4 hours ago, Lotharen said:

what do you do in the PMDG where it doesn't fly itself?

Ignore the hyperbole. Other than setting the cruise and landing altitudes on the pressurisation panel, dialling in the ILS frequency on the nav radio and setting the course selector on the MCP, there's little difference in experience between the 737 and A320 for a sim pilot flying either on the automatics.

If your peripherals permit, hand flying the 737, 777 or A320 (or any airliner, really) on departure and again on approach is a challenge as it's far more involved than watching the AP do its job, yet much more rewarding.

Even though it's a FBW airliner, the 777 engines can really stuff up your approach/final if the power is set too high. Speed vs rate of descent can be a tricky balance with both AP and AT off, but also a lot of fun.

To be fair there are more things to manage in the 737 than the a320 in terms of primary flight controls (ie trim). If you're manually landing, generally you are controlling the throttle manually as well. You also have to set more various instrument panels manually for startup, etc than the a320. It is a bit more manual. Now is it a big distinction such that it is worth making it a talking point? *Shrug*

2 hours ago, JRBarrett said:

What do you mean by “basic”? What does the EFB need that it doesn’t already have? What is your definition of a “ground breaking” EFB?

it loads Simbrief flight plans and Navigraph charts, allows you to do takeoff and landing performance calculations, control external services such as chocks, external power and baggage loaders, open and close all doors and hatches etc. What more do you need?

doesn't  make  coffee  for  you for  starters 🙂

On 12/5/2024 at 9:13 AM, Gilandred said:

But on the other hand, when it comes to charging for a new simulator, we suddenly care about the amount of work involved.

v2024 is NOT a new simulator any more than the last version of P3D was.

On 12/5/2024 at 11:09 AM, F737MAX said:

While true, don't forget it is PMDG's choice to be bound by having their coding run internally within MSFS.

And why have chosen that route? A desire to make more money from having the Xbox customer base available to them.
While I have no problem with PMDG seeking out the most profitable business course of action, let's not pretend that their reticence to use an external engine (like other developers have) is because of altruism towards Xbox users of MSFS.

WEIRD take.

There's only two devs that I know of that use an external engine: A2A (who did even before MSFS, and who have still managed to make it work for xbox; and Fenix).

Developers don't "choose that route" to "make more money from Xbox", they do it because it's the standard development model, i.e., more time and cost effective, with the ability to make the most revenue. I.e., it's the common sense thing that the VAST majority of developers do.

On 12/6/2024 at 10:26 AM, Christopher Low said:

I wish people would stop expecting discounts just because they have another one of a developer's products. It comes across as disrespectful. I have the PMDG 737-600, but I would not expect a discount if I wanted to buy any of the other versions.

I overall agree, but I also note that other developers offer bundled packages. It's nice, but I don't expect it.

On 12/6/2024 at 10:52 AM, Ron Lefebvre said:

But you did get a discount on the 600. The 600 was a lot cheaper then the 800 for the simple reason that it is basically the same plane.

By that reasoning, the 800 would be cheaper than the 700...

That's not the reason the 600 is cheaper. It's a Loss Leader - a brilliant move that, AFAIK, none of the other devs are doing.

 

The 737NG and Max FMC determine green decel points for proper speed and energy management in VNAV to be stable on the approach at 1000 feet. The 777 does not. You have to manage this deceleration yourself. 

I often wonder why Boeing never updated the FMC with this feature on the 777.

On 12/6/2024 at 11:30 AM, Snuffleupagus said:

🤨 One variant costing almost as much as an entire simulator?… We have different opinions on what a bargain is…

You mean like Fenix? Or Leonardo (which costs more than the sim)?

On 12/6/2024 at 12:16 PM, Lucky38i said:

JustFlights offers me a sizeable discount as an owner of the 146 to be used for the RJ series, a fundamentally different aircraft that comes with its own sets of variants. However, I’m somehow disrespectful to expect some kind of discount for a freighter variant of the -200 who’s notable changes are derated engines and slight length difference.

