A380

[PlutonianEmpire]

I know there are plenty of freeware a380's here on SimV, but I don't know which one has the most realistic flight model (and realistic payloads/fuel tank capacities). Can anyone help?

[ozzy72]

The most popular model seems to be the one by Robert Versluys. It has the most repaints available for it, http://www.simviation.com/fs2004jets95.htm
I personally like the ProMX v2.0 model http://www.simviation.com/fs2004jets107.htm

[microlight]

Don't forget that the realistic payload/fuel tank capacities are a feature of the flight dynamics, not the model itself. As dynamics vary in realism from one model to the next. it might be an idea to download all of the freeware A380s (e.g. Versluys, Valiquette, Mike Stone), choose the visual model that appeals most, and then use the dynamics from one of the other models if they seem more realistic to you.

Or construct your own! (That's what I did.)

[PlutonianEmpire]

Or construct your own! (That's what I did.)

Lol, i tried building my own concorde years ago with flight shop for FS5, and ended up with something different, which I've since made it a staple for my Plutonian Empire fleet (civilian and military) in my stories/rp's.

The only problem is, i can't get it to fly correctly in FS2000 and FS2004 (it's supposed to cruise at 100,000 feet). Would simply changing certain numbers in the aircraft config (fs2004) help (i don't care much about the visual model, except to match the numbers to it)?

[PlutonianEmpire]

The most popular model seems to be the one by Robert Versluys. It has the most repaints available for it, http://www.simviation.com/fs2004jets95.htm
I personally like the ProMX v2.0 model http://www.simviation.com/fs2004jets107.htm

The one I currently use is one by Versleys (it was a blank/all-white texture so I could personalize it to my desires), and it seems to lack fuel capacity. My current a380 flight is one from Denver (KDEN) to Sydney (YSSY), and i'm already down to 26% fuel remaining (still have a few hours to go). I took off with a full load of fuel (and 40,000 pounds overweight), and cruising at FL350 at 280 KIAS under constant global weather. (EDIT: i landed with 5% of fuel remaining)

When i'm done with that flight, i'm gonna go from London (UK) to YSSY with full fuel, nothing onboard except for the pilot, and default weather, at FL300 and 300 KIAS. (EDIT: I determined that i'd run out of fuel long before i reached my destination.)