prepar3d v5” round, I think we know who is getting the trophy here.

Virtualcol: 🏆

FSL: 😤

Aerosoft:😢
 

Edited May 18, 20206 yr by OzWhitey

11 hours ago, Boomer said:

I ponder going to the Dark Side as Boeing flier.

This is the major issue when you ARE on the dark side, that it let you even think you´re not. But it´s never too late to turn into an Airbus Jedi.

If you want "a hardcore Airbus" build you own homecockpit, buy all that stuff from Skalarki and get Jeehell FMGS on networked clients for all the complex systems. 😁

I think that the Aerosoft Airbus and FSL are at nearly the same level and both give a good feeling what an airbus feels like. While FSL goes more into the professional direction for procedure training.  But both can be compared to what PMDG means for Boing

Edited May 18, 20206 yr by BerndB

Currently, the Virtualcol A220 is the clear winner in P3D v5 for those who want to operate simulated airliners from this manufacturer.

It also has the advantage that - for some reason - the Airbus engineers finally produced a plane that's fun to fly. Now, as you know, Airbus normally sticks to the futuristic "pilot and dog in cockpit" design approach, but with the A220 they've seen the light and managed to build an aircraft that allows the real (or virtual) pilot to actually fly the darn thing.

Now, I hear you saying "But I want to fly the A3xx!". Sure. Whilst these types are more of a "monitoring systems simulator" - a bit like playing Assetto Corsa and using a Tesla self-driving car - I understand that they are popular.

With this in mind, I've done a little testing, and the good news is that YOU CAN FLY AN AIRBUS A3xx in PREPAR3D v5 RIGHT NOW!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Setup:

Prepar3d v5 HF1, Enhanced Atmospherics on.

Thrustmaster T-16000M used as sidestick.

Computer system: i9900K, clocked up to 5.1 GHx with vcore 1.37 for the occasion. MSI Geforce RTX 2080Ti, overclocked (core +185 Mhz).

Takeoff calcs: TOPCAT.

Flight planning: PFPX.

Scenery: Orbx TrueEarth UK South, Orbx EGHI as destination airport.

Traffic: UT Live.

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here we are just before landing at the end of our journey, using the VORDME FD02 approach.

Now that I have completed my testing, the final standings for Airbus simulation in Prepar3d v5 are:

Virtualcol A220: Gold medal. 

This mystery aircraft (I am under an NDA with the manufacturer regarding other matters, so not sure if I can post this picture but YOLO): Silver medal.

FSL A320: Participation certificate.

Aerosoft Airbus A320/A321 Professional: Participation certificate.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cheers chaps, and enjoy your Prepar3d v5 Airbus flying!

53 minutes ago, OzWhitey said:

It also has the advantage that - for some reason - the Airbus engineers finally produced a plane that's fun to fly. Now, as you know, Airbus normally sticks to the futuristic "pilot and dog in cockpit" design approach, but with the A220 they've seen the light and managed to build an aircraft that allows the real (or virtual) pilot to actually fly the darn thing.

Airbus didn't design the A220.  They bought the C-Series line from Bombardier.  It's a Bombardier design.  Just to set the record straight.  😉

 

2 hours ago, OzWhitey said:

the Airbus engineers finally produced a plane that's fun to fly.

Epic fail. 

Some well dodgy textures below the left window in that Airbus cockpit screenshot above.

17 minutes ago, Ricardo41 said:

Epic fail. 

More like an “epic r/whoosh” from Ricardo41. 😉

4 minutes ago, Christopher Low said:

Some well dodgy textures below the left window in that Airbus cockpit screenshot above.

Ahh, I though you’d have been too focused on the beautiful British scenery and atmospherics to notice it, Chris. I should have used the UK2000 airport, that would have kept you happy, i’ve actually been using VFR Airfields 1 in this region quite a bit with Trueearth in P3D v5.

As for the plane: Textures are only a B+ grade, performance is suboptimal (about 40FPS as tested, which I know is more than enough for some here), avionics are a notch below the Virtualcol offering, that’s why I’ve relegated it to second place.

ProSim A320.

It's only hardcore if you can certify it 😅

9 minutes ago, JoeFackel said:

ProSim A320.

It's only hardcore if you can certify it 😅

I thought of including that, Joe, as I noted that my Prosim 737 is now v5 compliant and read that the A320 would be the same.

I don’t own the A320 version and was not willing to spend $1000 (ish) plus update subscription purely for this thread. Still, I can simulate the view from Prosim A320 by pressing shift-A whilst in my current Airbus.

Also, I’ve not enquired whether my current Airbus - from a well-known major developer, whom I will not name for legal/NDA reasons as stated - can be certified as an FAA-approved Advanced Aviation Training Device.

FSLabs = cartoon textures 😄