Development update for Majestic Dash 8

[TomCYYZ 215]

I am stoked with this news. Starting the Q400 from C&D and getting her down at the Destination is the most satisfying sense of accomplishment I have ever had with Flightsim. I’ll be monitoring this one.

[rickjake 243]

I have flown many times on the real thing as a passenger.  Amazed at how realistic the prop sound are on the Majestic Dash 8 and how it flies. Loved flying it in P3D.  I have kept P3D on my system because of this aircraft. However, I haven't touched P3D in almost 2 years.  Very exited to hear that it still planned for MSFS. 

[micstatic 4,319]

54 minutes ago, TomCYYZ said:

I am stoked with this news. Starting the Q400 from C&D and getting her down at the Destination is the most satisfying sense of accomplishment I have ever had with Flightsim. I’ll be monitoring this one.

This.  Totally this. 

[blueshark747 1,843]

Yup the Q400 gives me anxious butterflies and keeps me on my toes during final, it's a feeling like none other in a flight sim.

It was my introduction to study level products.

Edited August 31, 2022 by blueshark747

[honanhal 1,420]

6 hours ago, ZLA Steve said:

Maybe there is one or two more key sequences needed on the Universal because the system actively works against you

Man, this, a hundred times this. I honestly can't understand how this FMS ever got designed, approved, and put into service. Airbus and Boeing have differing FMS philosophies, but they're both quite intuitive in their way and (99% of the time) incredibly efficient to use once you learn them. The Universal? Good lord...quite an accomplishment to be 100% both unintuitive and inefficient.

[tup61 1,565]

To me the Majestic Q400 had the perfect balance between simplicity and complexity and also between easy to handle and hard to handle.

The great thing about the Q400 was that it was rather complex but I really had the idea I could master and handle everything, up to the tiniest button. ('Button' in this post stands for buttons, switches, options, etc. to make it more readable. 😉 )
I feel pretty confident with the Fenix A320 right now but even though I more or less know what every button should do there are a lot of buttons I don't really dare to touch because I don't feel like I know enough about it all. There are so many buttons in that cockpit that I doubt if I will ever really know everything there is to now in order to completely master it.
Not so with the Q400: I really had the idea it had the EXACT right amount of buttons for my brain to master them. It was complex but I could get to know every button and control everything. It had an overhead but not one that would scare you at first sight. It was PERFECT for me in that regard.

Having said the above: while the Airbus does have a lot of 'scary buttons' it is extremely easy to operate. You can perfectly fly the plane without knowing everything about every button. You just push a few buttons and off you go. And specially: down you go. The plane is extremely easy to get from A to B.
Not so with the Q400! And again I will use the words EXACT and PERFECT. 😉 This plane really needs your attention all the time! And specially during descent, approach and landing, where you really have to pay attention! You have to constantly watch your throttle and make small changes. The required workload fits my bill PERFECTLY. It has the EXACT right amount of things you have to do and keep an eye on to keep you busy and hence entertained.

Another advantage of the Q400 for me was that it is suited for shorter flights and, you guessed, the length of a lot of real world Q400 flights is PERFECT for me. It EXACTLY fits my needs. I seriously flew the Majestic Q400 for YEARS in Norway only (!) doing nothing but real world Wideroe flights and I loved it. It was a blast. Never a dull moment. I can't wait to fly the Q400 in Norway again! I didn't mind flying the same procedures over and over again into the same airports because they offered a PERFECT challenge every single time and I had to put all my focus on the job I had to do.

In short: the Q400 is the PERFECT plane for me in all regards. It's like a sublime mix between an airliner and a GA almost. Not too complicated but not too easy. It's PERFECT and EXACTLY what I'd like to see (soon) in MSFS. (Pity I don't think it will be soon...)

Edited August 31, 2022 by tup61

[tup61 1,565]

3 hours ago, honanhal said:

The Universal? Good lord...quite an accomplishment to be 100% both unintuitive and inefficient.

LOL Funny... Yes, it's really different but after getting used to it I have to say I often found it easier to use and more logical than an Airbus MCDU...! So I can't agree with it being unintuitive and inefficient. 😉  Can't wait to put my hands on that universal FMS again LOL

[jcomm 5,939]

Have to confess I never really liked the feel of the Majestic in either FSX or P3D ( same FM after all ).

From a systems modelling pov it is very good, but it handles strangely in FSX / P3D, detached from the sim, as it actually is since it's running externally AFAIK based on a JSBSim-based  FDM.

It felt particularly strange under turbulence, gusting and variable winds, and overall, from takeoff to landing.

Not bad during taxi.

Hope they can take it to a new level regarding flight dynamics in MFS.

Edited August 31, 2022 by jcomm

[VBHB 298]

Hopefully the RNAV works in the MSFS version was broken in P3D.

Edited August 31, 2022 by VBHB

[micstatic 4,319]

2 hours ago, jcomm said:

Have to confess I never really liked the feel of the Majestic in either FSX or P3D ( same FM after all ).

From a systems modelling pov it is very good, but it handles strangely in FSX / P3D, detached from the sim, as it actually is since it's running externally AFAIK based on a JSBSim-based  FDM.

It felt particularly strange under turbulence, gusting and variable winds, and overall, from takeoff to landing.

Not bad during taxi.

Hope they can take it to a new level regarding flight dynamics in MFS.

The pro version came with an option you had to turn on to enable high resolution controls. It was amazing. Just look up 125hz controls 

[Krakin 5,767]

I just want someone to make a high fidelity Q300/200

[regis9 4,014]

I dare anyone to not smile after pushback when you push the condition levers all the way forward and listen to the engines hum.  One of my favourite moments in flight simming (especially with the great addon sound pack in P3D).

[micstatic 4,319]

I'm not even a classical music fan.  But something so nice about the stock music during my preflight

[jimcarrel 688]

1 hour ago, regis9 said:

I dare anyone to not smile after pushback when you push the condition levers all the way forward and listen to the engines hum.  One of my favourite moments in flight simming (especially with the great addon sound pack in P3D).

I can remember all that smiling I did when I first ran across the Majestic 400 years and years ago. Makes me think of that song  with the lyrics "this magic moment" (who did that?)

[Noel 4,502]

5 hours ago, jcomm said:

Have to confess I never really liked the feel of the Majestic in either FSX or P3D ( same FM after all ).

From a systems modelling pov it is very good, but it handles strangely in FSX / P3D, detached from the sim, as it actually is since it's running externally AFAIK based on a JSBSim-based  FDM.

It felt particularly strange under turbulence, gusting and variable winds, and overall, from takeoff to landing.

Not bad during taxi.

Hope they can take it to a new level regarding flight dynamics in MFS.

Those are my sentiments to a T about the Majestic Crash 8.  I also feel a good 50% of why it was so well received in P3D was the fact its frame performance in P3D was so good compared to other complex planes.