First flight impressions

[markadeane 2]

Howdy all,

I have just completed my maiden flight in the A320 and overall I think this is an extremely promising aircraft. What works, as-at-release, works VERY well, and what doesn't work is all fixable. Well done Aerosoft, you've got a potential winner on your hands! I say 'potential' because there ARE some issues. I've beta tested software for years now, including the PMDG MD11, JS41, 747-8i and 747-LCF, so I'm all too aware of the fact that 100% error-free software releases are a bit of a myth.

The following observations (in order of discovery/identification) are made knowing full well that this is version 1.00. Plenty of these have already been noted by others, I include them for completeness of the report. Some of these might be issues with the way I'm doing things too. Happy to be corrected here.

Cheers

Mark

- After loading a Cold and Dark state, an ambient sound in the background has a 'click' in it. File "ASC_GenRunLoop.wav" appears to be the culprit, with the 'click' located at the start of the recording.

- APU start/spool up is way too fast. I couldn't tell you the precise duration off the top of my head, but from memory it's be in the order of 15-20 seconds. This is not a 'showstopper', sure, but this is definitely affects the 'suspension of disbelief' / immersing nature of the product. Manipulating the APU modelling to produce a slower spool-up would do wonders for the general 'feel' of the start up process.

- Likewise, the Engine start behaviour has some issues that - while not critical - seriously affect the simmer's immersion. Initial spool up prior to fuel introduction is about right, but from lightoff to stable idle is WAY too quick and the EGT/N1 rise WAY too high. I had just completed pushback as the number 2 engine was starting and the imbalance of thrust spun the whole aircraft about 30-45 degrees to the left. The whole engine start should take about 35 seconds from Engine master on to Stable idle. Now in fairness that's for the IAE variant, not sure about CFM but it's not a lot less.

- The ground spoiler arming logic is REALLY tricky to get to grips with, in particular when arming prior to takeoff. Can I suggest a rethink on tieing the logic to the thrust being above idle? It really is quite distracting to deal with this when you're taxying out.

- PFD/ND refresh rates are a little slow. Even a small increase to the PFD refresh rate would greatly assist with manual flight in IMC.

- During climbout and at other times during the flight, I encountered the 'airspeed zero' issue as already outlined.

Now, here's the big one for me: I had extensive issues with autoflight, such that I ended up handflying the whole sector from EDDH to LSZH.

- Frequently the FMA modes disagreed with the FCU settings. I was able to control the aircraft using the sidestick even though AP modes were showing on the FMA as active.

- Switching between managed and selected modes occasionally caused a display issue on the FCU, where the selected speed would show, AND the managed 'dot' at the same time.

- Periodically throughout the flight I would get a spontaneous AP disconnect master chime, the lateral and vertical modes on the FMA would dissappear.

- On one or maybe two occasions I reconfigured the FCU and re-engaged the AP, it would make efforts to turn on to track / acquire altitude but for the most part, the autoflight simply wasn't happening for me. (It's a testament to the FBW that I was able to handfly the whole trip so easily and with such a high level of precision that I almost DIDN'T MIND that the AP was unservicable! More on the good stuff in a second...)

- A/THR was a bit of a mixed bag, I got the required thrust for takeoff and inital climb. In the cruise the engines remained at the CRZ N1 limit and the aircraft never quite made it to the expected cruise mach. When the time came to start the descent, I couldn't get the engines to come back to idle, I ended up manually disconnecting the A/THR in order to manage the whole thing.

- The autobrake works well in all modes, though it doesn't disconnect when I apply manual brakes, is that intentional?

Now, that's a lot of (hopefully polite) griping - here's the good stuff:

- The FBW is GREAT, an absolute joy to use. I didn't encounter the issue with the 100ft pitch down, though I did trim up a little in advance as recommended on the forum. I had NO problems handflying the aircraft from Hamburg to Zurich and with a good degree of precision too.

- The external model and textures are SPOT ON in my view, I don't spend alot of time outside of the VC but what I saw was very impressive. I also like the way you've ACCURATELY captured the stiffness of the wing in flight, don't change a thing! ;-)

- The VC is a real triumph and it would be a fair call to say it is state-of-the-art at present. I can't think of a criticism here personally. The window refelction texturing is about the best I've seen anywhere!

- Apart from the specifics already mentioned above, the sounds are brilliant, very immersive and a joy to listen to.

