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  • Please see the most recent updates in the "Where did the .com name go?" thread. Posts number 16 and 17.

    Post 16 Update

    Post 17 Warning

Would you Pre-Order to get a specific aircraft?

Would you pre-order an aircraft in order to get it built?

  • Yes, I'd pre-order and pay upfront

    Votes: 26 25.2%

  • Yes, I'd pre-orderassuming I wasn't charged until delivery

    Votes: 26 25.2%

  • No, I wouldn't pre-order

    Votes: 51 49.5%
  • Total voters
    103
NO ... Alphasim C-17/CS B-52 tought me several lessons ... would I pre-order from my company who deal with putting people into houses YES ... but not from Flight Sim Dev's at all they are always late and never up to what you expect!
AND just before i get any stick, i'm an end user have been for so many years and never claim to have anything to do with developing but from an outspoken endusers opinion ..... there all late and worse than when your girlfriend utters those scary words!
 
Just for reference, David Brice would probably be able to answer this better than anyone, because he has done this before. I don't recall which incarnation it was done under, but for a while he had a package where you paid for a "year" and received every aircraft that was released that year. Granted, development time was bit faster as it was for FS9, but I received many aircraft that way.

My guess is it was more problematic for him than it was for me, as some of the product was delayed, but I still received it. David did a great job of supporting me (I can't speak to the experience of others) with the products released to me over the annual subscription.

Now, I could see something like this to support certain developers. There is a toy company (Art toys, i.e. limited edition) maker where you can buy a subscription for the year, but you can only buy it on one day of the year and you get a limited edition toy, a t-shirt, a membership card, and a 20% discount throughout the year on all releases.

So, I could see a developer making a limited edition aircraft only available to "subscribers" with a discount throughout the year on all releases, providing there is a minimum number of releases relative to the cost of the subscription.
 
AndyE1976 said:
I would only see this being worth while for the aircraft that aren't mainstream and that wouldn't get made unless there was a viable financial case for it.

Obviously this is all theoretical, but I think the underlying question of how to make a non-mainstream aircraft financially viable is valid.
Click to expand...

It's all about the presentation these days and I think that if a group of guys got together and decided to work primarily on less than mainstream aircraft they would probably be very successful.

Just a quick example of this could be the Gloster E.28/ 39 Pioneer and the Heinkel He-178. Both aircraft were flown during World War Two as experimental test platforms and both aircraft are relatively unknown, yet they both played a pivotal role in pioneering jet powered flight in Britain and Germany.

On their own they might not sell very well but if you were to create a "Jet Pioneers" or "Counterparts" series box set of sorts, they could perhaps appeal to a wider audience.

What I'm getting at is that one would need to be innovative but that does not mean that less than mainstream cannot work. Maybe I'm way off base though.

Regards,
Stratobat
 
Sundog said:
Just for reference, David Brice would probably be able to answer this better than anyone, because he has done this before. I don't recall which incarnation it was done under, but for a while he had a package where you paid for a "year" and received every aircraft that was released that year. Granted, development time was bit faster as it was for FS9, but I received many aircraft that way.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean IRIS owe me a Eurofighter I won one during a silly facebook comp and I know how much hard work goes into these models but still, doesnt stop our very fragile aviator ego's being bruised does it, not leaset out aviators wallets! Iris are the most reliable out of them all though I do admit!
 
when Boeing or Airbus announces a new design they often get launch customers. In a sense a preorder is like that. I think for mainstream planes it wouldn't make much of a difference but for more obscure birds I think an unpaid cancelable preorder would be good and would let the developer know if the project is worth it.

If Bill decided to say make a Globe Swift but wasnt sure how 'obscure' it would be, well he could take preorders. If he gets say 30-50+ then it might be worth it. If he only got maybe 3-5 then it might not be worth it based on his own idea of what a good or bad sale is. He would get an idea of how much interest there would be in the project. A poll would accomplish this too but it is limited to this forum or whatever forum hosts the poll. Preorders could come via his website and might be more measurable.

