Which aircraft should I get first, Fenix A320 or the PMDG 737?

mostly the size. and it has other winglets. and i guess it can fly a bit further. But im not that much into boeing, someone else an definitely tell you more than me.

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I have and appreciate both. If I were in your shoes now, I think Iā€™d opt for the Fenix. Although you are mostly Boeing focused, I think many of us really wanted the 800 first. The fenix is great out of the gate and will get better over time.

Having said that, I think you have a fun challenge ahead of you. There are multiple layers deeper you can go with the Fenix which will only enhance your understanding and enjoyment of the A3xx series in general. Learning more about the systems, how flight laws work, abnormal procedures, etc. All of this will require a little more study, just like going deep on the 737, yet quite a bit different.

That is trueā€¦ But it all comes back to the personal level really, is that difference that the Fenix A320 is something that you really care or not. Because the way I see it, and this is just personal to me, the in-depth simulation that Fenix has, while amazing is not something thatā€™s important to me and just a ā€œnice thing to haveā€.

The default A320 can do a basic flight from A to B, thatā€™s true. But the FBW A320 just elevate the aircraft which for me has a lot of ā€œnice to haveā€. And itā€™s all free. So of course, Iā€™m learning a lot of new things flying the FBW and I will continue to learn more things as they introduce more features. But most of the time I feel that theyā€™re just simply ā€œnice to haveā€ for me and I donā€™t really care that much about everything else, like failures or the ability to switch to different flight laws, etc.

And then thereā€™s the ā€œgenerationā€. I personally just donā€™t like flying a previous-gen aircraft. If Fenix A320 released an A320NEO with a HUD refit installed, I would probably take a different stance and just fly the Fenix exclusively. But thatā€™s not the case, so while Fenix is the most complete A320, I just canā€™t bring myself to enjoy an aircraft thatā€™s not the current gen with the latest technology installed. Even the interior is too ā€œusedā€ for my taste. I prefer a fresh aircraft and cockpit look thatā€™s just come out of Toulouse for her maiden flight. No dirt, no scratches, just pristine. And flying the Fenix just doesnā€™t give me the same enjoyment as I did with the FBW A32NX with a cleaner look, and latest engines with latest tech.

Again this is just a personal thing for me, I know most people would disagree with me, and thatā€™s okay. Weā€™re probably just sitting from a different personal taste and personal preference. And it just comes down to the individual level. Some people want the most realistic experience, the most realistic aircraft, realistic livery, with the realistic route. But thatā€™s not me. More realism is merely a ā€œnice to haveā€ for me, but everything else can be fictional as far as Iā€™m concerned. I can fly from any airport to any destination IFR route using any livery and aircraft that I want.

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So well stated Neo. Thanks, always a pleasure.

Hey guys I just decided to buy both the Fenix A320 and the PMDG 737-800ā€¦:slight_smile:

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ThatĀ“s the way!

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Excellent choices. You wonā€™t regret either. The hardest part will be deciding which one you want to fly on each run. Have fun!!!

When downloading the liveries, donā€™t forget that there are multiple variants of the 738. There are livs for all of them.

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If someone else is struggling to choose between the two (they are expensive after all) I would say it depends if you prefer Airbus or Boeing. Iā€™m a Boeing guy myself and I think the cockpit is so much nicer and elegant than the sparse and industrial looking A320. I also love my Honeycomb Alpha and I prefer to fly with a yoke instead of a sidestick. If youā€™re struggling with framerate I think the 737 is better in that regard too.

It sounds like Iā€™m hating on the A320 but I really donā€™t. Itā€™s probably better on paper than the 737 but it doesnā€™t matter if you donā€™t have an emotional connection to it.

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To be able to advise someone what to choose if they have only money for one aircraft you have to know all the issues of both aircraft and then you have to know what the person wants specifically, what is their priority?

Both planes have their own issues, features and bugs and in some cases youā€™ll also need to know the the system specs the armchair pilot has because depending on that some bugs may or may not occur.

I like both aircraft equally although one is more ā€˜friendlyā€™ to fly that wonā€™t keep me from flying the other. If you donā€™t have to limit yourself then my advice is: donā€™t limit yourself, take both.

Well, itā€™s a rather forgiving decision, because you canā€™t go wrong with either :slight_smile:

A320NX from FlyByWire is good enough if you have a hankering for an A320.
It runs better than Fenix if your computer isnt top end as well.