- Taxi behaviour is excellent, a very pleasant aircraft to manoevure around the airport.

[Finn 873]

Howdy all,

I have just completed my maiden flight in the A320 and overall I think this is an extremely promising aircraft. What works, as-at-release, works VERY well, and what doesn't work is all fixable. Well done Aerosoft, you've got a potential winner on your hands! I say 'potential' because there ARE some issues. I've beta tested software for years now, including the PMDG MD11, JS41, 747-8i and 747-LCF, so I'm all too aware of the fact that 100% error-free software releases are a bit of a myth.

The following observations (in order of discovery/identification) are made knowing full well that this is version 1.00. Plenty of these have already been noted by others, I include them for completeness of the report. Some of these might be issues with the way I'm doing things too. Happy to be corrected here.

Cheers

Mark

- After loading a Cold and Dark state, an ambient sound in the background has a 'click' in it. File "ASC_GenRunLoop.wav" appears to be the culprit, with the 'click' located at the start of the recording.

...We will look into this..

- APU start/spool up is way too fast. I couldn't tell you the precise duration off the top of my head, but from memory it's be in the order of 15-20 seconds. This is not a 'showstopper', sure, but this is definitely affects the 'suspension of disbelief' / immersing nature of the product. Manipulating the APU modelling to produce a slower spool-up would do wonders for the general 'feel' of the start up process.

...Since we use the default FSX APU there isn´t much to do about it - sorry....

- Likewise, the Engine start behaviour has some issues that - while not critical - seriously affect the simmer's immersion. Initial spool up prior to fuel introduction is about right, but from lightoff to stable idle is WAY too quick and the EGT/N1 rise WAY too high. I had just completed pushback as the number 2 engine was starting and the imbalance of thrust spun the whole aircraft about 30-45 degrees to the left. The whole engine start should take about 35 seconds from Engine master on to Stable idle. Now in fairness that's for the IAE variant, not sure about CFM but it's not a lot less.

...We will look into this, but often You destroy engine performance realism doing so - it´s a give and take...

- The ground spoiler arming logic is REALLY tricky to get to grips with, in particular when arming prior to takeoff. Can I suggest a rethink on tieing the logic to the thrust being above idle? It really is quite distracting to deal with this when you're taxying out.

...On Our SP1 list...

- PFD/ND refresh rates are a little slow. Even a small increase to the PFD refresh rate would greatly assist with manual flight in IMC.

...On Our SP1 list - if possible...

- During climbout and at other times during the flight, I encountered the 'airspeed zero' issue as already outlined.

...Don´t understand what You mean !...

Now, here's the big one for me: I had extensive issues with autoflight, such that I ended up handflying the whole sector from EDDH to LSZH.

...Please read the manual regarding the autopilot - it´s not a Boeing ...

- Frequently the FMA modes disagreed with the FCU settings. I was able to control the aircraft using the sidestick even though AP modes were showing on the FMA as active.

...The numbers will will show up in managed mode when rotating the knobs, after a while they are replaced by ---....

- Switching between managed and selected modes occasionally caused a display issue on the FCU, where the selected speed would show, AND the managed 'dot' at the same time.

- Periodically throughout the flight I would get a spontaneous AP disconnect master chime, the lateral and vertical modes on the FMA would dissappear.

...This can happen if You move Your joystick. when it is moved a certain amount AP will disconnect...

- On one or maybe two occasions I reconfigured the FCU and re-engaged the AP, it would make efforts to turn on to track / acquire altitude but for the most part, the autoflight simply wasn't happening for me. (It's a testament to the FBW that I was able to handfly the whole trip so easily and with such a high level of precision that I almost DIDN'T MIND that the AP was unservicable! More on the good stuff in a second...)

- A/THR was a bit of a mixed bag, I got the required thrust for takeoff and inital climb. In the cruise the engines remained at the CRZ N1 limit and the aircraft never quite made it to the expected cruise mach. When the time came to start the descent, I couldn't get the engines to come back to idle, I ended up manually disconnecting the A/THR in order to manage the whole thing.

...We are in the process of fixing performance at high altitudes. But there is a misconception among simmers that all set values will be hold exactly by the autopilot f.ex set speed to 280 knots and that is exactly what will happen - this is not true neither in reallife.

Alot of high(er) end addons are doing too good a job compared to reality...

- The autobrake works well in all modes, though it doesn't disconnect when I apply manual brakes, is that intentional?

