Jump to content

MD-80


Max Reverse

Recommended Posts

Hello gents,

maybe the most of you still know this wonderful small video of the DAT MD87 flight from Billund to Napoli. I some way, I love this pure mechanical aircraft. At the end, this real nice captain shows some hidden secrets of his aircraft. It's awesome :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for this!  I'm a long time lover of this aircraft myself.

 

The MD-80 is a success story that sadly, many people don't know about.  The aircraft was built by a company who's reputation for design, manufacturing and quality was beyond compare, and the aircraft itself was designed to be a work horse. The MD-80 is loved by most pilots who flew or still fly here.  It's no conincidence that one of the world oldest and largest airlines starting buying up MD-80's from across the world, overhauling them and have the largest fleet of MD-80's the world has ever seen.  Any guesses as to who that might be?

 

Here's a hint, pull up Flight Aware and go to Atlanta Georgia and watch the arriving and departing traffic. You'll see a ton of MD-80 variants flying in/out of there every single day.

 

For Flight Simulation, one of the best aircraft ever made is the Leonardo Maddog MD-80. Still today not one aircraft (made by ANYONE) matches all the things that were put into the this aircraft model and this wonderful study level simulation a treat to fly each and every time.  Some will tell you that the graphic are badly dates, and while this is true to a limited extent it's more that they don't match the graphics of other aircraft models.  I've spent considerable time on MD-80 series flight decks and the real truth is that the Leonardo graphics are a pretty close match for the real aircraft.  So while they're not pretty an shinny to look at, they're FAIRLY accurate.

 

Here is another great video of the pilot describing this amazing aircraft.

 

PILOT'S PERSPECTIVE ON THE MADDOG

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here is another MD-80 lover! :wub:

One of the best (if not THE best) air rides I've ever had in real world were on MD-82's, mostly of Alitalia. An unforgettable experience to say the least.

I have also always loved the smooth swan-like shape of this plane with the engines mounted on the rear fuselage and the sexy nose.

I love watching MD-80 cockpit videos, as I find the flightdeck to be iconic and so attractive to me.

 

As for in-sim maddogs, I started with some nice freeware MD-80s for FS98, then came the original Lago Maddog and finally Leonardo.

 

I do have but do not fly the LH Maddog any more though. Of course I agree with Dave it is an unprecedented and unbeaten simulation (well, maybe MJC Q400 comes close).
But for my pedantic and aestetic eyes, the VC (I don't fly 2D panels anymore) does look bad (not in what it represents, just what it looks like).
Those simplistic (from the 2016 point of view) textures, the axe-chopped switches, the flat overhead, etc. Also it performs rather bad - I had the lowest FPS of all my addon aircraft.

Plus, there is no Virtual CDU for the Maddog, an addon which became my inseparable friend in flying.

 

I know the Leonardo Maddog team doesn't exist anymore, but if I can dream, I would love them to reincarnate, make a new great looking and performing VC, the Virtual Avionics make the CDU and... I'm in heaven!

I am not, and will not rather be, an X-Plane user, but I have a jealous eye for the Rotate Sim MD-80's VC.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Folks,

Great video - yep - love the Mad Dog - went the Coolsky route myself and enjoyed it immensely - much to my chagrin I couldn't get it to work in P3D... While I mostly fly GA - the Majestic Q400 and DA CRJ are on my short list for purchases (realize the CRJ isn't out yet) - which will probably satisfy all my commercial needs until when/if Coolsky ever migrates their product...

Regards,

Scott

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rafal,

 

I entered talks with Davide about purchasing the Leonardo Maddog to breathe some new life into her.  While he showed interest, I never responded to the list of business related information I asked for.  I was bummed out!  Davide was looking into a team to update the graphics a few years ago, though nothing came of it.

 

The Maddog is an FS9 to FSX port, so upgrade her one would need to redo all of the graphics and do a little updating of the code.  As with any aircraft, the graphics take the most time and effort!

 

The good news is that the aircraft works in FSX:SE, though we are not likely to ever see a P3D version.

 

I too would love to see another FSX model of the MD-80, so long as it had the same capabilities of the Leonardo version. I wouldn't be interested in anything less than a study level sim of this iconic aircraft! 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Aerosoft

Actually parts come from FS2000!

 

I share your love for the aircraft. I was the one to come up with the product title Maddog (also was project manager for that one) a long time ago.

 

Please login to display this image.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

26 minutes ago, Mathijs Kok said:

I was the one to come up with the product title Maddog (also was project manager for that one) a long time ago

 

Actually I remember that well, Mathijs, both LAGO and yourself.

Some people have known you for a looong time even though you don't know their faces.

Speaking of popularity! ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Mathijs Kok said:

I share your love for the aircraft. I was the one to come up with the product title Maddog (also was project manager for that one) a long time ago.

 

 

 

Ha-Ha!  So YOU ARE the guilty party!  LOL

 

I had no idea my friend!  INCREDIBLE WORK Mathijs!

 

Because of the work you guys did, there are an ENORMOUS number of lovers of the MD-80 and the Leonardo Maddog in particular. I hear from and speak to them all the time, and after all this time there are STILL new people purchasing it due to the continual praise it receives.

 

You should STRONGLY consider breathing new life into this WAY OVER THE TOP aircraft!  In fact, I hope considering it will keep you up at night!  LOL

 

THIRD EDIT... because I love this aircraft model SO MUCH!   Mathijs, you ought to come make a shared cockpit flight with me, and explore the modifications I did to make the flight model even more accurate and a few other things I added like the new sound pack (adds even more realism).  Having said this, I wish I could, but I can't release these mods to the public as I didn't get permission from Leonardo to do them... we use these mods internally (in our group) under the Fair Use Doctrine.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Aerosoft

The problem is that while the systems are relatively simple (not too far from our CRJ project) the costs are still the same for modeling etc. For an airliner that is on the way out that's hard to regain.

 

Let me tell you why I love the Maddog... Late 1995 I used to fly Amsterdam-Milan a lot. That was one of the first departures at Schiphol and noise regulations were a bit more relaxed. As it was a 06:55 departure the flight was often empty and I used to get a jumpseat ride very often. The crews ALWAYS did what they called 'combat take-offs', meaning a rolling take-off, firewalled engine and 35% degree climb to FL150.  That aircraft is SOOOOO overpowered when it was light. All boils down to the fact they wanted a twin engine aircraft to be able to really climb on one engine. It was a rocketship when you did not have to take any consideration to noise, fuel and wear. 

 

There was a time the MD80 climbed faster to FL100 than any fighter in use in Europe.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Mathijs Kok said:

It was a rocketship when you did not have to take any consideration to noise, fuel and wear. 

 

Absolutely!  I love it for that!  I've flown on the MD-80 series a lot, and absolutely love the climb out!  It IS a rocket!

 

Little trivia... due to the engines and wing design, the MD-80 out climbs any other regional airliner to around FL200 to FL240 (depending on a number of atmospheric variables) at which point the efficiency of the wing becomes worse than say a B737 thus the B737 will out climb the MD-80 AFTER than altitude.  Because of that they'll both get to cruise roughly the same time - but the MD-80 is a LOT more fun!

 

I can talk about this aircraft all day and not get bored with it!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. Privacy Policy & Terms of Use