I must admit, I have never purchased a "Payware" aeroplane.
I personally find that if the aircraft I am flying has a reasonable control panel containing all the controls, instruments and radios, etc, that I need, then the rest of the construction is of lesser interest.
After all, I am sitting in the cockpit all of the time looking at the instrument panel in front of me, tuning the radios, watching out for other aircraft and admiring the scenery around me, mostly at low level, most of the time... 8)...!
...and most all of this is covered by the "Freeware" designers...bless 'em... ...!
It is only the highly complex utility add-ons, (mentioned previously), that I am readily prepared to purchase when necessary.

Paul.

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No offense taken.


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Agreed


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The reasoning here needs reviewing.  There are few, if any, flightsim addons that sell into the tens of thousands, let alone hundreds of thousands.  Where you may get into the "thousands" donwload purchase is with either an extremely popular airplane/collection, or if your distribution is through the - extremely competitive - retail outlet.

The payware vs freeware argument is actually a very personal decision, since no one is forced to go exclusively either route.  Note that for the payware author, an ectremely successful product also has tax consequences ..  but it's always nice to take a cheque to the bank to upgrade to that next and best ever video card, or 15MHz double processor

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ditto on that one...i think they should not cost more than the simulator itself...UNLESS they really give you some GREAT enhancement

Bottom line...Fligth simming is a great Hobby.....

have a GREAT 2004 in the simulated skies people

best regards
Prowler

I voted #1 also for three reasons

www.flight1.com
www.realairsimulations.com
www.lagoonline.com
they make great add ons for FS2004 flight1 for the FS2004 meridian 310 152 421 Golden Eagle 177RG Cardinal FS2002 version and they now have a update for the FS2002 cardinal I baught them at Oshkosh 2003 and have used nothing else and for FS2002 eaglesoft design group for there Beech jet 400A and there Raythion premeir1

This is an interesting debate that I have missed because I rarely visit this board.

For what it's worth I'll give my view.

I am amazed by the number of freeware addons that are available to the flight sim community.  There seem to be hundreds of designers out there willing to spend significant amounts of their time buiding aircraft, drawing textures and writing airfiles for our enjoyment who ask for nothing in return.  I salute them and long may it last.

What annoys me is the perceived "right" that seems to have crept in that we should have addons to our hobby for free.  This is ridiculous, what do these people owe us that they should spend 100 hours of their time and receive no renumeration whatsoever?  They get little feedback and there are many of us that can only ever think of negative comments to make about their hard work.

I have not bought an addon for FS since I purchased the Vietnam CD for CFS1,2 and FS2k/2.  It was bad and I felt slightly cheated.  I feel that the quality of the addon did not justify the cost of the product.  This is personal, there are others who post on here that have made positive statements about it.

As consumers we have a right to demand high quality when we part with cash.  I feel that a payware aircraft should be at least as good quality as the default aircraft available in the basic simulator.  We do not have the right to demand that our colleagues in this mad hobby provide their services free of charge.

I spent several hours coming to grips with GMax a few weeks ago and I discovered how difficult it really is.  If I had the talent to produce high quality aircraft I would attempt to get paid for it.  In the same way that if I could write novels I would get paid and when I work I get paid.  Just because I love my job doesn't mean I'm willing to do it for nothing.  In fact because my job is only done by those who are drawn to it because of what we do we get paid less than we should.

Give the payware designers a break and don't expect a free ride

I just spotted this & will add my two penn'orth.

When I started in the hobby, only a few years ago, most addons were Freeware. I became interested in doing something similar myself & got generous help & advice from whoever I asked. In an attempt to give something back to the hobby I became involved in this site & willingly helped anyone who asked for it. I still do & much of my spare time is spent writing tutes & doing detailed walkthroughs by e-mail.

A few people I helped in this way abused my generosity (& that of others) by going off on their own & charging for the things they created with my help. Not only do I feel let down but I also have to wonder how they can do this without using the many excellent Freeware utilities that I taught them to use. If they don't get permission to do so or fail to purchase a commercial licence for commercial programs like FSDS or Paint Shop Pro they are in fact breaking the law. If anyone thinks they can make a quick buck by charging for their work maybe they should think again.

This is my hobby. I expect no reward from a hobby other than the pleasure it gives me & the occasional thanks from people I help. I will therefore remain committed to Freeware for as long as I'm interested in this hobby. That is a promise.

PS. I have no objection to Payware per se. There are a few reputable companies, mostly long established, that give good value for money. It would have to be the very best quality for me even to consider it. That would take some doing with the general quality of Freeware these days. Apart from the odd utility or design application I would never purchase an FS addon myself.

Oh. My bad.