...No... Will be fixed in SP1...

Now, that's a lot of (hopefully polite) griping - here's the good stuff:

- The FBW is GREAT, an absolute joy to use. I didn't encounter the issue with the 100ft pitch down, though I did trim up a little in advance as recommended on the forum. I had NO problems handflying the aircraft from Hamburg to Zurich and with a good degree of precision too.

- The external model and textures are SPOT ON in my view, I don't spend alot of time outside of the VC but what I saw was very impressive. I also like the way you've ACCURATELY captured the stiffness of the wing in flight, don't change a thing! ;-)

- The VC is a real triumph and it would be a fair call to say it is state-of-the-art at present. I can't think of a criticism here personally. The window refelction texturing is about the best I've seen anywhere!

- Apart from the specifics already mentioned above, the sounds are brilliant, very immersive and a joy to listen to.

- Taxi behaviour is excellent, a very pleasant aircraft to manoevure around the airport.

My comments in red..

Finn

[CA_Aerosoft 2]

Excellent feedback Mark, and pretty much sums up my experiences with the plane during the last 3 days.

I am confident that some issues are being fixed right now, especially the thrust/N1 issues during climb.

Very good add-on with huge potential.

[Gerry Scott 2]

I have been swithering to buy or not to buy this light version of an airbus.

Excellent feedback Mark, thankyou. In it's present state, I will hold off for now.

cheers

Gerry

[vali 31]

Indeed, good review, you wrote the main points.

I was not sure about buying it or not but then I bought it, more for its potential honestly.

I must say that at its price I am a little disappointed, of course I take into account that any initial release can have many bugs and I also take into account list of features presented in advance. I will point out some of the topics which in my opinion should be improved/fixed.

1. sounds - callouts, APU ...

2. MCDU - I know, it was simplified but also the idea was to simulate what a left seat pilot is doing and at first contact with it, as I am used with MCDU of Airbus, I must say I was confused and several times I really wanted to activate approach phase... but I couldn't, also I couldn't introduce more waypoints

3. AP behaviour, autoland (several times even if ALT was managed and set to 3000ft plane was ascending to 5000ft)

4. lighting of VC (here I have to compare it with other Airbus addon which even if it is for FS9, and we know FS9 have many limitations, is basic

5. displays: fonts, colours and quality is medium, it doesn't give the realistic feel (and it can be done better, depending of fps optimization, of course) and I was even in FS9 that it can be done better

6. engine startup behaviour

I fly Airbuses in FS9, FSX for a while, I read FCOMs and normally I should be able to fly it without reading a step by step tutorial but at this moment, I couldn't do a proper flight.

Other 2 Airbus addons which I have are better flyable, at least at this point.

So I hope things will get improved, at this moment if it were possible I would have gone for a refund.

Of course there are many good things and the list is for sure longer, I just wanted to point out what are my regrets at this moment.

[Andy B. 40]

Vali to be honest there is no point in knocking the Airbus yet again with yet another list of bugs that need fixing, the points have all been raised before multiple times and its getting a little tiring reading the same things over and over again when trying to see if anyone really needs genuine help with a problem. Lets all wait until at least SP1 has been released before we all start with the lists again.

[vali 31]

Vali to be honest there is no point in knocking the Airbus yet again with yet another list of bugs that need fixing, the points have all been raised before multiple times and its getting a little tiring reading the same things over and over again when trying to see if anyone really needs genuine help with a problem. Lets all wait until at least SP1 has been released before we all start with the lists again.

My intention was not to mention discovered bugs again, I would have done it in a more detailed way, but I just wanted to present my first impression about the product vs expectations vs price vs feature list.

I will wait patiently for the SP1 but I would say that there are still things to improve which I hope that Aerosoft will take into consideration for the future, based also on the feedback received on this dedicated forum.

PS: as a suggestion for the developers, it is possible to increase/decrease values of Pressure, SPD, ALT, VS and HDG with left/right click over the digits, beside the existent way? I honestly dislike FSX default camera moves and I use Walk&Follow which is more flexible and easy to use and I have to disable it every time when I have to set new values for FCU (because mouse scroll is used for zoom by W&F).

[Andy B. 40]

I totally agree there are many things that need improving, it just makes it difficult to help people out when there are so many posts bringing up the same things over and over, a search for terms/keywords before posting is one of the rules that Aerosoft expect us all to follow to help reduce the support load for them.