TLDR - I think NeoFly 4 is the best, it’s free but you can purchase addons.
For me, I love NeoFly. It’s free but you can purchase add-ons. They just came out with a new version and it’s greatly improved over the previous. Since I’ve purchased the options, I can run my own airline, manage it with supplies, hire pilots and hub managers. You can do everything from bush to long haul. I played FSEconomy for a while but gave up. Why? For the simple fact that it’s a great community, BUT, it’s been around forever. It’s almost impossible to get a decent FBO, and if there are any available, you have to pay a ton of money to grab it. Even small airports that you want to use as a FBO cost a ton. Also, the economy in the game is such that the pricing of the planes is simply outrageous. There are “corporations” that literally farm the “best” planes for the system and resell them at an elevated price. It’s just not worth the headache for me.
The new version of NeoFly has an updated database of the planes and liveries, and is continually updating it. I love the fact that when you purchase a plane, it also tells you what livery it comes in. If you want to change it, you have to pay to do so. That’s how far they’ve gotten with realism. Also, when you purchase a plane, unless it’s listed as “new”, there’s always repairs that need to be made. For example, I started out flying the 172. NeoFly doesn’t let you start out easy using planes with an autopilot. It’s all hand flying and you don’t make a ton of money right off the bat. You have to take a flight test (evaluation) to fly different types of aircraft (piston, twin piston, turbo, etc). There’s a 1-3 star rating now. You start off with a default 1 star rating for a single engine piston. I saved up enough money to take a re-evaluation (yes, you have to pay for the tests, I love it!) and you’re required to do things such as climb and hold altitude, do turns while holding it, do a touch and go (that’s where the results for the star ranking comes in) and then do a final landing. You also need to do a cold start and the mission only ends when you shut down the aircraft. To get the best rating of 3 stars, you have to have a touch and go landing speed of less than 50fpm. However, it pays off because then you get 1.5x the amount of experience and pay for your jobs. There’s also ranking in the system, and the higher the rank you have, the more different job types you can take. As a cadet, it’s mostly hauling cargo or a passenger (if your choice of starting aircraft will even hold one). There’s a few other jobs too, but they’re mostly bush. A 172 doesn’t fly too fast and the long hauls don’t really pay off that much. But once you get going, it becomes a lot more interesting. I recently advanced to 2nd Officer (the rank after cadet), and was able to take out a $150,000 loan. I wanted to give my wrist a break as I don’t have a yoke, only a joystick, so I wanted to purchase a plane with autopilot. Thankfully, I had purchased in MSFS the Beechcraft V35B. I had to purchase a used one, pay to have my pilot character transfer to where the plane was (it wasn’t cheap), and the plane was so badly damaged, I tossed about 50k just to get it flyable. However, it’s a great money maker for me. And after a couple flights, I managed to earn enough money to completely repair the aircraft. I was also able to save my 172 that I have my NPC pilot flying. Better him than me lol. But even realism comes in there. Not only do they have ability stats, but how exhausted they are. The more exhausted they are, the more prone they are to make mistakes. It takes time for them to rest up, so you can’t continually use them endlessly. Anyway, I love it and highly recommend the new NeoFly 4.
