thepilot

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…

I haven‘t necessarily found that to be true. Ever since I started flying the FSL A320 I have come to appreciate how important the features around the actual aircraft are for an immersive experience. It feels like I have actual passengers in the back that the cabin crew is making announcements for throughout the flight. Not to mention the ATSU implementation that interfaces perfectly with both simbrief and GSX. Look, I‘m not saying the NG3 or NGXu are bad aircraft. (I can only comment on the latter, which I still enjoy flying in P3D, and have even bought expansions for.) They just feel like „vintage“ to borrow that term from the OP. And when you say flight characteristics, try flying a demanding SID with tight turns and see how it goes. It‘s not fun. Even the old NGX from 2011 used to have this problem, and more than a decade later it still isn‘t fixed. And that, I think, is disappointing.

Said simbrief integration, ACARS/CPDLC implementation, proper LNAV performance, smooth animations, automated playback of cabin announcements,…

PMDG has fallen way behind the curve in the past few years… no amount of polish can take away from that. My prediction is that after the initial excitement has worn off, more people will become vocal about the lack of certain features.

Randazzo should be named businessman of the year. The NG3 has bugs and inaccuracies that date back to the NGX from 2011, nothing in the way of ACARS/CPDLC, but he still manages to convince flight simmers that it‘s the greatest thing since sliced bread. 😂 Oh well I hope the sounds are good at least.

I have no words

Hello, I'm experiencing compatibility issues between Orbx TrueEarth NL and FlyTampa's EHAM V2, mostly textures and elevation. There is a guide on the Orbx forum how to make them compatible, but it only applies to EHAM V1. V2 has different files names and is of course a different/updated scenery overall. Has anyone had success in using both addons? What steps did you take? Thanks a lot. EDIT: The issue was resolved by simply readjusting the scenery priorities. Looking good now.

We‘re all too busy flying 😂

Thanks for the heads-up, RealTurb's other packages are a must-have in my opinion as it makes flying in areas with terrain so much more challenging, and thus more realistic. To have the risk of CAT now even more so. Remember to do your preflight briefing properly!

I was also going to recommend the A2A Cessna 172, as I'm flying it myself in order to study the basics of flying. It does require reading the manual (and maybe some additional material), but at the same time it's also visually (and acoustically) appealing, making it a gem all along... so, in other words, likely exactly what you're looking for.

A330 NEO for me

Looking for a recommendation for a small GA field in North America, preferably USA. They have so many, and they all look lovely.

How does this interface with AI traffic (from AIG, for example)?

Good news indeed. However I'm afraid it will take a long time for them to release a new product. Even the Sharklet variants took them years (admittedly, they also feel like a new/different aircraft). The NEO variants are even more advanced. On the other hand... I never seem to tire of the existing aircraft. So it's good they're retrofitting the non-SL ones with the EFB. Much needed.