Captain Sim aircraft any good?

[Kalnon 160]

I was specifically looking at the Captain Sim 737-300, 757 and 767 base model aircraft for P3Dv5.  I'm just wondering what people think of these planes.  They look nice in the photos but I want to know how deep the systems go and how accurate are the flight models for them.  I had a difficult time finding reviews of these planes but I did find a couple regarding the 757, two separate reviews said the flight model is trash but I would like more feedback on that.  I couldn't find any useful reviews on the other two planes.  If I do buy one, I wanted to start with the 737-300 because I think it's an interesting 737 variant.and it's a cheaper base model (I'm on a fairly tight budget atm).  The only Captain Sim aircraft I do own is the 727 for FSX:SE and I've always enjoyed flying that aircraft over the years despite the dated looking VC.  It has a lot of systems modeled and the flight characteristics feel fairly close to what I would expect (I'm not a real life pilot) for a 727.  So what do you guys think?  I would greatly appreciate anyone's thoughts on these aircraft.

[Nuno Pinto 1,394]

From my personal experience, the latest 767 is really good. Heavy on the frames but it works reliably. The 737-300 is wrong in so many ways (it "features" the 737-200 wings among other oddities) and a lot of lazyness in producing it. Didn't fly it much because, you know, MSFS came up by the time i got it, but it didn't seem anything spectacular or even worth the money.

As for the 757, i didn't even know hey had a x64 version. The version i used back in FSX days had a lot of problems regarding VNAV and LNAV, can't speak about later versions (if any).

[Beardyman 604]

17 minutes ago, Kalnon said:

I want to know how deep the systems go and how accurate are the flight models for them

CS was never known for those, 'some' systems are done, but not very deep and accurate.

Also it is worth mentioning that CS birds are significantly heavier for the system than for example PMDG.

I like 767, wish that beloved L1011 would be improved. but that hope slowly fades away.

[MatthiasKNU 298]

The CS 767 is not a bad aircraft. The most important systems have been implemented quite useably. We don't need to talk about the model, it's very good. For me, the biggest problem is the performance - for me, the 767 only rings at half the fps of the PMDG 777, 747 or the FSLabs Airbus. With weather radar or terrain on ND switched on, the fps drop even more.

The 757 is almost identical, but the performance is a little worse and the cockpit lights are not dimmable.

But all in all, the 757 and 767 feel good to fly.

[Kalnon 160]

27 minutes ago, MatthiasKNU said:

The CS 767 is not a bad aircraft. The most important systems have been implemented quite useably. We don't need to talk about the model, it's very good. For me, the biggest problem is the performance - for me, the 767 only rings at half the fps of the PMDG 777, 747 or the FSLabs Airbus. With weather radar or terrain on ND switched on, the fps drop even more.

The 757 is almost identical, but the performance is a little worse and the cockpit lights are not dimmable.

But all in all, the 757 and 767 feel good to fly.

Thank you so much, that is very helpful feedback.  Good to know the Captain Sim 757 and 767 planes may be good enough to be worth it.  I'll keep the performance issue in mind though I do have kind of a beefy system so hopefully it wouldn't be so bad for me.  I really want to know about the 737-300 as well.

 

I would really appreciate anyone else's opinion as well.  The more information I can get about these planes the better.

[MatthiasKNU 298]

3 minutes ago, Kalnon said:

Thank you so much, that is very helpful feedback.  Good to know the Captain Sim 757 and 767 planes may be good enough to be worth it.  I'll keep the performance issue in mind though I do have kind of a beefy system so hopefully it wouldn't be so bad for me.  I really want to know about the 737-300 as well.

 

I would really appreciate anyone else's opinion as well.  The more information I can get about these planes the better.

Another advice on the side: Wait for one of the CaptainSim sales. Then the planes are really worth it!

[Kalnon 160]

59 minutes ago, Beardyman said:

CS was never known for those, 'some' systems are done, but not very deep and accurate.

Also it is worth mentioning that CS birds are significantly heavier for the system than for example PMDG.

I like 767, wish that beloved L1011 would be improved. but that hope slowly fades away.

Good to know, thanks.  The L1011 is another aircraft I was looking at, the Captain Sim version, then I found the Just Flight L1011 Professional version and I don't know which one of those is better.  I actually like Just Flight jets despite their fllaws, they are fun to fly.  I have the One Eleven and the DC-8 Packs (which do work on P3Dv5 and rather nicely), I always thought of trying another one of their jets.

[Kalnon 160]

5 minutes ago, MatthiasKNU said:

Another advice on the side: Wait for one of the CaptainSim sales. Then the planes are really worth it!

