Anyone still have the PMDG MD-11?

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joespeed52
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Anyone still have the PMDG MD-11?

Post by joespeed52 »

I've been looking around, and it seems/seemed to be the best tri-holer for FSX, at least when it came out, is any other airplane nowadays better? And is there anywhere I could pick it up?
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Roadburner426
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Re: Anyone still have the PMDG MD-11?

Post by Roadburner426 »

I am a proud MD-11X owner, and I even own the Captains manual set on paper (tons of docs and posters!). I am sad to tell you though that they have quit selling it, and no longer support the product as it is a legacy product. It is a bit of a sore spot for PMDG and the rest of the community. People like me die hard love the plane, but it is one of/if not their poorest selling plane of all time due to what they have said is piracy and other issues. So unfortunately you cannot buy the plane anymore, and from what I can gather it will not be upgraded to P3D either because the coding is extremely old.

On the good side it is a fantastic jet. However the textures do show their age, but are still payware level quality. It used to bring my system to a crawl but now with a 4ghz CPU, and a 1080Ti graphics card the bird does pretty alright performance wise on FSX. I still would not take it in to NYC or anything as dense areas like that turn in to a slide show, but I enjoy flying the bird around as basically a personal private jet since that is how I have it painted. The bird is a little quirky just like its real life self, and the computer loves to tell you when you are wrong any chance she gets in her robotic voice. :lol: My favorite feature that has never made a come back on any other plane of theirs is the real time fueling which can take quite some time depending on how much fuel you need to take on board. The bird truly is a master piece, and once all of A2A's warbirds make it into P3Dv4 the MD-11X will be the only reason I leave FSX installed. I wish she would get redone or at least ported to P3D, but I understand like everything else there are decisions that need to be made in the best interest of their business. To be honest the NGX, and 747-400 version 2 are very awesome planes as well. As far as tri-holers go she is it though. There was a DC-10 made by another outfit that looked relatively decent but obviously did not have anywhere near the system complexity PMDG put in to their product.

I know I have gone on quite awhile but the 744v3 looks like a really good product for something in that category. The MD-11X was very very automated, so if I get everything set up right to be hones there is almost nothing left to do except stare at the MFD's the whole time looking at temps and such. The aircraft literally will do everything for you including automatically balancing the fuel load to keep CG in limits. So once it is wheels up, flaps up, and autopilot on it completely handles itself. The 744 requires a little more finesse and has more to do over the course of a flight as far as interacting with aircraft systems. That is about as close as you are going to get. So many people ask about the MD-11X these days maybe I need to start recording my flights and posting them to Youtube so people can live vicariously through me. 8)
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crippy
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Re: Anyone still have the PMDG MD-11?

Post by crippy »

I do not, but I remember it! You know what I do have though? An original retail edition of PMDG 747-400 Queen of the skies I picked up from best buy 10+ years ago! Ha! I almost re-installed it when the new 747 came out last year :lol:

Those were the absolute days when my game choices consisted of the coolest looking box art :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Molly - A2A
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Re: Anyone still have the PMDG MD-11?

Post by Molly - A2A »

It is definitely the best tri-holer ever made for a flight sim to date. I also have the full manual set :mrgreen: There is a payware texture set from McPhat (not sure if they're still in business or what) that takes the textures to top-tier modern payware level and then some.

The only thing it doesn't have that is missed compared to modern products (IMO) is a weather radar and terrain, but other than that it's incredibly well made. Sadly, it's getting harder and harder to find retail boxes... :( I have seen them going on Ebay for $100+

edit: pics with McPhat textures:

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joespeed52
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Re: Anyone still have the PMDG MD-11?

Post by joespeed52 »

molleh wrote:It is definitely the best tri-holer ever made for a flight sim to date. I also have the full manual set :mrgreen: There is a payware texture set from McPhat (not sure if they're still in business or what) that takes the textures to top-tier modern payware level and then some.

The only thing it doesn't have that is missed compared to modern products (IMO) is a weather radar and terrain, but other than that it's incredibly well made. Sadly, it's getting harder and harder to find retail boxes... :( I have seen them going on Ebay for $100+
Beautiful shots, molleh. I sure wish I could find a place to get her, also, iirc, McPhat dropped off the radar about 2 years ago this time. Around Jan. '16.
Comanche, 172, 182, PA-28, Civ/Mil Mustang, T-6, COTS L049, P-40, Spitfire, V35, and Mighty B-17.
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AKar
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Re: Anyone still have the PMDG MD-11?

Post by AKar »

Too bad there isn't any up-to-date, comprehensive simulation of the MD-11 available, and likely there won't ever be one either. It is a nice aircraft IRL, and rather advanced for its age.

-Esa

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Alan_A
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Re: Anyone still have the PMDG MD-11?

Post by Alan_A »

I’ve heard that TFDI may be working on one. It’d be a logical next step after their 717. Maybe reason to be hopeful.
"Ah, Paula, they are firing at me!" -- Saint-Exupery

Roadburner426
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Re: Anyone still have the PMDG MD-11?

Post by Roadburner426 »

Yeah PMDG really hit it out of the park. I do like what I see with the TFDI 717 but I am always hesitant to try new dev's out after my experiences over the years with payware from a whole host of other devs. I finally caved and bought the Realair Turbine Duke right before they closed down and that is an extremely nice bird. I will probably take the plunge and give the 717 a try and some point, but if they make an MD-11 that is going to be a must have.
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AM; United States Navy
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CAPFlyer
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Re: Anyone still have the PMDG MD-11?

