What would you consider to be the best aircraft for just “plane” 'ole sightseeing?
IMHO, the requirements would be something like:
It should, (essentially), fly itself. You can’t do much sightseeing if you’re constantly fighting the aircraft, right?
Visibility, visibility, visibility! You can’t enjoy it if you can’t see it.
It should be flyable at relatively slow speeds, (100 kts or less?). Slow speed handling is important.
A minimum of external dependencies - for example, (IMHO) gliders, as they need lots of thermals and you can’t just pick someplace to go explore. (And it just doesn’t seem right to fly a glider out of KJFK. )
Whatever else. . . .
Note that these are the things that I - a total neo/noob - think would be important. Feel free to correct me if I’ve missed something or made an incorrect assumption.
So. What are your picks?
P.S.
Please note if the aircraft is stock or 3rd party - and if 3rd party, where to get it.
There’s a bug with the brakes that hasn’t been fixed yet. I recommend mapping both left and right brakes to the same control, which also more realistically maps to the real plane’s single brake lever.
I just got the Got Friends Optica last night and immediately flew it for 4 hours straight doing VFR sightseeing. It’s a lot more capable than I had thought it would be and it’s just about perfect for what you’re asking for. It’s a 3rd party plane and is currently 50% off.
. . . it includes a cat for the cockpit too. That almost makes it a “Must Buy” for that feature alone!
Does the in-sim cat climb into your lap, nudge the controls, and plop itself in front of the flight instruments to get your attention?
When I’d take my big cat Benjamin driving with me, he used to climb up and wrap himself around my shoulders, wedged between my head and the headrest, (I said he was a BIG cat), while I was driving so he could see out the windows.
I saw the ORBX version with a minuscule rating and - though it looked interesting - I declined to buy. I saw that the Got Friends version is much more highly rated, which makes it an easier choice.
P.S.
Does anyone know why I can’t see the actual reviews themselves, just the rating numbers? The actual reasoning behind the review could be significant, (It stinks because I can’t win the Reno races with it and it doesn’t have a full Airbus avionics suite!!!), as their reasons for liking it or not might be relevant to me.
I agree with the recommendation of the Top Rudder Solo, as it fits just about all your criteria, the only thing i might say is that it really is very light, and sometimes feels a bit like a hang-glider instead of a plane. Plus there’s nothing separating your virtual body from the wind and rain.
Planes i’d also put forward for consideration would be the Parallel 42 Kitfox, which has great views from the side and decent front views, but also stable flying, an easy to use autopilot that will totally flatten your trajectory at a height of your choice, leaving you free to take in the countryside, and and an extremely fast climb rate.
The other one i’m thinking of is the Searay, fast climb rate, great views (you can fly with the window open which is really cool), and it’s a boat! You can land in lakes, in rivers, and it’s wheeled landings are good enough to be described as a bush-plane almost.
Hope you find the plane you like most, usually i just watch tons of videos of a plane on Youtube, to make sure it’s what i wanted before i buy, best to take these things slow as frankly, a lot of these planes are fairly expensive as far as computer game items go.
There’s two modes for the cat, asleep and awake. In both he is animated. I was really pleasantly surprised, Got Friends put more effort into this one cat than some developers put into major aircraft systems!
I really think you would enjoy this plane a lot if sightseeing is what you want to do. The lower windows are especially great for looking at the ground. In one flight I was soaring at 8,000 feet over some mountain tops and skimming over a river at 100 feet AGL and 100 knots IAS. The plane handled both really well (took a minute to get up to 8,000 though). A real gem.
. . . but you should start your flight far enough off-shore, (if you’re starting off the beach), otherwise you’re going to get in a Heap of Trouble!
When I try that one, I’ll probably start from Simforpol airport and fly south to the coast and land near Berehove - one of my favorite decompression sites.
I like the A5 for the same reason. One thing though, it looks more like a beemer than an aircraft from the inside. . .
i’m confident we’ve all done things in MSFS that would have gathered us up a few thousand years in jail
Regarding the A5 icon, there are various reasons why i personally would choose the Searey over it, but i think perhaps the biggest one is just how both planes feel to fly. In the A5 i keep feeling like i’m going to fall out of the sky like a stone at any given moment, whereas due to the Searey’s overhanging wing, i get a greater feeling of stability in the air. Admittedly, the Searey takes some getting used to with regard to its rudder, which can really make the plane sway side to side on take-off if you don’t have the practice of it.
It’s a tough choice, i think in truth there are at least 10 planes that would give you great touring views, i’d re-recommend watching Youtube videos of any you are interested in, because even something as ‘how low you sit in a plane once you’re actually in it’ can affect your enjoyment. My only criticisms of the Solo would be that it’s too light, (too buffeted around by the wind) and too slow. I started out sightseeing in it, but i moved on to other planes in the end that had more presence.
Except that when starting off-shore in Berehove, you’re flying due north - right into a cliff-side! I don’t know how to change the direction I’m flying when starting “custom”, (not at an airport), but if you’re going to be flying north from Berehove, you need to be several miles out over the Black Sea when you start.
(I’ll have to do some screen-shots and post them.)
I second all the ones mentioned so far. That Solo 103 is handy.
But hear me out… don’t underestimate the suitability of the F-35B. You can get places FAST then hover and it does have a good clear view out of the cockpit. You just might need to “cheat” and add fuel mid-air
Also, it doesn’t fit your requirement for “it almost flys itself” but a helicopter (i.e Cabri or Mini-500 or the Ka-10M HAT — as they are pretty easy-going) is really unbeatable for getting a good view of things for the same reasons. And it makes travelling more interesting as you also feel like you’re learning from the time spent in controlling it how you want to get the views you want.
That flying boat (dinghy) is pretty good for looking out too and fun to drive
Likewise the Flying Flea as you can travel safely at 30mph, and it’s an entertaining machine to handle so win win!
And in the same vein as @UDDEVALLAPPL, Ant’s Airplanes Tiger Moth flies slow and low, has a great flight model and great visibility. I think it is now in the Marketplace.
)
But it is pretty awesome
