Still nothing new, just been regional flying a lot
I might buy the md 80 soon and the PMDG 737 when it comes to the marketplace, I think when the NextGen Saab 340 comes it would be probably flown more than the twin otter because i love short hops and I’m also waiting on the awesome Embrear 175 that’s in development along with that a220 in the fly by wire installer 
The kids came good with vouchers for aircraft for xmas, so one last update. It was difficult deciding on the best planes to get from this fantastic topic. I decided to go for what is often considered the ‘best in class’ and a type of plane I haven’t tried yet.
Old list:
Carenado V35B. I’ve spent countless hours in this the last few weeks, for sightseeing and back to basics practice. There’s something about the cockpit that just seems welcoming and comfortable.
Asobo G36 with improvement mod. Great to have state saving on a free plane. The only thing I don’t like is the sparse, utilitarian surround of the main dash. The project is being remodelled and I look forward to that. I’ve used these first two aircraft for multi-leg tours with a VA.
Iris PC21. This is my go-to if I only have a small amount of time and just want to blast around some nice scenery that I’ve come across on the tours.
Asobo C152 - Again, I use this for basics practice, pattern work etc.
Kodiak 100 - Unfortunately, this has been parked since SU11. As it was bought at the marketplace, I’m still awaiting the update. My brief time in it assured me it will be used a lot once sorted again.
New List:
Just Flight Turbo Arrow: Has (almost) everything that I want. I was going to wait to fly this until the patch arrived to fix reported issues introduced since recent sim updates, but couldn’t. I certainly haven’t found this ‘unflyable’, quite the opposite in all honesty. I do look forward to the refinements forthcoming to see it handle even better. I must admit I was slightly disappointed by the graphical detail in places, the exterior textures in particular. I’m not a fan of the worn look either, but that was easily fixed with Archer’s mod.
FlightFX VisionJet. Ooooh, this is just gorgeous. A lot of little bugs that need ironing out, but I can see myself jumping in this for longer flights to get me to where I want to fly a little lower and slower.
Carenado V35B. If hte Just Flight Arrow could match the graphical excellence of Carenado, I would be a very happy chap.
Iris PC-21. Still a silly amount of fun in this unfinished aircraft.
Asobo G36 with improvement mod. Great plane, dull interior.
Still waiting on the marketplace update for the Kodiak.
Hahaha. Yeah I wrote the same a few weeks ago when someone wrote their top 5 bi-planes (I think) lol
No worries!! 
I can’t in all honesty recommend paying for a MSFS helicopter. I’d recommend XP12 and the SA315, but frankly can’t reccomend that either until the sim performance isn’t atrocious… if you don’t like DCS you’re a bit stuck for modern heli sims atm.
Thanks for the advice. Have seen some pretty good things about the 206 though (on YT) but who knows how much shilling is going on
Happy to wait for the FM to be more capable and practice my skills in what I’ve got until then.
I don’t have enough disk space to even think about installing another game lol. I’m all in with MSFS (financially too!) 
I bought it last week based on the Bird Dog thread and I am glad I did pull the trigger. What a fun plane to fly around and sight see while landing in crazy tight places with the bush variant.
Though when the Wilga comes out for Xbox I will be purchasing that as well. haha Can never have too many in the hangar.
While I respect the opinion of vandisaster on this, I bought the Flyinside 206 and I really like it.
It is not the best for anyone interested in a beautiful, perfect rendition of the interior but I find it to be plenty good enough for me. The flight model is not perfect and still not at the level of a DCS Huey, Hip or Hind but it is far better than the Calibri or the 407 in MSFS. I also get the impression that the developers are fully aware of the current limitations and are working on improvements and that is a very good thing.
I was actually really surprised as to how good it was to fly and I like the way Flyinside makes the flight model adjustable so you can tweak it to suit your hardware needs.
With the fun you have been having with the G2, I would be really surprised if you didn’t immediately enjoy the 206.
So which new ones did you get? Arrow and Vision?
Have you also got the Cowan Sim one?
Not yet. Although I am a huge fan of his XP products, I just don’t feel like the native helo flight physics is quite ready for my expectations. I fly helicopters quite a bit and care more about how they feel than look. The best advice was to go with the FI version if it was the flight physics that I was after.
