Aerosoft Airbus X - Preview

[Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558]

The project is clearly positioned between the default Airbus and the far more complex (and more expensive) models from other development teams. Like the real Airbus usability and transparent, easy to use systems were the main focus, all packaged is some of the best modeling ever shown in an FSX addon. As it is easy on framerates and not overly complex, it is ideal for online flights where workload can be high.

• FSX only (no FS2004 version possible)
• Very high end modeling and texturing (we think it is the most detailed airliner to date)
• As much as possible default FSX functions so external products and hardware can use it
• A320 and A321 models, 8 liveries (for sure Air Berlin, Air France, Alitalia, Iberia etc, many more available as free downloads)
• CFM and IAE engines (though the flight model and displays are based on the CFM)
• Highly detailed VC with extended animations and sounds
• Full FSX external sound set (sound cones etc)
• Easy on FPS
• Designed to simulate the work of the pilot, not the aircraft. So no maintenance mode, virtual cabin etc. Very focused on the left seat.
• All systems that are highly automated in the Airbus (like hydraulic, APU, electric etc) and do not need a lot of crew actions are highly accurate without making the aircraft more complex to use for the less advanced user.
• Full animation of all doors, cargo hatches, flight surfaces, even the engine slowly rotate in the wind (speed and direction depending on wind!)
• External objects like chocks, traffic cones, GPSU (all compatible with AES of course)
• Possible to save the state of EVERY system in the aircraft, not just the default systems (over 400 items saved!)
• Fully support FSX failure, time acceleration modes and shared cockpit
• Highly extensive, innovative lighting system (really lights up the scenery, so you can taxi in the dark) that includes runway turn-off lights etc)
• Very advanced paint kit
• Extended manuals with step by step guide
• Special support forum
• Checklists in special formatting available for smartphones and iPad
• All checklists available in video to make it easy for beginners
• Release August 2010 in download, few weeks later for the box
• Expected price around 32 Euro plus VAT when applicable.
  We are not yet giving a full list of features for the systems as we don't know all of it at this moment. But let me give out some things. The systems are modeled in such a way that the full experience of flying a highly automated aircraft is achievable for pilots with limited time or experience.
  
  
• PFD and ND are very realistic (most likely not with terrain display as that kills FPS like little else and no weather radar as it is never realistic)
• Full TCAS system included
• Engine display is very realistic (CFM engine simulated)
• Systems display is near perfectly simulated within normal operation
• Everything on the glareshield is solidly simulated
• FADEC and FBW systems are better then we expected, rather good actually (so you won't be using the throttle a lot)
• All normal Flight Control Laws are used and will prevent any out of control flight (High AOA Protection, Load Factor Limitation, Pitch Attitude Protection, High Speed Protection, Flight Augmentation (Yaw), Bank Angle Protection)
• Engines are very realistic (apart from the nagging fuel burn issues when you fly at very low or very high cost settings, we don't care a lot actually about that)
• GPWS is very good
• Startup from a fully cold aircraft fully realistic
• Fully updatable nav database (navigraph)
• Full option to do the flight planning (airport, waypoints, cruise altitude) on the MCDU and the option to change these things in flight
• Radio page, Aircraft page, Selected Nav page, INS page, GPS page etc.
• Lateral Flight planning (allowing to enter flight plan, airport, waypoints, cruise alt, SIDs & STARs and airways not supported)
• Simple Performance page
• Simple vertical navigation

It is likely this project will be extended to a more complex version (in systems) later in some form. We are not able to give any information about that right now.

[Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558]

Well after our slight problem with the delay of the Bus I'm opening the topic again to show that although some development had to be stopped for a few (well a lot of actually) weeks there is still a lot going on.

First of all for those who missed it, this was the last post I added.

