FS2004.org

The product under the microscope here is a product of a well known Flight Simulator publisher, Flight One. However, a company Cool Sky also takes the credit for some of the aspects of this airplane. McDonnel Douglas is a company originating from the 1960's with it's line of two, three and four engine commercial jets called the DC-9, DC-10 and DC-8 respectively. The MD-80 birth takes us back to the year of 1975. As an improved variation of the, at that time, very known DC-9 twinjet. Along with more effective, and less noisy Pratt and Whitney engines, the MD-80 continued in the steps of the DC-9. The production went on with more economic engines, more room for the passengers and longer ranges, making the MD-80 one of the most recognised airplanes all over the world.

The McDonnel Douglas MD-80 is a fairly complicated aircraft, and therefore, the simulation of it doesn't glow in simplicity of a glass cockpit or an FMC either. Documentation that would acompany an addin like this needs to be well written, simple yet explanatory and covering all aspects of the flight. And that how it is! With more then 400 pages in total, the documentation is sufficent to help out both someone who is new to the world of aviation almost equally as well as someone who's been in aviation business for years. Another good feature of this product is the integrated training system that can be activated directly through the Flight Simulator panel view. It's a handy feature to ease the cockpit preparation and checklists in general. And to top it all of, if you can't find it in the manual, you have a Forum with wonderful people who are always willing to help and you'll have answers to your questions in no time.