First "Heavy" for MSFS?

[F737MAX 5,585]

1 hour ago, btacon said:

Clearly you are not familiar with FBW or you would not have made such a factually incorrect statement concerning freeware in MSFS.

FBW is thankfully the exception to the (well-known and far too often experienced) rule. Just look at how many add-ons have been abandoned on flightsim.to. Plus, there aren't that many freeware developers for flight sim.

 

5 minutes ago, StAgre said:

if I was a betting man, I'd have my money on a PMDG 787 coming a few years down the line

I'd have to agree. BlueBird Sim may capture enough of the market for the 757 and 767 to make it more worthwhile for PMDG to go for the 787. Especially when it seems QualityWings has vanished.

[jon b 2,047]

@StAgre Thank you for your work compiling that synopsis, most useful 👍

[threexgreen 3,139]

52 minutes ago, StAgre said:

 

• However...He said PMDG's entire codebase is geared toward simulating Boeing aircraft, so if he was going to do a data-driven airplane, perhaps a 787 would make more sense.
• Therefore, if I was a betting man, I'd have my money on a PMDG 787 coming a few years down the line.

Anything on whether they are in talks with Qualitywings? Or is that misinformation I've come across?

[Stavros 295]

1 minute ago, Nixoq said:

Anything on whether they are in talks with Qualitywings? Or is that misinformation I've come across?

I think that rumor came from that interview where he said PMDG were in talks with "someone" regarding the 787... but then he says that "someone" builds 787s. So IMO he's talking about Boeing. I doubt they have any communication with Qualitywings, I doubt they have any interest in working with someone else on it.

The other reason I think a 787 is very likely is that PMDG of course have a 777, and are confirmed to be working on a MAX. the 787s avionics are functionally a combination of the 777s systems with the displays/symbology from the MAX, so they'd have a pretty comprehensive foundation already put together.

[BuboBubo 35]

1 hour ago, StAgre said:

Briefly went through the thread so I may have missed it, but here's an overview of all the heavies that are in development, as well as the state they are in at the moment (as far as we know)

PMDG 777 - Randazzo in an interview in the past few days has said they are already in closed testing, and will be showing previews soon™ as the 737 development winds down with the release of the -900ER. I think it is safe to say that this will be the first modern widebody release for MSFS, barring anyone suddenly appearing with a finished aircraft.

Aerosoft A330 - If the 777 isn't the first widebody release, the A330 could be. We've seen many previews of the modelling though less of systems. That said, no release date given and Aerosoft are hard to predict as they have a history of showing fairly polished looking models and then not releasing a plane for years.

TFDI MD-11 - Already for sale in "Early Access" but aside from some small previews we don't know what state the aircraft is in or what features to expect on release. TFDI have stated that they believe they will release the aircraft at the end of 2023, but personally I think 2024 is more likely.

iniBuilds A300-600F - The A310 is already in the sim and they have stated they intend to sell the A300-600F for MSFS, so in theory this would be something happening sooner rather than later. 2023 maybe?

Bluebird Simulations 757/767 - Not a wide body, but BBS have shown some relatively robust previews of the systems in a 757, and stated their intention to also develop a 767. No timeline on this at the moment, but I would guess that 2024 is more likely than 2023 for release.

PMDG 747 - We know it's coming, but I wouldn't expect it before 2024.

JustFlight 747 Classic and A300B4 - Development has been transitioned from P3D to MSFS, and they've shown a few previews. No word on release date.

FSLabs A330 - FSLabs have stated they are developing for MSFS, and that they are developing an A330. They are generally very quiet about development progress, but I would guess this is at least 2 years from release.

QualityWings 787 - Literally no information, other than that they planned to release it for MSFS in 2021, which obviously did not happen.

 

FREEWARE DEVELOPERS:

AeroDynamics DC-10 - Several previews, no release date.

FBW A380 - Several previews and flown on livestream in a clearly very early alpha state. As their A320NEO is still very WIP with regards to several key systems, I would not expect this anytime soon.

Digital Dyanmics A350 - Some previews of both modelling and systems in very early alpha states. I am still skeptical that such a complex aircraft can reasonably be made open source, but who knows.

