Aerosoft Airbus X Extended A320 Review

So being an aviation enthusiast, it is almost impossible not to play Microsoft Flight Simulator X. In fact I've even joined a virtual airline (several, actually) as it adds some level of realism to the whole flight experience thingy. Today I'm going to review an aircraft add-on that I recently acquired and it is fabulous! I had a bit of a trouble flying other aircraft ever since cause I don't love them as much as I love this one I'm about to review =P

Introducing the Aerosoft Airbus X Extended. 

And let me just start with "I love this aircraft and it is a joy to fly". Why? Because it is just gorgeous. It has a very high level of in flight detail, cockpit simulation works very well and it really centers your focus on being a captain of the aircraft. I'll get more into that later. Before that, a brief intro of the Airbus A320.

The A320, manufactured by European aircraft manufacturer, Airbus is a short to medium range jetliner. It can carry up to almost 200 passengers and is one of the world's widely used medium haul passenger jet, next to Boeing's 737 series of aircraft, It features Airbus' brilliant innovation, the Fly-By-Wire system which increases safety in all aspects of flight and maximises efficiency and decreases workload by a tremendous amount. 

In a desktop simulator, there are very few aircraft add-ons that realistically simulate and accurately represent the real world aircraft. But Aerosoft (the FSX add-on developing company) has done an amazing job with this aircraft. And I would daresay I will never use another A320 or Airbus aircraft if it's not developed by Aerosoft. (The A330 is coming in 2014! Yayerrrrrss!!)

I'm going to let the pictures (and the captions) do the talking from this point :) (because I'm too lazy to type too much)

In the second jumpseat

Overview of the flight deck.

Cold & dark state. The aircraft comes with two MCDUs (Multipurpose Control Display Unit). The one on the left is the main MCDU which is used to program flight routes, etc etc and the one on the right is for aircraft functions and settings such as the doors, external power and aircraft state.

The overhead panel. Really love the level of detail. Majority of the knobs and switches are operational. Aerosoft left out some knobs and did not simulate them because they wanted to focus on the user as a captain which is mainly to fly the aircraft and other necessary tasks will be done by the virtual co-pilot (yes there is one and that's why I love this plane and Aerosoft!)

Jumpseat retracted

Jumpseat opened

You can even open the windows!

Waiting for the IRS (Initial Reference System) to align. The two blank screens will come to life and display information after the IRS has aligned which typically takes about 5 minutes to do so.

The two MCDUs

Lower ECAM showing the Wheel page. Shows information regarding the wheels status, temperature and brakes.

Ready to key in my flight plan!

Lower ECAM door page

Thrust levers. I love the level of detail here. I find the representation very accurate and I can vouch for that because I have been in a real A320 cockpit before. The throttle quadrants have detents or gates and they work very well in flight. Flap and spoiler levers are accurately modeled and engine starter switches look good too.

The ND (Navigation Display) showing the route

Some backlighting on the instruments. Very nice touch and looks amazing!

Flight instruments check.

Which is my aircraft? XD

The exterior model is very accurate and detailed although not as pretty as maybe Wilco's A320 but it still looks very good. And the engine fans or blades move and rotate as if they're being blown by the wind (on the ground, after the engines are off, of course)

There are even sliding tables that slide in and out! The copilot's table will slide out automatically once cruise altitude is reached and will be stowed on approach.

Night flight. You can see the instrument lighting is really gorgeous.

Night flight with dome lighting and instrument backlight

I love how the folks at Aerosoft pay close attention to detail. Love all the shadow implements. Adds that extra bit of kick in the cockpit. Visually pleasing, to say the least.

Flight displays and detailed HD flap and gear limitation reference. Eye candy.

Here I'm having the autopilot fly the ILS approach into Bangkok. As you can see, visibility outside is poor and that's where the ILS system comes in handy. I can safely say that the ILS on the Aerosoft AXE works very well although I haven't tried the autoland feature yet. (I prefer to manually touchdown the aircraft)

Hello Bangkok! Awesome scenery courtesy of A_A Sceneries

Gathering of the Asian Expresses

External lights are really good too. In comparison to other aircraft add-ons in FSX, the exterior lights (runway turnoff, taxi lights, landing lights) don't normally illuminate ground objects but for Aerosoft, they made that possible and everything seems prettier.

Runway 14 Left at Kuala Lumpur International 

Pushback and engine start at Kuching International..

In summary, Aerosoft has done the A320 justice. It is an awesome bird to fly and I am always hesitant to turn on the autopilot after takeoff as it is such a joy to fly manually. It is very responsive and handles well and accurately. The MCDU copilot function is super handy. Basically, Aerosoft incorporated a checklist function and a copilot function and those two work seamlessly together. This is really handy at critical phases of the flight such as landing where you don't want to be burdened with the workload and making sure the aircraft is configured properly. A virtual copilot will run through specific checklist, each for its respective phases of flight and the copilot function responds automatically to each checklist item. The checklist even start its sequence automatically when it detects you are near or runway, getting ready for takeoff or when you're on approach to an airport. This makes life a whole lot easier. Of course, the copilot function can be turned off and you can do everything by yourself. This is recommended to those who want to familiarize themselves with the Airbus cockpit flow and philosophy. 

All in all, this is one of the best payware aircraft out there (for Airbus fans) and it comes in A319/A320/A320 NEO/A320 Demonstrator variants.