While you are most likely correct given PMDG’s relationship with Boeing, I doubt a “Boeing beta team” would be the real limitation on potential Airbus development by PMDG.
Of course it is. Almost everyone in the beta team are historic members. But more importantly the senior developers. Whenever I talk with Vin I still can’t believe that I’m talking to the guy that coded the first PMDG 737 for FS2004 that I was obsessed with when I was just becoming a pilot.
You’re proud of your status as a beta tester. We get it. But you act as if change is impossible. Maybe it is for PMDG, but I hope not.
That said, I have zero interest in any Airbus in any sim so I hope whatever “secret” project PMDG is working on isn’t a ‘bus.
A new beta team can be assembled. We are not talking about a team of rocket scientists on the beta team. Regardless of what you may think, you are easily replaceable as a beta tester if this hypothetical unlikely event PMDG developed an Airbus.
I’m pretty sure the license with Boeing would prevent a PMDG Airbus development.
Getting hot in here. I doubt PMDG will ever release any Airbus, plus iniBuilds has slowly begun to dominate in this area. They’ve already covered A300/A310 and in two weeks A320neo is coming for free. There will be A380 this year, then A350 and then who knows what, probably another Airbus. Ok, their products are still a little bit behind Fenix/PMDG simulation depth but they’re improving…
Not to forget, Fenix has developed the most detailed Airbus simulation in MSFS to date.
Even though one of the Fenix devs has said it’s not just a simple cut and paste of A320 systems to another Airbus airliner (e.g. A330 - A380), surely there’s a lot of know-how and systems depth that can be used as a good base for another hypothetical Airbus product from them.
As for PMDG, a detailed recreation of the 787 would be popular and also sell extremely well, IMO.
I agree, it would also fit into their business model of making more “relevant” models that are currently flying rather than models that are retired or will retire shortly.
Claiming that PMDG could just start making airbus airplanes shows that you really don’t understand how difficult it is to have enough knowledge on an airplane to develop it for MSFS. That’s not exclusive to PMDG. That’s just what differentiates study level airplane developers from developers that make pretty airplanes that behave nothing like the real airplane (90% of them). For the current PMDG 737 to be as good as it is now first we had to have every single previous version. You could say that the development for that airplane has been a 20 year cumulative process.
Of course I feel honoured to collaborate with PMDG. I’ve been using their products since the beginning and they’re a big part of the career I chose. But I really don’t understand this attitude. You’re almost being disrespectful. This isn’t twitter. It’s not about being a rocket scientist or being irreplaceable. This is not my job and it’s not something I’d brag about. Sure, they could find Airbus pilots willing to help in the development but that’d mean that they’ve been working on an airbus in secret for almost 10 years. I can’t deny that’s the case but it’s incredibly unlikely.
Apart from the 747-400 (which RSR has a soft spot and type rating for), I believe you’re right.
737 MAX will be released at some point during the current 777 release cycle, the 777X whenever permission is granted by Boeing.
Not forgetting that BlueBird Sim is working on a detailed version of both the 757 and 767, and there’s a SWS/FSReborn collaboration on the 727 (caveat: we have to wait and see what the final versions of these actually deliver. Though, I’m hopeful that these devs are aiming for quality).
I’m actually fully agreeing with you, but you’ve described the primary limitation of PMDG developing an Airbus simply because the beta team is full of Boeing users - which is absolutely absurd. Did you forget the MD-11?
I always felt they wanted to develop the 757 with all the chatter about it through the years, but the fact that 757 production has ended and it’s nearing total retirement is probably what’s holding PMDG back - just my two cents, though.
But I also talked about the knowledge that the developers have and the level of information they have access to. When we engage in technical discussions with the devs these conversations really feel like when pilots talk with engineers and they know stuff about the airplanes that the pilots have never heard of (because they don’t need to).
Sure. I mentioned the testers but that isn’t my main point.
Question about the nav data base…
I was under the impression that a Navigraph subscription insured the aircraft’s data base would be up to date. I have the subscription and simlink and it used to work but after a short hiatus (doing some GA flying) I returned to the 737 to find a nav data out-of-date message. The airac cycle is current (2402).
Is there a setting in the plane, game or computer that could cause this?
Do you have Navigraph Hub installed?
It has “buttons” you click to update various Navigraph-related content, such as the individual 737-specific AIRAC data.
When Navigraph updates content, you need to open Hub and manually update the various Navigraph bits that have been updated.
That was it!
All good now. Thank you!!!
PMDG has a relationship with Boeing, so it’s not far fetched to believe they could (have) developed the MD-11 based on the very fact that Boeing bought McDonnell Douglas and therefore would (& does) have all manner of access to it’s airframe and systems. Same could be said for other MD aircraft as well. It’s all part of Boeing’s portfolio!
Of course, I would assume PMDG is required to go through an approvals process prior to developing or releasing an aircraft in simulation software.
Speaking of Navigraph, the latest version that just came out has a cool feature - you can mark up the charts. Pretty nice for tracing your taxi route, etc. Definitely the best value out there to enhance your simming experience. Can’t believe I waited so long to take the plunge.
I’ve been a subscriber to Navigraph for quite a while, but had never noticed the AIRAC update seeming to come a day early, as @TinnyPaladin232 issue appeared to happen the day before the new AIRAC, 2403, was supposed to kick in.
Are they always released early or did maybe the leap year confuse the release date a little?
Edit: Alternatively, depending on where in the world @TinnyPaladin232 is, maybe the local date and time was used, rather than UTC, to determine the time of release? I’d have thought that using UTC would make more sense, but not certain?
In my case it was not a matter of release date timing; I’d been having the problem for a week. It really was just me forgetting about pressing those buttons in the hub.
What is clear is that I need a pre-flight checklist for the computer, not just the aircraft 
How can I do that? I didn’t notice!!! Call me dumb if you want 