thepilot

Might just be the aircraft that will make me install MSFS to see how it is (all the other ones on the horizon I already know from FSX or P3D) 😀 Ironically to relive the past with the American and Lufthansa A300. Very fond memories of the HNAC for FS9.

Is the A300 coming, too? Don‘t like the A310 too much, it‘s like its chubby unattractive brother. 😂

I‘m barely into my thirties and I relate to this so much. So no, it is not your age at the very least. 😀

I think it’s you who is taking him way too literally… or do you honestly believe he was going to compare himself to Michelangelo directly? 🤔

Maybe true for diehard Ryanair or Southwest flyers. For the rest the manufacturer hardly matters as long as the plane is good. For me, it was what I‘d call the „FSL effect“. Ever since I got the A320 (for P3D), I have hardly used the NGXu anymore, even though it‘s a solid addon in absolute terms. But not relative to the Airbus. The Fenix looks to be of similar quality, likely on par with the FSL, maybe even better. It will be interesting to see how the community responds.

I hope the Fenix will be so good that it forces PMDG to update their products to current standards. However, it looks like they‘re trying to port as many products to the new platform as fast as they can, rather than fixing some of the core functionality like the LNAV system. And I‘m not willing to go along with that.

Such a shame they abandoned this great piece software, and TOPCAT. Even though I mostly use simbrief, PFPX still has certain features that I‘ve found worth paying for.

Have there been any updates to the ATC engine (or are in the works?) I don‘t fly online, so this is quite important to me. It doesn‘t have to be an ATC simulator but surely MSFS should be able to do better than P3D/FSX?

Two words: Commercial licensing. Even Randazzo said that‘s the reason PMDG is not discontinuing P3D support. We simply have no clue what kind of B2B contracts they have, considering the quality and fidelity of their products. It‘s a world we casual simmers know preciously little about.

Curiously, they didn't do much marketing with these features. If I recall correctly, even the NGX had those already, and it's unclear how much has really been changed or added in the meantime. Also, you (intentionally) missed the little word anymore, because naturally in the past PMDG has targeted simmers looking for study-level addons. (They used to be way ahead of others in terms of technical features.) For the marketing of the NG3, there was a lot more focus on visuals and sounds, but very little on systems-related stuff. So yes, I see a paradigm shift there – and it is motivated from a business point of view.

They're not targeting us long-time customers, seasoned sim pilots anymore. Newcomers and casual flyers hardly mind the missing functionality. When the NGX came out in 2011 I was excited as well, and didn't care about what was already lacking back then. I am not anymore.

What time frames are we talking about here? Might the NEO come sooner than expected?

Look at the guy who stole the Q400 in Seattle some time ago. The maneuvers he did were most definitely way outside the flight envelope (barrel rolls and such), and yet the aircraft did not fall apart. In aviation, everything’s about contingency, and margins, in one way or another. You can probably take-off comfortably from an airport on two engines, but what if you lose one in the process? This where it could get delicate.

We finally, finally need a high-end study-level regional jet for flight simulator. CRJ or E-Jet preferably. At least in P3D we have the Majestic Q400, but it‘s not clear if, and when, it will come to MSFS. But that‘s a prop and not many airlines use it.

The fix has been in the works for years according to PMDG. It was supposed to be rolled out for the 747 for P3D at first, now it‘s apparently coming to the NG3, even though they don‘t have proper debugging tools in MSFS yet. Take what you will from that…