Precision Manuals Development Group

Precision Manuals Development Group (often abbreviated as PMDG) is a commercial add-on aircraft developer for the Microsoft Flight Simulator,[1] Lockheed Martin Prepar3D,[2] and X-Plane[3] series. The company was founded by airline pilot Robert S. Randazzo, who stated that his ultimate goal was to develop the software to the point where it could be used by airlines and manufacturers to supplement pilot training.[4] The company is based out of Virginia but has several employees in countries such as Belgium, South Africa, and Canada.[4] It has eight employees as of 2018, with a collection of beta testers which include multiple aviation professionals.

Precision Manuals Development Group
TypeSoftware Developer
IndustryFlight Simulator Software
Founded1997
HeadquartersAlexandria, VA
Key people
Captain Robert S. Randazzo (founder)
Ryan Maziarz (Development)
Number of employees
8
Websitehttps://pmdg.com/

PMDG's software has received praise for its realism.[4][5]

Company background

The company began by producing detailed flight manuals, hence its name. However, the company soon moved on to developing add-on aircraft after creating only two manuals for the Microsoft Flight Simulator, 747 and 757. The first aircraft development was a package of the Boeing 757 and Boeing 767 for the Fly! simulator, which could be played on Macintosh or PC. On 25 October 2014, it was announced on PMDG's AVSIM forum, that the Boeing 777-200LR base package will be available on the Prepar3D platform.[6]

With employees and contractors working around the world, PMDG is headquartered in Northern Nevada, approximately 15 nm north of Reno-Tahoe International Airport. On June 4, 2012, PMDG announced that they would move back to Virginia, where the company was founded.

Aircraft

PMDG has created nine aircraft for Flight Simulator 2004 and ten aircraft for Flight Simulator X, two of which are extensions of the 747-400X. The PMDG Boeing 737 NGX is for Flight Simulator X and Prepar3d only and is currently available in 737-800/900 winglet/non-winglet models. The 737-600/700 winglet/non-winglet models are a continuation of the base package and are available as an expansion. The 777-200LR and accompanying 777-300ER expansion were the first PMDG products for Lockheed Martin's Prepar3D V2 which was released on February 7, 2015, as well as Flight Simulator X (the NGX was patched to P3D V2 compatibility after the 777). These two products are widely regarded as some of the best offerings for flight simulation in terms of system depth, fidelity, and function, as well as faithful exterior modelling, sound, and flight dynamics.

On June 1, 2016, PMDG released the Douglas DC-6 simulation, marking the first aircraft by the company for the X-Plane series of flight simulators.[7]

With the arrival of P3D v4, the 747, 777 and 737 aircraft are being freely upgraded from P3D v3 (32 bit) to P3D v4 (64 bit). On February 24, 2019, it was announced that no new products would be developed for 32-bit platforms (not precluding updates to existing products).[8] Thus, the B747-8 was the last release for 32-bit platforms, notably marking the end of 13 years of FSX support. On November 8, 2019, the PMDG NGXu was released. It is a version of the upcoming NG3 product for the Prepar3D platform, and offers the BCF, BDSF, BBJ1 and BBJ2 variants as expansions to the base product. The NG3 itself will only be available on the new Microsoft Flight Simulator due in 2020, with expansion packs covering the entire NG, BBJ, and MAX product lines. PMDG announced the previous day that all development for the X-Plane platform as well as all 32-bit platforms would be canceled.[9] On October 20, 2020, PMDG announced the development of the 777X family of airliners was in an early stage.[10]

Aircraft Flight Simulator 2004 Flight Simulator X Prepar3D v2/v3 Prepar3D v3/v4 Prepar3D v4/v5 X-Plane 10 Flight Simulator 2020 Notes
Boeing 737-600/700 NG 2003 Retired
Boeing 737-800/900 NG Expansion 2003 Retired
Beechcraft 1900D 2004 Retired
Beechcraft 1900C 2004 Retired
Boeing 747-400 Queen of the Skies (QOTS) 2005 Retired
Boeing 747-400F QOTS Expansion 2006 Retired
Boeing 747-400v2 Queen of the Skies (QOTS) October 30, 2007 Retired
Boeing 747-8i/F QOTS Expansion July 29, 2010 Retired, Visual model only
Boeing 747LCF QOTS Expansion September 26, 2010 Retired, Visual model only
McDonnell Douglas MD-11 October 14, 2008 October 14, 2008 Retired
Jetstream 4100 September 9, 2009 In Development Retired
Boeing 737-800/900 NGX August 4, 2011 March 6, 2015
Boeing 737-600/700 NGX Expansion October 29, 2011 March 6, 2015
Boeing 777-200LR/F September 5, 2013 February 7, 2015 In Development
Boeing 777-300ER Expansion July 18, 2014 February 7, 2015 In Development
Boeing 777-200ER Expansion In Development
Boeing 777X Early development stage, no platforms announced
Douglas DC-6 July 20, 2017 July 20, 2017 June 1, 2016
Boeing 747-400V3 QoTS II January 31, 2017 January 31, 2017 In Development Includes 400, 400D, 400M, 400ER, 400F, 400ERF
Boeing 747-8i/F Expansion September 22, 2018 September 22, 2018 In Development
Boeing 737-800/900 NGXu November 8, 2019
Boeing 737-600/700 NGXu Expansion February 5, 2020
Boeing 737 NGXu Cargo Expansion August 16th, 2020 737-700 BDSF, 737-800 BDSF and BCF
Boeing 737 NGXu BBJ Expansion October 23rd, 2020 737-700 BBJ and 737-800 BBJ
Boeing 737 NG3 In Development[11]

References
  1. "PMDG 737NGX (review)". PC Pilot (76). November–December 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  2. "PMDG 777-200LR/F". PMDG. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  3. "PMDG DC-6 for X-Plane announcement". Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  4. Ostrower, Jon (August 30, 2013). "Almost as Cool as the New Boeing 777: The New Flight Simulator". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  5. "PMDG: 747-400 Queen of the Skies (review)". PC Pilot (Issue 37). November–December 2005. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  6. "First Glance at PMDG 777-200 for Prepar3D".
  7. "Explore the 3D cockpit of PMDG's Douglas DC-6". X-Plane. 2016-04-21. Retrieved 2019-09-11.
  8. Martin, Calum (2019-02-23). "PMDG Cease Development for FSX/P3Dv3". FSElite. Retrieved 2019-09-11.
  9. John, Alex (November 7, 2019). "PMDG Announces End to X-Plane Development | Threshold". www.thresholdx.net. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  10. "[20NOV20] Various Project News Updates, 777-200ER Beta and P3D Hotfix notes". PMDG Simulations. Retrieved 2020-11-30.
  11. "Your Weekend Update from PMDG!". PMDG Simulations. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
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