Hi Emi! Thanks for the video. Some items to note: The terrain radar works if you have the FBW simbridge installed (listed on the FBW installer). The database is external so you need this interface. Cool feature is that from the AOC messages, you can click print and the printer will spit out the METAR and after clicking on the paper you place it next to the MCDU for quick review. Also I'm recommend to use the development version for all the latest features. Have fun!
Thanks for your feedback! In terms of the PACKS and TA ONLY alignment. As this is a NEO the PACKS as due to the newer EIS displays system its not even present in the CEO's. For the TA ONLY you can choose between TA ONLY and ADS-B ONLY. ADS-B ONLY would show up on the RH side of the column and TA ONLY on the left. About missing sun visors, yeah could consider that maybe for an future update ;)
I’ve enjoyed this plane for quite awhile but with the new cockpit it’s a real step up and it’s hard to believe it’s a free plane with the quality. I’m not a pilot and don’t claim to have RL experience of flying airliners but it feels as you said responsive and definitely fun to fly. I find the displays a little dark but that’s because I carnt see properly but that’s just me. For me the best free aircraft I’ve flown in any sim let’s hope this continues wither the a380. Will definitely watch future videos you produce using this aircraft. Thx for video beyond informative as always.
You'd be surprised how dark the displays in the real Airbus are! I was quite shocked when I saw in the A330 for the first time in bright sunlight. I actually had to take my sunglasses - which worked fine for five years in the 737 - off in order to be able to read the MCDU and the cockpit displays.
1. You can Print the metar and place it at the mcdu 2. You can go into the settings at 3th apps you can select to synchronize with GSX so the fuel and payload will be done by gsx 3. You can lock your cockpit door 4. The vatsim frequencies on the efb 5. You can save your brightness settings of your display and load them with a single click a setup for day or night its always nice to have
1:12:05 you went out of the cockpit, clicked screenshots, and went back in (all while manually handling the aircraft) so seemlessly like it was a walk in the park! Love it!! 😆 Is coming in on final in such style that you must take screenshots, a trained Airbus procedure?😂
It is the first time you fly this aircraft, but your video is now at top of how to fly a Airbus and just for that you deserve Likes and Subscriptions.A Lot of things I learnt with you these days. Thks
The FBW a320 indeed come a very long way and improved very much. Considering it's freeware I think it's astounding what FBW achieved. ( I still have vivid memories of the mediocre freeware models we had in FSX and X-Plane.) Thanks for the video.
For the last four months I have been "flying" only this aircraft after following its development closely from the outset. I agree the new cockpit has been transformative. To hear your compliments "Awesome awesome" whilst you were "flying" the aircraft was joyful. This is a truly wonderful aircraft model and it is free, has very frequent updates, is very professionally documented and has a very simple loading procedure. I agree that the handling of the aircraft is exemplary especially whilst hand flying it and as a non-pilot I feel this is as near to a real aircraft or a real simulator as I am going to get. It was truly a joy to see you fly the aircraft and I hope to see you using it again soon. The FBW team have overcome many challenges and their passion shines through in this product.
So, for sure it has less functionality than the payware Fenix, but it's lovely to fly, and it's a NEO, so it is worth having in your hangar alongside the Fenix. The FBW team are working tirelessly to bring in more functionality over time. All of this for free. Seriously, what's to complain about. Just one more note - on their discord the team are SUPER HELPFUL - they help out with great patience a lot of newbs as well as technically proficient pilots with complex questions. FBW team are GREAT !
This is my favorite aircraft in MSFS. Flight model, sounds, hydraulics systems, EFB is amazing. FBW team do great job and all this absolutely free and open source! I cannot wait for new FMS v2 and custom model of A320neo
Terrain Display DOES work but requires you to have Simlink app running in the background first; regarding T/O calculator, the PERF page auto-calculates it for you if you press each line select key - a bit unrealistic but a number of other add-ons do it that way (e.g. JAR airbuses on XP)
Thank you for this absolutely great video. I'm happy that a real Airbus pilot can be so enthusiastic about freeware. I love the FBW Airbus and the last update with the new cockpit was very successful. The terrain also works very well with the FBW-Simbridge. But others have already commented on that. In my opinion, your performance calculation based on the CEO is not entirely accurate. With the NEO version I have almost 10 to 15 knots less Vr than with the CEO. The only thing I miss in the FBW, is a RNAV approach. But again, great video. I'm already looking forward to your next flights with FBW. Greetings from Upper Austria
The calculation from the CEO performance tool was the best I had available. So far there's only been one performance calculator in flight sim that I really liked (virtualperformancetool.net) and that's unfortunately only for the 737 and no other type. Even TOPCAT back in the day was off the real OPT numbers by far.
The fact that they fixed the glareshield and we're still waiting for the iniBuilds 320neo convinced me two weeks ago to give it a try and it's really great! Especially of course considering it's free. I still dislike the Asobo exterior model but hey, not FBW's fault. I was especially surprised by their great EFB which seems to me actually better than the Fenix one.
Another great video so thanks!! Don't forget once you have received the company message after a WX request you can print it out and put it beside the CDU for reference when entering WX details. Mega handy!
Great video Emanuel. I just wanna point out some automations the FBW team is offering in case you didn't know You can request both fuel and weight from simbrief flight plan using the cloud icon in the efb Once the loading is complete in the init page 2 you can press R1 button to get the ZFW and CG values You can also press the R2 button to get a recommended fuel required for the trip Once loaded in the perf page you can select a flap setting and press L1 / L2 / L3 buttons for automatic speed calculation For the terrain display to work you need to run the simbridge from within the FBW installer and give it a few seconds to connect. If there is no connection you can force it to check via the efb in the top right settings icon You can also slave the fueling and boarding / deboarding with the gsx via an efb setting In the landing calculator it preselects your current weight, you must enter you estimated landing weight manually and also the calculator is very conservative You can also print the meta / atis messages and keep them in view. Fun fact you can also print them with a physical printer It also supports hoppie network and has a working cpdlc
In order to show the terrain on the ND you have to turn on the SimBridge on the installer program. Take off speeds are calculated by the MCDU. Maybe they will change this in the near future. Great plane and great video. Thanks.
terrain display is implemented, but you have to run the companion SimBridge software for it to function. weather radar is deliberately INOP until Asobo provides a non-terrible weather API.
