A week after release customers of the PMDG Boeing 737NG are experiencing a range of problems that are currently being addressed, with PMDG planning on releasing a patch by July 19th. For full details, click on Read More.One week ago today PMDG released our first full scale airliner addon for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002/2004. This product was released after ten months in development and nearly four months in testing, and represented our best hopes for standard setting addon for enthusiasts of Microsoft Flight Simulator and the Boeing 737NG.
With a week worth of installations behind us it is clear that there exist some problems within the package that need to be addressed by PMDG. The product was tested by 30 individuals of varying MSFS and real world flight experience. This team was able to identify more than 400 items that needed to be changed, fixed or improved prior to release. When we felt that our product no longer contained any major, minor or annoyance problem items, we moved forward with product release to customers.
Unfortunately the wider range of installation options, software options and even machine options available in the entire MSFS customer market have brought to light some items that had not appeared in testing. During the past seven days we have been collecting data directly from affected customers to help us duplicate, identify and resolve the items being reported.
It is worth noting that some customers experience certain problems that other customers never experience, and a core group of customers experience a wide array of problems that we have worked very hard to duplicate in testing- and even gone so far as to seek help outside of PMDG to identify, trouble shoot and correct.
As announced in our customer support forum, PMDG remains committed to pushing our 737 into the category of "Standard Setting" add-ons for MSFS enthusiasts. While simultaneously running a 24 hour a day customer support operation, we have been working diligently to research all reports that we have received. (Even cases of user error are being researched just for certainty.) We have already announced plans for an update patch for 19 July 2003. We are currently working toward advancing this date as we are moving more quickly through the list of fixes than originally planned, although we will not hesitate to push the fix date back if it is required to "get it right."
I want to thank those who have been supportive and helpful as we move the 737 through it's teething process. This has been a frustrating introduction for some customers and for that all of us at PMDG thank you for your patience.
Many of you have written to tell us how much you are enjoying the new airplane, and we have appreciated such sentiment! I received an email from a former Boeing technician this week who reminded me, "we had these problems with the real airplane too, and you'll recall your own airline was a bit upset with the dispatch rates when we sent you the first dozen 777s full of development problems." He is indeed correct and I do recall... I also recall how fine the airplane operated once those teething problems were resolved. All of us at PMDG are working to eliminate our teething problems quickly!
Robert S. Randazzo
Precision Manuals Development Group
http://www.precisionmanuals.com
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