shaun_ak

** Deleted previous thoughts on problem ** OMG ... I read this post after I posted and out of pure curiousity checked the ASN weather ... 976hpa. Edited the weather up to 990hpa and the door worked. Thanks for the excellent info Christian!

I experienced a similar increase in the VAS with the -300ER and I believe it is related to the taxi cams. Is there a way to disable them in the FMC menus? Thanks, ~Shaun O'Neil

I'm as big a fan-boy of PMDG as any of us, but it pains me that a different line of aircraft have not been mentioned here. Seriously, who wouldn't drool over a PMDG-quality bizjet of some kind? Citation 750, Gulfstream V, Global Express, Falcon 7X ... I have loved really learning how the airliners operate through PMDG's level of detail and would love the opportunity with a bizjet as well! My two cents, although I'd be in favor of a 787 preceding a bizjet!

It seems that people's interpretations of your criticism was unfounded and that you are simply offering up your opinion on the matter. There is no right or wrong party in this regard. Still, for an individual running a computer simulation of an experience, wouldn't "feelings of realism" be at the core of what they are attempting to recreate?

I'll add to the already overwhelming Realair majority! I absolutely love the Duke and Legacy. They all hand-fly with such precision and ease. I found the piston Duke was one of the first FS aircraft where I really got the feeling that I got when actually flying real aircraft. You get used to it and you just know what power setting will result in the desired performance from the aircraft. You can trim it up and let it fly too. The turbine Duke is awesome in terms of sheer power and performance ... but you gotta remember you are flying a turbine and keep ahead of the power curve when necessary. The Legacy is just an all-around fun airplane to hop around in from time to time. Rock-solid as an instrument platform, but just as willing to do barrel rolls, tight turns, and vertical maneuvers! Sorry, I'll get off the soapbox. Short version: If Realair produces it and it has a place in my virtual hangar, I'll purchase it.

Great video ... was the ~3200 readout your altitude?

Wikipedia lists the area of the USA as 9.83 million square km ... so by your estimate they are paying between $98 and $373 MILLION for source data alone? There simply cannot be that large of a market for this kind of specialty item. Avsim lists approx 99,000 "Total members" at the bottom of the forum homepage. At the low estimate of $98 million for source data, if you got each of those members to purchase your product for $990 (or $3800 if you paid the high end for the source data) then you break even. No way each of those "members" is probably still an active FSX user, let alone a potential customer for this type of product. Please don't misunderstand, I completely believe you when you mention the cost which you looked into with that company. I am guessing that company mainly sells that data to other large companies and/or governments for real-world projects requiring that kind of imagery. I seriously doubt a company developing photo realistic scenery for an aging flight simulation platform is investing the kind of money you are mentioning for source data ... I just don't think anyone would actually provide that kind of venture capital for such a specialty product with a narrow market. I'm guessing they are getting a massive discount on the source data somehow, such as using "outdated" data or whatnot. I consider myself willing to spend far more on this hobby than the "average" simmer and as I related in my original post, the cost for MSE v2 is by far my biggest stumbling point. Still haven't decided if I'm going to purchase it or not ... I may take PC Aviator's suggestion and pickup one of the smaller (cheaper) states to give it a feel. If I really like it the wife's not going to be happy, because then I'll probably be spending quite a bit of money on simming for the rest of the year!

I fly mainly tubeliners on domestic US hops ... everything from short 1-1.5hr legs to transcons. While I understand that addon airports are a higher cost per area depicted, IMO they are essential for providing realism while you are moving on the ground. MSE strikes me as the cruise-phase equivalent, bringing the depiction of what you are flying over to more than just infinitely repeating generic tiles. However, since my preference for this hobby has me flying over any given point of the US ... it strikes me that the remark I quoted above from Ms. Parker would hold true for me as well. Therein lies my dilemma ... huge cost to cover the whole US with MSE. That said, the responses in this thread (and others) seem to indicate that MSE is well worth the purchase. Time to start saving up I guess. Thanks for all the replies everyone!

So, I think photoreal scenery would be the next great addition to my simming ... and from what I have read MSE v2 is about the best out there right now. Unlike scenery for a specific airport, it also strikes me that it is the type of addition that you want as much coverage as possible ... even including those "fly-over states" which you would not normally worry about because you aren't departing or arriving. With a $10-$40 per state pricing structure, to cover the US (when it's all completed), at best you're looking at spending $500 and at worst $2000 (with the reality obviously a number somewhere in-between). I went back and ran the numbers, and over the past ten years I have spent $1500 on flight sim addons. To potentially spend that same amount over again on photoreal scenery for the US is disconcerting. My question to those of you who are using MSE v2: is it really worth that much money? Does it really add that much immersion to your simming experience? Thanks, ~Shaun O'Neil

Specifically: PMDG 777 FSL A320 Majestic Dash-8 Q400 PFPX QW 787 Always consider products from: PMDG FSL RealAir FlyTampa Flight Beam Studios Need a better: FSX B727

I tend to fly whatever route suits the time I have available, with some consideration given to whether or not ATC is available via VATSIM. If the wife is at work for a couple hours, then I'm usually hopping around in the RealAir Duke/Turbine Duke, PMDG J41, or QW Avro-70/85/100. Typically either Pacific NW or New England areas. If I have a chunk, then I'll either run something between Alaska and the continental US, or transcon. Very rarely do I venture intl, though that will likely change when the T7 arrives. On a side note, if you sign up for fltplan.com, you can create a flight plan and it will show you recently filed routes and recently assigned ATC routes between the airports you designated. It's a free registration, but the site can actually be used to file real flight plans, so I never finalize the plan ... I just enter enough information to see the routes and then return to the main menu and logout. ~Shaun O'Neil~

Yeah, there hasn't been much in the way of publicity. However, didn't PMDG pretty much pull a beautiful looking 777 out of their hat at that conference in Germany? I believe that was something that nobody was expecting. Point is, I wouldn't put it beyond PMDG to surprise us at any time. With that thought in mind, I have a little PMDG stash in my bank account. Whenever that purchase button pops up, I'm clicking with reckless abandon! ~Shaun O'Neil~

Good luck figuring out an answer to your question. Most of the developers for our hobby have been burned/annoyed/frustrated in the past by announcing release dates and then missing those targets for a variety of reasons (no commentary intended). As an appropriate response, the developers simply release their products when they are completed. Arguably, the various developers start providing indicators that begin to present themselves when products are "closer" to release, whether by forum updates, facebook posts, etc. My advice: look over what you know is in development, decide which products you intend to purchase and set aside what you anticipate it will cost (IMO you can estimate pretty well based upon previous products). Then the money's already saved, so you can wait patiently until each product is released. Happy Holidays!