Sooo, it appears to me that there is a lack of freeware base kits and repaints for FS2020 is there not? I’ve been looking online, everywhere I know of and no luck. Not as easy as it used to be with FS2004. I apparently bought what I thought I could install on FS2020 through the Market Place, Boeing 737-700 from PMDG, but I guess it looks like I’m needing the base kit first. Oops. Anyone know of any places where it is an easy find for freeware? Preferably 737’s if possible
Don’t know were you’ve been looking, but there’s more freeware stuff for MSFS after only three years, than there’s ever been for FSX or P3D. Very concentrated as well. I would guess about 90% can be be found on one site:
Try www.flightsim.to
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Here’s a list you can use to start: Top freeware aircraft
But if you do a simple search of this forum for “freeware aircraft” you will find many more. I see a couple 737 projects when I search this forum.
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Topic moved into Aircraft
I would not say there is more freeware for MSFS than there was for FS9/X.
Heck Milton Shupe and Manfred Jahn had more freeware between the two of them, than there is at .to
But there is certainly by now a reasonable selection of freeware, some of it conversions of FSX aircraft.
MSFS can do a lot more than 9 and X in many aspects. And while that allows some really cool features in a simulated aircraft, I feel it has also made it much more difficult for a single person to create a freeware aircraft.
And quite frankly I think folks have become much more demanding and ungrateful than in earlier times.
We noticed that with the Connie series even in the FSX days.
From rivet counters, to folks who did not read the supplied documentation and then complained about engine failures….
That has caused quite a few of the developers of the old days to simply walk away.
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Talking about aircraft you might be right. There are some other sites with freeware aircraft like Restauravia.fr and Gotfriends.com but none of them offer airliners.
In essence I think that especially with complex aircraft like airliners, we won’t see many freeware versions any more. The increased capabilities of the sim itself as well as the improvements done by Asobo to the default airliners as well as the free Ini A310 set the bar so high that the amount of time required to develop something like that just for fun is too much for many. The demanding nature of the people often isn’t helping.
On the other hand even with simple freeware aircraft without working cockpit knobs and levers there’s a lot of positive feedback as long as the plane looks nice (i.e. the F-86 Sabre) and of course there are the payware Franken-Boeings by CaptainSim who are quite popular with a lot of people.
So if people are ready to PAY for that, there should be a freeware market as well.
Incidentally: yesterday a freeware Boeing 707 was released at flightsim.to
There are tons of free Aircraft and Mods available and there is something for everyone (Airliners, Business Jets, GA Airplanes, Helicopters). And some of them are really very well implemented.
Personally, I spend most of my MSFS time in a freeware airplane (DA40 NG with Improvement mod or Asobo Cirrus SR22T) although I have hundreds of Euros worth of payware in the hangar.
A freeware aircraft for FS2020 should be:
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Can be started from gate/ramp and most of the panel/lights works
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Can be taxied to runway for take off
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Actually climbs/descends/turns/engine keeps working
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Flaps work as intended
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Airframe can be seen from camera view, model not invisible!
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I hope my heroes from FSX days like, Manfred Jahn, Milton Shupe, Tom Gibson to name a few would start creating/converting some aircraft.
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MSFSAddons maintains a comprehensive list of standard and third-party payware and freeware aircraft. It was updated last week.
Hi
If you bought the plane from Market Place then I suppose you install it through Content Manager or PMDG operations center. PMDG forums might be a place to start. Otherwise there is not other good 737.
For what I understand, topic author prefers to profit from professional developers without spending a dime on their hard work.
That is a free choice but my support stops here.
Waiting for the PMDG 777 and I will pay for it blindly.
Happy 
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The author specifically said freeware, so one persons comment has completely misunderstood the original post.
Like MrWoof9575 said, go to flightsim.to
The site has everything. It is huge. It is not an illegal operation and there is no free stuff from professionals. It is full of freeware from independent developers which allow free downloads, or if you wish to you can give them a donation. There is also a section for others that wish to sell their work.
Home of Microsoft Flight Simulator Mods & Add-Ons: A reputable community, trusted by half a million creators and virtual pilots all over the world.
This is incorrect. All PMDG products for MSFS 2020 are stand-alone and will work with all editions. There is no base kit required. I can’t tell you how to get it installed because you bought it from the Marketplace, but I would strongly discourage anyone from buying anything through the Marketplace for reasons that are well enumerated in various threads. For PMDG products, you are much better off purchasing from them going forward. Meanwhile, search how to install the PMDG 737 from the Marketplace both here and in the PMDG forum. If you can’t find an answer, then post for help.
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Very well, thank you sir. I appreciate the information.
So an update here, I have tried multiple ways to try and import new aircraft into FS2020. Here is what I have in my Community folder right now.
None of these except for the FedEx Grand Caravan are showing up which a livery inside the default Cessna Grand Caravan. Inside the Content Manager, some of the aircraft I put into the Community folder show up but am unable to install them.
I get no “INSTALL” button when I click on these. So all this being said, where am I going wrong?
All I see in that community folder are liveries. That means not a full airplane, but only paint for exterior or interior possibly.
The files that are simply copied into the community folder, after downloading and unzipping a file from FS.to or some other site, will never have a “install” button within the simulator. This is simply a notification of what has been loaded.
But without the actual aircraft these repaints are useless.
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See? That’s what I thought…therefore, I’ve got to purchase a base kit somewhere. (No, I’m not complaining…just making sure I wasn’t missing anything. )
…and/or I have to find ones that are compatible with existing Asobo aircraft that are already apart of the Flight Simulator.
I was going simply by your screenshot…and the only reference to PMDG I see there is a repaint for the 737 in the colors of Southwest.
How much did you pay for that ?? The 737 aircraft directly from PMDG is somewhere between $40 and $70, depending on the model.
Personally I do not buy anything on the Sim Marketplace, if the same product is available direct from the creator or a reputable retailer. The marketplace quite frankly is an invention for the Xbox crowd as far as I am concerned
$4.99…I should’ve known. Probably a little too good to be true.