 

WILD SPECULATION:

Randazzo had a 3+ hour chat with FilbertFlies and there were some interesting Nuggets:

• After the 747 is released for MSFS, PMDG have a fairly open window for development and they are as of yet undecided on what they want to do next
• PMDG were working on a 757 and 767 prior to the announcement of MSFS, but these projects were put on indefinite hold in favor of converting their P3D library to MSFS. Although randazzo said his decision on what to develop wouldn't be influenced by what other developers are doing, he did seem hesitant and did specifically mention the BlueBird 757/767 project
• If he could develop anything, he would maybe do a 727. But he also qualified this by saying that looking at the market this doesn't make much sense
• He then mentioned that he would be really interested in doing the A350, he's had an opportunity to look at it, thinks it's a beautiful plane and is interested in the challenge of developing such a data driven airplane.
• However...He said PMDG's entire codebase is geared toward simulating Boeing aircraft, so if he was going to do a data-driven airplane, perhaps a 787 would make more sense.
• Therefore, if I was a betting man, I'd have my money on a PMDG 787 coming a few years down the line.

 

 

As for freeware, there is also the Headwind A330 which uses systems from the FBW320.

[jon b 2,047]

And they also have the 747-8 which has all the integrated approach navigation and deviation pointers already figured out

[threexgreen 3,139]

3 minutes ago, jon b said:

And they also have the 747-8 which has all the integrated approach navigation and deviation pointers already figured out

Their 737 has IAN, too. Is that different from that in a 747-8?

Edited January 17, 2023 by Nixoq

[jon b 2,047]

I don’t know for sure but I suspect it will be identical, is that just on the 737 max or is it on the existing 737s they have out?

[bendead 1,085]

Did not read all the thread, but anyone mentioned Asobo 787?

AAU 1 is already fixing a big chunk of avionics and airplanes, we still have two more this year and from what I heard from previous Q&A, they want to improve all the premium planes.

So I would guess the 787 will be fixed soon, maybe internally by WT or with the help of other dev, why not QW?

[tgsweat 144]

On 1/13/2023 at 7:26 PM, Noel said:

It's part of A Pilot's Life, choosing short and/or medium and/or long range flights.  But you can choose any combination so have good control from which schedules are created from, based on RW routes.  Sometimes I do short-medium schedule and when I have something longer I just run the sim at 2 to 4x as needed.

But you can fly any plane in APL. I use the CRJ for 737 routes and vice versa all the time. 

[Noel 4,496]

4 hours ago, tgsweat said:

But you can fly any plane in APL. I use the CRJ for 737 routes and vice versa all the time. 

Sure

[Stavros 295]

6 hours ago, bendead said:

Did not read all the thread, but anyone mentioned Asobo 787?

AAU 1 is already fixing a big chunk of avionics and airplanes, we still have two more this year and from what I heard from previous Q&A, they want to improve all the premium planes.

So I would guess the 787 will be fixed soon, maybe internally by WT or with the help of other dev, why not QW?

The avionics update has been nice, don't get me wrong. The Longitude is a nice plane now, but it's still not really a comparable experience to, say, the PMDG or Fenix. Flyable and Fun, yes, but I suspect an avionics updated 787 would still feel a little empty compared to a proper fully fleshed payware offering.

[Bernard Ducret 790]

17 hours ago, edu2703 said:

Those who already took a finished aircraft and just modified their systems like FBW. Not that I want to belittle the work they did, but they took a big shortcut that allowed for their success.

That is quite a harsh condescending statement for a group of people who are working their heart out to provide us with one of the very best A320 there is as of today for this platform. Following your judgement, the same could be said about the Fenix A320 using Prosim, and yet, it is not freeware!

Personally, I find your post neither factually correct nor fair for FBW.

[bendead 1,085]

8 hours ago, StAgre said:

but I suspect an avionics updated 787 would still feel a little empty compared to a proper fully fleshed payware offering.

I agree, but with QW giving no news, PMDG talking about a possible partner for a 787, maybe Asobo like what Ini did or Asobo + PMDG + QW.

Also AAU1 was quite complete plus the GNS530 and G1000 are good now now, I don't see what WT can add to AAU 2 & 3 that will reach that level of wow effect.

As usual, only supposition on my part, but I would not be surprised, if a descent, close to INI or PMDG, 787 is released this year.

 

[jon b 2,047]

That default 787 certainly looks nice but there’s a real lot of work to be done to get it anything close to a real 787 in terms of systems and handling. I’m not saying it can’t be done but there’s a lot that needs doing.