This thread is to, hopefully, move away from the linked thread below, whose name has become outdated and will be easily overlooked by newcomers seeking Marketplace aircraft purchasing advice.
To start, I thought I’d write really brief thoughts on some of my purchases.
Propeller Driven:
• Carenado C170B — I love flying this plane. When I get distracted by some new aircraft and I get back around to flying this, it feels like a favorite pair of Levi’s. Its 1950s styling strikes all the right chords, but it’s the sheer simplicity of its aircraft systems that I like most about it. I have to fly this airplane, full stop. I always leave the optional Garmin hidden and stick to VOR and dead reckoning. She also trims easily, which makes her a joy to just park her at an altitude and do your thing. The night interior lighting is crazy cool with a red interior light and blue map light, plus backlit gauges. The tundra tire variant with the Garmin installed gives you a great vintage bush plane w/GPS option, too. I cannot overstate how much I really like this aircraft. Some may be put off by her being a taildragger, but with good control peripherals she can totally be mastered.
• NextGen Simulations Embraer EMB-110 — This is a funny one. First off, there is no other plane currently in the Marketplace like it. We have so few regional short-hop aircraft choices. Its steam gauge instrument panel is very unique and it has some quirkiness to its autopilot control scheme. The biggest offenders here are that many (most?) of the switches are just placebos or aren’t wired in a correct way. However, once you’re in the air and flying none of those things really matter and, unfortunately, even in aircraft where they are modeled it doesn’t really matter, either. It’s poor engine sounds are a big talking point but setting the sim audio to Headphone Simulation (as I do), basically negates that. One of its greatest characteristics is its incredible STOL ability. On full flaps it is a breeze to land on awkward landing strips in the remote parts of Central America where I like to fly. Try to buy it on sale, as I did.
• Blackbox Simulations Britten Norman BN-2 Islander — This aircraft has a strangely low rating in the Marketplace given the cult following it has if you read the Islander-specific threads. This aircraft is all about the flying experience. I like how quickly you can have it up and running from Cold & Dark. It’s super easy to fly and it’s sweet to set Alt Hold on the autopilot and just hand fly your heading. This is a total kick to fly in the Caribbean with an appropriate livery. Speaking of liveries, this comes with an insane number of custom real-world liveries. It’s kitted for IFR, which is a big selling point. The dev has a planned upgrade coming for it to bring its systems up to a more “study level” affair. Once that happens, I’m sure this will vault up my list further.
• Big Radials Grumman JRF-6 Goose — I want to crazy love this aircraft, as it and the Consolidated PBY Catalina are both vying for the very top of my “If I was stupid wealthy” list of possessions I would acquire, however it isn’t the aircraft’s fault that the sim’s seaplane implementation is what is holding it back. A big part of my simming experience is the pre-flight procedures and without being able to start in the water Cold & Dark the sim pushes a flying boat into being a land-based aircraft, which is just silly. The twin radials sound awesome (gads, that burble of open exhaust pipes at idle!) and the hidden GPS is very cleverly done. If, and when, the sim takes flying boats seriously, this will be a fantastic aircraft to own, because the rest of it is just so well done.
• Simworks Studios Kodiak 100 — One of the best planes for Xbox given the depth of modelling (the cup holders unfold, for crying out loud!) and aircraft systems implementation. The selection of liveries allow for 5 different interior configurations from skydive to passenger to cargo. Obviously, this plane was built to do nearly everything and it does all of that well. As someone who treasures analog technologies, the G10000 glass cockpit just isn’t my cup of tea, but if I’m going to fly “glass” this is the one I’m going to do it in.
• Carenado C337H Skymaster II — I love the way this aircraft looks from purely a design standpoint. What Cessna did here was very interesting and kind of special. There is a feature-packed steam gauge instrument panel with Garmin GNS-series GPS. The Bendix King weather radar is a cool feature, but until we get proper weather radar SDK integration from Asobo it isn’t able to provide much use. Its autopilot offers unusual controls compared to other GA aircraft. By design, it doesn’t have any unusual fight characteristics, so don’t expect this to be a unique flying experience.