Well we missed a deadline, rather a big one as the consequences are bigger then just a delay. See we are seriously only a few days from having the Airbus X in release candidate stage but those few days simply are not there. At least one of the team has to start on another project that will last 6 or 7 weeks. Now locking the whole team and myself in an office with Jolt, pizza and a cattle prod would probably deliver something but it would not be fun and it is not Aerosoft's style. Instead I'll more or less put this project on ice for 6 weeks and we'll pick it up in July and complete it. See in contrast to most development teams that do addons for FSX, we got many projects, some of them professionally (a lot for the defense industry) and these are time sensitive in that way that contracts will be canceled if we do not deliver in time. So we move our people between these projects.

Release August 1st in download. Sorry. Mea culpa.

So did we have delays? Yeah sure. Though many parts of the projects went smooth we underestimated the coding that went into the systems. They are so interconnected in the airbus and FSX so tuned to Boeing systems it was a struggle until we decided how to handle things. Now you know us as a company that is rather open and honest about the internal projects, we like to show how things are done, what progress is made etc. We know customers like that. It also means that when we run into issues like this it is painfully obvious and bites you in the behind.

There is only one thing that's good about this all and that is the fact I have been looking for the opportunity to take a few days off and that's possible now. I'll keep this topic locked while I am away to prevent impromptu responses as we seen in the last few days that I will not be able to respond to. Next week we'll reopen and we'll even have some nice new things to show (like the checklists running on an iPad).

We had a few drinks and we moved on. Things like this happen, we got over 25 projects running, we are not a small dev group working on just one or perhaps two projects. One of the good things about it however is that things that were planned to arrive after the release are now being worked on. For example the checklists formatted for smartphones (and iPad... that's a perfect tool for that).

If you got a non Apple smartphone talk to me here so we can test it on your device btw.

I also made good progress with the checklist videos, very important as we aim for the customers that are not too experienced. They start to look pretty nice if I say so myself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw8uVyvkLv8 but do select the HD option there!)

Tomorrow I will show the small app we use to fill in the take off data sheet. Also pretty cool.

[MatthewS 32]

Looks great.... the waiting is hard!

[tup61 185]

Ah, good to see the Airbus X is live again! The disappointment about the delay was (obviously) great (really hoped to fly this one during my summer vacation), but well, at least the project is still alive. And I got to get me one of those iPhones, I see...!

[cbd80 258]

For those interested and haven't yet seen my 3rd Video Preview of Airbus X, it can be found here on YouTube:

And the earlier previews can be found here:

Chris

[Ayster 41]

If you got a non Apple smartphone talk to me here so we can test it on your device btw.

Mathijs, I have an HTC HD2 Windows Mobile smartphone.

cheers,

A

[TazPremier 9]

Hi, is it possible for you to test your checklists on HTC Desire (Android system), thanks in advance

Cheers,

Olivier

[EDLVfreak 7]

looks awesome!

[scarebus 29]

Mathijs is it possible for me to also do some paints for this amazing aircraft? You can see the level of my work if you search 'Mark Mylchreest' on avsim where you will find many of my previous works. I very much hope so as I have been following this from the very beginning

[Alexander Wurz 42]

Yes, I agree on that with Android Systems, as I have one.

also Android has an equally high market as Apple here 

[TF-197 28]

what about doing it for LG phones as well?

[simon747 98]

what about doing it for LG phones as well

o

Apple here, but...I think as long as they are in .pdf format most smart phones should be able to view? Most smartphones that would be big enough screen-wise to read a .pdf should have a .pdf viewer type app? Maybe just test on Anroid, Apple, and Windows mobile opp systems? Those should all be ok I would assume. There is Nokia's crap symbain (sp) too.

Simon

[Tristan Marchent 11]

Great features guys! Nice to see I can use the checklist with my iPhone as I haven't got an iPad (yet... )

Regards,

Tristan

[Herman 1591]

I have the Moto Droid (Android 2.1 OS) and would love to help with this piece of the puzzle. The pix you sent look brilliant! Progress is not just measured by the big things.

Best regards.

[Shaun Fletcher 570]

Mathijs is it possible for me to also do some paints for this amazing aircraft? You can see the level of my work if you search 'Mark Mylchreest' on avsim where you will find many of my previous works. I very much hope so as I have been following this from the very beginning

Hello Scaresim,

I believe the paintkit will be available on launch but the repainters have been at it for months now and theres really plenty of them.

[Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558]

what about doing it for LG phones as well?

It's a plain simple PDF, just with page sizes matched for the platforms, so if your phone can handle PDF's it should work.

Attached is a PDF made for smart phones with the SAFETY COCKPIT INSPECTION and the PRELIMINARY COCKPIT PREPARATION. I like to know if this shows up well on your phones and when possible send me a photograph of the file on the device.

TestPhonePDF.pdf

[AlexanderL 2]

It's a plain simple PDF, just with page sizes matched for the platforms, so if your phone can handle PDF's it should work.

Nice, so I can use it on my Nokia N-gage

[Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558]

No comments on the video?

[mwilk 4]

Mathijs,

The video was very good. It will be helpful to the folks new to the Airbus, but also to some of us who might have been "making it up" as we went along.

[Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558]

Aerosoft Airbus X Normal Procedures 02: Preliminary Cockpit Preparation video now available: http://www.youtube.c...h?v=XKLT4SDTcek

Note the sounds. What you hear is NOT the engines starting, it's just the cooling fans in the panel. They are very very loud. In fact, while in cruise you hear more cooling fans then wind noise or engine noise. Just try explaining that to new customers.. archhhh.

[Justin1 1]

Something I noticed in the video is that the engine sounds were the CFM-56 engines but the engines on that particular Airbus were the IAE-V2500. Will the IAE-V2500 engine sounds be included in the final version?

P.S. I am referring to the Video made by cbd80

[Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558]

Something I noticed in the video is that the engine sounds were the CFM-56 engines but the engines on that particular Airbus were the IAE-V2500. Will the IAE-V2500 engine sounds be included in the final version?

No. As explained before we do not see that as a major issue for the intended customer (for the love of god I could not keep the two engines apart by sound alone). I am sure this will piss of some of the high end users but we can live with that. It's very hard to get one of the engines right and we decided for this first version on the CFM. See the first post in this topic for that.

Of course in the video's published you do not actually HEAR the engines as they are not started. What you hear are the cooling fans of the panel. So while I got problems keeping the CFM and IAE engines apart you seem to mistake the cooling fans (a direct recording we did on the real aircraft) for the engines! You are confusing 12 small electric fans with 2 massive turbine engines, and I dare say they really do not sound the same.

[Emi 5161]

Aerosoft Airbus X Normal Procedures 02: Preliminary Cockpit Preparation video now available: http://www.youtube.c...h?v=XKLT4SDTcek

Note the sounds. What you hear is NOT the engines starting, it's just the cooling fans in the panel. They are very very loud. In fact, while in cruise you hear more cooling fans then wind noise or engine noise. Just try explaining that to new customers.. archhhh.

wow, it looks very good. well done mathijs! hopefully we can fly the bus soon.

will there be the option to bring the cheklists on my desktop, while flying thew airbus, as it has been done in the flight1 md80 series, or will this be as in all other aerosoft planes, or may we become the possibility to see the cheklists with the fs default kneeboard? please let those who don't have an smartphone have an other possibility to get the cheklists (and other aircraft information) on the screen, i'd really love this!

(when I'm about love to aircrafts now, i think i'm going to love the airbus x more then my girlfriend xD xD xD)

regards

Emi

[Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558]

wow, it looks very good. well done mathijs! hopefully we can fly the bus soon.

will there be the option to bring the cheklists on my desktop, while flying thew airbus, as it has been done in the flight1 md80 series, or will this be as in all other aerosoft planes, or may we become the possibility to see the cheklists with the fs default kneeboard? please let those who don't have an smartphone have an other possibility to get the cheklists (and other aircraft information) on the screen, i'd really love this!

(when I'm about love to aircrafts now, i think i'm going to love the airbus x more then my girlfriend xD xD xD)

regards

Emi

We apologize deeply for your lack of grace towards your girlfriend first of all. The checklists however are just in the video. The kneeboard of course will have the same checklists in a less graphical format.

[marjmithib 4]

Great

I bought an IPAD just for that !! (joke)

It's too hard to wait !!!