I gotta say, I thank FlybyWire a lot for basically teaching me how to fly. I went from constantly crashing a C208 in MSFS to routinely flying the A32NX for a virtual airline. The funny part was when I took a real flight on a 320 (ceo, though, but still), and recognized all the sounds and could tell where we were in the procedures from hearing them. @ 4:55 - takeoff performance, and as you add them at 15:37, if you press the LSK next to each value (V1, rotate, etc) when they're blank, the FBW MCDU will give you kind of a guess for values for each, based on TOW, and put them at the bottom of the screen. If you tap the LSK again, it will input them. On the Neo with a full pax and like 5000-ish kg fuel load, I usually get like ~125 knots for rotate.
Hi, that's a great story indeed! Personally I don't like to use the FBW integrated takeoff speeds, they do the job, but are rather not accurate. For instance they don't take the takeoffthrustsetting (or the flex temp, as you want to see it) into account, which however makes a big difference to the speeds as the speeds which gouvern your takeoff speeds - Vmcg and Vmca - are basically determined by the thrust setting. High thrust and you also need high speeds so that your control surfaces can develop sufficient strenghs to counter the effects for engine faillures and assymetric thrust. The more I'm reading and writing about this, the more I feel i should probably do a video on it at some point. I'll add that to my list for sure.
@@A330Driver I can totally see that, and not having flown one in real life (lol) I think there things the sim doesn't teach you that a real pilot would know
What I like about the FBW A320 is the cabin crew/pilot/boarding sounds that play, I wish more aircraft did that to add some immersion. I wish then that the cabin crew would become ready automatically rather than requiring the button call. Or perhaps they will be ready by themselves, but the button acts as an accelerator if you just want them to be ready.
You can just store over the Default camera position in every plane. Bind a Key to the "VFR PILOT VIEW SAVE" that is your default Camera for every plane when when using the "reset" camera button
Great watch, its good to see a video on the FBW A320 from the perspective of a real A320 Pilot. By the way, by far my favorite A320 To fly thumbs up To the FBW team already looking forward to you next Video in this Model Love to also see how you fare on VATSIM
The new cockpit looks great. Hopefully we'll get a second MCDU soon. When that happens, the aircraft can easily keep up with the Fenix A320 in daily operations. Failures are of course a completely different story. It's great to see how far they've come.
For anyone wondering, to change the default camera position in an aircraft, the keybind is LCtrl+F10/F9/F11. The three different F keys are for VFR, Close, and Landing default views.
What I'm missing for day to day operation so far is the secondary flightplan, missed approaches and route saving. But knowing FBW I'll cross my fingers we'll eventually get those.
Cool little trick, but the FBW is integrated perfectly with GSX, so when you request refueling, GSX will refuel your preselected fuel in the EFB. It will also board passengers for you. Just make sure you have the correct setting for how fast you want it to happen first before starting. It can bug out sometimes. If you press the cloud button, it will load your desired fuel/load straight from simbrief. Basically, all of the refueling and loading can be done through GSX. Great for realism!
The FBW A320 Neo is the way i learn to fly Airbus in general before deciding to buy the Fenix A320. I really like how it works and how smooth it is. Great video and review of the FBW A320 Neo! Thank you and a happy new year (yes i’m late but i don’t comment alot).
As soon as they update the exterior model this will be a very good aircraft imo. The sounds are very good, the flight model (unpopular opinion but) is better than the Fenix (The FBW feels better in the approach and flare and ground handling too). It's a pity... but oh well Edit: Just updated the FBW to the latest Dev version and my goodness it flies so nicely. Dare I say the nicest feeling airliner in MSFS. I can only describe the aircraft as being much more stable and predictable than the Fenix. I cannot for the life of me land the Fenix well consistently but with the FBW it's so easy because the aircraft behaves so predictably. Well, I'll be sending in a ticket to Fenix to ask them what they think
I know it's an unpopular opinion, but I absolutely agree with you about FBW vs Fenix flight models, especially in, oh, the last 5-10 seconds of the approach, where the Fenix gets quite squirrely and unpredictable. The FBW is my favorite overall experience airliner in the sim, even if the 737 and Fenix have more depth and capabilities in certain areas.
@@GarrisIiari Yes, for me the Fenix feels like a plane that I have to very precisely and carefully fly with tiny, tiny stick inputs if I want to keep the aircraft flying in a stable and smooth fashion. Whereas with the FBW I can “pump” the stick like I see lots of irl 320 pilots do especially in gusty conditions. I especially agree with your predictability comment - the Fenix is very, very unpredictable in the flare if I do it by the book - I need a very large back stick input and I need to hold it there - and if I mess it up ever so slightly I either slam it into the ground or it goes back up into the air. The aircraft also rolls way too easily with stick input (well, at least compared to the FBW) but the overall feeling is instability and inconsistency. Whereas with aircraft like the PMDG 737 and FBW 320 I can judge the flare very well and consistently get a smooth touchdown - less so in the PMDG 737 but with the FBW it was love at first flight for me. I’m no developer so I can’t exactly say why the Fenix flies like it does but I’ll definitely be taking this to the Fenix Devs - they seem like developers who value feedback and will strive to make their product better.
@@iaexo Terrific description of how it feels to fly the Fenix, especially the dynamics around the flaring. It's very, very exacting, what feels like too much so to me compared to every other excellent airliner in the sim, especially the FBW. Definitely you should give your feedback to the developers.
You can override the camera views on any plane. Set the camera as you would like, then press Ctrl + F10 to set the the default "VFR" view intended to give an overview, Ctrl + F9 for the "IFR" view that is more focused on the instruments, and Ctrl + F11 for the "landing" mode intended to peek over the glare shield and give the best visibility of the runway. Press the keys without Ctrl to recall, and use (I think) Shift to reset to default. There are also views for the co-pilot seat and the HUD on those planes which have one.
Can you please tell me what simbrief format are you useing for the operational flight plan and how you changend the colour on fcu mine is orange not gray, thank you! @@A330Driver
Finally, I really love this plane. The soundset is incredible and in my opinion the handflying is better than the Fenix. Of course I'm not a pilot, so I don't know which one is more realistic.
I agree on the handflying, especially rotation and flare. Haven't tested the inflight part as detailed yet, but Fenix is doing a good job there already.
