I agree, I was very disappointed that they did not reduce their prices even a little for old X1 customers. If it is just a good product you want, go with them - if you want friendly customer service, PMDG, Aerosoft, Flight 1, Eaglesoft are all very good companies with great customer service. What bugs me the most is that critical comments from users are banned/erased from their support website.

I did find a post on a forum (that I did not mark unfortunately) by someone who identified himself as an airline co-pilot; no indication of what plane he flew. He stated that he had bought the CD edition "based on recommendations", but did not clearly indicate whether it was for training or entertainment.However, he also reported that it took about ten days to get his CD, and that after 4 more days he still could not get it activated or establish communication with the developer.Regards,Thrakete

Thrakete,No I haven't modified any of the files of the Posky myself. I took one of the Southwest 737 packs (from here at avsim I can't seem to find it anymore), and applied the FP to it directly, then added A2A's 3dlights to it. It doesn't work perfectly, but was ok. To answer your question I am using the 737NG pack from friendly panels, it really works best with the default 737 as you still have a VC to use, but I prefer the Posky for the model other than that.So far the best solution for me has been the PMDG-600,700 v1.0 in FSX and the 737PIC for the 300-500's. It really shows a gap in the market for a good quality 737NG that is totally FSX compatible (other than the Ariane, I'm not gonna pay that for what I've read about it either.) Hopefully PMDG will get to the FSX version quickly once the MD-11 is out which might be today or tomorrow from what I've read.

"....Plus you just don't know who is behind the company they are trying to keep their identity secret for some reason and wont reveal to you their team or beta team."Do a search here at Avsim for Ariane or Peter Tishma and many of your questions will be answered.Tech support has always been an issue with Ariane as they take any comments such as 'how do you do this?' or 'I can't get that to work' as an insult and/or attack and may well ban you...!"You pays your money - you takes your choice."Toni.

O.K Scott, and thanks.The PIC 737 Classic models package looked good to me, so I ordered it. After I use it a while I may get the Friendly Panels 737NG Cockpit and just go ahead and install it in the default FSX-800 model. I do wish PDMG had worked the 737NG before the MD-11, but strangely enough they didn't ask my opinion. :)Regards,Thrakete

Maybe because I keep transposing their name from PMDG to PDMG? My fingers seem to do that automatically when I type it.Thrakete

Yep I agree, but they must have had their reasons. Perhaps you are right. :(

>"....Plus you just don't know who is behind the company they>are trying to keep their identity secret for some reason and>wont reveal to you their team or beta team.">>Do a search here at Avsim for Ariane or Peter Tishma and many>of your questions will be answered.>>Tech support has always been an issue with Ariane as they take>any comments such as 'how do you do this?' or 'I can't get>that to work' as an insult and/or attack and may well ban>you...!>>"You pays your money - you takes your choice.">>Toni.>>I do remember the controversy and issues associated with Peter Tishma, but it is more tortuous and perplexed because now there are these support blokes named just Ed and Bob (and occasionally and interchangeably they used the same screen name in "their" forum) but they never reveal who in fact they are or for that matter who the team is. Just very fishy if you ask me. It is a shame however, since their 737 has potential to be one of the more premier aircraft in our flightsim community - but not in this century.Bo

Wow,people have very short memory's,or is it just Denial?:-roll

Thanks, I did the search and that clears up the clandestine nature of the organization. I just barely remember the fire drill about using the names of real airlines in Flight Sim.Regards,Thrakete

I don't think the Ariane 737 is a real world training tool at all.. It's an entertainment simulation.. I can't imagine how difficult it would be to get any kind of formal accreditation for a software simulation running in an environment such as FSX.. You may learn a bit about the avionic systems, but in that way the PMDG is just as useful as this, I can't see how it has an edge..The product isn't that good in my view, the FMC isn't complete, in the X1 you can't control it from the VC either.. There isn't even a working FIX page! This is terrible when you consider the price.. I've read the description of their new X2.. and do not see anything tangible there, it all seems like hype to me, and a lot of additional jargon which doesn't make sense to me.Their manual has comments in it like "for those who think 'dropping a line' is easier than reading".. I would just ask you to browse your windows manuals, or manuals for your car and see if it said that.. I am sure you won't.. Read into that what you will about service and support..If anyone wants to buy a 737 aircraft (like me) I would recommend you wait for the PMDG version to come out and fly their MD-11 in the mean time..I will never recommend Ariane to anyone ever.Read into that what you will too.Craig

Craig: X-Plane also makes the statement that their software is used to train pilots. In their case, I think the basic statement is true, but it is a different program from the one sold for entertainment purposes on a PC. As I remember, the training software program costs about $3000.00 U.S. The bigger clunker though, and they are up front with this, is that the training version has to be integrated into a real simulator with a complete set of controls and displays, not used on a PC. The cost would be astronomical to accomplish this and get the simulator hardware and software combination certified, not to mention the fact that you would have to to have a licensed instructor witness and approve any credit. No doubt, some real pilots use PC software, and it may help them in some way. However, like you, I can't believe that they get training credit from any licensing organization for the time spent on a PC.Regards,Thrakete