I’m really glad you made a great topic. Thx! My rig runs the sim silkey smooth! I cringe when I read the complaints here in the fourms. The 747 has been my fav since I was kid. At this point I have mastered the 747 Atlas Cargo. (The last one made)787 is basically the same. I have Simbrief/Navigraph indispensable must have. Yes I manage to fly the 747 all time. Because it is so much fun! But I do fly other aircraft all the time lol like the TBM 930. The Logitude. Those are the Asobo. All run butter smooth! Lastley Think for yourself and have fun!!! I think Im a Atlas Air pilot flying the last 747 made by Boeing. I immerse in that . It is so sad that the c-suite suits destroyed Boeing.
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Flight model of the default C152 and C172 are really great. And I really love the analog version of C172.
Recently I’ve started to fly CTLS for low and slow. And surprisingly I’ve found a very fun ultralight with interesting non-common features like no differential breaks or negative flaps for cruise (!).
Another default plane that I love, it’s DV20 Katana. But in this case I have to admit that the reason is that I really miss Marcel Felde’s Katana 4X from the FSX years. Anyway, with the realism mod (available in flightsim.to), it is a nice (analog) addon.
But the default plane I’ve flown the most has been the Caravan (+ community addon). Oh god, I long the cargo version and been able to turn my head to see my precious crates.
I hope FS24 brings some state saving functions for all these aircraft (and open doors).
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In the last 12 months I flew once B747 and once C152. In the same period of time, I did about 280 flights in 3rd party planes.
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I’ll occasionally break out the CJ4 in the evenings for quick flights around the UK. Also the C172 if I fancy doing some VFR work. I’d really like to master the 748, but I don’t feel realistic doing short haul with it. 
I don’t have the time for anything longer, simrate is out of the question for me, personally.
I’ve flown them all in the early days of release, but then FBW released the A320 mod, and I haven’t really looked back.
It’s funny really, back in the FSX days, I’d happily fly an aircraft with just a 2D panel borrowed from another model. I still cared about realism, but just not as much as I do now lol.
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I mostly fly the TBM 930 - I really like it, especially after the WT G3000 upgrade.
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Cessna 172, Longitude, B787-10, B747-8i, Cirrus SR22. Some of the best aircraft in the simulator and they’re “free”. I fly them a lot and frankly, I often don’t feel the need for third-party add-ons. I do think 2024 will raise the bar even higher in this regard, whenever it’s released.
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Since we do not have any demo / trial options for purchases, I dont fly anything other than the planes that come with the sim (with the excpetion of the HondaJet but that is a different story)
I initially bought the MSFS 2020 base version and after I got hooked, i wanted to upgrade to the big Deluxe version but alas, there are no upgrade options and I refuse to buy MSFS2020 again. So only the planes from the basic sim.
I used to fly the 172 and the King Air a lot but recently its usually the Caravan and the Beaver for Bush Trips, the DA62 and the Icon A5 for exploration and the TBM930 and CJ4 (and the HondaJet) for midrange and long range passanger flights
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I remember when I got the sim in 2021, I didn’t really see the point of buying add-on aircraft since there were so many included. It’s funny to think, now, after having bought quite a few, that I’d like to revisit so many of these planes that I’ve neglected. With the G3X upgrade, all the various Cubs are catching my eye again.
Getting the Jack of All Planes achievement “forced” me to have to fly every-single-one of these aircraft 300 miles and I really enjoyed a number of them.
Asobo did a very good job on all these planes. I’d love to see them gain a bit more fidelity. The 208 and the King Air, for example, have so many non-op switches that I’d like to have functional for some more realism.
Overall, though, they are really well done and so easily overlooked.
You can upgrade from the base to the Deluxe and Premium Deluxe versions via upgrades in the Marketplace.
Economically, it makes the most sense to get the Premium Deluxe upgrade, because to go to the Deluxe and then, later, to the Premium Deluxe ends up costing a whole lot more overall.
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I almost exclusively fly 3rd party planes as I really like to get into the details of high fidelity addons. I’m fairly selective about what I buy, I have quite a few, but not a lot compared to many other users.
The default planes are so much better now than when I started, I’d have really enjoyed them but they are still not at the level of top 3rd party planes.
I do fly the Cabri, I occasionally jump in the cub or the CJ4. I haven’t even loaded the neo V2 even though when I was on xbox I’d have paid good money to get that. Since on PC I really can’t find anything better than the Fenix. I bought the A300 months ago and haven’t used it once. Every time I think about flying it I somehow end up in the A320-200. 
There’s so much more I’d like to fly if I had time but that sadly it’s a too rare commodity.
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You’re on Xbox, exclusively, right?
What are you using for peripherals for the helicopters?
I have the Turtle Beach Velocity One yoke and rudders. Combined with the Thrusmaster HOTAS one. A mouse and keyboard. Only ever use my Xbox controller for the drone cam and walk arounds. I think I’d throw it at the wall if I actually tried to fly with it.
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I fly the Bagolu C172 G1000 with Boris sounds quite often, it feels pretty good to fly.
The CJ4 I have flown a lot because it’s a business jet and we don’t have enough of them.
I fly the 748 when I want to fly long distances at Mach .86 
I only have the base version of the simulator because I refuse to pay the full price to upgrade. At release I didn’t find the added aircraft and airports worth the price, today I’d probably choose the Premium Deluxe.
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Oh yes, the Cubs and the new G3X! I forgot to mention them. I kind of re-discovered them after the update. Make no mistake, I do have some third-party add-ons, but most of them are either filling a gap in the default fleet or just some curiosities. It didn’t take many to cover all my bases and interests with such a great default fleet.
