Not much better, if at all… see here:
Pilots lost lots of its reputation for me. Im not going into detail, as it doesnt belong here. Result is, their Products since this “incident” are very low effort and quality, but remain at a high asking price…
I will deffo not going to buy anything from them anymore for the time being.
DISCLAIMER: The video says “SWS/Pilots”, indeed SWS did the basic work on this Dash 7, but they made it clear, it is a contract work. So, they have a limited budget and stop working when this is reached and the plane has the basic features the customer (in this case “Pilots”) asked for.
SWS made it clear, it is NOT an SWS product in the end! Its now in the hands of Pilots to finish what SWS started.
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Thanks for the video. My expectations have now been set accordingly 
Due to this being off thread I’d best not comment further except to say that this Dash 7 (preview version but apparently near final?) is pretty disappointing too. Graphics look like FSX to me and the ‘sounds’ also seem pretty much from that era too. Yes, disappointed here too 
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Into the Blue have posted their review. Decent enough looking I guess but with all the system and engine complexities of a default sim 152. Judging by what P3d owners have said about their version taking years to get anywhere near worth paying for I think I’ll give this and anything from Pilot’s a miss.
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This is hardly a review, it is a 5 minute video that demonstrates that the person did not bother to read any of the included documentation, and also shows that the person lacks an understanding of the modern PBR work flow, that has nothing to do with bump mapping.
The simulator itself currently has a poor implementation of water physics, as the video shows, there is also very little water surface friction etc., this is all beyond our control! To switch on the mooring feature with all 4 engines running, when our documentation makes it very clear that all 4 engines should be off, confirms that no documentation was read, since the water spike effects are beyond our control and will only be generated when the engines are running. The way it is shown in the video makes it look like our B-314 is at fault, this is not the case!
The person who made the video asked for a refund in less than 90 minutes from the time they had purchased it. Honestly, this makes it look like there was never any intention to keep the aircraft, to spend time to look at the vast documentation and historical information that we include, and even begin to understand the basic unique features that are already working and implemented.
We made a decision to release the B-314 in its current state, as we deem it flyable, enjoyable, a unique and fun flying boat experience for the general simmer. This is also reflected in the current low pricing. We are committed to adding and implementing functionality over time, as well as fixes and improvements to the B-314 wherever we can via updates. This will naturally also make the B-314 more complex and it will likely also move the price up. What we presently offer is the unique chance to get a state of the art flying boat at a very low entry cost and be part of its evolution.
We continue to welcome all constructive feedback to make corrections and improvements where they are deemed necessary, on top of fixing already known issues and improvements we have planned.
We are currently planning to release a first update this week, ideally on Friday if feasible.
Jerome
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Thank you for the response. I would recommend watching the more proper review linked in the post above from Into the Blue Simulations. I think there is a lot of good feedback in there for you to consider as that reviewer did a very well thought-out review.
I’m happy to see an update coming so soon, that’s a good sign and I look forward to more updates.
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Well, I for one have been enjoying the airplane so far. The manual is worth the price of admission alone IMHO. I look forward to seeing how she looks after a few updates.
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Yes, a proper review from someone who states “I’m not sure that the 314 has a water rudder”, when it clearly does, and “apparently we should be fine to take-off with the flaps up”, which would allude to the fact that likely none of the vast included documentation was ever looked at prior to making the video, which is a great shame.
Jerome
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I had it for P3D. There was a base and a pro version, I have the pro version. The manual had two parts. 105 pages for the airplane IRL and 76 pages for the aircraft in the sim.
I was quite happy with it. It was study level. Maybe not as deep as the 737 or JFs 146, but still very nice. The electrical system, engine start and fuel distribution kept me working. It even had failures. The manual stated that Ctrl-E didn’t you anywhere. You had to start each engine individually using the checklist start procedures to be able to power up all systems successfully.
There were 6 fuel selectors with a total of 28 different settings that would provide fuel to one or more engines.
They listed 79 L-Vars in the manual.
If they get to that level with no bugs then I will definitely get it.
@PILOTSdev is it planned to get to a level of complexity that is compareable to the P3D version?
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That really depends on the user base, since that kind of complexity would surely double the price to around EUR 60 or more.