Great video But 2 Tips 1. Highly recommend not running FS Realistic with the Aircraft as the sounds and effects are amount the best 2. You can sync GSX Fuel and Payload With the Aircraft so it’s not just eye candy and actually plays a simulation effect.
The GPU being available is a workaround kind of thing in MSFS: Whenever you enter a virtual gate or "parking stop" it will show GPU being available if there is no custom logic implemented. It's something I'd wish to be improved on MSFS2024 (it seems even a default ASU was planned for MSFS2020 but got cut for some reason - the b748i at least has a virtual connection point for an ASU defined in the flight model).
The weight in the landing calculator needs to be calculated manually using fuel at destination and current GW and entered. The weight that was in the calculator was pulled from ofp which may not be correct.
The FlyByWire team are doing an excellent job with the A32NX. It continues to develop in a very positive manner. Remember it`s freeware. Outstanding !. I find it a little lighter on load in the sim compared with the Fenix. (Of course depending on your hardware). The team provides excellent documentation online and are very helpful. Looking forward to more functionality in this new year.
29:25 just a quick remark, you don't check nor anounce the "pressure 0" during the brake check on the A320 Neo (at least I know for certain Lufthansa doesn't) as the brake system is monitored digitally and if something were wrong with the pressure you would get an ECAM warning. So usually they just say "Bremst!" or something like that and move on.
Glad you enjoyed it! I find the FBW probably the best in terms of manual handling - it has much less twitch/sliding on landing and crosswinds, compared to Fenix. It’s lovely to see you flying it!
Very good video, landing and kudos to Fly By Wire. Have avoided alot of planes in MSFS because of the weird way they land compared to X Plane, but this looks good. Must give it another try myself 😎
The takeoff calculation is limited here to only the V speeds, if you double press the soft keys next to V1, V2 and VR, the mcdu will fill in the blanks, but there is no option to calculate the trim, flaps and flex temp.
To be honest, I still prefer this plane over the Fenix. It has nothing to do with full authenticity as much as it is an enjoyable plane to fly. Audio especially. As for the cockpit, it never bothered me because I never knew there was anything wrong! Ignorance can be bliss! Suggested route: Manila to Caticlan in the Philippines. Freeware scenery available for Caticlan
And when you fly in the US you can even set the ATIS source in the EFB and then have the real life ATIS for your Airport printed out. I wish this was also publicly available in EASA land. It's so helpful in deciding which runway and approach type to use.@@A330Driver
when you click the cockpit door close it mutes down the cabin announcments. the door doesn't ever show open because there is no cabin modeled. It's a good airplane that I've been flying for a long time. It's a freeware plane that I would pay for. It does calculate the v speeds for you by double clicking on the buttons beside the v speed. If you use simbrief you can download all the payload and fuel numbers and import them into the efb
Hi, love your films. Would you be able to do a guide on setting this aircraft up for quick flights such as base training or short ferries? All of the tutorials seem to focus on longer flights using SimBrief and the FMC which I doubt would be realistic for base training.
Hello there, I've been flying the FBW A320 for quite some time now and everything worked fine. But recently it will not come out of CLB mode even when the plane levels off at the CRZ altitude. Naturally, I cannot continue in this setting since it will overspeed soon. Also, I cannot descent anymore in MANAGED mode, since it is still in CLB mode, I can only use the OPEN DESCENT. Only after I have manually activated approach then all managed functions are back to normal. Would you happen to know what might be the cause for this behavior?
Great video! But keep in mind, that this cockpit is still the asobo model. Just the Glareshield is custom and some other parts like the seats. But most of the model is still the default one. But they are planning to overhaul the whole cockpit at some point
@@A330Driver Yes, absolutely agree on that. But would be really cool if they correct the other errors also at some point nevertheless:) But for me as a homecockpit user, it isn’t really necessary at all haha
The engine oil quantity doesn’t appear without the FADEC powered up on the neos, it’s standard to turn on the FADEC from the maintenance panel to check the engine oil quantities which is incorrectly simulated
The same is the case on the CEOs, FADEC initially powers up when adding power to the plane but then shuts down again after five minutes, so you also need to power it manually to check for oil quantity. The only difference is the time, which as you said is 2 mins on the neo and 5 on ceo.
Thanks for doing the review on the FBW. I was curious about it. I been on the a300. And it has some critical issues, unfortunately theyre random and unpredictabile. Kinda disappointed in that its payware and the hype surrounding it.
As a real world A320neo pilot, I am pretty impressed with the current state of the FBW A32NX. Still has a long way to go, but I am downloading it right now and giving it another chance. So unfortunate FBW and iniBuilds doesn't want to team up together. It would be the best alternative community wise, not only for the A32NX but for the A380X to join efforts with iniBuilds and make great addons together.
I agree from a community standpoint, but let's be hoenst here: If you were a member of the FBW team, would you like to team up with someone who stole your code? Personally I'd keep the greatest distance possible.
@@A330Driver I understand little to nothing about licensing of projects, but considering that the FBW A32NX is open source I think the real problem was that someone a iniBuilds decided to use the code on a project that is probably paid by Asobo/Microsoft. Both companies are made of individuals, and that the majority of them are honest and hardworking people that also want to make the best representation of the A320neo, not to blame the entire company for it. I am not defending a member of iniBuilds stealing code, but Headwind team also uses FBW code in a legal way I believe and it's all good. Maybe if they had made an agreement first, all this could be avoided. FBW team is very talented, but I assume they will starting vanishing from the map once MSFS 2024 and the iniBuilds A320/A380 are out. That would be a community loss and a lot of effort in vain.
Thanks for a great review! I like to pop out the flight, map, ISIS, and engine displays to another monitor but I am not able tp pop out the engine/ECAM middle displays on the FBW, just all the other displays. No problem in the Fenix.
Consider engines start, timing is fine if we have cold start, if it’s hot start FADEC does automatic dry cranking at around 28,8% of N2 during 30 seconds or so…
You gotta leave the GSX in the toolbar active (meaning white). Otherwise GSX does not run in the background. The window must be opened by using the keybind assinged in the installer settings.
You can get the V speeds by clicking them. Biggest downer of the FBW is the engines. Flex is not simulated, speeds with flex 68 or TOGA are the same. For the rest a really great addon.
FLEX wouldn’t affect speeds, it affects how fast you accelerate. It is simulated - you can see the thrust reduction and the airplane responds accordingly.
