Hi everyone,I just finished building a replacement model for the default 737-400.It has some visual improvements, larger cockpit windows, larger main tires, less noticable main gear doors. In addition to the default textures, it can also use the many repaints available.The best part however, is that it is almost twice as framerate friendly as the default 737.http://home.sprynet.com/~drawlins/_uimages/737-400r.jpgResults from tests at Miami Intl, with about 40 planes in the field of view. (p4 1.8ghz, Nvidia GeForce 2mx) framerate locked at 16 fps:Replacement 737-400 13-16 fpsPAI 737-400 8-10 fpsdefault 737--400 6-8 fpsI'm posting this here, because through the months, I've gotten lots of help and advice out of this forum just from reading others messages, and wanted to give something back.David R.

Nice work your 737 mdl waiting for other planes (747 dash8...) ;-) thanks

Thanks, it'll be a long wait...I've looked into the other default MS aircraft. Unfortunately, they all used what I like to call (for lack of a better term) "cheap texturing stunts". These stunts really limit the appeal of these planes to repainters. The md 83 is particularly bad, in addition to the single tail texture, they used the same texture on both sides of the fuselage, except for a tiny strip above the windows where they placed their airline (Soar) name. So, if you want to do Alaska Airlines, where the name is all over the fuselage, you're out of luck. I checked the number of repaints available at flightsim.com, and that was pretty revealing. The default 737 has over 100 repaints available, the MD83 has 17. Some of these point out that the plane only looks right from one side, because of the texturing tricks MS used.I have been doing some tweaking on the 737 replacement model. I discovered that MS (and myself) had positioned the nose gear a bit too far forward. At the request of a user, I also animated the wheels so they now roll. I'm working on adjusting the CG a bit so that the plane doesn't scrape it's tail on take off. I'm also planning to reduce the polygon count of one of the LOD models to make it even more framerate friendly.After that, I've decided to build an AI MD80, 81, 82, 83, 88 from scratch now. In it's original from it will be painted in Delta's old colors.David R.

Thanks David, I certainly appreciate and thank you for your great mdl contributions, great job, I look forward to your MD's, maybe we can use them in PAI installers? :-wavehttp://projectai.com/images/frankpai.jpg

Wow great work! When will the MDL be available?jd

The 737 has been out since late last week. You can find it here in the avsim file library, the file name is:"r737mdl.zip"I should have an updated 737 mdl up in a day or so, but the changes are subtle.The MD's, maybe next week, depends on real life...David R