Any idea when a paintkit will be available im itching to let my brush loose on the beast.Why not post on the PMDG forum? I've even been nice and provided a link.http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=136

Why thank you Ray i shall hop on over there now . Cheers

>>Personally I won't be buying irrespective of whatever the>price is because I prefer different aircraft. All I'm here for>is to post a view on the price versus units sold. I think it>would have been much more popular at a lower price which could>possibly brought PMDG higher profits.I don't know about that mate. I think the reasoning here is a bit different. With all respect to the MD-11, I think it's more of a niche aircraft (mostly cargo routes; precious few in passenger service - and that's what the big iron simmer tends to fly most often I would think). It's not a 747 or a 737, that's for sure. PMDG's brand of simulation (highly realistic systems modeling) coupled with a niche airplane will not yield a high demand. I think they have chosen a high price point due to the relatively inelastic (if not perfectly inelastic) demand properties of this particular market segment. In layman's terms...there just aren't enough customers populating this market segment to justify a low price-point, while those customers who are in this segment, will buy this add-on regardless of the price (well, almost regardless...I'm sure a precious few would buy it for, say, $1000 a pop).Anyway, this is just my take on it, but if I were choosing a price-point for this particular product, this is the reasoning I would follow.

I think it's more of a niche aircraft (mostly cargo routes; precious few in passenger service - and that's what the big iron simmer tends to fly most often I would think)I grant you it's a niche aircraft just as the PSS Concorde was but their price was much more reasonable and still had superb panels, a very good visual model and it flew very well indeed. So I'm not convinced you can get away with charging a premium price for a niche aircraft.PMDG products were quite reasonably priced until a year or so ago when they took the decision to swap the dollar sign for the euro one. That meant a hefty price hike and seems to have resulted in them losing a lot of customers. That conclusion seems borne out by the number of comments here about the high price.PMDG's brand of simulation (highly realistic systems modeling) coupled with a niche airplane will not yield a high demand. I think they have chosen a high price point due to the relatively inelastic (if not perfectly inelastic) demand properties of this particular market segment.So what you're saying in essence is they are pricing it high not expecting it to shift many boxes. That seems a shame for four years of work. A 757 or good Airbus might have been a better choice perhaps.Only they will know whether they made the right decision on price and choice of aircraft. Personally, I have my doubts.

>I grant you it's a niche aircraft just as the PSS Concorde was>but their price was much more reasonable and still had superb>panels, a very good visual model and it flew very well indeed.>So I'm not convinced you can get away with charging a premium>price for a niche aircraft.I wouldn't know about the PSS Concorde, the Concorde and the Vulcan were the only PSS products I never bought, precisely because they were niche aircraft :)>PMDG products were quite reasonably priced until a year or so>ago when they took the decision to swap the dollar sign for>the euro one. That meant a hefty price hike and seems to have>resulted in them losing a lot of customers. That conclusion>seems borne out by the number of comments here about the high>price.I don't think they had much of a choice to be honest. Most developers have moved to setting their prices vis-a-vis the euro as opposed to using the dollar. Sign of the times I guess. I think most of their developer talent is euro-zone based anyway. >>So what you're saying in essence is they are pricing it high>not expecting it to shift many boxes. That seems a shame for>four years of work. A 757 or good Airbus might have been a>better choice perhaps.Yup, that's pretty much my take on it. I think they know the MD11 is not atop every simmer's wishlist and hence they've gone the high-price, low-volume route. Seeing as there were rumors about that Level-D were doing the 757 (and PSS and CaptainSim as well...) and with AirlinerXP and Airsimmer both developing an Airbus, going for either a 757 or an A32S would not have made much sense, at the time. I'm sure had they gone for an A32S, they'd have struck the motherload, but who knew that AXP and AS would end up taking forever.>>Only they will know whether they made the right decision on>price and choice of aircraft. Personally, I have my doubts.To be honest, I think the development took much longer than they expected, let's not forget that the MD11 was initially an FS9 product. I'm pretty sure no one imagined it would take as long as it did (nearly 8 years, considering Bill's worked on the panel for 4 years before he joined PMDG). Then again, I doubt all the development efforts were concentrated on the MD11 alone. In all likelihood they did have a time-out to patch up the 747 for FSX, which is probably a very good seller.I do have my doubts whether the price-point chosen is the right one as well, but I'll stick to my reasoning for now, guess we'll never know how it pans out :)

Interesting that one person has said they'd pay about E50.Take a look at Play.com.Pre-ordering the boxed copy at

I don't think they had much of a choice to be honest. Most developers have moved to setting their prices vis-a-vis the euro as opposed to using the dollar. Sign of the times I guess. I think most of their developer talent is euro-zone based anyway.I don't think anyone would have a problem with them moving to a Euro price. What raised the hackles with many was the resultant price hike which was totally unnecessary.As far as the choice of aircraft is concerned I can see their dilemma. The other thing to consider regarding the timescale is that most people involved do it in their spare time. I don't think anyone can do it full-time and if they did the prices would be even higher!Maybe a A380 would have been a good choice but with so much work on a FS9 model it wouldn't make sense to throw away all that work. Reworking it for FSX made sense.Each to their own I guess. :-)

Interesting that one person has said they'd pay about E50.I'm not sure if you're referring to me but if you are I said E50 might be the sweet spot for many. I didn't say I would pay E50 for it.But buying a CD without all those on-line restrictions is a more attractive option and I imagine many UK fans may follow you.