@cmaylo Flex would very much affect takeoff speeds in the real world. Using a flex temp means different thrust output, which doesn't only affect how fast you accelerate, but also how much of a thrust differential you'll need to overcome in case an engine fails. How do you overcome it? By force on the control surfaces. What affects that force? Your speed. Thus minimum control speeds vary, thus V1 and V2 vary.
To clarify, the current capability to get V speeds by double clicking on the LSKs is very simplified and is based on the minimum speeds that can be used at the limiting flex temp (even though there it does not provide the flex temp for you). A complete takeoff perf calculator is in work that will provide the appropriate speeds for TOGA and flex temp, as well as the flex temp.@@A330Driver
@@A330Driver I think this is missing because there isn't one available publicly from Airbus for the Neo Engines. At least this is what I read before. Thus even if they could invent one, how accurate would be is anybody's guess, so FBW probably decided not to include it, since it is not official.
@@A330Driver About the performance calculator, you can press the LSK key at each V speed when they're empty, and the plane will calculate that for you. As long as you have the flap setting ZFW and ZFWCG inputted. It's not as good as Fenix's calculator because you have to guess the flap setting yourself, but it does the job, I guess. Check their pilot's handbook/doc for more features.
Great video and high praise. Excellent suggestion to Donate to fly by wire aswell! When payday comes for me il certainly be foing that.. perhaps you could put a link to a donate page in description
The T.O Performance calculator is a miss for this aircraft for sure. I tried to find some calculators in the internet but there's a substantial difference between their numbers. Don't know which one should trust
there kind of is one, but it's not shown on the EFB. once you've input all the other setup data you can click on the buttons next to the takeoff speeds and FBW will insert the calculated speeds.
Manual flight is the closest to a real A320 available at MSFS. I've said it once and I'll say it again, the perfect Airbus for the simulator would be to integrate the flight dynamics of the A32NX with the simulation of the Fenix systems.
Yes having just flown the FBW after not having done so for months I completely agree. Since the FBW is open source I'll really encourage the Fenix flight modellers to tale a good look and see what FBW is doing so right. Imo the handling of the FBW compared to the Fenix is night and day. And I am a day-one Fenix customer eagerly awaiting V2B2 - that was my unadulterated, honest opinion. The ground handling imo is also nicer than the Fenix - I always find the Fenix sliding all over the place. Oh my I can only dream about how good the FBW A380X will be - A to B level of system depth, excellent flight model and an absolutely stunning 3D model together with the beautiful immersive sounds by Boris...
Sadly, the cockpit is still incorrect, but I hope to see a Fenix level cockpit when they get some time from making the 380. The FCU is still too thick. It shouldn’t be that high.
Hi, I don't know if this is just for me, but I don't see any updates and the cockpit hasn't changed yet. Is it my thing, or the update for FBW a320 isn't out yet?
Hi Emi! Thanks for the video. Some items to note: The terrain radar works if you have the FBW simbridge installed (listed on the FBW installer). The database is external so you need this interface. Cool feature is that from the AOC messages, you can click print and the printer will spit out the METAR and after clicking on the paper you place it next to the MCDU for quick review. Also I'm recommend to use the development version for all the latest features. Have fun!
Thanks for the tips!
I'm a real-life A320 pilot and the thing is bang on. Sounds just like the real thing too.
Thanks for your feedback! In terms of the PACKS and TA ONLY alignment. As this is a NEO the PACKS as due to the newer EIS displays system its not even present in the CEO's. For the TA ONLY you can choose between TA ONLY and ADS-B ONLY. ADS-B ONLY would show up on the RH side of the column and TA ONLY on the left.
About missing sun visors, yeah could consider that maybe for an future update ;)
Are you from the FBW team? Maybe FBW will develop planes for X-Plane as well? That will be great. :)
I love how the conversations that are supposed to happen between the two pilots are held as well haha
I’ve enjoyed this plane for quite awhile but with the new cockpit it’s a real step up and it’s hard to believe it’s a free plane with the quality. I’m not a pilot and don’t claim to have RL experience of flying airliners but it feels as you said responsive and definitely fun to fly. I find the displays a little dark but that’s because I carnt see properly but that’s just me. For me the best free aircraft I’ve flown in any sim let’s hope this continues wither the a380. Will definitely watch future videos you produce using this aircraft. Thx for video beyond informative as always.
You'd be surprised how dark the displays in the real Airbus are! I was quite shocked when I saw in the A330 for the first time in bright sunlight. I actually had to take my sunglasses - which worked fine for five years in the 737 - off in order to be able to read the MCDU and the cockpit displays.
1. You can Print the metar and place it at the mcdu
2. You can go into the settings at 3th apps you can select to synchronize with GSX so the fuel and payload will be done by gsx
3. You can lock your cockpit door
4. The vatsim frequencies on the efb
5. You can save your brightness settings of your display and load them with a single click a setup for day or night its always nice to have
1:12:05 you went out of the cockpit, clicked screenshots, and went back in (all while manually handling the aircraft) so seemlessly like it was a walk in the park! Love it!! 😆
Is coming in on final in such style that you must take screenshots, a trained Airbus procedure?😂
It is the first time you fly this aircraft, but your video is now at top of how to fly a Airbus and just for that you deserve Likes and Subscriptions.A Lot of things I learnt with you these days. Thks
The FBW a320 indeed come a very long way and improved very much.
Considering it's freeware I think it's astounding what FBW achieved.
( I still have vivid memories of the mediocre freeware models we had in FSX and X-Plane.)
Thanks for the video.
Fully agree in all points!
For the last four months I have been "flying" only this aircraft after following its development closely from the outset. I agree the new cockpit has been transformative. To hear your compliments "Awesome awesome" whilst you were "flying" the aircraft was joyful. This is a truly wonderful aircraft model and it is free, has very frequent updates, is very professionally documented and has a very simple loading procedure. I agree that the handling of the aircraft is exemplary especially whilst hand flying it and as a non-pilot I feel this is as near to a real aircraft or a real simulator as I am going to get. It was truly a joy to see you fly the aircraft and I hope to see you using it again soon. The FBW team have overcome many challenges and their passion shines through in this product.