Get the PMDG 737 for more variety. If you are low on cash, just grab the 737-600

I have both. Both is a good decision if you have the money. I think the Fenix is probably better in terms of features but it just doesnt run as well for me :frowning:

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The Fenix is great. But is 3 months out with no updates except for the first week? I don;t know i they are waiting for the MSFSupdate or so, but some issues should be resolved is my opinion.

I would agree. The Fenix had more modeled features than the PMDG and FBW, but the performance hit should certainly be taken into account. The performance is worse than FBW and PMDG, and itā€™s unclear if future updates will improve that significantly.

Only having money for one aircraft? Gratulation for your purchase and YouTube has a ton of great tutorial videos to learn that awesome Fenix, and the 737 bought a month later is not running away! :wink:

But if you want to urgently fly cargo planes (even with only limited electrical systems simulated and no functional circuit brakers) you must buy the 737-700 or -800. It depends on your priorities.

Both are great, butā€¦

I fly the 737 more than the a320. The main reason is that itā€™s easier to set up during the preflight.

I donā€™t like it that you have to put all the weight numbers in myself. I know it is more realistic, but it annoys me. You have to look at the tablet, change pages during the process, then look at the fmc, put the numbers in, look back because I forgotā€¦ first world problems by the way.

Ground operations of the A320 are much easier to execute because of the tablet. That will be improved by PMDG.

Thereā€™s something with the a320 graphics I donā€™t like. Donā€™t know exactly what it is.

Systems depth of the a320 are better than the 737. The fact that you have a nice cabin is also great.

When you have both, thereā€™s the stress of choosing what to flyā€¦

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I dont own the fenix but have the 737 and 738.
If you want to fly airbus and boeing, I would suggest to get one of the 73 (736 if you want to have a great deal) and download the FBW a320.
If the a320 is really your thing, i guess you should get the fenix.
I flew the fbw all the time before the 737 release. Had a great time with it, and regarding my flights it had all I needed.
But the 73 is my all time favourite so its the only ā€œbig boyā€ I fly now.
Anyway i dont think there is a bad choice here, but keep the advice (performance wise etc) above in mind.

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I have the Fenix and I have to say itā€™s incredible, I purchased the PMDG 737-800 yesterday and I must say I have only used it once, well i have to get used to it. The pre flight was a bit difficult for me, but I have to say itā€™ s an amazing plane, too. Now the really serious thing began after the first flight, something happened to the plane but I wanted to use it again and every timei tried, there was a CTD; not happening with other planes. I re installed it but it didnā€™t work, so I guess Iā€™m re installing the whole simulator.

When comparing Boeing with Airbus, Airbus is way more easy to fly and everything is fully automated.

What aircraft is prefered depends on if you want a flying challenge or satisfying full pre-programming and seeing the autopilot function like a swiss clockwork, including perfect speed settings (including rolling the speed back automatically based on the flaps setting), automatically dialing in the ILS frequency and more.

But there is only special thing only the 737 has: Awesome eyebrow windows.
If you want this panorama view and glass roof feeling during a cozy rainy day on the airport the 737 is the way to go.

I had CTDā€™s with the PMDG 737 although it had to do with the 737 3rd party liveries. There are several replies with a to do list in the PMDG 737 section here how to completely uninstall the 737. Follow that.

After that basically remove all other add-ons and mods. That should be sufficient. At least it was for me. Reinstalling FS2020 never helped me, it was always some mod that caused the CTDā€™s.

For the moment Iā€™m sticking with the liveries that come with the PMDG. For now thatā€™s working fine.

I must say I like the Fenix livery manager way more than the PMDG livery manager that looks like itā€™s from the 90ā€™s. The Fenix livery manager shows your 3rd party aircraft, with PMDG you only see a line of text.

That is/was the most objective answer to the OP, iā€™ve read so far.
Iā€™m about to buy the PMDG737-600 ( I think the other variants are too expensive to meā€¦unles theyā€™d propose a 80$-ā‚¬ base product, and eventually the other variants for free or for a modest extra pricing of Ā±10$-ā‚¬ ā€¦again, thatā€™s only my personnal opinion, as a potential customer).
Iā€™m a huge Airbus fan, but flew as cabin crew during many years on the 737, and itā€™s a fantastic aircraft.
Yet, without having bought the Fenix A320, Iā€™m very satisfied with the level FBW have provided us. IMO, the extras Fenix are proposing compared to FBW, would be more interesting for APL students, than serious desk-pilots like me.