Anyway thats my 2 pesos
 
I throughly agree with Pilottj, thats an excellent idea, that i'm sure could lead to less mainstream aircraft even being considered :jump:
 
Me thinks that a poll should suffice, because in my eyes a pre-order can only work on a definite release. That is not the right measure to indicate how many users would by a product.

Now pre-ordering a product that would be in development with a definite release, I would not have a problem with if it is a company that turns out good products (like the aforementioned).

Ahhh, and I'd certainly buy a Ju-88 (my grandfather flew them with KG54).

Cheers,
Mark
 
I like what Orbx did recently with 3W5 Concrete - if you pre-ordered you got WA56 Israel's Farm free.

So if Carenado for example were releasing an aircraft and if you pre-ordered you got the Amphib version free when it was released, I would probably jump at the chance.

But for a one off aircraft? It would have to be by a very good developer. Would I pay for Lotus Sim's next product in advance if it helped to ensure it was completed? Absolutely!!
 
OFF TOPIC Ju-88

My elderly friend (93) flew them against Malta and was shot down 2 out of 3 times there by Spitfire's(Italain fighter esscort never showed up)

Recently i had a good old boys Flightsimulator sunday (me 52 years + 3 over 90) and showed them 108-->109-->110->190-->Ju-88 Ito*-->He-111 and He-219 -->177 and apart 108 which they really dig in the 110 and Ju-88 also raised their interest a lot(and of course with all respect to Ito-san there were lots of comments that a 88 and a 177 never flew like this)

Roland

* I had repainted it in my friends colours and had some AI Spit MkV-->was a big moment for the old boy
 
I don't think I would like going in that direction. BTW, their is no such thing as money back guarantee. Any company that folds, closes up..ect..ect you are SOL. Don't get me wrong here, it might not never happen in this case but I have fallen it this pre-pay before and got stuck.
 
I originally said "no" to pre-ordering. But the more I've read through the responses and the subjects related, I would pre-order for specific aircraft I am interested in. Going based that the developer was reputable with a good record.

That said, I'm not interested in all the armed forces hoopla types for the most part. But more of the era that made aviation what is is today. More towards the less modern and sophisticated.

31 replies?? Cripes oh mighty people. Surely there have been more than 31 people view the poll. Get with the program. This is beneficial to us all :173go1:
 
Thanks oleboy,

I think there would be a few pre-requisites, the two that spring to mind would be that the aircraft being put up for pre-order was something that the company could commit to actually building if enough people pre-ordered and also that the company had a solid reputation for delivering quality products. Also no actual money should change hands until the product is finished.

There's a lot of good stuff coming out at the moment without any change to the way things are sold, but this is one thought for making those 'unviable' projects viable.

Have a good weekend
 
For a well done FSX....

....Fokker F-27A/FH-227/F-27 Maritime I sure would!

What an underrepresented airplane in the FS world!!!!!

Kent :wavey:
 
If it's the right aircraft then yes. But that is a very short list. I might also consider it to encourage a new to payware developer to continue with their project.
:ernae:
 
It would depend on the airplane. I'd pre-order for an XP-79, or an XF5U-1, but not a Bleriot.
 
hey_moe said:
I don't think I would like going in that direction. BTW, their is no such thing as money back guarantee. Any company that folds, closes up..ect..ect you are SOL.
Click to expand...

Errrrm.. not true anymore Moe ;-)

Nowadays there are specialized companies that 'take' your participation and will only get the money off your credit card once a project is started... or complete. The money is NOT with the developers in that case, but being held by a third party (at a cost, of course).

I am actually working on such a project, albeit not for FS at this time. It is an interesting concept that has now been embraced by a few companies already.
 
Apparently I voted but never commented. Soooooo. . .for my part, there are no guarantees and money being in short supply. . .no, I would never pre-order. There hasn't been an addon yet, even some I was really excited about that was sooooooo important that I would have coughed up the money months in advance on the off chance it might actually see daylight. Release first, then buy!:salute:
 
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