• Microsoft / Oliver Moser Junkers JU 52 — It is enough to buy this just to explore it while it sits on the apron. The modelling is superb and there is absolutely nothing to not love about the Junkers corrugated sheetmetal exterior, 1930s styling, interior and flight deck (1939 variant). If you aren’t a purest, the retrofit variant has a modern touch that you might find appealing. As you can harbor a guess, I prefer the 1939, which forces me to adhere to some very involved navigation. The radio compass isn’t as useful as a VOR, but it certainly can be utilized to get you flying towards/away from VOR navigational aids, regardless. The persistent lack of supercharger modeling for the BMW radials is frustrating and, like many aircraft, a number of the controls are placebos. If you’re a gearhead, the engine startup procedure is divine. Microsoft subsidizing the price makes this a totally easy purchase. Why am I here writing this and not flying this right now?
• Microsoft / Carenado Beechcraft D17 Staggerwing — Wow, to be rich in the 1930s. If you pick this up and you’re on a Series X with a big 4K TV, please, load it up in the Hangar and just sit there and stare at it. Go on, I’ll wait. Yeah, you see what I mean? That thing is, easily, one of the most gorgeous aircraft ever made. The usual Carenado attention to detail abounds here. Some might be put off by the lack of transponder and/or autopilot given this aircraft’s ability to go the distance. I’ve flown it some pretty long distances, and I’ve found it easy enough to trim and have it settle in for the long haul. The roof-mounted rudder trim helps when you’re a bit out of balance due to fuel loads. It has some trickiness to it that I like, both in its difficulty getting slowed down and propensity to bounce on landing (slow down more there, ace). The 5 fuel tanks makes for a “mini-game” managing fuel distribution. Fortunately, the fuel flow meter has the ability to display fuel consumed. Provided you make a note of each tank’s capacity and leave about a gallon in the tank, you can do the math needed to manage this like a pro. The mil-spec 450 HP Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior is a monster of an engine that makes this bird deceivingly fast and agile. At night, don’t forget to flip the little switch mounted at the rear of the projection lamp pointing at the instrument panel.
Jets — Note: The majority of civil jet aircraft offerings on Xbox aren’t up to my quality standards. Also, I worked on military flight simulators when I was younger, so I’ve had my fill of modern military aircraft, therefore I’m really into MSFS for vintage military and civil aviation.
• Azurpoly Aerospatiale-Potez Fouga CM-170 Magister — This is a really cool vintage trainer jet with an interesting feature set that makes it stand out. For instance, it has a UV instrument panel light that makes the instruments readable in bright sunlight and it has a smoke generator with selectable colors for aerobatic flights. The instruments and controls are metric and labeled in French, which adds to its character. The EFB tablet allows for access to a number of useful configuration and control features. It’s also quick to get it up and running from Cold & Dark, which is nice if you like pre-flight procedure, but also want to get flying. A couple of issues that seem to have recently cropped up are excessive fuel consumption and difficulty getting it to cruise at the recommended settings without stalling. Fortunately, Azurpoly is communicative via their support and they have tended to get a number of updates out, so hopefully there will be another one coming soon. This jet is easy to fly and I’ve found landing it surprisingly easy. The trick is to use those spoilers to keep your speed in check.
• FlightFX MG HJet HA420 (aka HondaJet) — This newcomer has quickly ramped up to be something special for the Xbox crowd. It is the first aircraft to offer integrated Navigraph support by utilizing a fully customized G3000 based on the Working Title G3000 mod. It’s highly automated systems make getting into the sky a breeze. Should one want more control over the systems the options are there to do so. The modeling and sound are excellent, too. I found it quite easy to overspeed during climb, so I recommend setting the autopilot with FLC to manage that for you. The more I spend time with this, the more little features/functions I uncover within the extensive Garmin tablet controls. We were sorely missing a good business jet on Xbox and have finally gotten a great one with this. How cool is it to be able to fly at FL430 in a little jet?!
. I finally got myself the Islander. Just love it. I spend most of my time in the Carribean the next couple of weeks, that’s for sure. Island hopping here i come 
) I’m saving my 3rd party budget for those. I did recently pickup the latest legend S.55 and have really been enjoying that. Didn’t think I needed another boat, but it’s really unique and the dev has been active answering technical questions in the forum. Definitely my fav legend since JU-52.