I think that is what I might do.  I do have enough good planes to keep me busy for now.  I do like to catch a good sale on aircraft that I know I will want to buy eventually..  If I can get it for a good sale price, there's a good chance I will snag it.

[ianb2469 55]

If you’re after a 737 then PMDG is probably the best, although I don’t have the ifly Max it seems to get a decent write up.

Personally, I regret every CS purchase I’ve made and have kicked myself every time I forgot and wasted more money. I’ve learned my lesson now!

[Kalnon 160]

1 hour ago, ianb2469 said:

If you’re after a 737 then PMDG is probably the best, although I don’t have the ifly Max it seems to get a decent write up.

Personally, I regret every CS purchase I’ve made and have kicked myself every time I forgot and wasted more money. I’ve learned my lesson now!

I do plan to get the PMDG 737NGXu in time, I've actually owned the FSX version, the 737NGX for a long time.  I recently transitioned to P3Dv5, I don't own any older versions so I still use FSX:SE for some aircraft that are not compatible with v5.  I'm not expecting PMDG quality for the Captain Sim 737.  I think it only cost about $30 for the 737-300 base vs. $100 for the 737NGXu.  I still enjoy jets even if their not full on study level aircraft.  I'm just interested in the 300 variant so I probably wouldn't bother with the expansion packs.  As long as it has enough systems modeled to keep me interested and the flight modelling is decent, that's mostly what I care about.  Their 757 and 767 base packs are much more expensive so I would expect better quality there though.

[Joseph29 225]

I still fly the default C-130's (which are converted Captain Sim planes).

[Kalnon 160]

1 minute ago, Joseph29 said:

I still fly the default C-130's (which are converted Captain Sim planes).

Those really are converted Captain Sim planes?  I had no idea.  I think the C-130's are enjoyable planes to fly, I take them out sometimes.  It's good to take advantage of the aircraft that comes with P3Dv5, after all, you already own them and some of them are pretty decent.

I've always thought that P3Dv5 has a strange collection of "default" aircraft for a flight simulator though I do understand P3D is meant for military training and stuff, not for us flight simulator enthusiasts.  I'm not very much interested in many of the default military aircraft, like the military jets or military helicopters though they're fun to take out and fly once in a while.  I like the C-130's though because I'm a sucker for big four engine propeller aircraft.  Then P3Dv5 has it's other "default" aircraft that are actually cheaper payware aircraft like the Carenado AC11 Commander, Just flight Electra and Constellations, Virtavia Blackhawks, Lionheart Acclaim G1000, etc.  Those aircraft are fun to fly too.  Probably my favorite "default" plane is the AC11 Commander, Carenado always did make good single engine planes.

[ianb2469 55]

6 hours ago, Kalnon said:

I do plan to get the PMDG 737NGXu in time, I've actually owned the FSX version, the 737NGX for a long time.  I recently transitioned to P3Dv5, I don't own any older versions so I still use FSX:SE for some aircraft that are not compatible with v5.  I'm not expecting PMDG quality for the Captain Sim 737.  I think it only cost about $30 for the 737-300 base vs. $100 for the 737NGXu.  I still enjoy jets even if their not full on study level aircraft.  I'm just interested in the 300 variant so I probably wouldn't bother with the expansion packs.  As long as it has enough systems modeled to keep me interested and the flight modelling is decent, that's mostly what I care about.  Their 757 and 767 base packs are much more expensive so I would expect better quality there though.

I think if you do some Google searching, there’s a simple way of using the NGX in v5. Might save you some cash!

[Kalnon 160]

7 hours ago, ianb2469 said:

I think if you do some Google searching, there’s a simple way of using the NGX in v5. Might save you some cash!

Interesting, I'll look into that, thanks.  I still want the NGXu though, I'm curious to see how much they improved the plane.  From what I've read, PMDG gave it a complete makeover, both visually and the systems.

[TopGun33 124]

Hi,

I own all the CaptainSim aircraft you mention : 737, 757 and 767.

To me, the main reason I bought them (on discount) is that there are simply no decent alternative to these for P3D.

The systems are not "failure study level" but they will get a decent job flying you around on VATSIM.

The 757 and 767 are framerate hogs, that's what I hate most about them.

The models are good. The FMC is decent too, works well enough for my needs.

Now the 737 Classics. I personnaly find it a good value for money. They are less worse on the framerate than the heavier Boeings from CaptainSim. I've flown them for about a hundred hours. System wise just like the others, not failure study level.

In neither of those planes you'll find stuff such as ACARS functionnality.

Performance more or less matches my PFPX profiles so that's good enough for me (IIRC I had to adjust the MTOW, ZFW and OEW).

All of them have plenty of liveries for them, that matters a lot for me.

It's just about the pricing, they are so expensive and yet so perfectible. Get them on sale, anything else is a ripoff.