I've just given PMDG some money. Not for the MD-11 though. I've just bought the FS2004 PMDG747-400 from play.com for 30 quid. On the PMDG site they're still asking 55 Euros which is around 41 quid. Quite a saving!

This is wonderful news. Not that I will be buying the MD-11, but hopefully they will quickly move on to developing the 737. And hopefully it won't be 100 bucks when it comes out.It stinks that the old PMDG 737 is 98% working in FSX. The only problem I have is that the FMC navigation information seems to not track correctly, almost as if the IRS goes out of alignment as you fly. Other than that, it works. Sure would love to have an updated FSX version.

Hey Spaceman,Do you know of anything, (other than homes in the US) that is going down in price with the global market the way it is? At least with PMDG you get what you pay for, unlike others in this game . . . I can think of at least 4 other developers whom either send out half tested issues, have no service or support or just plain lie and won't answer your e mails. The MD11 is perhaps the most sofisticated offering yet to come for FS . . . the real aircraft also was pretty awsome.Just my .02 cents, but I love the bird.Best to you and yours, Clayhttp://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...ers/Dopke01.jpgClayton T. Dopke (Clay)Major, USAF (retired)"Drac"

As usaual, way to go Geofa:"and the airplane keeps its value if not goes up in price".How true!!!!Paid $1,465 for a J3Cub in excellent shape. Sold it a few years later for $1,765 with a high time engine which needed an OH.Paid $6,750 for a 1972 series (don't remember exactly which year, but it was early. Sold out my part of the partnership for a third of the price plus a bit a few years later. (Partner bought a C35 V tail Bonanza. OHHHH, how I envied him.Subscribe to "Trade-A-Plane" and take a peek at the price of both today in just about any kind of shape. Beats Real-Estate. If you don't know what "Trade-A-Plane" is, do a google search. You probably will want a subscribtion for a little while anyway.Now we are not going to say what year these purchases took place. but if they had been automobiles, they would have been in a junk yard years ago with unbelievable milage. Airplanes (GA anyway) are more like Homes, except they become more valuable in time.To get a taste from everything that is available from FS is something more than a bargin to me. However, everyone to his own joy.Happy flying:RTH

I purchased it this am and not all is rosy. On my system as well as a number of systems the Configurator does not work. I already posted a message in their forum and hopefully they will have a fix for it soon.Cannot move the slider for fuel load. Anyone else have that problem?Craig

Well, I downloaded it last night and installed it this afternoon. I don't have a lot of time before going on travel, but I wanted to at least take it for a spin around the circuit at KIAD.Departed 19L for a return manual approach and wasn't disappointed. I did not try the configurator, so did not suffer any issues there, and did not have BSOD or a reset. It was fluid and smooth flying in real weather (minor cloud coverage). Spectacular FEDEX and UPS liveries guys!!!See my system below.I am very impressed! This is an aircraft that you cannot allow to get ahead of you. You have to stay ahead of it, or you will embarrass yourself. But...There is a personal "groan" in here too. I now have another a/c to learn. I guess I am going to have to start downloading manual segments to my IPOD and reading them in my flights around the world. ARGH! Hopefully, I can squeeze in another hour or two before I get on 777 for London on Friday. Whether or not that happens, I am really looking forward to the next opportunity to fly this PMDG work of art.

Ray, While I respect your opinions (you may not recall but you have helped me a few times in the past) and those of others re: whether or not the pricing and product makes sense I wish we could see more "mini" reviews of the product as well as any problems (which there are) as I have purchased the product. I think the bottom line is either buy it or don't. The price ain't gonna change.CraigLian Li PC 65B CaseCorsair HX Series CMPSU-620HX 620W Power SupplyPlextor PX-810SA/SW-BL DVD/CDGiagabyte GA-P35-DS3RCrucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)Arctic Freezer 7 ProIntel E6850 Core 2 Duo 3.0GHz 4M shared L2 Cache @ 3.6 GHzEVGA 7950GT KO 512mb 169.21_forceware whqlSeagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATASeagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATAVista Ultimate SP1FS Genesis US,Canada,MexicoGEX Active SkyFlightSim Commander VOX ATCTrack IR Vector