So, for sure it has less functionality than the payware Fenix, but it's lovely to fly, and it's a NEO, so it is worth having in your hangar alongside the Fenix. The FBW team are working tirelessly to bring in more functionality over time. All of this for free. Seriously, what's to complain about. Just one more note - on their discord the team are SUPER HELPFUL - they help out with great patience a lot of newbs as well as technically proficient pilots with complex questions. FBW team are GREAT !
This is my favorite aircraft in MSFS. Flight model, sounds, hydraulics systems, EFB is amazing. FBW team do great job and all this absolutely free and open source! I cannot wait for new FMS v2 and custom model of A320neo
Flight Model? I need to disagree the wings look hideous but besides that I agree with you
What does the look of the wings have to do with the flight model? I do agree with granpalm1, for freeware this is really stunning!
@@AlexKlawitterThe flight model incorporates the physics of the aircraft, it’s not the exterior model, which could use a little more work on
@@AlexKlawitterflight model means the flight physics not the physical model
Oh dear @@AlexKlawitter
FBW is awesome. Keep up the good work!
Terrain Display DOES work but requires you to have Simlink app running in the background first; regarding T/O calculator, the PERF page auto-calculates it for you if you press each line select key - a bit unrealistic but a number of other add-ons do it that way (e.g. JAR airbuses on XP)
the default cessna cj4 does it that way too
What about flex temperature?
Thank you for this absolutely great video. I'm happy that a real Airbus pilot can be so enthusiastic about freeware. I love the FBW Airbus and the last update with the new cockpit was very successful. The terrain also works very well with the FBW-Simbridge. But others have already commented on that. In my opinion, your performance calculation based on the CEO is not entirely accurate. With the NEO version I have almost 10 to 15 knots less Vr than with the CEO.
The only thing I miss in the FBW, is a RNAV approach.
But again, great video. I'm already looking forward to your next flights with FBW.
Greetings from Upper Austria
The calculation from the CEO performance tool was the best I had available. So far there's only been one performance calculator in flight sim that I really liked (virtualperformancetool.net) and that's unfortunately only for the 737 and no other type. Even TOPCAT back in the day was off the real OPT numbers by far.
The fact that they fixed the glareshield and we're still waiting for the iniBuilds 320neo convinced me two weeks ago to give it a try and it's really great! Especially of course considering it's free. I still dislike the Asobo exterior model but hey, not FBW's fault. I was especially surprised by their great EFB which seems to me actually better than the Fenix one.
So glad you "finally" gave the 32NX a go!
Really good to watch a real Airbus pilot fly this as well. Somehow it makes it seem more natural and a bit less intimidating. Thanks for this.
Another great video so thanks!!
Don't forget once you have received the company message after a WX request you can print it out and put it beside the CDU for reference when entering WX details. Mega handy!
Great video Emanuel. I just wanna point out some automations the FBW team is offering in case you didn't know
You can request both fuel and weight from simbrief flight plan using the cloud icon in the efb
Once the loading is complete in the init page 2 you can press R1 button to get the ZFW and CG values
You can also press the R2 button to get a recommended fuel required for the trip
Once loaded in the perf page you can select a flap setting and press L1 / L2 / L3 buttons for automatic speed calculation
For the terrain display to work you need to run the simbridge from within the FBW installer and give it a few seconds to connect. If there is no connection you can force it to check via the efb in the top right settings icon
You can also slave the fueling and boarding / deboarding with the gsx via an efb setting
In the landing calculator it preselects your current weight, you must enter you estimated landing weight manually and also the calculator is very conservative
You can also print the meta / atis messages and keep them in view. Fun fact you can also print them with a physical printer
It also supports hoppie network and has a working cpdlc
In order to show the terrain on the ND you have to turn on the SimBridge on the installer program. Take off speeds are calculated by the MCDU. Maybe they will change this in the near future. Great plane and great video. Thanks.
On the TO performance page, enter the selected flaps and the V1 & VR values will be calculated once you click on them.
terrain display is implemented, but you have to run the companion SimBridge software for it to function. weather radar is deliberately INOP until Asobo provides a non-terrible weather API.
Hi Emanuel, nice to see how the Airbus works! 🙂 Great Video, Great Channel! And thanks for your support lately!
Thanks again, another great video. I find that your great attention to detail gives us all a challenge to do it like a pro.
Glad you like them!
I gotta say, I thank FlybyWire a lot for basically teaching me how to fly. I went from constantly crashing a C208 in MSFS to routinely flying the A32NX for a virtual airline.
The funny part was when I took a real flight on a 320 (ceo, though, but still), and recognized all the sounds and could tell where we were in the procedures from hearing them.
@ 4:55 - takeoff performance, and as you add them at 15:37, if you press the LSK next to each value (V1, rotate, etc) when they're blank, the FBW MCDU will give you kind of a guess for values for each, based on TOW, and put them at the bottom of the screen. If you tap the LSK again, it will input them. On the Neo with a full pax and like 5000-ish kg fuel load, I usually get like ~125 knots for rotate.
Hi, that's a great story indeed!
Personally I don't like to use the FBW integrated takeoff speeds, they do the job, but are rather not accurate. For instance they don't take the takeoffthrustsetting (or the flex temp, as you want to see it) into account, which however makes a big difference to the speeds as the speeds which gouvern your takeoff speeds - Vmcg and Vmca - are basically determined by the thrust setting. High thrust and you also need high speeds so that your control surfaces can develop sufficient strenghs to counter the effects for engine faillures and assymetric thrust.
The more I'm reading and writing about this, the more I feel i should probably do a video on it at some point. I'll add that to my list for sure.
@@A330Driver I can totally see that, and not having flown one in real life (lol) I think there things the sim doesn't teach you that a real pilot would know
This is one if not the best a320 video I’ve ever seen, well done 👍
What I like about the FBW A320 is the cabin crew/pilot/boarding sounds that play, I wish more aircraft did that to add some immersion.
I wish then that the cabin crew would become ready automatically rather than requiring the button call. Or perhaps they will be ready by themselves, but the button acts as an accelerator if you just want them to be ready.
Idk how to explain but man, this video was a joy to watch. Thank you. Great video, great chanel. Shame on me for discovering you too late.
Fantastic job from FBW, I hope A380 will be also so exciting :)
You can just store over the Default camera position in every plane. Bind a Key to the "VFR PILOT VIEW SAVE" that is your default Camera for every plane when when using the "reset" camera button
Great watch, its good to see a video on the FBW A320 from the perspective of a real A320 Pilot.
