10 minutes ago, sd_flyer said:

Is it out yet?

Nope. They say today but when is a secret

This airplane looks really promising in the YouTube videos! With great system depth. I begin to like it more and more.

I've had it in my hangar since the collector edition launched.  But didn't fly it up until now.  It's finally looking pretty good.  I plan to take it for a spin in the near future. 

I've been hitting F5 for a while now. Not out yet but I guess it depends on where they are based (US?). 

30 minutes ago, Cpt_Piett said:

I've been hitting F5 for a while now. Not out yet but I guess it depends on where they are based (US?). 

It says FL next to their zip code, so i guess Florida?

Started my inaugural flight from SEA to ANC.  No problems so far and I got the FMS all figured out and the plane is tracking the route no problem.  Currently at FL340 cruising at Mach .83.  Fuel burn is  16900 lbs per hour.  I would assume that is about right for a plane of this era.  I am also not real heavy.  ETA is 3 hours 20 minutes!

 

 

 

4 minutes ago, Car147 said:

It says FL next to their zip code, so i guess Florida?

Yes. TFDi is Florida based.

1 hour ago, longhaul747 said:

Started my inaugural flight from SEA to ANC. 

Are you one of those who bought an unfinished product a long time ago and got the final update now? Because it's not released officially yet. When you bought it if not a secret?

3 hours ago, MPL said:

Here you go! :)

https://flightsim.to/file/75110/tfdi-md-11f-pw-fedex-panda-express-n585fe

Snagged it! You're a STAR mate ;D

 

3 minutes ago, Vitold69 said:

Are you one of those who bought an unfinished product a long time ago and got the final update now? Because it's not released officially yet. When you bought it if not a secret?

Yeah I picked it up a long time ago when they did that limited to 1000 people deal.  I think my purchase date was Dec of 2022 and I got the 1st release of it about 6 months later if memory serves.  Back then it was pretty much unflyable and over a period of time it went from bad to worse.  Some builds were more solid but the next a bunch of stuff would be broken.  Honestly it was not looking promising even in the build before the release candidate had some issues.  However with this release build its pretty solid.  I am sure it still has issues and some people will find them but it has come a long ways.  

I think TFDi was looking for a lot publicity with this strategy but I think it mostly backfired or at least kind of pointless.  It was just not a completely plane early on not even a very basic one so most people (me included) put it on the sidelines and sort of waited it out.  Again this latest build is by far the latest build.  I am sure some issues will be found and updates will be coming.  For starters is my understanding the PW version is still incomplete!

     

1 hour ago, longhaul747 said:

Started my inaugural flight from SEA to ANC.  No problems so far and I got the FMS all figured out and the plane is tracking the route no problem.  Currently at FL340 cruising at Mach .83.  Fuel burn is  16900 lbs per hour.  I would assume that is about right for a plane of this era.  I am also not real heavy.  ETA is 3 hours 20 minutes!

 

 

 

How did you get it? My loadmanager still has "preloaded" version 1.0.1

8 minutes ago, sd_flyer said:

How did you get it? My loadmanager still has "preloaded" version 1.0.1

I downloaded a new installer from the TFDi 3 or 4 days ago and that installs the latest version.  Whatever version that is but its supposed to be the release version.  Updated liveries were posted Sunday evening.  I thought the version I downloaded was version 1.0 so they might have pushed another update so I will have to check on that.  If you have 1.0.1 that might actually be newer than what I have?  I will have to check when I arrive! 

Just about to start my descent into ANC.  I loaded 100,000 lbs of fuel not knowing how much it would burn in route but have only consumed 40,000 lbs of fuel so far.  Fuel flow has settled down to about 15000 lbs per hour.  85,000 lbs of bulk cargo loaded!

 

 

2 hours ago, Cpt_Piett said:

I've been hitting F5 for a while now. Not out yet but I guess it depends on where they are based (US?). 

Hey did you know there are plenty of browser extensions that auto refresh the page for you? You set the interval every 5/20/30 secs or minute etc.

I used one to get deals on eBay when that was my career. Don't wear that f5 key out, get software to do it for you while you sit back and relax!

30 minutes ago, longhaul747 said:

Just about to start my descent into ANC.  I loaded 100,000 lbs of fuel not knowing how much it would burn in route but have only consumed 40,000 lbs of fuel so far.  Fuel flow has settled down to about 15000 lbs per hour.  85,000 lbs of bulk cargo loaded!

What's in your cargo manifest? ))) Is SEA-ANC a real Fedex route or ANC is just a refueling stopover for heavy loaded planes on the way to Japan?  

18 minutes ago, Vitold69 said:

What's in your cargo manifest? ))) Is SEA-ANC a real Fedex route or ANC is just a refueling stopover for heavy loaded planes on the way to Japan?  

I think its a real route at least occasionally.  I have seen the MD-11 on that route.  Likely just a stop over on the way to Asia would be my guess?  The 777's probably don't need the stop over.

A few odd things I noticed on descent and final approach.  The distance from the airport was getting confused closer to the airport.  It would be stuck on 105nm for the longest time and all of a sudden it would show 55nm out.  About 20nm out from the airport the distance disappeared completely.  For the record this happens on every plane in FS2020.  Likely a limitation and for the record I don't fully program the FMS.  

I am not a real pilot and of coarse never flown a MD11 in real life but I have noticed extreme flap drag.  I believe on final at Flaps 35 I had to maintain 70-90% N1 just to keep in the sky.  Idle down and you loose a ton of airspeed and if you are not careful you will loose it.  I know flap drag is hard to get right in any sim but I do believe it needs to be toned down a bit.  Heaven forbid if I try flaps 40.  Also on touchdown it seems to come to a stop very fast without the need for brakes or reversers likely from all that flap drag.  Could be some auto brake action going on and I will need to check on that next time I fly it.    

Also occasionally the AP would decide to do its own thing on descent.  Like I would dial in 1500 FPM and randomly it would just start descending at 3000 or 4000 FPM or more.  Finely just killed the AP and flew in by hand.  I think most of this is just user error and still got a bit to learn about about it.  

It does fly nice and if you get slow it gets squirrely which is a trait on the real thing.  I also felt that it would not flare if you got a tad slow resulting in the possibility of a bad landing.  Again a trait of the real thing from what I hear.  Best to come in a bit fast and all will be well except all that flap drag.  I really think it needs some tweaking but we will see what others say?

Overall though its pretty cool!