JF is one of the very few who do so, and arguably, their products aren't as Hi Fi as PMDG (tho they're getting close with their newest addons)

17 hours ago, anden145 said:

It'll be a pass for me... I was kinda looking forward to it, but $55 is too much in my opinion... 

What kinda befuddles me, is that the pricing generally seems high, compared to P3D. They increased their pricing, for P3D, under the excuse/explanation, that they had special license agreements, to enter that market, and that they had different considerations, which had to be taken into account, given their license agreement. 

The PMDG 777 series in P3D was:

• PMDG 777-200LR/F was $134,99
• PMDG 777-300ER (Expansion!) was around $29.99 (as far as I can remember?)
• PMDG 777-200ER (Expansion!)- I never purchased it so I don't know. $24,99 ?

The total package was around $190.

The PMDG 777 series in MSFS is (so far):

• PMDG 777-300ER is $77,73
• PMDG 777-F is: $54,99

If the last two planes (777-200ER and 777-200LR) are $60 (30 for each?), we'll end up with a total of around $190.

The PMDG 737 is even more expensive, compared to the P3D version (which were constrained to the same license conditions).

In P3D the 737-series was:

• PMDG 737-8/900 Base Package was $69,99
• PMDG 737-6/700 Expansion was $24,99

Total was $94,98. Add of course the Freighter and BBJ expansion. I don't know what that amounts to, though... 

In MSFS total PMDG 737-series is:

• PMDG 737-600 is $34,99
• PMDG 737-700 is $74,99
• PMDG 737-800 is $69,99
• PMDG 737-900 is $49,99

Total is (as of date of writing) $229,96.

Now, I know that this is not that precise. But it was just to give a picture of the differences and pricing. I could understand PMDG's reasoning for the price-increase, when the PMDG was developed for P3D. But I don't know... 🙂

Anyway - I guess, that when prices are climbing... they have a hard time descending again. That's not different from anywhere else in the world or line of work.

I guess I can hope for a sale at some point. 🙂

I prefer the new licensing model as I feel no compulsion to purchase all the variants. I have the 737-700, and I only fly the BBJ. Perfectly happy to leave it at that, and enjoy the (much) lower cost of entry.

I might get this new one at $55 as that's significantly less than the pax model.

4 hours ago, Kevin_28 said:

To be fair there are more things to manage in the 737 than the a320 in terms of primary flight controls (ie trim). If you're manually landing, generally you are controlling the throttle manually as well. You also have to set more various instrument panels manually for startup, etc than the a320. It is a bit more manual. Now is it a big distinction such that it is worth making it a talking point? *Shrug*

Agree with this. Its why I enjoy moving over to the 738 from the Fenix when using my VA, I have far more switches to interact with, I love that about the Boeing.

11 hours ago, psolk said:

Wait, there is a coffee maker?  🙂  

I do agree, I know I said I wouldn't but there is something intriguing to me about the freighter ops.  Great excuse to fly in/out of Anchorage in the winter... 

I said I wouldn't but I probably will LOL... 

One non PMDG related question but can GSX handle Cargo ops?   

yep it works great

7 hours ago, Kevin_28 said:

If you're manually landing, generally you are controlling the throttle manually as well.

Actually you have that in reverse. Airbus wants you to switch off the AT when you fly manually, whereas Boeing says you should leave it on.

The rest comes down to company SOP.

27 minutes ago, Farlis said:

Actually you have that in reverse. Airbus wants you to switch off the AT when you fly manually, whereas Boeing says you should leave it on.

The rest comes down to company SOP.

Eh? Everything I've read/heard about Airbus has it as ON when flying manually, 737 has it off (unless your SOP has it otherwise, although from my understanding it is RARE to have it ON), 777 I believe has it ON from what I have read.

Obviously all recommendations or SOP as all can be flown manually .. ..

G