747-400 - iFly vs PMDG in FS9

[Appliance 51]

Would any member car to comment about the practical differences between these aircraft?

 

Owning the PMDG already I struggle with the prospect of outlaying funds for another unless it's clearly superior.  

And this coming from a die-hard iFly supporter.  

 

Maybe I'll just wait for the Freighter version.  :rolleyes:

 

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In the meantime Merry Christmas everyone and all the best for a happy, healthy, prosperous and safe New Year.  

[Luis Hernandez 566]

Since I don't have the PMDG model, I can only comment these opinions:

 

1) iFly lets you keep a different panel setting for each repaint you may have. I'm not sure PMDG offers this.

 

2) Intelligent cruise: the first plane that offered this was the PMDG 777. AFAIK, for FS9, the iFly 747 is the only one that offers this. Actually, this is what made me want this aircraft.

 

3) Time acceleration support: I understand PMDG is hard limited to 8x, while I've done flights with 16x.

 

I'm not sure these points are enough to make you want to change from PMDG to iFly, but remember that iFly uses Flight1 wrapper: if you don't like it, you have up to 30 days for requesting a refund.

[graemeb 14]

I bought the IFly b747, but I don't think I will be using it as it is very hard on frame rates on my computer. The PMDG 747 is nice and smooth, so I will stick with that for my long range flights (which are rare nowadays anyway).

[pete_auau 1,152]

strange  that your fps are worse where mine is  the reverse

[graemeb 14]

What kind of system do you have, Graeme, and what fps do you get just for reference?

Jon_aus,

My system is about 4 years old, so it is not very powerful:

CPU: Intel i7 960@3.20 Ghz

RAM: 6 Gb

Video: nvidia GeForce GTX465 (1 Gb Memory)

OS: Windows 7 64 bit

 

For a test I started up FS9 using FlyTampa LGAV airport, on the threshold at runway 03, and checked framerates (mine are locked at 30 fps):

1. Default Cessna - 29.8 fps steady

2. PMDG 747 - 24 to 27 fps (fluctuates)

3. iFly 747 - 19 fps with jumps to 27fps every few seconds

 

So the performance is not bad, but it is not as steady as the PMDG. The other thing I find distracting is that the textures on the ifly 747 take longer to load, so jumps to the external view usually result in a few seconds delay while the textures load.

 

I have no problems running the earlier ifly 737 and I bought the 747 because I knew it would be a quality product for FS9, and there are not many of those around nowadays, but it just doesn't feel as smooth as the PMDG 747 on my system.

 

Maybe next year I will see if I can afford a computer upgrade, but it is not likely at the present, as I have lots of other more important debts to deal with. :(

[Appliance 51]

 

 

textures on the ifly 747 take longer to load, so jumps to the external view usually result in a few seconds delay while the textures load.

 

Yes repainters believe 32bit textures are the go whereas Microsoft designed the sim around DX3 textures which are much more efficient.  Such is life.

[TrevorS 54]

The flight dynamics of the PMDG are far more accurate than the iFly, particularly in descent. The iFly 747 has a much steeper nose down attitude (with descent rates in excess of -3000 feet per minute) whereas the PMDG goes by the numbers in the manual (flight with unreliable speed section). When I brought this to the attention of iFly on their forum, I was told that their FD are 100% accurate and have been tested by real world pilots who are happy with them. The real joke is that the PMDG flight dynamics were also tested by real world pilots. So who's fooling who?????

I'd rather go with PMDG and when one compares their FD with the manual, they are spot-on. I am 100% happy with the PMDG 747. The FD of the iFly 747 spoil what is otherwise an excellent add-on.

 

Trevor

[robertwolant 8]

Please remember this is the fresh 1.0 version of iFly. You need to give them time to iron out some stuff.

The good news is a major service pack is already being prepared for the iFly 744. I am quite sure it will include FD corrections too.

 

I was told that their FD are 100% accurate and have been tested by real world pilots who are happy with them.

