I figured it wouldn’t take long before someone would write to be about the recent release of the Aerosoft Airbus A330 and I wasn’t disappointed. I’ve had several readers email me in the past 24-48 hours about this and here are my thoughts on the matter. But first, let me show you the email from Joseph.
Hello Jerry, I’m a long-time reader, but this is the first time I’ve contacted you. BTW, I always find your “Reader Question” blog postings interesting as most of the time I’ve asked myself those same questions. Anyway, I wanted to ask you your opinion on the Aerosoft A330 and additional get your opinion on why developers release products before they are ready for prime time? It seems Aerosoft should have known the state of this aircraft and continued working on it before launching it to the masses. Thank you for your time and I hope you’ll use this email on your blog. Sincerely, Joseph.
Well Joseph, the short answer is NO! I don’t have any first-hand experience with the Aerosoft Airbus A330 as it wasn’t on my radar to actually buy the aircraft (at least not at this time) and to be honest, I probably won’t purchase this aircraft ever. The only Aerosoft aircraft purchase I’ve ever made was back in the late FSX and early P3D days when they released their Airbus A320 family of aircraft. I purchased and used their A318/A319/A320/A321 suite of aircraft. While these models were lacking to some degree, they served me well until I moved to FSLabs in P3D. But Aerosoft was a very different developer back then to what they are today.
To move to your second question about why developers release products before they are well and truly ready for prime time is a very valid question. It’s a question that I’m sure many have pondered, especially if they’ve found themselves making a purchase of this type to find out later it’s junk in the present state.
At 58 years old, I consider myself a “Man of a Certain Age” and I remember the Paul Masson wine advertisements from the late ’70’s where Orson Welles closes the advert with the famous line “We will sell no wine before its time.” Obviously I wasn’t drinking wine at this time of my life, but that advert has stuck with me over the years and is very much applicable today as it was back then.
The general consensus around the flight simulation community with respect to the recent Aerosoft Airbus A330 release is it comes down to competition. It is well known that iniBuilds is working on an Airbus A330 that is rumored to be included with MSFS 2024. Of course iniBuilds is also working on an A350 and an A380. When these release is not known at this time. But as we’re just a little over a month from the release of MSFS 2024, this feels like Aerosoft rushed their A330 to market as nothing more than a money grab. They priced it low enough that people rushed to purchase it to find out afterwards that it’s crap and a long ways away from bring anything but crap. Most likely it will remain just that….CRAP!
Aerosoft lost me as a customer (at least a customer of their aircraft) when they sold they sold the Twin Otter for MSFS then revoked it sometime later. I loved their Twin Otter in FSX/P3D and thought it would be a great aircraft to have in my MSFS hangar. I was disappointed from the first moment and then they decide to pull it. So, while I may purchase Aerosoft add-on airport sceneries….I most likely will never purchase another aircraft from them. At least not until such time as they can prove they are capable of releasing a quality aircraft that works from day one.
I get frustrated at reading comments around the flight simulation community about how long it takes PMDG or Fenix to release and aircraft. But you know something? When a new Fenix or PMDG aircraft hits the market, it’s solid and any weakness is generally addressed and resolved in a very short manner. So this my friends is why I will never complain about the time it takes for a quality developer like Fenix or PMDG to bring an aircraft to market.
Well…I hope that explains a few things. It absolutely sucks for those who did spend their hard earned money on the Aerosoft A330. Because while it may get an update, I doubt it will ever be as solid as what iniBuilds will bring to MSFS 2024.
In closing, I will say this. Before spending money on something, DO YOUR RESEARCH! There are many videos from some of the top content creators showcasing new aircraft releases. I haven’t found a single video (and I’ve watched several) who have anything good to say about this A330 from Aerosoft. So my advice…if you haven’t purchased it. Don’t! You won’t be happy!
Until next time…
Happy Flying!!!
Jerry