Avwriter

Why would you think they not be permitted to fly? If by original markings, you are specifically referring to the swastika and other related symbols, the use of such is not legally banned in the U.S. the way it is in Europe, and might only be restricted if it was being used inappropriately (such as for the purpose of inciting crowds to violence). Obviously that is not typically the case with historically restored aircraft. Of course, as you pointed out, it is true they must have a legally registered tail number painted somewhere, and obviously the aircraft must have a valid certificate of airworthiness, and meet all the requirements thereof. You said, "I've seen aircraft with original marking flying at airshows, but thought that might be differently classed than a private aircraft." Not quite sure what you are getting at here. Many of these aircraft are privately owned. If you are simply asking, can they be legally flown outside of auspices of an airshow, the answer is absolutely yes. After all, such aircraft must have some way to get to the airshows in question, and are often flown considerable distances cross country to do so. However, these aircraft are typically classified as experimental airframes, which may subject them to certain limitations of use, depending upon the specific aircraft, its capabilities, and equipment. If this is not what you are asking, please clarify.

Thank you for pointing this out. Though the specific sale you mentioned was over, another had begun on the deluxe bundle that includes the base sim, both add-on, a ton of paint schemes, and several other sims that I was less interested in, all for $24.99. That sale is still on until Aug 1. http://store.steampowered.com/sub/64904/?snr=1_5_9__403 I have never tried a trucking sim, but found this one to be incredible. Freeware developers have vastly expanded the map to include a much larger chunk of Europe than the original (including much of eastern Europe and part of Russia. It really is fascinating to be able to drive across such distances, even if they are compressed. They did a great job capturing the atmosphere of various parts of the continent.

Has anyone noticed a performance hit compared to ASN, or is it about the same?

Ha ha. Better yet, you could require all customers to visit your new sim facility in VA once a year for a check ride

Did you submit a support ticket? That will probably get you the better and more accurate assistance.

I did not see anything in the article that said the 747 was easier to land than the 777. My interpretation was that he meant the 744 was easier to land than the 727. "The 747 handles very similarly to the 727-200, despite being two completely different airframes in both size and shape. One difference between the two is in the landing techniques. The 747-400 is the easiest aircraft to land,"

That's brilliant! Where did you find that?

Likewise, I am excited and curious to see how the feel will change between PMDG's 744 and their 748, once released. I know that they say that the 748's FBW is tuned to handle as closely as possible to the 744, but I presume that we will also see differences in behavior along the lines described above with the 777. After all the 748 is very similar systems-wise to the 777.

Could you remind me again when that will be? :Batting Eyelashes:

Actually, It wasn't just the PMDG site, Avsim's crashed too because so many people were refreshing the forum waiting for a release announcement. The arrival of that big bird came a lot closer to breaking the Internet than that Kardashian girl ever did.

As you said, we are not talking about cars or planes. We are talking about software, the development schedule of which is less predictable (although even real world aircraft manufacturers have to push back delivery dates regularly). Developers who post release dates are essentially just making guesses, or tossing out date based upon their own financial needs. Thus, the date either gets pushed back over and over again, or they release the product with significant defects, and charge full price with a promise to fix the bugs later on. In either of these scenarios, the customer is left feeling manipulated, or even outright deceived. Instead, RSR and his crew are just being honest. They don't know when the product will be ready, and so that is what they say. It's very hard to fault them for that.

It is unlikely that they will be able to answer that until, A. A lot more is known about the new product's capabilities, structure, and its compatibility with 3rd party add-ons. B. the product is actually released, and it becomes clear whether it meets the expectations of with PMDG's customer base.

How would you compare this to flightbeam or Flytampa?

The RSR situation is beginning to remind me of what happens when the leaders of certain countries (Russia, China, North Korea, etc.) go for a bit too long without being seen in the media. Everyone begins to freak out and read things into it. I recall a couple of years back there was a media frenzy because Putin had not been seen for a while. Someone even claimed to have seen him in Switzerland attending the birth of a secret love child. As I recall his press secretary had quite a ball with it (not unlike Kyle). Not suggesting any real parallels here, but it is pretty funny.

Wouldn't it be cool if they just suddenly announced out of the blue. "Surprise, its released!!! Beta was completed in secret!" I know that's not PMDG's style, but its fun to think about. That would certainly make my day.

Well, as long as the plane is empty, carrying minimum fuel, and the runway is at sea level (you said its on a island right?), then you probably have a reasonable chance of getting it stopped before you run out of pavement. A stiff headwind wouldn't hurt either.

Then you can get one without landing gear.

This is PMDG's new strategy for getting rid of whining in the forums. If you pre-order the simulation at this price, they will throw in the actual plane for free (minus delivery cost and parking fees at your local airport of course). That way you will have something to practice on so that you will be fully prepared on release day to enjoy the simulation to its fullest. :p0503:

http://www.pcaviator.com/store/home.php?cat=989 Not a huge selection, but it does include the continental US, among other titles. If you buy today, you get an additional 10% off, because its Tuesday. Those who have received coupon codes for previous purchases can also use those on top of the other two discounts. Would anyone with experience with FSGenisis recommend them at this price? Andrew Jones

Can anyone confirm that it works with FSX-SE

What position are your physical throttles in when this happens? The most likely cause is that you left the throttles in the full forward position at the beginning of your descent. The next time your aircraft reaches the TOD (Top of Descent) point, watch the auto-throttle mode indication at the top center of the PFD. Shortly after beginning the descent, you will temporarily see the word "IDLE" appear. At this time, it is recommended that you should move your physical throttles (on your controller) to the idle position and leave them there until or unless you deliberately choose to manually control the power of the aircraft. After a few seconds, you will see the mode change to "HOLD." Once this happens, if you move the throttles at all, even if just the slightest nudge, the auto-throttle will assume that you are manually controlling the engines, and the power setting will automatically jump to wherever your physical throttles are set (and so if your throttles are pushed all the way to the firewall, then the engines will give you a mighty shock. Remember that on the real aircraft, the physical throttles are driven by servo motors and automatically reposition themselves to whatever setting the auto-throttle calls for whenever it is engaged. And so, even if you do accidentally nudge the throttles a little, the engine power would not change dramatically, since they are already in the physically appropriate position. "Hold" mode essentially means that the throttles can be overridden by physically moving them, as opposed to having to click press the "disengage" button. The auto-throttle is designed to shift into this mode during phases of flight when the pilot might need to override the throttles quickly, such as during takeoff before V1, and also during certain phases of descent. When hold mode is not active, physical force on the throttles will not disengage the auto throttle, and the pilot must press the actual button. If you do not like this effect, or if perhaps you suspect that your controller is spiking, you can turn the feature off entirely by going into PMDGs settings (in the FMC) and changing the throttle manual override settings to "NEVER." Hope this helps. Andrew Jones

I thought I understood that the boxed version from Aerosoft comes with a portion of PMDG's manuals in printed form? Or do they write their own in-house documentation? Andrew Jones

Yes, PC Aviator has become very good about that kind of thing in the last couple of years. Lately it seems some sort of coupon code (either for $5 or for 10% discount) is included with most orders. If you make sure to use that coupon on Tuesdays, when there is already an automatic %10 discount applied you can procure some really great deals.

Ditto. The only thing in my three emails even slightly resembling a serial code was the SKU, which was obviously not unique, and which of course did not work.

Has anyone succeeded in getting it registered? Mine did not come with the required serial number.