Aeroplane Heaven DC-3 for MSFS

wait…there’s members of the general public in here…?

As a former US Marine, I can tell you that the only way you know that Marines are alive is if they are complaining. :wink:

You folks are absolutely right though - it seems like people just want to go online and “put people on blast.” They don’t seem to take the time to talk about how they enjoy things, or how things work - just negative stuff. :frowning:

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Can someone shed some light on this one? It doesn’t make sense to me when the market was expanded due to MSFS. Unless AH is contributing the quitting of suppliers during the pandemic to MSFS

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People who knew how to develop things for the FSX/Prepar3D platform do not necessarily know how to develop for the MSFS platform. Some things are similar, some have changed drastically. One factor will be to what extent a minority dropping out because they do not want to relearn (some FS developers have been doing this since the previous century and would still prefer SCASM and AirEd…) are offset by new people coming in because of the new market.

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This topic may set a new record for complaints about a plane nobody’s flown yet. :slight_smile:

Their DC-3 in P3D really well done. They’ve contracted out the flight model and sounds, the chief complaints about their earlier MSFS planes.

So I for one am excited about this, and willing to give it the benefit of the doubt until I actually try it.

Yeah, Baz and team really could use a social media rep. :slight_smile: But it’s a tiny company and that kinda budget isn’t there. Offense aside, MSFS really is a very sophisticated game – a $50 intro flight at your local airport will clue you in to all the physical aspects of flying that VR and a buttkicker will never simulate. If the DC-3 has realistic procedures and DC-3 like performance and handling, I’m pretty sure I’ll spend a ton of time in it.

Read Fate is the Hunter by Ernest Gann while you’re waiting, and see why flying a plane like this is way more exciting to me than learning the proper sequences of switches to flip on to power up a study-level 737.

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As one of the people still working in this field, I have come close to stopping developing myself on several occasions since this game was released - the documentation is poor, we are frequently referred back to the FSX SDK. New sections of the flight model are either not described or are lacking in clarity in the description, often not making any sense aerodynamically or even in basic geometry. This has left us guessing a lot of the time, and trying to build known flight characteristics that way is not comfortable - imagine being given the most delicious cake, then you get given all the raw ingredients but only the vaguest instructions of how to put it all together!

Combine that with the fact that the flight model itself has still not stabilised, the continual changes mean a mass of extra work - off the top of my head, I have 6 flight models currently released and each of those needs adjusting and testing before updates can be released, which is time-consuming in itself and as it is not my full-time job, it has to fit in around work and family. This means that I am already pretty much saturated, my time between SUs spent trying to catch up with changes and apply them to what has already been built. There is little to no time to build anything new.

That’s just my personal experience, others may find differently. If it wasn’t for a couple of upcoming aircraft I particularly want to be involved in, there would be one less again!

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Well, that’s both very enlightening and sad, too. Hang in there, but IMHO family ALWAYS trumps work.

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I believe this is very important feedback for the devs and Jörg Neumann.

@Jummivana

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X-Plane used to have this problem as well until they adopted flight model versioning. Sim updates wrecking third party addons is becoming really annoying and instead of looking forward to them, I dread them.

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this just has to be recognized as a consequence of developing addons for MSFS while it is still ‘under construction’… don’t get me wrong - I’m grateful that there have been folks willing to make addons in the first year or two, but surprised that they would complain about having to keep pace with the SU’s.
The system here appears to be the use of this forum to identify and alert MSFS developers of issues that crop up with the SU’s, and the addon developers of the issues their products are afflicted with as a result. Makes sense when you realize that MS is too busy working on the core simulator, and these small developer shops don’t have the manpower to test across multiple platforms, PC setups, etc…
This is pretty much how it has to be until the core sim is more or less complete and is no longer a moving target. I get the frustration but it should have been factored in from the start.

Very possibly. However, the reality is that several flight dynamics people have walked away already and there does not seem to be a queue to replace them. I know of a couple of companies that have had trouble in this area, it is not just AH.

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Age is a factor as well. I used to do extensive freeware reskinning and livery work for other sims but those skills are only partially applicable to MSFS. At 65 years of age I would happily potter around and do the odd unusual livery if my old skills were relevant but doing good detailed work easily in MSFS requires skills in blender and learning blender at my age is simply not something I can be bothered with.

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Ever since the release of MSFS 2020, I have yearned for a high quality DC-3. After learning AH had it in development, I started saving my pennies so I could purchase it on release. So far I have saved $31.23 and I hope that by its release I will have saved enough. That is, if I last long enough. I am 83 years old and flying is my passion.

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While you all wait, I’d highly recommend finding a copy of Ernest K. Gann’s classic “Fate is the Hunter” for some great DC-3 and C-47 (and even DC-2) flying stories. It’s a wonderfully fun book, and it’s also chock full of ideas for DC-3 flights: Recreating the AM-1 airline route (Newark/Wilkes-Barre/Syuracuse/Rochester/Buffalo/Erie/Cleveland), flying overloaded C-47s from Presque Isle, ME to Goose Bay Labrador, etc.

Reading about the pilots who’ve flown the real planes and the exciting flights they’ve taken, and recreating those, is my favorite aspect of flight simming.

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Is the BAe 146 a bit too “new school” for you…??
Just a little too modern with that Throttle management system :grin::stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

It’s so awesome hearing guys like you being “with it” with technology to the point of using MSFS… (my dads 70 and can barely use a phone…)

The BAE-146 is amazing but I bet a DC-3 is something more relevant for you…

Lets hope they do create and release this old bird for you mate

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Yes, I think the BAe 146 might be a bit much. I do have all the Warriors and the fighter jet. I don’t fly jets much, but thinking about the C310 by Milviz. Guess it is as much nostalgia as anything, as in my early flying days flew quite a few DC-3 flights (West Coast Airlines) and DC-6 flights (United). My Dad flew a Beech Bonanza so I spend a lot of time in that one, but the DC-3 will be my “go to” aircraft if it ever comes out. By the way, I am a “technology junkie”!

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Lucky for me, I have my fathers flight logs…lots of DC-3 trips around Western Canada and the Yukon to try! ( …and DC-6, DC-8, 727, 737, 747, DC-10!!!) Lots to do. Making do with the freeware DC-3 in XP11 for now.
Thanks for book tip…I can recommend “Charles Kingford Smith and those Magnificent Men” by Peter Fitzsimons. Amazing tales of the early days of flying…some things to try if you have the Fokker!

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Thanks! I’ll have to pick that one up, @Ozcanuck55!

Still working on Gann’s book and the tales of ferrying equipment from Goose Bay to Greenland in C-47s are harrowing!

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Amidst the hustle of bustle of all the airliners coming out within a few weeks of each other, I almost forgot about this plane. Still no release date I take it?

Appears to be the case.
TG