By the way, by far my favorite A320 To fly thumbs up To the FBW team already looking forward to you next Video in this Model
Love to also see how you fare on VATSIM
The new cockpit looks great. Hopefully we'll get a second MCDU soon. When that happens, the aircraft can easily keep up with the Fenix A320 in daily operations. Failures are of course a completely different story. It's great to see how far they've come.
The FBW A320NX is still missing vertical guidance for RNAV/ RNP approaches,.
For anyone wondering, to change the default camera position in an aircraft, the keybind is LCtrl+F10/F9/F11. The three different F keys are for VFR, Close, and Landing default views.
What I'm missing for day to day operation so far is the secondary flightplan, missed approaches and route saving. But knowing FBW I'll cross my fingers we'll eventually get those.
There are a whole bunch of failures available in the FBW :)
I rather think that the secondary flightplan will be available with the release of the FMSv2
The terrain display is working. You just have to make sure Simbridge, which comes with the FBW Installer is active.
Thanks!
The fact that you can handfly an aircraft like an autopilot really impresses me... Thanks for the lovely video as always !
Thank you! In the real world that's quite the standard I'd say. But flying a real airplane is easier than flying a home flight sim for sure.
@@A330Driverhow about flying the real level-D sim comparing with a home flightsim ?
Yes I get it, I had the chance to try a real a320 simulator and the feeling was vey different and it was much easier to align with the FD@@A330Driver
Nice review!. I really enjoy flying this plane it has awesome sounds and it’s really smooth when flying manually.
Totally agree!
The PACKS being on the right side is totally correct in the A32nx..
Cool little trick, but the FBW is integrated perfectly with GSX, so when you request refueling, GSX will refuel your preselected fuel in the EFB. It will also board passengers for you. Just make sure you have the correct setting for how fast you want it to happen first before starting. It can bug out sometimes. If you press the cloud button, it will load your desired fuel/load straight from simbrief.
Basically, all of the refueling and loading can be done through GSX. Great for realism!
The FBW also supports GSX sync. The project’s documentation site is very helpful
The FBW A320 Neo is the way i learn to fly Airbus in general before deciding to buy the Fenix A320. I really like how it works and how smooth it is. Great video and review of the FBW A320 Neo! Thank you and a happy new year (yes i’m late but i don’t comment alot).
Loved hearing the new Airbus-style briefing, there. I can’t quite get my head around it yet but it’s much better, in my opinion.
Thanks for the video! I have flown this plane a lot already (not a real pilot) and like it very much. Still learned smoeth8ng new with your review 👍🏻🛫
As soon as they update the exterior model this will be a very good aircraft imo. The sounds are very good, the flight model (unpopular opinion but) is better than the Fenix (The FBW feels better in the approach and flare and ground handling too). It's a pity... but oh well
Edit: Just updated the FBW to the latest Dev version and my goodness it flies so nicely. Dare I say the nicest feeling airliner in MSFS. I can only describe the aircraft as being much more stable and predictable than the Fenix. I cannot for the life of me land the Fenix well consistently but with the FBW it's so easy because the aircraft behaves so predictably. Well, I'll be sending in a ticket to Fenix to ask them what they think
I know it's an unpopular opinion, but I absolutely agree with you about FBW vs Fenix flight models, especially in, oh, the last 5-10 seconds of the approach, where the Fenix gets quite squirrely and unpredictable. The FBW is my favorite overall experience airliner in the sim, even if the 737 and Fenix have more depth and capabilities in certain areas.
@@GarrisIiari Yes, for me the Fenix feels like a plane that I have to very precisely and carefully fly with tiny, tiny stick inputs if I want to keep the aircraft flying in a stable and smooth fashion. Whereas with the FBW I can “pump” the stick like I see lots of irl 320 pilots do especially in gusty conditions. I especially agree with your predictability comment - the Fenix is very, very unpredictable in the flare if I do it by the book - I need a very large back stick input and I need to hold it there - and if I mess it up ever so slightly I either slam it into the ground or it goes back up into the air. The aircraft also rolls way too easily with stick input (well, at least compared to the FBW) but the overall feeling is instability and inconsistency. Whereas with aircraft like the PMDG 737 and FBW 320 I can judge the flare very well and consistently get a smooth touchdown - less so in the PMDG 737 but with the FBW it was love at first flight for me. I’m no developer so I can’t exactly say why the Fenix flies like it does but I’ll definitely be taking this to the Fenix Devs - they seem like developers who value feedback and will strive to make their product better.
@@iaexo Terrific description of how it feels to fly the Fenix, especially the dynamics around the flaring. It's very, very exacting, what feels like too much so to me compared to every other excellent airliner in the sim, especially the FBW. Definitely you should give your feedback to the developers.
I agree with you about flight model.
I agree on the flare and landing behavior as well. FBW simply is better there.
You can override the camera views on any plane. Set the camera as you would like, then press Ctrl + F10 to set the the default "VFR" view intended to give an overview, Ctrl + F9 for the "IFR" view that is more focused on the instruments, and Ctrl + F11 for the "landing" mode intended to peek over the glare shield and give the best visibility of the runway. Press the keys without Ctrl to recall, and use (I think) Shift to reset to default. There are also views for the co-pilot seat and the HUD on those planes which have one.
I was waiting for your review a lot. Thanks a lot!
My pleasure!
Can you please tell me what simbrief format are you useing for the operational flight plan and how you changend the colour on fcu mine is orange not gray, thank you!
@@A330Driver
@@cristianfaur17 I'm using DLH format. Not sure about the FCU, I am not aware of any changes I would have done.
@@A330Driver thanks a lot captain, much appreciated, I can’t wait another review for fbw, thanks a lot again
Finally, I really love this plane. The soundset is incredible and in my opinion the handflying is better than the Fenix. Of course I'm not a pilot, so I don't know which one is more realistic.
I agree on the handflying, especially rotation and flare. Haven't tested the inflight part as detailed yet, but Fenix is doing a good job there already.
@@A330Driver can't wait for the inflight test video! :D And thank you as always! :)
Great video
But 2 Tips
1. Highly recommend not running FS Realistic with the Aircraft as the sounds and effects are amount the best
2. You can sync GSX Fuel and Payload With the Aircraft so it’s not just eye candy and actually plays a simulation effect.
