While the A310 is definitely a niche aircraft in the sim and real-life, one could argue that it’s an amazing free aircraft in the base sim.
While iniBuilds has started to release high-quality aircraft such as the A300, A320neo, and now the upcoming A330 and A321LR, the A310 seems to have been neglected, and due to its poor design and modeling compared to its counterparts, it isn’t something I’ve enjoyed flying as much.
What should be upgraded to make it more competitive and drive people to fly it more? These are some discrepancies that I’ve noticed
about the A310 that need upgraded/fixed:
The flaps are incorrectly modeled and do not have the proper 3D geometry and slots
There are misaligned polygons around the wings and fuselage (more prominent on the slats and end of the wings)
The main model of the A310 overall is incorrect. This was noticeable on the X-Plane A300/10, but seems to be fixed with the A300 and A330. There shouldn’t be such a noticeable “hump” from the cockpit all the way to the middle of the fuselage.
In the cabin portion, the small windows on the Exits are not modeled from the inside.
The back galley and rear lavatories are not modeled in the aft of the cabin (not sure about how the lavatories should be modeled, but assume it’s similar/the same to the A300).
The back window behind the aft service exits are not modeled from the interior.
There are currently parts of the cabin (near the walls) that are not accessible when walking around in the cabin. As the A300 does not have this, it would be good to be able to access all parts of the cabin, especially when trying to set up good window views!
PW Engines would be a good addition in order to add other realistic (and fictional if you desire it) liveries.
While this one may seem more subjective, I believe the addition of a freighter model would massively increase the usability and likability of the A310. With the A330-300P2F, an A310F seems more feasible, and would be fun to do missions.
Overall, the A310 is missing a lot of the love that it deserves, and would greatly benefit from a massive revamp/rework. You could also argue that an upgrade of the A310 could potentially boost sales of the sim as now users have more options on what to fly and what they can do with it. While I know a lot won’t agree with this, I believe the A310 is a backbone of the sim and deserves more love and attention that it gets.
While I firmly believe that iniBuilds would need some sort of monetization for doing this, I also think that if Microsoft/Asobo would not be willing to do so, then iniBuilds could introduce a paid expansion for individual users to buy this ‘A310 V2’. This way iniBuilds still receives financial income for this, and users receive an upgraded/reworked A310.
I encourage all who would like to see this happen to please vote on this as every vote counts!
Considering what happened to the V2 after AAU3, I sincerely hope they don’t upgrade the A310. It works -on Xbox, at that- and that’s much more than can be said about the A320 right now…
I understand your frustrations, but I’m sure that if they were to upgrade the A310, then they would make it to where it is able to maintain its compatibility with how it performs now
Before AAU3, I’d probably agree with you. After that and what it did to the A320v2, I don’t have any confidence. The most puzzling thing is that they improved a lot of things on it, but added a bug that breaks most of the aircraft’s systems and all of its displays if you touch the MCDU while on approach. It’s quite catastrophic to run into it, not to mention it makes holds impossible to program and perform. So now I have to buy from PMDG or Justflight just to access a working single-aisle airliner.
I’m hoping that they fix these issues. My guess is that they (iniBuilds) have been extremely fixated on the upcoming sim, and some other personal projects. I would imagine that these issues are resolved in the new sim and would eventually come to the new one
Speculation ofc
Yeah - but there needs to be a business case for updating the A310. It won’t get done unless someone pays for it to be done. Sales of the A300 pay for it to be updated. The A310 is free and so not only will updating it not generate any income, it could take away A300 income from those who try the A310, like it and want a better version. If the A310 was just as good, nobody would buy the A300
I believe the A300 carries its own niche and is separate from the A310. While they do have their similarities, they’re still two different planes. Of course some sort of compensation would be needed for iniBuilds to do this, which is why I think there should at least be an option for a paid expansion for an individual to buy it if they desire it.
Absolutely it does, and I would love for the A310 to be up there with the A300 as I built up a great many hours in it from release up till the A300 released, but I don’t get a feeling that it ever will be. But hey, I’ve voted so who knows
I have always made note that all inibuilds products always have a problem in the model both exterior and interior. For example in the cockpit all the dimensions are incorrete, in the a300 for example you can clearly see that the windows in the cockpit are much wider than in reality. It is the exact same thing always being reported as if it were a copy paste in so many other planes. In my opinion, inibuilds will end up becoming one of those companies where it only thinks about profit and doing too many things done wrong.
I think it’s understandable that iniBuilds wishes to expand their horizons and resources through Microsoft/Asobo. The problem that I see is Microsoft/Asobo’s care (or lack thereof) for default aircraft fidelity/features. The A310 forexample, is majorly neglected when it comes to its visual and ability features when you compare it more closely to its closer relative, the A300. The A330 seems to have the correct modeling features (with some potential negatives such as the cabin light or no PW engines), but is a big step up, especially since it even has a freighter variant added to it. I often feel like these forum posts are often in vain as I have yet to really see Microsoft/Asobo taking inputs from the forums and utilizing them into the sim. The community knows what it wants and it would be amazing for it to become a reality. There are still a lot of things on their plate and work is still being done, but I hope they don’t leave out things such as the A310 or other features on their other aircraft.
Totally agree with you, I found this post a while ago and looked for it again to answer you. I am a great lover and user of that plane. I bought MSFS 2024 and found that the A310 has some flaws, for example, components of the A300-600R. I don’t understand how they haven’t left as it was in MSFS 2020, simply in MSFS 2024, they put the landing gear from the A300 to the A310-300. They are similar planes, but they are still two different things. If you look at the stickers that are about the weight and other features on the landing gear of the A310 in MSFS 2024, you look at how they have put the A300 train. Another thing, notice that in the left main train does not have the main column / shock absorber support, but is simply held by a kind of springs of the shock absorber / column.
I must say that it is an airplane that I knew about its existence and thanks to MSFS 2020, I got closer to it and I like it a lot. I agree with you that it needs a review and improvement by Microsoft/Asobo and its manufacturer iniBuilds.
I’m happy to see your reply/agreement.
Hopefully Asobo/iniBuilds can work a deal to make this happen. I would fly the A310 a lot more if they would actually make it the same quality as the other aircraft (i.e. A330). It has so much potential, and I hope they can see that in the future. I’ve been dying to do freighter ops, and have a decent exterior model of it.