Post by CAPFlyer »

I have the MD-11 as well and love it. It's the only 3-holer I fly regularly and even the FS2Crew (button control only - it's that "old") still keeps me on my toes. It's by far superior to anything that was ever put out by CaptainSim or CLS in that category. However, I still think it didn't improve very far beyond where Alain Capt took it in FS2002 and FS2004. It took me until 3 years ago to buy it though.

Unfortunately, the development of the MD-11 is a major point of sourness for me and some others in the community because of how it came together. Bill Grabowski's MD-11 project for FS9 was supposed to be a freeware follow-on using Alain's panel. Alain was even working with Bill for a fully featured Virtual Cockpit (one of the first for FS9). Additionally, there were several of us who were active on the Flightsim.com and FSDeveloper forums that provided significant material to the project in the original 3+ years of development. Then he joins PMDG. He didn't tell anyone publicly there was an offer on the table or anything, just one day he posts that he's joined PMDG, it's going to be payware, for FSX only, takes another 5 years to "develop", and was released for $80+ (then 50% higher than any other addon on the market). For me it was especially disappointing because I spent nearly 6 hours photographing 2 FedEx MD-11s in 2002 and 2003 to get him detail photos. I took photos of everything on the exterior of the plane, almost all the panel screens, operating modes, and panel indicators. There were others who provided full maintenance manuals, flight manuals, and other material that back then wasn't readily available online for purchase or view. The project was supposedly 90%+ complete for FS9 when he joined PMDG. What was funny about the whole PMDG "FSX exclusive" was that literally 2 months prior to release Robert suddenly posts on AVSIM that there's an FS9 version that is "almost complete" and will be finished after the FSX version is released. I don't know if any of my work was used in either version by the end, but it still was a major disappointment for those of us who spent time helping Bill and Michael with the project in the early days and gave feedback and other assistance on the forums during its development only to be basically shut out as we approached what we thought to be the finish line.
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AKar
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Re: Anyone still have the PMDG MD-11?

Post by AKar »

Damn, I didn't know that background. I would be rather disappointed as well. :( Providing all kinds of material and relevant extracts from documents is rather hard work sometimes. If community is doing that pro bono, they ought to know and be informed of the nature of the project in foreseeable future.

MD-11 is a nice airplane in that way it is very well documented. I ended up with fairly comprehensive manual collection of it (among the other airplane types I've collected into my "library"), including AMM, parts, system schematic manuals, FIMs and whatnot. In particular, the SSMs are a treasure. It really takes a dump on the Boeing's manuals and wipes with the Airbus ones. :mrgreen: An Airbus is fairly difficult to research even if you had a very good set of manuals, because it is often very misleadingly documented.

-Esa

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Paul K
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Re: Anyone still have the PMDG MD-11?

Post by Paul K »

I have the boxed PMDG MD-11, as sold by Aerosoft. I did a few flights with it, and loved it. Unfortunately, my move to P3D means I can no longer run it, and so I never really got my money's worth. My choice, of course. There have been repeated calls on Avsim for the MD-11 to be updated, or at least made compatible with P3D, but for reasons that I don't fully understand, PMDG is emphatic that this will never happen.

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CAPFlyer
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Re: Anyone still have the PMDG MD-11?

Post by CAPFlyer »

AKar wrote:Damn, I didn't know that background. I would be rather disappointed as well. :( Providing all kinds of material and relevant extracts from documents is rather hard work sometimes. If community is doing that pro bono, they ought to know and be informed of the nature of the project in foreseeable future.
I do want to stress this - I don't mind providing pro bono work for even payware aircraft. I've done it before and I'll do it again I'm sure. I do it because I love the product. Hell, even after I started helping here at A2A, I still bought several of the planes (I gifted a couple to people, but a couple were for me). I don't care about getting comp'd copies or pay (I've signed exactly one contract since I started in FS and that was because that developer insisted on it). All I've ever asked for is thanks for my contribution whether it be in the press release when it is released or in the credits for the project. Anything beyond that is greatly appreciated but not required. I love aviation and this hobby and I do it for that because I get plenty of enjoyment out of the final product to thank me for any work I do whether I paid for it or not. :)
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AKar
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Re: Anyone still have the PMDG MD-11?

Post by AKar »

CAPFlyer wrote:I do want to stress this - I don't mind providing pro bono work for even payware aircraft. I've done it before and I'll do it again I'm sure. I do it because I love the product. [...] I love aviation and this hobby and I do it for that because I get plenty of enjoyment out of the final product to thank me for any work I do whether I paid for it or not. :)
Yes, precisely. :) For pay or not, but it is the community connection that means a lot to me, no matter in which way one contributes.

-Esa

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Alan_A
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Re: Anyone still have the PMDG MD-11?

Post by Alan_A »

Paul K wrote:There have been repeated calls on Avsim for the MD-11 to be updated, or at least made compatible with P3D, but for reasons that I don't fully understand, PMDG is emphatic that this will never happen.
Their official explanation (in posts on Avsim) is that the MD-11 was a massive sales disappointment - a "cult" airplane that has a passionate but very small following - and that they took a big financial hit on it. So they've decided not to invest anything more in its development.
"Ah, Paula, they are firing at me!" -- Saint-Exupery

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CAPFlyer
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Re: Anyone still have the PMDG MD-11?

Post by CAPFlyer »

It honestly doesn't surprise me. It was (and still is) an extremely high price point for an aircraft that's never been really all that popular in the general public eye. At least with the 747 and the 737 they are extremely popular and widely used aircraft. With the MD-11, the usage was very limited and had several serious accidents which marred the public's opinion of it. Between that and the protracted (8 year) development time, I think that's what doomed it with PMDG at least. With the airplane now having basically only 2 operators (FedEx and UPS), it's even more of a niche product and any sales are going to be to aviation enthusiasts who are hard-core simmers, not just the guy who wants something more complex.
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