 

I wouldn't get too excited about that part. Each serious FS aircraft developer says the same in their fora and yet there are always quirks, differences and things to improve.

 

All in all this is a fantastic simulation. I cannot fully compare the two 744's as I was using PMDG in my FS9 times and now I am using iFly in FSX.

But having said that, in my eyes iFly is so much newer and better product of these two. Not perfect, sure. But was PMDG perfect right out of the shop?

Last but not least, everyone can buy iFly from Flight1, make 30 flights (counting one a day) and costlessly give it back if the comparison is in favour of PMDG.

[ubersu 78]

Remember as you read this that we all have opinions.  Remember also that Flight1 has a 30 day, no questions asked, return and refund policy.

 

DJ

[Luis Hernandez 566]

I forgot another advantage of the iFly 747: it's available for sale. PMDG isn't... or at least I can't find it.

[Appliance 51]

 

 

Flight1 wrapper: if you don't like it, you have up to 30 days for requesting a refund.

 

Flight1, make 30 flights (counting one a day) and costlessly give it back if the comparison is in favour of PMDG.

 

Flight1 has a 30 day, no questions asked, return and refund policy.

 

Thanks guys ... I am well aware of Flight1's refund policy however one of my many weaknesses is that once I make a decision I stick with it.

 

A little background. I use FS9 for the heavies (worldwide) and P3Dv2 for GA (Australia and New Zealand) so that precludes my solving the issue by acquiring the 747-400 for P3Dv2.

[FlyingEngineer 0]

I can only say:

 

Very detailed and got locking aicraft

but

really bad framerates up to know with an I7 4770K @ 3,9Ghz !!!! On the default Seattle Tacoma airport I have 14-25 FPS with the IFly and with the old PMDG 44-55FPS. Big Difference.

 

I hope IFly releases a performance Update.

Adding:

 

But the rest of the product is really good. It comes also with a configuration manager like the IFly 737. Highly detailled.

[ghiom 2]

Same here.

Two comments despite an otherwise beautiful product (much better than the 737NG):

1. frames rates are not that good, although smoothness is still most of the time there, except in turns (stutters)
2. Flight Dynamics are "strange" (I am not a real pilot so I can't tell, but I have 15+ years of FS flying):

• it climbs like a rocket at high altitude  :huh:
• it will sink like a stone upon high altitude idle descent
• elevator is not much effective (compared to other addons) and you need to pull/push hard to get a response

But again, visually, from the VC, it's an incredible product and a huge step from the 737NG. Also, the A/P is much more precise, not too mention the neat Time acceleration support.

 

I hope the SP will bring something from a FDE point of view.

 

if I were iFly, instead of developing the -F and -8, I would retrofit the NG with all these nice features. The market for NG flying is I assume much larger than for long range cargo, IMHO.

 

One thing to keep in mind is that while we'd always want something better/more, let's not forget it's a FS9 product and only for that, we should be grateful!

if you want to fly a very very very smooth FS9 addon, you still have the ol-level-d 767. Despite being what... 8 years old, it's still almost at par with what is produced today.

The only bug I am aware of is in the VNAV descent programming. Vertical path is somewhat lost after crossing the first ALT-constrained waypoint.

[tf51d 284]

The fluctuations in frame rate with the IFly 747 sounds like it could be the active mouse bug (Windows Bug) that reduces FPS whenever the mouse is active (or present) on the screen. In most models you'll see only a couple of frames loss, but for some reason IFly 737 is much harder hit. The 747  may have the same issue? For those that see this fluctuation is the Mouse active on the screen when FPS is low and high when it's not active?

 

Edit: I just realized this was a FS9 post, I was referring to FSX, however since this is a Windows issue and not solely a FS issue (This has been reported in other graphic games) it may apply to FS9 as well!)

[FS++ 707]

 

 

may apply

 

Sorry Tom, completely unrelated to this thread. Can't PM you and not sure your e-mail address is current with us. Could you please get in touch with support( at )multicrewxp.com Thank you