Our current aim is to bring the B-314 up to a study-level complexity without going overboard and making the aircraft too complex and difficult to enjoy for the average simmer.
Jerome
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The base and pro version split did exactly that in P3D.
Well yes and no, the Base version for P3D only gives you the B-314, whereas the Pro version will give you the B-314 and the ability to add the B-314A.
Here in MSFS you are now getting both the B-314 and the B-314A already.
Jerome
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I just published a video flying it from San Francisco to the Half Moon Bay with fixed (-ish) behavior on takeoff and landing. I think it does look stunning in the late afternoon sun.
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I’m feeling more positive now with the active dev involvement in the forum and having spent more time with the plane and the manual. I was trying to figure out how to navigate, for example, if I wanted to attempt a longer flight. The manual talks about the old DF radio navigation (including simulated beacons) but I don’t think is applicable to this version.
I’m happy to report the regular nav radios work and give you at least direction to VORs. Using my logitech radio panel I also get DME so that’s enough to navigate. Now if we can get the Gyro AP to work it becomes more feasible to attempt some longer flights.
i read manual and still searching Direction Finder Unit . any tips?
A basic Gyropilot functionality is already implemented, you just need to follow the correct procedure for it to operate correctly.
If you are in the left-hand Captain’s seat, you need to pressurize the Gyropilot servos by moving the small white lever forward:
Once the Gyropilot servos have been pressurized, you will see that the Gyropilot pressure gauges showing this too:
Now you can move to the left side, click on the armrest to make the Gyropilot master switch visible, it should show as being disengaged:
Clicking on that switch will move it forward and the Gyropilot will now be engaged and active:
With the Gyropilot being engaged, the altitude and heading at the time of engagement will be held. We plan to add more Gyropilot functionality in the future, in its present implementation it offers altitude and heading hold.
Just as with the real B-314, if the Gyropilot servos are not pressurized, then the Gyropilot master switch will not activate any altitude and heading hold. The Gyropilot servos being pressurized is a prerequisite for altitude and heading hold to be functional via the Gyropilot master switch.
Jerome
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Thanks Jerome! The most important aspect to me would be the ability to have it follow a heading setting so that you could change the heading and it would follow (like the DC-3 Gypopilot), but this is good enough for now.
It looks like the P3D version used to have a DF radio and simulated radio stations to allow longer range radio navigation (according to manual). It seems like there was a lot of dead-reckoning and celestial nav. involved for longer trips. The SF-Hawaii route doesn’t seem feasible but I might try one of the legs of the famous Pacific Clipper route (NZ to NYC) if there is sufficient VOR coverage.
p.s. I found a fun video on yt about that route and B314 in general , search for “The Boeing 314: How The Clipper United The World!”
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Thank you for this clarification Jerome. I flew the skin off of this plane in FS9 but a functioning autopilot is a must! This was the largest turn off from watching the posted videos. I would definitely encourage Pilot’s to get your own demo flight video out there to whack the folks not reading the manual.
I made good use of the long range nav stations on night flights over the pacific with my European sim friends. This is a short coming right now as I’m not a huge fan of having to use dead reckoning to cross oceans. If I wanted to do a modern approach and fire up the PMS 750, does the Sperry use default sim autopilot and would it track under nav using the PMS 750 autopilot?
The fuel valve situation at startup is also a concern. I would love the ability to manage the full fuel system. The texture comments aren’t nearly as much of a concern as systems operation. I would be fine paying more for more functionality for sure as I’ve always loved this aircraft. I do fear for you guys though if you put this up in the MSFS store in it’s current state for more than 29.99 as I’m pretty sure the reviews are permanent and folks are not going to be kind if they feel they are buying a work in progress.
I appreciate the hard work on this and am really excited for your future contributions to it. Pilot’s has demonstrated it’s ability to improve products over time which is enough for me to buy-in.
-Travis
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Ummm how do you think they navigated across oceans in the 1930’s? Celestial navigation and dead reckoning was pretty much all they had when out of range of the shore based navaids.
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Thanks Jerome.
So currently,apart from getting aircraft on stable heading and altitude and following your instructions re gyropilot to hold current heading and altitude, we dont need to do anything with the gyro gauges/ dials/ knobs at the moment?
