Making the Challenger more accessible and usable

[BillM]

Hi.

I have just purchased the Challenger for X-Plane 12.

It is a remarkable product with unmatched fidelity.

However, I think you are limiting your potential market by keeping it so complex (for all).

I suggest the following for consideration:

a. Have a choice to have the FBO active or not active (easier for some, less of a hit on FPS and quicker load times).

b. Via the avitab, have preconfigured states, i.e cold and dark, ready for taxi, ready for take off - better accessibility - more appealing to a wider audience.

c. Make the co-pilot / instructor more interactive - make it a bit easier for those that want to learn the correct procedures.

In X-Plane 12, the FPS is very poor, I have a few lock-ups (no plugins other than what the Challenger installed) and it is very frustrating to have to start again.

When I have saved a situation (i.e ready for taxi), I end up in the FBO or in a cold and dark aircraft.

I am sure some 'purists' will not agree with my suggestions, but more sales, bigger audience = more profit and more products.

By the way, I was a flying / aircrew instructor and I have developed / tested quite a few flight sim products (FSX / DCS).

Kind Regards,

Bill.   

[Cameron]

3 hours ago, BillM said:

However, I think you are limiting your potential market by keeping it so complex (for all).

I don't mean for this to be rude, but instead factual: The sales numbers disagree with your assessment. This is based on sales data and product comparisons over a 15 years in business period. At this point in our business adventure, we know what sells and what the mass majority of the market seeks. We hit that mark pretty well on the 650.

 

3 hours ago, BillM said:

In X-Plane 12, the FPS is very poor, I have a few lock-ups (no plugins other than what the Challenger installed) and it is very frustrating to have to start again.

Your computer sounds taxed. More of a settings vs hardware compromise on a sim that uses more rendering resources than it's previous iteration (11 vs 12).

 

3 hours ago, BillM said:

When I have saved a situation (i.e ready for taxi), I end up in the FBO or in a cold and dark aircraft.

How did you save the situation? If it's through the X-Plane menu, that's not going to work. Use the state save from the 650 menus instead. X-Plane's built in situation save system is very basic and cannot capture all the custom datarefs in a product like this.

[Pils]

Welcome aboard! Thanks for the feedback. If I may be so bold as to speak to the intentions of the developer…

3 hours ago, BillM said:

a. Have a choice to have the FBO active or not active (easier for some, less of a hit on FPS and quicker load times).

It was considered easy enough to bypass the FBO experience by just changing views to the cockpit (however you choose to do so). (The FBO has no impact on FPS when it’s not used, nor any perceptible impact on loading time.)

3 hours ago, BillM said:

b. Via the avitab, have preconfigured states, i.e cold and dark, ready for taxi, ready for take off - better accessibility - more appealing to a wider audience.

The state management is all custom via the Airframe Manager (pops up upon loading career mode and available via the menu bar), and I don’t think AviTab has any means of extending its functionality in this way, nor would it seem necessary. Not providing out-of-the-box states as you suggest was also deemed unnecessary, as saving one’s state in the exact phase one wants is easy and more flexible. It was important to encourage new users to go through the learning process at least once, and the documentation and virtual F/O was included to assist in that regard.

3 hours ago, BillM said:

c. Make the co-pilot / instructor more interactive - make it a bit easier for those that want to learn the correct procedures.

Noted.

Thanks.

[BillM]

Thank you Pils.

[BillM]

Pils, taking your advice, I have made progress in flying the aircraft, thank you.

My only persistent fault indication is ATS fail - but I will keep working on this.

[RenatoSampaio]

for me the challenger 650 is the best study-level aircraft on the market, among all simulators including, in addition to having a great design and avionics, the study-level aircraft is perfect even for those who are students of aeronautical engineering. what is missing is just the weather radar system and the wipers, only these details make the challenger the perfect aircraft.

[Pils]

4 hours ago, BillM said:

Pils, taking your advice, I have made progress in flying the aircraft, thank you.

My only persistent fault indication is ATS fail - but I will keep working on this.

 

[Pils]

3 hours ago, RenatoSampaio said:

wipers

Challengers don’t have windscreen wipers.

[flightwusel]

I've had it sitting in the hangar for half a year until I had the guts to dive in...

IMHO that initial step is steep not because of the aircraft's systems but because you have to learn the FBO, the walking (and ducking!), operating a door etc. Then you never know if you'll fall out of the sky if you forgot a step (do I have to do the flight planning in the FBO? Do I have to take passengers?). That might sound ridiculous but that was what intimidated me. Once you prepared the aircraft from the outside and fueled it this can be a very smooth experience even for newcomers.

Now after many many great flights I just immediately click the door at the end of the FBO lobby, have configured the 650 not to overwrite my go-to-cockpit-button (W!) and can hop in directly.

I never put on the chocks, pins and covers, discovered how to fuel from the inside and am now REALLY enjoying the stunning avionics and depth of the systems.

Just sayin'. The FBO is a neat idea. But a "Skip to cockpit" and a "Perform walk-around actions" in the menu would be much appreciated.

 

Re: Saving airframes: while gives you the state you left it in (which helps), it is not the same as being able to save and recall states.

[Cameron]

1 hour ago, flightwusel said:

Just sayin'. The FBO is a neat idea. But a "Skip to cockpit"

This already exists in the non persistent mode option. On the CL650 initial load screen, you can click the window to see the additional mode. It's been a while since I've used this mode, but as I recall it also has the pre flight items already done.

 

1 hour ago, flightwusel said:

Re: Saving airframes: while gives you the state you left it in (which helps), it is not the same as being able to save and recall states.

Just so we're clear, there IS state saving. Not sure if you were aware of that, so mentioning it just in case you weren't just clarifying a difference.

[flightwusel]

Re: non-persistent mode

Yes, it skips outside checks. I forgot about that one.

 

Re: state saving

You are right, too. One needs to de-select "Restore position and trajectory" to make them useful as a "ready for engine start" state for example and one needs to go through the FBO then. I had to play around with it just now to grasp that. Sorry. That's not really self-explanatory in my opinion.

[VirtualAviator]

I seem to recall that one of the goals of this aircraft is to give virtual pilots an idea of what the Challenger pilots actually do.  I think they did a great job from arriving at an FBO to returning to the FBO after a flight.  Admittedly, I don't tend to do a proper walk-around but I do remove the covers and pins. The save state feature is awesome. It allow for quick flights, if used, giving us the ability to skip C&D starts (you'll be required to do a C&D start at least once then you can save it).

For newbies, Reflected Reality Simulations and Foxtrot Alpha Aviation YouTube channels are great resources for getting started.

Thanks to everyone who had a hand in bringing the CL650 to virtual life!!!
 

[Pils]

4 hours ago, flightwusel said:

That's not really self-explanatory in my opinion.

Noted.