Results from Navigraph Survey

[stephan.cote.1]

Thought you guys could find this interesting!

https://download.navigraph.com/docs/nav ... -final.pdf


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[jeepinforfun]

I'm surprised A2A and PlanG was not included in the survey otherwise it was interesting to read. Somehow I don't feel xPlane is as popular as the survey shows but then again it depends on the people involved that took the survey. That's not to say xPlane is not gaining in popularity.

[Scott - A2A]

I'm surprised A2A and PlanG was not included in the survey otherwise it was interesting to read.

I seem to remember we were asked but we (A2A) sort of prefer to fly under the radar and be more of an observer of these things.

Scott.

[Hook]

I was surprised to see how popular Skyvector was. I have been using them ever since airnav stopped their similar online chart service.

Their conclusion left out that the typical flight simmer flies tubeliners of one sort or another with joystick and pedals in IFR and not on a network because he prefers not to fly in real time and is probably on the Avsim forums.

Helicopters were more popular than I would have thought. Sailplanes were not considered. I have enjoyed both in the past.

It looks like XPlane and P3Dv4 are the flight sims of choice these days. XPlane probably works well for the tubeliner experience.

I'd liked to have seen A2A and PMDG in those charts.

Hook

[AKar]

According to their figures, FSX + FSX Steam if combined still has fairly solid user base. But what I hadn't considered is the number of X-Plane users...given the limited amount of high-end addons in both GA and airliner segments, I would have expected less users as of today. Number of DCS users is probably somewhat skewed.

-Esa

[Piper_EEWL]

Thanks for sharing that link. Very interesting results. I’m actually very surprised how little the percentage of the sim pilots are real world pilots too.

Happy flying

[AerialShorts]

...But what I hadn't considered is the number of X-Plane users...given the limited amount of high-end addons in both GA and airliner segments, I would have expected less users as of today...

-Esa

I have a feeling that P3D gets a little more of the hard core simmers for it being Lockheed-Martin branded, having the licensing wording that trips up a lot of users, and for the kinds of aftermarket scenery and aircraft that are available with what seems to me to be an emphasis on systems and realism.

X-Plane is picking up a lot more aftermarket offerings and not just freeware now that Orbx and others are migrating products to it so I think this is changing.

P3D looks to have a real horse race shaping up. It will be interesting to watch.

[Hook]

I think P3Dv4's biggest draw is that it is FSX without the possibility of Out of Memory errors. Look how few people are using the earlier versions.

I would have thought the general aviation segment would have been larger. I knew tubeliners were popular, but didn't know they were that much of the market.

Hook

[CAPFlyer]

I think there's some misinterpretation of the data, especially when it comes to XPlane. Navigraph claims that the users "prefer" X-Plane, but the data doesn't back that up. Yes, more respondents said they had X-Plane, but only 30% of respondents said they used XPlane "Most of the time" while 45% of P3D users said the same. Additionally, that 30% of the overall users that replied that XPlane was their primary platform was only ~60% of the total X-Plane users, while 80% of P3D users said it was their primary. In fact, if you look at the data, those who responded "Most" or "Frequently" for P3D users is nearly as many as said "Most", "Frequently", or "Sometimes" for XPlane.

Additionally, I think the online numbers are skewed. Last check, VATSIM had about 15,000-20,000 active users (down from ~80,000 in 2006) and about 3000-5000 daily connections. IVAO has about 8000-10,000 users and around 800-1000 daily connections. So, if 35% of 15,000 users are on VATSIM, then that means the whole community is somewhere around 50,000 users worldwide. However, we know that XPlane11 alone has sold over 100,000 copies. As such, we're again getting a skewed result becuase we're not seeing a good cross-section of the user base. In reality, somewhere around 15% of all users are on VATSIM and IVAO combined and the total community is somewhere north of a quarter million users worldwide.

That's the problem with so many surveys, especially ones like this that are simply advertised and not curated/targeted. I also know it's hard to do that since flight simming isn't a "mainstream" hobby and there aren't any "governing" or organizing bodies like in many other hobbies that can be used as a source for contact information to ensure the largest number of respondents from the largest cross-section are reached. I'm not knocking the survey. It's usefulness will be in its multi-year trending info (which is what Navigraph is pushing on it) if they can keep the response size the same or larger as they move forward. If it continues to grow in popularity and the number of good responses increases and the spectrum attracted widens, we'll see some really useful information in the future.

For now, it just confirms to me that the demographic is about where I thought it was - middle-class, middle-aged males who spend under $500 a year on addons and hardware. I think that's pretty fair for all of us here, so it should reinforce to the developers that pricing is extremely important. I think it definitely makes it clear that companies that charge a premium have to ensure it's worth it and understand that their sales volumes will still suffer because with some developers, you're taking up as much as half the annual spending of an average respondent in a single purchase if they choose your addon.

[Salud]

I'm surprised A2A and PlanG was not included in the survey otherwise it was interesting to read. Somehow I don't feel xPlane is as popular as the survey shows but then again it depends on the people involved that took the survey. That's not to say xPlane is not gaining in popularity.

It seems to me that X-Plane has gained a lot of popularity since the release of v11. I have been a long time die hard MS Flight Simulator user, ever since version 3, but even I have made a partial move to XP11 and I have to say it has some advantages over P3D: its UI is now that of a modern sim, where proper OSM data is available the scenery is simply awesome (mostly Europe though) and it is the only sim that I like to fly helicopters in.
P3D on the other hand has some great fix wing planes, and I generally prefer it for longer tours, especially in the US where Orbx has better scenery to offer.

In short, I participated in the survey, and I use and value both sims.

[Hook]

[XPlane] is the only sim that I like to fly helicopters in.

Did you ever try the Dodosim 206 for FSX, and if so how does it compare to helicopter flight in XPlane?

Hook

[aonyn]

[XPlane] is the only sim that I like to fly helicopters in.

Did you ever try the Dodosim 206 for FSX, and if so how does it compare to helicopter flight in XPlane?

Hook

I have, and this is where XP really shines (especially with high quality addons which I think we all agree is necessary no matter which platform we are talking about).
For me, the Dreamfoil Bell 407 (for XP11) currently is firmly on the throne, as far as king of desktop sim helos.
All of my civilian helo flying is in XP. I suspect if A2A ventures into developing an eggbeater this will change though, perhaps an Accusim Bell 47 to start

[Salud]

[XPlane] is the only sim that I like to fly helicopters in.

Did you ever try the Dodosim 206 for FSX, and if so how does it compare to helicopter flight in XPlane?

Hook

No, I hadn't, so in all fairness I was always comparing stock or freeware FSX helicopters to payware X-Plane. However, no matter whose opinion you read, it always boils down to XP being way better suited for helis.
I fully second what aonyn wrote. I also do have the Dreamfoil Bell 407 and my opinion is the same, it is purely amazing and offers a sense of immersion have I have not yet come across in any other helicopter.