Overview:
Today I purchased the Boeing 717 created by TFDI Design, and first impressions are, I have to say very good. Priced in the UK at £50 you receive the same quality as the PMDG. Frames are pretty good considering the depth of the aircraft. For a small aircraft it is great for hopping around and completing quick turnarounds, working perfectly with GSX. Also their addon manager works the fuel out itself from the miles input, and with the click of a button it is loaded into your aircraft once your sim is loaded.
Good Points:
– Easy to use and learn, follow the manuals provided and you will be fine
– Great on frames, and really fun to fly, flight dynamics are excellent and make for interesting flying when you are doing a visual approach
– Great Virtual Cockpit modelling, all the switches and panels are perfect, and all the switches ( as far as i know ) work
– Including a Tablet for both the Captain and FO works wonders with the ability to load charts for your departure and arrival airports, control the outside doors, and of course shared cockpit
Bad Points:
– The aircraft is not complete yet, which is a real shame considering how long it has been in development for. Personally I would have preferred a completed product to use than one with missing parts, which are detailed below
– TOC / TOD is not modelled yet, so you have to guess when the time is right to descend
– I find the Audio GPWS voice rather annoying, to me its sounds like a cold bitter woman who would rather be on a beach than recording audio clips
– There is limited repaints, again considering it has been in development for so long its rather annoying that the only European airline to use the aircraft ( Volotea ) has not been painted. This is something that is shared across the group, including myself it is the only reason why i purchased the aircraft in the first place.
Conclusion
I am sure that the developers at TFDI will have a great completed product soon, they have published a change log for the next month which does look promising, but for now the aircraft itself is excellent to use on those short hops around Europe.