Hello! Looking at the reviews and gameplay/tutorials for the F28 back when it came out on 2020, I’m very tempted to purchase it. But I’m not seeing much in terms of 2024 reviews/gameplay. Has anyone used it recently? Is it worth the purchase assuming I’m looking for an in-depth plane and also assuming that I won’t be using it on 2020?
Thanks!
I’ve been really, really enjoying the F28 in 2024. I’ve flown it more in 2024 than I did in 2020.
I fly the Horizon Air livery on made up routes throughout California in/out of the smaller regional airports.
I love flying it at night, too, it’s got great cockpit lighting all over the place.
It is seriously good.
Just Flight’s UNS-1 is fun to use for flight plan management and procedures, too.
Worth every penny at full price but they do have sales every now ands then if you can wait.
It’s a nicely done aircraft. It also got a (free) upgrade for FS2024. As Nixon says the UNS-1 is far better than the original GNS that was sort of bolted on when it originally was released. The EFB has had upgrades too. It’s well supported. It has plently of default liveries. It flies well. It’s a manual and hands on experience though (manually setting throttle, pitch, speed etc). VOR nav is also functional/possible. They are different aircraft but the F28 is a very a similar experience to the JF BAE146 in terms of a manual control / analog experience. Both of these aircraft are done to the same high standard.
I flew the F28 endlessly in FS2020 for a while. Presently though in FS2024, I don’t fly it much, but that’s mainly because I have accumulated far too many other airliners! I’m really enjoying the FSS 727 right now for example, which is another aircraft from a similar era, and for some strange reason I can’t get enough of it.
I do like regional airliners though. The older ones have a bit more longevity and interation than many of the modern automated ones I feel. There’s more to do and keep you busy for the whole flight, making it feel more of an experience. Having said that I like a good FMS and some more modern features like EFIS. On the 727 I’m really liking the Super 27 version which has EFIS, so a bit of a blend of old and newer tech.
The Maddog MD-82 is another good add on, and very similar of type aircraft to the F28. It recently had a new higher res version come out. It’s very good too, although more modern than the F28.
Basically you can’t go wrong with any of these aforementioned aircraft.
Thank you, your response is super helpful and I’ll check those other recommendations out too. I don’t fly many jet airliners besides the Citation X and occasionally the ATR 72. And I’m a fan of older aircraft, so I’m definitely leaning towards the F28
Don’t forget the F70/100 should also be out soon.
People keep forgetting mentioning the sounds, they are excellent. I love my F28, even more so in 2024.
Edit: You get 4 variants and great sounds, compared to other developers who sell their variants separately and if you want great sounds you have to purchase that separately from another developer… And JF upgraded their entire fleet of aircraft to 2024 for free. I’d say they deserve every penny I have given them and more.
A typical A to B plane, no failures or wear and tear simulation to make flying this bird more exciting. Personally, I find flying it boring, even with VOR to VOR navigation. Also, wipers don’t work in FS2024 so avoid flying it in a heavy rain.
You should all know that this person never misses a chance to dunk on this plane for some reason. Just Flight has said that working wipers will come in an update, but this person doesn’t care as long as they get to complain about something. I wouldn’t give them much credibility in that regard. How fun you find an aircraft to fly is obviously subjective, but it is hard for me to understand why flying this aircraft should be more boring than any other.
It handflies great, it sounds great, the systems work. It has quirks like extending speedbrakes before landing, if you want an aircraft that feels great to fly with a lot of character, I would suggest this one.
To be fair working wipers should be something we can expect in 2026.
This is a fair point with JF aircraft, you do and a generous amount of liveries for each of them too. However if you don’t need 4 variants (I’ve only ever flown one variant myself) then it becomes more of a moot point/false economy.
They did and they remain a top class dev for their support and updates.
This is true too. Sometimes it’s the small but different touches. Like on the Fenix A320 I love being able to walk on up the steps from walkaround mode. On the FSS 727 they have a really cool crew ‘iphone’ where if you want to, you can get the co-pilot to go do all the checklists (audibly), which brings the older complex 727 with flight engineer panel to the level of enjoyment for a casual simmer.
For me I just go by which aircraft bring me back to them the most, and for whatever reason the BAE146 and F28 I don’t. That’s not a knock on them, they are both great, but more a knock on my own personal preferences. I can also say the same for the Ini A350 or the FBW A380 say which although both are really well done, they are very automated aircraft and a rather boring things to fly because of that.
It’s certainly all very subjective as you say.
Didn’t know I have followers on this forum.
Yes, they did. 12 months ago, when they released RJ Professional for FS2024 without working wipers. Guess what, wipers still don’t work.
I said in my previous post. Without modelled failures and wear and tear it’s just another A to B plane, like many others. Not on the same level as PMDG, Fenix, A2A, Black Square or even iniBuilds.
It’s a fantastic aircraft and has had many updates since release. Very immersive and fun to fly. I don’t care about failures FWIW.
I agree. I bought the F28 when it was released for FS20 and found that it was simply too resource intensive. I’ve since gotten the updated version and it works perfectly on FS24. It’s a great model. Well worth the money, IMHO.
I also find this a very enjoyable plane to fly.
It handles and works quite well, and has reasonable system depth.
If someone is looking for a plane of this type and era, they don’t come much better.
I actually put this in first place in my most recent Baracus Top 10 list, though there’s recency bias, as I’d been flying this a lot. Great plane, especially sounds and lighting. It’s a nice challenge to turn off the FMS option and fly VOR only.
A quick update: my partner bought this plane for me as a surprise and I’ve been flying it all day! It’s great and I have no regrets. Perfect plane for someone like me who prefers retro airliners to the newest models.
Does anyone know what the “two arrows” button on the lower lefthand corner does, the one beneath boarding? It seems to randomly assign passengers and cargo but I’m not 100% sure and couldn’t find it in the manual.
Yes. It randomizes the loadout.
This is from an earlier version of their EFB manual:
A Randomize icon is located immediately to the right of the PAX TOTAL field. Clicking this icon will set a random passenger and cargo load.
Hey, I noticed that the windshield wipers do work for me on the F28. I just got and downloaded them for MSFS 2024 yesterday. So it appears that bug has been patched!
They’ve always been working but I think @Marklar666 meant they actually don’t wipe out anything off the windshield.
For me personally that’s only a small thing which doesn’t bother me much. Overall this is a brilliant airplane, at least on the same level as those developers listed. To be honest I would like to know how many people use failures in aircraft addons and I don’t take it as main criteria when evaluating an addon.