I know that what Cowan is bringing to MSFS can’t really match what he has in XP just because the physics are really brand new. It will take some time for Asobo to improve them to the level that we see in other sims. For now, I was happy to go with the external model used by FI.
They did a good job with it. The use of a slider to adjust the sensitivity makes a lot of sense because you can easily tweak the behavior to match your hardware and expectations of how it should feel. The updates are simple, the helimanager tool tells you when an update is available and you can just click it, run the installer again and that’s it, you are updated. It’s nice because you don’t have to try to remember where you bought it and login info or anything like that.
The FI version is good. Don’t get me wrong, it is nowhere near as good as the UH-1 in DCS (similar rotor system obviously so not a crazy comparison) and i don’t know if it ever will be. In DCS, the Huey feels alive and you are completely connected to it through the entire flight. The tail will respond to every adjustment to the cyclic and collective and your feet stay busy. The FI 206 is a lot more tame in comparison. But still, everything in our world of simulation is a compromise right? If you want a good helicopter experience in a fantastic simulator, the FI 206 is a good choice. I certainly don’t regret it and it is a step above the G2 for sure.
One other thing, FI has said that they are bringing external load slinging soon. That will give us something to actually “do” with it and I am very much looking forward to that!
Being such an expensive time of year I have been exploring freeware.
These two by deejing on flightsim.to are real gems:
Since I upgraded to the Premium Deluxe version this past holiday…
Yeah. As I said in the list, really happy with both.
One further, small point with the Arrow, I can barely see the heading bug on the HSI unless I scoot forward or zoom in.
I’m really torn now… feel I’m ready for a step up in challenge. The Cabri while fun, I’ve practiced enough for it to feel quite easy now. I still lose it sometimes but it’s my own fault for putting in too much input and rushing. If I am patient it rarely gets away from me now.
Bit worried that I got so tuned to right foot to counter torque that I’m gonna have to adjust to left foot doing the same for basically every other chopper now!
Gonna dig into the 47G for a while before deciding!
Here’s my final top 5 list for this year. Looking forward to the new format next year.
Old list:
Thanks for the update! I’ve discovered a slight error in my chart. Your previous last choice was LatinVFR A319 but that was already sitting with zero points so not sure when that error crept in 
EDIT: I’ll assume I made mistake and counted the other LatinVFR Airbus so I took 1pt away from that now instead. Whoopsie!
Thanks for the update and the descriptions 
Hahaha. Let those horses run free!! The Willy is worth it. My new favourite by a few furlongs, lol
You know, I took out the Tiger Moth a few more times since you last wrote about it and I totally agree now. It is a way better fun and more characterful machine than the Stearman and so well made. I won’t change my list for 2022 at this point now as to be fair I have spent a lot of time in the Stearman during the year (and for some reason it still does make better use of the Sidewinder Force feedback) but they are definitely being swapped in my first 10 list tomorrow!
Oh my, I fear you probably pushed me over the edge now. Bad Baracus, bad!
How is the Willy’s ground handling nowadays? In the videos I checked when she was released she looked like she was magnetically locked to the ground. Is that still the case?
Glad to be of servie 
It’s hard to put my fingers on what it is that I love so much about the Moth, but she has that inexplicable something that so many other planes lack. Wishing you many joyful hours in the cockpit in 2023!
I know what you mean. I switch between the UH-1 and Mi-8 frequently in DCS and they are opposite. You get used to it though. At some point, you have to give those two a try as well. You can do so entirely free of charge. Not sure if you knew but if you go through the Eagle Dynamics website, you can trial modules for two weeks each, every six months. DCS itself is free to download. It’s worth it just to try the helo’s. There are lots of folks that use DCS as a civil simulator and don’t bother with the combat stuff. Anyway, it is worth it to see what the top helicopters fly like just so you can have that benchmark to judge others against. Not that they are perfect in DCS by any means. The VRS entry criteria is too aggressive on most of them and there are other issues for the hardcore players but for the most part, they are simply incredible in their fidelity. I am really excited to see where Asobo will go with the helo physics because as a sim, MSFS is incredible and we just need to match those looks with physics to get the prize!
Tiger Moth eh? I’ve purchased the L19 Bird Dog, Vision Jet and A319 so far for Xmas, maybe another addition for the hangar is near. So many planes…