Random Speculation

With all the recent product announcements and hints being dropped here and there, I thought it might be fun to speculate on things we might one day see from some of the developers out there.

DISCLAIMER: this was written by some guy sitting in a cubicle somewhere. DO NOT TAKE THIS TO BE ANY KIND OF SERIOUS PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENT, OR ANYTHING OTHER THAN PURE FANTASY AT THIS POINT. DO NOT COMPLAIN TO THE DEVELOPERS THAT YOU WANT "X," IF THEY HAVE NO PLANS TO DELIVER "X." Okay, did I get your attention? :)

Here are things I would like to see, which would be totally plausible:

1. 737 "Original" (-100/-200 series)
   
   Sure, 737 variants abound all over the place. Wilco/feelThere has a decent version of the 737 "Classic" (-300/-400/-500 series), and PMDG is working on a great "Next Generation" version (-600/-700/-800/-900 series). However, there aren't really any good versions of the 737 "Original" (-100/-200 series) for FSX. I think it would make a lot of sense for Captain Sim to take this one on eventually. They have already done a 727 and a 707, and the 737 "Original" cockpit is very similar to those two. It would fit in very well with their classic jetliners lineup.
   
   
2. 777/747
   
   I wonder if Captain Sim is working on a 767-400 variant as a prelude to an eventual 777 product? Or even a 747 product, covering all variants in the usual Captain Sim style? The older 747 would dovetail nicely with their classic jetliners lineup, while the newest 747 could borrow cockpit elements from the 767-400 and 777 series?
   
   
3. DC-8 (especially the "super 70s")
   
   Surprisingly, more of these are still flying around today than 707s, even though the 707 outsold the DC-8 originally. The DC-8 has retained life as a reliable short-to-medium haul freighter in many cargo airlines, particularly UPS. (Though UPS has recently announced that they will finally be retiring all their DC-8s.) This seems like it would fit in with Captain Sim's classic jetliners lineup. And the DC-8 is technically a Boeing plane now, since Boeing bought McDonnell-Douglas over a decade ago. How about it, Captain Sim? :)
   
   
4. DC-10
   
   CLS's version isn't bad, but it just doesn't seem very realistic to me. Somebody somewhere is going to do a very realistic DC-10...just watch and see.
   
   
5. Airbus A300/A310 series
   
   Another older jet that deserves some love these days in the flight sim world. American Airlines still flies the A300, although they will phase the last one out of their fleet by the end of 2009. The A300 sees plenty of action for passenger service, particularly in developing countries. Not to mention the use of the A300/A310 as freighters by both FedEx and UPS. I keep hearing reports somebody is working on a realistic A300, but I can't find anything reliable about it right now. Like the DC-10, CLS did a fairly unrealistic A300...but I want something better!
   
   
6. Boeing 717
   
   I think this would be an interesting plane for flight simulator. It is essentially an MD-80 with the updated flight deck from the MD-10/MD-11 series. This one seems like it would make sense for someone like CoolSky or Leonardo to take on, since they already do excellent MD-80s. PMDG certainly has a wonderful MD-11 flight deck, but I get the sense that they would rather pursue new and different things.
   
   
7. Russian jets (especially Tu-204, Il-96)
   
   Considering these already do or eventually will make up substantial portions of the passenger fleet in countries like Russia, Cuba, and Iran, it would be interesting to take one for a spin in flight sim. I know there are quite a few Russians working at Captain Sim these days. Wonder how much experience they have with the "native" Russian aircraft? Interesting to think about.
   
   
8. Embraer 120 "Brasilia"
   
   This seems like a good candidate for PMDG to take on someday after they finish up the Dash-8. On the other hand, feelThere seems to have developed quite an affinity for Embraer products lately. First the E-Jets in 2008, and now the upcoming ERJ v2 sometime later this year. If feelThere wanted to take on a turboprop project of their own, this might be a good candidate. The fuselage of the EMB-120 is supposedly very similar to the one used in the ERJ-135 series. They would mainly have to focus on modeling props instead of jets, as well as the (probably substantial) differences in avionics. Hmmmm. Who knows? The EMB-120 still sees a lot of use in the U.S. these days, in both passenger and small-market cargo service. Skywest flies a bunch of routes in EMB-120s for United Express to small markets in the Western U.S.

Don't know whether any of these things will happen, but it's fun to think about.