Any update at all on this? I know the 744 is probably at the top of pile at the moment but the 77X is such a great product that it'd be a travesty if the 200ER wasn't done.

 

Agreed, it's a beautiful aircraft!

Travesty: An absurd or grotesque misrepresentation.

From what I've seen on the forums, the production schedule seems to be 747V2->XPX DC-6->FS/P3D DC-6->FS/P3D DC-3. To be honest I'm not expecting to see the ER before 2018. 

Any sort of update on this at all?

 

If I'm honest I still don't truly understand the commercial reasoning behind developing a DC-6 when a 772ER expansion pack is a complete no brainer.

Thanks,

Alex Macdonald

Any sort of update on this at all?

 

If I'm honest I still don't truly understand the commercial reasoning behind developing a DC-6 when a 772ER expansion pack is a complete no brainer.

 

Thanks,

 

Alex Macdonald

I think they are separate developments, and that the ER will be developed by the team working on the 747, not the one working on the DC-6 (so I gather. I could be wrong. If so, please don't bit my head off Kyle!). I'm confident though that the ER will not take as long to do as a new plane because it is simply a  tweak to the exterior model and flight model. Not to underplay their work, as I'm sure it's not easy by any means, but I doubt we'll be waiting another 4 years like with the 747. 

I'd read that they had two separate teams working simultaneously but perhaps they should have used the skills of the DC-6 team on something that'll be more commercially successful? I know I'm not the only one to think it!

 

It just seems like a strange use of resource when a 772ER expansion pack or PMDG quality 757/767 makes far more sense - I think the Level-D ship has long since sailed!

 

PMDG will have their reasons but it makes zero sense to a lot of the FS Community.

Alex Macdonald

 

I'd read that they had two separate teams working simultaneously but perhaps they should have used the skills of the DC-6 team on something that'll be more commercially successful? I know I'm not the only one to think it!

 

True - you and many others have questioned this, but it's more an issue of not digging deeper, and viewing something only on the surface. Viewing from the surface, particularly in this case, doesn't give you an appropriate view of what's going on.

 

The DC-6, as we've mentioned quite a few times, was a project undertaken to help the team learn how to expand our offerings into X-Plane (and to keep some of the team busy in what would otherwise be down time). Whenever you're learning new programs or languages, your learning is always best and most efficient when learning something you're passionate about. Since a bunch of us are big fans of classic radials, and those aircraft don't have the complexity of the automation and electronic displays that modern aircraft do, it was a good fit. What is learned in this process will help us bring other aircraft into X-Plane.

 

Just like the JS4100 was used as a development platform for testing out new concepts that would be used in the NGX, the DC-6 will be used as a developmental platform for testing out new concepts used in other X-Plane offerings. I appreciate the fact that it seems that people are looking out for us when telling us how the company should be run, but, quite frankly, none of you know what is going on behind the scenes...so...stop it 

 

The simple fact is that it wasn't a matter of DC-6 or 777-200ER, so, that point is moot.

Fair enough Kyle.

 

PMDG don't owe us customers anything at all, but I think we'd all just like to see the 777 package reach its full potential sooner rather than later.

 

Cheers,

Alex Macdonald

Fair enough Kyle.

 

PMDG don't owe us customers anything at all, but I think we'd all just like to see the 777 package reach its full potential sooner rather than later.

 

Cheers,

 

Alex Macdonald

PMDG doesn't owe their customers anything except their corporate existence. I retired in 2011 from sales in the worlds number one salty snack food company I will not name but "you can't eat just one." After the start of the great recession our Division Manager told us in a meeting "If you ever think your are so big the customer has to sell your product and you can treat  them any way you want, remember GM". Those of us old enough remember when the big three auto makers were king and thought the customer had to buy what they offered, then the Asian auto companies came up and bit them in the a__.  Never disdain your customers.(At least don't let them know it). :wink:

Yes

 

 

then the Asian auto companies came up and bit them in the a__.  Never disdain your customers.(At least don't let them know it).

 

The only thing I can think of when it comes to the Asian auto makers coming in is:

1. Michael Keaton
2. "THOSE. ARE. RIBBONS OF SHAME!"

Love it! Reminds me of the weeks I didn't make my sales/stales plan.

Yes, because I don't like to fly all these airliners fictional liveries of B77L, I want to fly real B772 liveries.

I would rather stay with the -200LR because it is fully capable of ultra long haul flights. Remember that the -200LR holds the world record for the world's longest flight. I do not see a point in PMDG modeling another -200.

From an operational standpoint what's the difference between the 777-200ER and the 777-200LR?

From the seat in the cockpit does it make any real difference whether it's an ER or LR?  Other than maybe an EPR gauge depending on engine type?