I finally got to fly the Md-11 after shelving it for many months for it to get more matured. I am very disappointed to be honest. The sounds are much better than before, the cockpit textures and lighting is good, but not the best. But for some reason, the cockpit feels "soulless" Some things are not clickable. I am not sure what, but the plane feels off compared to other developers. Maybe its extra small things, like opening windows, sun shades, arm rest, oxygen test which are all not clickable. Does any one else have that feeling that the plane feels cold and basic? Feels like the patches are not as fequent as they used to be and the exterior art update is taking ages.

Edited January 16, 20251 yr by Aviator_2024

1 hour ago, Aviator_2024 said:

I finally got to fly the Md-11 after shelving it for many months for it to get more matured. I am very disappointed to be honest. The sounds are much better than before, the cockpit textures and lighting is good, but not the best. But for some reason, the cockpit feels "soulless" Some things are not clickable. I am not sure what, but the plane feels off compared to other developers. Maybe its extra small things, like opening windows, sun shades, arm rest, oxygen test which are all not clickable. Does any one else have that feeling that the plane feels cold and basic? Feels like the patches are not as fequent as they used to be and the exterior art update is taking ages.

Thanks for your report, I was always on the verge of purchasing it and honestly thought it would be in a much better state by now. By your description I would exactly get the same feeling you have

A bit disappointing to hear, I've always had a soft spot for those tri engine jets, the DC-10 in FSX was always one of my favourites and I just love the look of these aircraft so I have been keeping a close eye on how she's been progressing updates wise as there clearly were some rough edges based on feedback ate release, although I can't speak for its current state I have seen very little in the way of patch release notes for this one.  Unlike the 727 which is already on patch 1.7 now and also still on my to purchase radar but given that number of updates I feel quite confident of picking up the 727 sooner rather than later.  I still hold hope that a post will appear here on avsim praising the qualities of the MD-11 following an update but so far still waiting which does make me reluctant to pick it up, it's not exactly a cheap plane so quality expectations are justifiably up there and simmers may be willing to accept some initial shortcomings to be resolved by post release updates, the current radio silence has me holding off at this stage.  Maybe PMDG will revisit their MD-11 one day, we can hope.

Same, I'm really interrested by this aircraft but I still hesitate to really invest in it. I'm going to wait for more update and the exterior art update.

Honnestly after watching a lot of videos, I'm still disapointed by the quality of the external textures, interior cabin and even the flightdeck. It really seems that the msfs version is only a port of the P3D version.

msfs deserve better and for the price asked, I was expecting something better. Sad because I really love the MD-11.

I "feel" more comfortable than the TO'ner with the plane, but there may different points of view: for me it's more importand that the fuel schedule for long haul flight is programmed correctly (and it's a very complicated system, belive me) than a clickable armrest. The systems are working well, major bugs ironed out, EFB, WX and TERR are implemented and finally I have to say for me that plane is programmed in the spirit of Bill Grabowski - love it. PMDG never will develop a MD11 again since Lefteris has done the major parts of development for PMDG MD11, but they went on different paths and for P3D there was no MD11 available, only a B717 from TFDI. So it seem the only MD11 we have at the moment, I've been waiting for the extension module which including failure simulation, CB handling and more. From my side a clear recommendation if you are willing to dive deep into the divas systems. And regarding the price - you get the pax or freighter and for a small amount the other one - at PMDG you have to pay the T7-300 and then again the T7-freighter fully. Best regards

did they get the LSAS properly implemented?

This plane definitely has some bugs/errors many of which which users have been waiting for update for last few months. As it stands right now - there is another update planned which should include some major bugs fixes as well as autopilot issues. This plane does not feel like is in finished state - People literally are paying TDFI to be beta testers. MD-11 was in alpha previously for 6 months or more before it was released last year. I don't understand why beta testers didn't picked many of reported errors during alpha testing. 

iFLY has done better job with their MAX - yes it was a pre-release product but functions were miles ahead of TFDI on release. 

1 hour ago, CAP1234 said:

This plane definitely has some bugs/errors many of which which users have been waiting for update for last few months. As it stands right now - there is another update planned which should include some major bugs fixes as well as autopilot issues. This plane does not feel like is in finished state - People literally are paying TDFI to be beta testers. MD-11 was in alpha previously for 6 months or more before it was released last year. I don't understand why beta testers didn't picked many of reported errors during alpha testing. 

iFLY has done better job with their MAX - yes it was a pre-release product but functions were miles ahead of TFDI on release. 

Yes, I agree. The plane feels not welcoming and very minimalistic 

 

1 hour ago, CAP1234 said:

This plane definitely has some bugs/errors many of which which users have been waiting for update for last few months. As it stands right now - there is another update planned which should include some major bugs fixes as well as autopilot issues. This plane does not feel like is in finished state - People literally are paying TDFI to be beta testers. MD-11 was in alpha previously for 6 months or more before it was released last year. I don't understand why beta testers didn't picked many of reported errors during alpha testing. 

iFLY has done better job with their MAX - yes it was a pre-release product but functions were miles ahead of TFDI on release. 

It also hasn't gotten very many updates. I stopped flying it a few months ago as a result.

I think they bit more than they can chew. 717 was good but Md-11 is a different beast. After release, their patches became less and less frequent. I won't be buying anything from them in the future

Well, it's an airliner.  For the most part they ARE soulless compared to real airplanes.  Immersion unlocked?  😁

3 hours ago, Stearmandriver said:

Well, it's an airliner.  For the most part they ARE soulless compared to real airplanes.  Immersion unlocked?  😁

Agree with the MD-11 as soulless. But not with a global soulless about all airliners.  Just saying.

This is unfortunately the current industry standard to pay for Early Access and spend months and years as a product tester.

I understand that addons and simulators are complex products and are unlikely to be released without bugs. But we as consumers should draw some red lines and reward only those developers who are honest with us consumers.

The MD-11 from PMDG is now the ONLY reason I still have fsx on my machine. I've been watching this version with a keen eye in both p3d and msfs and it still looks like a down step in authenticity /systems along with the obvious huge upgrade in graphics /textures. I'm all about the systems. 

 

I'm disappointed too. It doesn't work, it always falls on the strip. And the biggest disappointment is that there is no smoke when touched