You can adjust ''fsrealistic΄΄ only the landing which makes it more realistic without any sound and other effects
The TA ONLY to the left is correct on some version of the A320 neo. You can find video on RUclips.
The GPU being available is a workaround kind of thing in MSFS:
Whenever you enter a virtual gate or "parking stop" it will show GPU being available if there is no custom logic implemented. It's something I'd wish to be improved on MSFS2024 (it seems even a default ASU was planned for MSFS2020 but got cut for some reason - the b748i at least has a virtual connection point for an ASU defined in the flight model).
The weight in the landing calculator needs to be calculated manually using fuel at destination and current GW and entered. The weight that was in the calculator was pulled from ofp which may not be correct.
The FlyByWire team are doing an excellent job with the A32NX. It continues to develop in a very positive manner. Remember it`s freeware. Outstanding !. I find it a little lighter on load in the sim compared with the Fenix. (Of course depending on your hardware). The team provides excellent documentation online and are very helpful. Looking forward to more functionality in this new year.
Looking forward to see this cockpit in my Horizon A321! ☺
You fly so well!
Thank you!
29:25 just a quick remark, you don't check nor anounce the "pressure 0" during the brake check on the A320 Neo (at least I know for certain Lufthansa doesn't) as the brake system is monitored digitally and if something were wrong with the pressure you would get an ECAM warning. So usually they just say "Bremst!" or something like that and move on.
Whenever i upload the flight plan from Simbrif incomplete plan gets imported so the plane goes to the first waypoint from there the flight plan ends.
Glad you enjoyed it! I find the FBW probably the best in terms of manual handling - it has much less twitch/sliding on landing and crosswinds, compared to Fenix. It’s lovely to see you flying it!
Very good video, landing and kudos to Fly By Wire. Have avoided alot of planes in MSFS because of the weird way they land compared to X Plane, but this looks good. Must give it another try myself 😎
It's certainly worth trying it again! Lands very well, probably one of the best landing models in the sim.
Outstanding explanation! Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
ground power in msfs is always "available" as long as you are at a parking spot, no matter if the gpu is actually present or connected
The takeoff calculation is limited here to only the V speeds, if you double press the soft keys next to V1, V2 and VR, the mcdu will fill in the blanks, but there is no option to calculate the trim, flaps and flex temp.
Great video and flight. I hope to see more FBW a 320 flight sims.
I’ll do some more for sure 👍
You seem very happy with this aircraft.
I absolutely am!
To be honest, I still prefer this plane over the Fenix. It has nothing to do with full authenticity as much as it is an enjoyable plane to fly. Audio especially. As for the cockpit, it never bothered me because I never knew there was anything wrong! Ignorance can be bliss! Suggested route: Manila to Caticlan in the Philippines. Freeware scenery available for Caticlan
Btw, the printer actually works if you want to print out the request METAR etc
Very cool, I need to try that!
And when you fly in the US you can even set the ATIS source in the EFB and then have the real life ATIS for your Airport printed out. I wish this was also publicly available in EASA land. It's so helpful in deciding which runway and approach type to use.@@A330Driver
What a great video explained in details , TTTHHAAANNKKKK YOOUUUU !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
when you click the cockpit door close it mutes down the cabin announcments. the door doesn't ever show open because there is no cabin modeled. It's a good airplane that I've been flying for a long time. It's a freeware plane that I would pay for. It does calculate the v speeds for you by double clicking on the buttons beside the v speed. If you use simbrief you can download all the payload and fuel numbers and import them into the efb
May have to check this update out. I spend most of my time just flying the fenix or pmdg, so I miss updates on other aircraft
Oh yeah, the Printer is simulated and you can pin the paper to the centre console.
You can even use their sim bridge app to send it to a real printer.
For Terrain Radar you need to activate fbw simbridge
The now balanced sound package used to be loud as F**K when going to the outside view, haha. Much better now.
Hi, love your films. Would you be able to do a guide on setting this aircraft up for quick flights such as base training or short ferries? All of the tutorials seem to focus on longer flights using SimBrief and the FMC which I doubt would be realistic for base training.
Hi, I did one with the Fenix Airbus for exactly what you ask for only a few days ago. It should work pretty similar with the FBW.
Hello there, I've been flying the FBW A320 for quite some time now and everything worked fine. But recently it will not come out of CLB mode even when the plane levels off at the CRZ altitude. Naturally, I cannot continue in this setting since it will overspeed soon. Also, I cannot descent anymore in MANAGED mode, since it is still in CLB mode, I can only use the OPEN DESCENT. Only after I have manually activated approach then all managed functions are back to normal. Would you happen to know what might be the cause for this behavior?
Great video! But keep in mind, that this cockpit is still the asobo model. Just the Glareshield is custom and some other parts like the seats. But most of the model is still the default one. But they are planning to overhaul the whole cockpit at some point
As long as they correct the bad parts I'm happy with it ;-)
It looks good now, so that's all we can ask for.
@@A330Driver Yes, absolutely agree on that. But would be really cool if they correct the other errors also at some point nevertheless:) But for me as a homecockpit user, it isn’t really necessary at all haha
I only managed to get my first full FBW flight. Great fun.
Have fun!
The engine oil quantity doesn’t appear without the FADEC powered up on the neos, it’s standard to turn on the FADEC from the maintenance panel to check the engine oil quantities which is incorrectly simulated
The FADEC turns off after 2 mins on the neos and 5 mins on the ceos
The same is the case on the CEOs, FADEC initially powers up when adding power to the plane but then shuts down again after five minutes, so you also need to power it manually to check for oil quantity. The only difference is the time, which as you said is 2 mins on the neo and 5 on ceo.
I think the main point is the missing of the missed approach procedure. Once implemented that, the aircraft is more or less completed.
Thanks for doing the review on the FBW. I was curious about it. I been on the a300. And it has some critical issues, unfortunately theyre random and unpredictabile. Kinda disappointed in that its payware and the hype surrounding it.
As a real world A320neo pilot, I am pretty impressed with the current state of the FBW A32NX. Still has a long way to go, but I am downloading it right now and giving it another chance.
So unfortunate FBW and iniBuilds doesn't want to team up together. It would be the best alternative community wise, not only for the A32NX but for the A380X to join efforts with iniBuilds and make great addons together.
I agree from a community standpoint, but let's be hoenst here: If you were a member of the FBW team, would you like to team up with someone who stole your code? Personally I'd keep the greatest distance possible.