I definitely haven’t gone crazy and am not drowning in them, either.
I bought many of the FF and LL until the 307. I’ve got number of the higher-quality/highly-rated add-ons, too.
I just had this epiphany that I hadn’t really intended to have my add-on aircraft completely eliminate the base/deluxe/premium aircraft, at all. It just sort of sneaked up on me that I’d not flown them in quite some time.
I definitely stand by my initial assessment about them — they are really good. Their modeling is excellent, the textures are really nice and they all seem to fly well and are mostly bug-free. All of that deserves to be commended and recognized.
I was redoing all the Landing Challenges recently and got to experience a few of these again from that perspective. I even love the little, massively underpowered, Robin DR400-100. You get to fly it in one of the Landing Challenges and I’d forgotten about how quirky and charming it is.
We have also gotten so much more from many of these aircraft, over time, from WT’s contributions.
I know we have not heard much, at all, about 2024’s “basics”, but I really do hope we see these planes return with, perhaps, more fidelity to them. They are so worthy of further attention and improvements.
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I flew the DR400 a lot in the early days because of it old school steam gauges as an alternative to the C152. It has excellent forward visibility as well compared to the Cessna.
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Interesting thread, thanks to the OP for dreaming this up.
I am one of apparently quite a few that basically exclusively fly the provided in sim aircraft, in my case the Deluxe version. I also almost exclusively fly GA aircraft. My most commonly flown aircraft:
- Bonanza G36 with the Capt Matto mod. As a former Bonanza/Debonair owner in real life, I love this one. The mod plus the WT improvements over time has turned a very nice aircraft into a great one in my opinion. Added a free livery to approximate my real life Debonair from many years ago.
- G1000 C172 with a custom livery that matches one of the aircraft I did my IRL training on. This is another one that has benefitted from ongoing improvements and is a really nice aircraft now.
- The Beaver. As a resident of the Pacific Northwest, how can I NOT love this one?! Love flying around BC with some of the Return To Misty Moorings airports. Also benefitted from a local Harbour Air livery to make it more meaningful for me.
- Also do a fair bit of flying in the TBM930 when I want to get somewhere a bit more quickly at higher altitude!
- When I really want to get there quickly, the CJ4 also works very well for me.
- Did some flights with the P51 as I was able to get a livery of a local legend “Val-Halla” from Heritage Flight Museum at Skagit Regional Airport. I was desperately sad to hear of the death of Maj. Gen. Bill Anders a couple of weeks ago: RIP to an aviation legend.
- Did a fair bit of flying with the Icon but since the arrival of the Beaver I tend to use that rather than the Icon.
- I just started flying the XCub as well. A nice variation.
- Did a few flights with the DC3 after I found a livery of aircraft that I was familiar with from my youth.
I have done one or two Airbus and B747 flights but that is not my thing. I find the abovementioned aircraft to perfectly suit my needs and I enjoy them immensely: well done MS/Asobo!
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I own all the Local Legends/Famous Flyers and maybe five or six third-party add-on aircraft, but almost all of my flying is in planes from the Standard/Deluxe/Premium Deluxe packages. My personal favourites are:
- JMB VL-3
- CubCrafters NXCub
- Diamond DA40NG
- Beechcraft Bonanza G36
- Pipistrel Virus
- de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver
- Flight Design CTSL
- Pitts Special
- Extra 330LT
- DG Flugzeugbau LS8 glider
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I find many to most of the Asobo aircraft enjoyable. This is ESPECIALLY true with the WT and 3rd party updates. I find myself using them more often than some payware I’ve purchased. I think many people protest too much about the quality of these. They aren’t the same as the default aircraft from years ago.
C172 with G1000 and some of the freeware updates. This is pretty much payware quality with avionics better than available pretty much anywhere else.
G36 with freeware updates, same.
I just flew the King Air with the WT proline updates. It was a pretty good experience.
I’m often using the Cirrus SR22 after the WT updates. Just like in real life, it’s a great cross-country aircraft.
The DA40NG and DA62 with the WT and tommymxr freeware updates are phenomenal.
The 787-10 and 747-8 with WT updates have like 80%-90% of normal ops capabilities for free.
The Pipistrel Virus is pretty fun and I commonly used that one early on. I just wish it has the WT G3X functionality. I haven’t used it as much after WT and other freeware significantly added to other Asobo versions.
The Beaver is really good, especially with floats.
Edit: it sounds like Cirrus wants good renditions of the SR22 and SF50 in MSFS 2024. I can see why. It’s good marketing.
It would be cool if we could get current production models from each company in the sim.
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MSFS isn’t my first flight simulator, but it is my first with proper peripherals. I was a little kid when I last played with a sim on a keyboard. I considered myself totally new to the hobby.
I flew the Savage Ultra a lot to learn how things worked when the sim first launched. It’s dead simple, and the STOL capabilities were fun tot play with. I played with the 787 a bit too but even I knew it wasn’t working right. It just felt off, even for novice me.
My tastes skew vintage and GA so I don’t fly the big guys much. I do like where th 747 is now though, much improved.
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I bought the Deluxe package because I wanted the steam 172. I haven’t flown it in over two years. Of all the stock planes, the ones I fly the most, in order, are the TBM 930, DA62 with the “X” mod, and occasionally the X-Cub. I don’t fly the DA62 as much as before since the DA42 package came out, and didn’t fly the X-Cub much at all before the most recent Garmin updates.
With the working doors and optional advanced avionics upgrade to allow different content on separate PFD’s, the TBM now represents what all the rest of the stock planes should be.
Everything else I fly is aftermarket.
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