It’s my first full flight in the Fenix Simulations A320ceo in Microsoft Flight Simulator and I’m flying in style with a charter flight from Boston to Toronto with the sleek, all black livery Air Canada Jetz scheme. Here’s how it went!

The setup…. and the setup

Let’s start with a bit of narrative. I love to have a reason for my flights and for this one I’m connecting loosely with the fleet of four A320ceo airliners that Air Canada maintains for charter flights. One of the regular uses for this aircraft is ferrying players and support staff for hockey teams and right now the Toronto Maple Leafs are down 2-4 versus the Boston Bruins in first round NHL hockey.

The next game is Boston at Toronto so its time to fly a charter flight from KBOS (Boston Logan International) up to CYYZ (Toronto Pearson International). A good way to start off my A320ceo journey properly.

Getting into the aircraft and starting things up, I did need to do some setup. Fenix Simulations runs part of the aircraft off in the background and to get everything working the way it needs to be there is some calibration required. Calibrating the throttle worked out well, however, I continued to get a sidestick warning. Eventually I ended up hiding/cancelling the warning and the stick itself works brilliantly so I don’t know what the issue is.

Having spent a fair bit of time in the FlyByWire, operating the MCDU was pretty straightforward and for this first flight I inputted the route manually. Recently I’ve been alternating back and forth between manual input and SimBrief but I do want to make sure that I’ve done the manual process so I understand it.

Taxi and takeoff

Taxiing with the A320 from Fenix isn’t that different from any other airliner but there was one unique feature that kept me on my toes. The nosewheel steering on the Fenix is quite a bit more sensitive than anything else that I’ve encountered: PMDG 737, iniBuilds A300 and A310, ATR, or the Asobo/Microsoft/WorkingTitle 747 and 787 which are all somewhat less sensitive. Its manageable but you can get it out of control without some finely tuned controls.

After fiddling with that a bit, I made my way to runway 04L for an immediate departure. Fly Tampa’s work at Boston Logan is, as usual, pretty impressive with plenty of details to take in all over the place. Some day I’ll do a bit more of an indepth look at the scenery package here.

Selecting TOGA by pushing the throttles full forward, the sounds of the A320’s engines roaring to life were immensely satisfying and off we went down the runway! Takeoff, gear up, flaps, up, and then a bit of fiddling with the autopilot before things were sorted out and we were on our way!

Clear blue skies

Things got pretty easy after that for a while as the aircraft flew the programmed route on autopilot. The A320 is a very automated airplane on the whole so once everything is set correctly I found the workload to be pretty light. Again, I’ve spent more time with A320s in MSFS than any other type of airliner so jumping into the Fenix generally proved to be less daunting than I feared. Yeah it has more fidelity than the other types… but nearly everything about it operates in the same basic way.

Something I did notice is the slower climb rate with the partially full A320ceo climbing more slowly than the A320neo model I’m used to flying. Those bigger more powerful LEAP 1A engines certainly do make a difference! Having spent so much time looking at the larger engine A320, its also a bit fun to now closely examine the engines on this model as they look considerably smaller by comparison.

The weather for the trip across the top of New York State and into Ontario, crossing Lake Ontario, was very clear. And yesterday, when I flew this flight, it was generally very clear across the whole area.

The haze over the big smoke

Toronto has quite a selection of nicknames. If you’re from around here, To’rono (without the extra T) can sometimes be heard. The 6ix was apparently invented by popular rapper Drake. But if you go back a little further Toronto is often known as “the big smoke” and there are a bunch of different sources for the name. Today it was literal as the haze hung over the city as I approached.

While this was my first time landing the Fenix A320 and I had heard that it handled a little differently, I generally found it to be overall quite similar. The only difference was my poor flaring and it may well be that the Fenix handles a little different here. It wasn’t my best landing ultimately but it was a decent one with me touching the ground at a reasonable rate (around 250-300fpm). Reversers on, spoilers deployed, and the aircraft came to a stop in a reasonable amount of distance.

Then a quick taxi over to the terminal and the flight was done.

Good luck to the Maple Leafs in the next game. Miracles do happen!

First impression

Fenix A320 makes for a great first impression. Beautifully modeled, great sounds, great looking cockpit, and all around joy to fly this one. I have to spend quite a bit more time flying this aircraft from destination to destination to tease out all that I like and don’t like about it but it does certainly live up to the reputation that it has built.

I’ll be putting the aircraft through its paces over the next several weeks before doing a review a little further on down the road. But if first impressions are lasting, this is the airliner to beat!