It’s the day so many have been waiting for! The extraordinarily popular PMDG 737-800, the workhorse of so many airliners and by far the most coveted of all the 737NG variants, is now finally available for MSFS!
PMDG promised a release was imminent just a few days ago, so we knew it was finally coming. Many have waited for this moment, even skipping the chance of flying a slightly shorter 737, just to save the money for the most beloved version of them all.
PMDG has now launched the 737-800 in what they are calling an “Early Adopter” stage, which essentially means that users get a product with a slight discount over the intended price ($69.99, expected to go up to $74.99 in October) while accepting that a product in such an early stage after the release may need some additional polish over the next few weeks.
That’s precisely what PMDG is planning and doing with the 737NG product line in MSFS. Right after the release of the 737-700 back in May, the studio released a regular stream of patches and updates that have brought numerous fixes, improvements, and new features: including a totally revamped LNAV and VNAV simulation. The same should happen from now on, with incoming additions such as the PMDG Flight Tablet, a sort of EFB that should prove to be an extremely useful tool in the cockpit.
Each variant of the 737NG features its own peculiarities, and the -800 is no exception. PMDG notes, for example, the requirement to carefully manage speed and pitch control during takeoffs and landings, or you’ll risk dragging the tail across the tarmac. As we expect from PMDG, this behavior is properly simulated in this new aircraft.
The quality of PMDG’s work speaks for itself, so this is bound to be one of the most popular airplanes in the virtual skies of MSFS. The way was long, but it’s finally here: at $69,99, the PMDG 737-800 is yours for the taking for Microsoft Flight Simulator!