@@A330Driver I understand little to nothing about licensing of projects, but considering that the FBW A32NX is open source I think the real problem was that someone a iniBuilds decided to use the code on a project that is probably paid by Asobo/Microsoft. Both companies are made of individuals, and that the majority of them are honest and hardworking people that also want to make the best representation of the A320neo, not to blame the entire company for it. I am not defending a member of iniBuilds stealing code, but Headwind team also uses FBW code in a legal way I believe and it's all good. Maybe if they had made an agreement first, all this could be avoided.
FBW team is very talented, but I assume they will starting vanishing from the map once MSFS 2024 and the iniBuilds A320/A380 are out. That would be a community loss and a lot of effort in vain.
Thanks for a great review! I like to pop out the flight, map, ISIS, and engine displays to another monitor but I am not able tp pop out the engine/ECAM middle displays on the FBW, just all the other displays. No problem in the Fenix.
You're welcome! Have you asked that question in the FBW discord?
@@A330Driver Thanks for answering! I'll try asking on the proper channel like FBW discord for instance
Consider engines start, timing is fine if we have cold start, if it’s hot start FADEC does automatic dry cranking at around 28,8% of N2 during 30 seconds or so…
The terrain display works only with simbridge activated. Weather Radar is not working as you noticed
FBW team is hands down the best. Unfortunately we have no visibility on the much anticipated A380
You gotta leave the GSX in the toolbar active (meaning white). Otherwise GSX does not run in the background. The window must be opened by using the keybind assinged in the installer settings.
If I do that it creates the pseudo window which creates false clickspots on my screen which can be hugely annoying. No thanks, I won’t do that.
@@A330Driver that's interesting! Never heard of that issue. How does it happen?
You can get the V speeds by clicking them. Biggest downer of the FBW is the engines. Flex is not simulated, speeds with flex 68 or TOGA are the same. For the rest a really great addon.
FLEX wouldn’t affect speeds, it affects how fast you accelerate. It is simulated - you can see the thrust reduction and the airplane responds accordingly.
@cmaylo Flex would very much affect takeoff speeds in the real world. Using a flex temp means different thrust output, which doesn't only affect how fast you accelerate, but also how much of a thrust differential you'll need to overcome in case an engine fails. How do you overcome it? By force on the control surfaces. What affects that force? Your speed. Thus minimum control speeds vary, thus V1 and V2 vary.
@@A330Driver very interesting, thanks for the clarification.
To clarify, the current capability to get V speeds by double clicking on the LSKs is very simplified and is based on the minimum speeds that can be used at the limiting flex temp (even though there it does not provide the flex temp for you). A complete takeoff perf calculator is in work that will provide the appropriate speeds for TOGA and flex temp, as well as the flex temp.@@A330Driver
1:04:55 if I'm not mistaken, you shouldn't have had the triple click there?
Correct since there was no mode degradation.
The EFB is very very good. Extremely useful when flying on VATSIM
I'm missing a takeoff calculator, but indeed, considering it's freeware it's completly amazing!
@@A330Driver I think this is missing because there isn't one available publicly from Airbus for the Neo Engines. At least this is what I read before. Thus even if they could invent one, how accurate would be is anybody's guess, so FBW probably decided not to include it, since it is not official.
@@A330Driver About the performance calculator, you can press the LSK key at each V speed when they're empty, and the plane will calculate that for you. As long as you have the flap setting ZFW and ZFWCG inputted. It's not as good as Fenix's calculator because you have to guess the flap setting yourself, but it does the job, I guess.
Check their pilot's handbook/doc for more features.
It's coming!🙂@@A330Driver
Great video and high praise. Excellent suggestion to Donate to fly by wire aswell! When payday comes for me il certainly be foing that.. perhaps you could put a link to a donate page in description
Which scenery or add on did you get to show these exterior monitor displaying ETA, Callsign, Departure Route etc.? Thanks for your content!
Game does not crash now and FPS is slightly higer.
Good to hear it!
The T.O Performance calculator is a miss for this aircraft for sure. I tried to find some calculators in the internet but there's a substantial difference between their numbers. Don't know which one should trust
there kind of is one, but it's not shown on the EFB. once you've input all the other setup data you can click on the buttons next to the takeoff speeds and FBW will insert the calculated speeds.
@@BernardLangham i'll try for sure. Thanks mate :)
The PERF page auto-calculates for you when you press each line select button
Quick question: how do you get the audible conversation in the background? Thanks
TA Only is on the left in the real NEO FYI
I feel like the handling of the FBW is so much better than the Fenix a320 but who am I to judge
I agree though
This is the zibo of msfs but a 320n
Absolutely!
What step exactly made your speed setting go from 100 to dashed before take off? Thanks
Turning on the FD
I like this plane but the autopilot doe not fly on path and it does not get engaged after take off. takes a few tries
It didn’t seem that bad when I tried it, except for one stream where really just everything went bad.
@@A330Driver which stream?
Manual flight is the closest to a real A320 available at MSFS. I've said it once and I'll say it again, the perfect Airbus for the simulator would be to integrate the flight dynamics of the A32NX with the simulation of the Fenix systems.
Yes having just flown the FBW after not having done so for months I completely agree. Since the FBW is open source I'll really encourage the Fenix flight modellers to tale a good look and see what FBW is doing so right. Imo the handling of the FBW compared to the Fenix is night and day. And I am a day-one Fenix customer eagerly awaiting V2B2 - that was my unadulterated, honest opinion. The ground handling imo is also nicer than the Fenix - I always find the Fenix sliding all over the place. Oh my I can only dream about how good the FBW A380X will be - A to B level of system depth, excellent flight model and an absolutely stunning 3D model together with the beautiful immersive sounds by Boris...
Sadly, the cockpit is still incorrect, but I hope to see a Fenix level cockpit when they get some time from making the 380.
The FCU is still too thick. It shouldn’t be that high.
Why doesn't the aircraft auto decend at the TOD if pre selecting the lower altitude in VNAV?
that's the real Airbus do. Boeing has auto-descend philosofy.
Hi, I don't know if this is just for me, but I don't see any updates and the cockpit hasn't changed yet. Is it my thing, or the update for FBW a320 isn't out yet?
You got to install the development version. still is no available for stable, but it's working very cool actually.