Well, hello there!
Need some recommendations for aircraft to buy. I like:
I think that’s pretty much it. High quality devs only, but I don’t think I want to spend anything over $30 for an add-on.
Milviz Cessna 310r, Black Square TBM 850, A2A Comanche, Just Flight Piper Arrow (needs an update), WB-Sim with Cessna 172 Classic (Premium Deluxe MSFS needed).
The best thing you can do is look at the numerous reviews on Youtube …it all depends on what you want out of the plane … flight dynamics, in depth systems, good visuals etc etc.
One persons good is anothers bad!
At least by looking at the reviews you will get to see to see the plane and get some ‘live’ feedback!
https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/now-released-bn2t-turbine-islander-defender-from-blackbox/
Have a look 
This topic might help.
Only over 8000 ideas, opinions, lists and buyers motivations.
I’ll add another vote for the A2A Comanche and throw in the Just Fliight/Black Square Analog King Air.
Ticks two of your three boxes.
Depends on what envelope type avionics you’re looking for. I’ve bought at least 30 mostly ‘under $30’ aircraft. If you’re into single-engine with steam gauges the Comanche ends up being way cheaper in the long run to just swallow the pill. You’ll end up buying many more cheaper aircraft looking to find this one in the end.
There’s plenty of free mods on PC to make the 152 and 172 great aircraft. The WB/JP 152 mod makes it the best raw real trainer in the game, including learning the GTN. I still go back regularly and take it up for proper circuits and short hops to make sure I’m not getting avionics lazy. Spend $50 on the Comanche and the 152 mod and you can learn all things GA/Steam. Best steam/single piston as a ‘cheap date’ $25 or less is the 182RG.
Need to Know
-Flight envelope
-Engine(s) type
-Avionics suite
-Any special use needs(floats/bush/pressurized/vintage, etc).
-How much challenge you actually want to take on.
If you’re into Warbirds, the Flying Iron mounts are excellent, and the Milviz Corsair is also excellent. A little long in tooth but it started out way ahead of the curve and is still great.
I also love the ATSim Focke Wulf/Piaggio P.149, so much so I was oh-so-close to buying a real one (the GO-480 engine in the one I was looking at was shot, and, just in general, the GO-480 is a bear to maintain these days with a dwindling part supply, but the sim has no such problems 
).
Do you prefer steam gauge or glass cockpits?
Do you prefer low and slow, high and fast, or in between?
All of the above?
I’m more of a steam gauge slow to medium myself, and vintage to boot, so that’s where my tastes lie. I do highly recommend perusing the 10 best thread, but, as always, take everything people say they like and use your glasses to reinterpret the info into what you like.
And, yeah, the A2A Comanche is going to be an all around favorite.
Low and slow Ant’s Tiger Moth is amazing, as is the A1R Ryan STA and GAS Stearman, and CAS Cub for really slow.
Two hot ones right now are the Tukan Trimotor and the Flyboy Coyote.
Not sure what this dude’s even looking for. 
I will say I still get use out of my ‘candy pop’ planes. I do have times where I don’t want to do walk-arounds and checklists and maintenance and want to get a 70 minute flight in a 90 minute window of time. So there’s a place for a 182RG, or a Mooney, or even the Seminole, where you just want to get up there and navigate a flight. Everything’s pretty, everything works and away you go. Grinding out a flight in bad weather in a 414 can be a bit too ‘real’ as in taking that half day you allotted to get a 2 hour flight done IRL. Wife and kids went to gymnastics?, I’m glad I have a bunch of Caranado aircraft. They don’t make the top 10, but a Seminole is a perfectly solid piston twin with 100% working avionics that slots in a good envelope around anything standard in the sim. It’s just not going to make a ‘passion’ list.
The warbirds comment above reminded me that I’ve also gotten a lot of enjoyment from Flying Iron’s P38L.
I like the P38 as you can almost fly it as a ‘really cool’ GA aircraft. I also like underdogs like the Wildcat where there’s just not ‘enough’ of anything and you have to work for it. Plus it’s built in cat/hook makes anything a carrier, including the static Lexingtons. Want a challenge? use the free-castering tailwheel and land/park/takeoff on one of those. You can also of course fly off/on the USS Saba.
If you’re looking for small jets, the Cirrus microjet and HondaJet are two superb offerings - both from the same dev.
I’d skip the Cirrus as it comes with MSFS 2024 Standard.
Plus the PC24 for PD 2024
Aviasim/GKS - MiG-25PD Foxbat, available in the MSFS Marketplace. I think THE best eastern/soviet jet out currently (and for the foreseeable future).
Aviacion Espanola - Hispano Aviacion HA-200/ HA-220 available on Simmarket and I think the Marketplace now. Very unique and little known Spanish jet from the 1950s.
Thank you everyone for the overwhelming response and in-depth reviews!
Time to conduct some research
If I were starting msfs again now, I’d pay a lot of attention to the top 10 aircraft as posted in the forum :
I’d pick from the top 30 aircraft, those which I had an interest in. I would then take those across to youtube (Jonathan Beckett; Into the Blue Simulations….et al) and watch their reviews. Only then would I choose. (and I would definitely wait for the Black Friday sales coming soon).
Logically, a lot of people voted an aircraft into the top 10 in particular, so it can’t be that bad.
Having this ‘opinion’ (which is all it is) when I started, would have saved me a lot of money over the last 2 years.
Good luck.
Edit : don’t confine yourself too much with a cash limit, one really good aircraft may well give your more ‘bang for buck’ than 2 mediocre ones.
Thanks for linking my thread 
…really anything in the Top 100-150 is pretty awesome!
@opencamswrx – note, there is a full PDF Download that shows everything (the snapshot on the forum is just the Top 25) so you can see further down on that if you grab this file:
You might also find this specific recent post useful (Top 5 broken down into ‘categories’):
No problem, I’d have saved myself a lot of money if I’d have followed your thread from day one.