Your Current TOP 10 Aircraft

We need to bear in mind the aircraft would only fly once and only needed to land once, in Ireland, at the end of the flight.

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He had a periscope! :slight_smile:

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It wasnā€™t a particularly scenic flight. A tail dragger, and I have to imagine Lindbergh was used to looking out the side.

But yeah, it is stunning in person to see that metal shield blocking the entire front. Makes it look armored. Heavier than it is.

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Yeah right! Looks like something ā€œIā€ would have built in The A-Team (then not wanted to fly in) :smiley:

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We wouldā€™ve got you on the plane.

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I currently try to focus on a smaller number of planes, so writing a top 10 is not that easy for me. But I will try anyway, because I love this thread :grin:

Helicopters:

  1. HPG H145: Still my number 1. Itā€™s not only the helicopter itself, but the great Discord community and the continuous development that motivate me to pick this one again and again.
  2. FlyInside Bell 206: Not as feature rich and complex as the H145, but from a pure flying perspective this is my favorite helicopter. Another wonderful Discord community and and a quick series of really impressive updates since release.
  3. Asobo Guimbal Cabri G2: Itā€™s free, itā€™s fun, and a great way to learn flying helicopters!

Bush Planes:

  1. GotFriends Wilga 35/80: What a fun little plane! Many variants with different cockpits, engines and wheels/skis/floats. They might have gone a bit over the top with the additional features, but rowing your float plane to the dock only sounds unnecessary until you first try it :grin: Perfect match for the Return To Misty Moorings freeware scenery.
  2. //42 Kitfox/FreedomFox: I love Trent Palmerā€™s YouTube channel, so this one was a must for me. The FreedomFox is a very neat little plane. For some time I was hung up on the terrible Garmin G3X, but I have decided to ignore its shortcomings and simply focus on the seat-of-the-pants flying experience, which I find really excellent.
  3. Blackbird DHC-2 Beaver (with GotFriends Expansion Pack): MS/Asobo gave us this wonderful free Beaver from Blackbird, but it lacked proper bush wheels. Luckily GotFriends came to the rescue and fixed this glaring omission!
  4. Blackbird Pilatus PC-6: I never really liked the Porter with the G1000. After a long, long wait, we finally have the steam gauge version, and it looks and feels wonderful!

Others:

  1. FlySimWare Cessna 414AW: When I want to travel a bit faster and higher, probably going IFR, I choose the wonderful 414. Sitting in the wonderfully detailed cockpit with TrackIR feels so immersive!
  2. Flying Iron Spitfire Mk IX: My favorite historic plane.
  3. Asobo Cessna 172: With all the wonderful payware planes it is easy to overlook just how good the default 172 is, both with the G1000 or steam gauges and the GNS530. CFD flight dynamics and the Working Title avionics have really brought this plane to the next level ā€¦

There are currently 42 payware planes in my MSFS hangar, in addition to the huge number of default planes. I would love to learn how to fly the PMDG DC-6 and 737, but donā€™t have the spare time to do so. Thatā€™s why I love helicopters and small bush planes. I can spend an hour to visit some small airfields in Alaska or the PNW, do some pattern training, or even just hover around a detailed airport. And I enjoy every single minute of it :smiley:

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Asobo Cessna 172: With all the wonderful payware planes it is easy to overlook just how good the default 172 is, both with the G1000 or steam gauges and the GNS530. CFD flight dynamics and the Working Title avionics have really brought this plane to the next level ā€¦

And the the 152 also with the JPL Mod.

So whatā€™s the difference between default 172 steam gauge with CFD flight dynamics and WT avionics and the WB-Sim 172? Which is better?

Just a gentle reminder: if you missed it or have not voted on the Poll yet, please do so before Sunday. I want to get as many opinions as possible - thank you!

(ā€¦thanks to all that voted so far!)

Depends what you want I guess. For the price it was a no brainer to me to have a more refined version of one of my favourite standard aircraft. It flies very nicely (so does the default too I suppose, but they have tweaked the FM, not mentioned on the sales page for some reason) and has some nice extra touches with the engine damage (with smoke FX), spark plug fouling, damageable prop (bends if you hit the ground with it), damageable landing gear, oil usage, needles that ā€œbounce and vibrateā€ :slight_smile: and state saving. It all just feels more polished and ā€œbelievableā€ as a machine - but honestly I am not using all the advanced systems they added (navigation and so on - but itā€™s there!) - it still is an awesome investment for Ā£15 for me though.

I suggest you read the things they added (below I pasted the complete Specifications) and if those things are of interest to you, the price is decent. The developer is very active and responsive too, which I doubt you will ever see further updates to the Asobo one any more?

WB Sim SPECIFCATION

Electrical system

  • Dynamic battery voltage drop
  • Correct ammeter display
  • External charging available
  • Accurately working relays
  • Battery amperage subject to temperatures
  • Functional circuit breakers, which may trip from faulty equipment

Cockpit and equipment

  • Optional state saving with 90+ points being saved so that your plane will be just as you left it
  • Gyro spin-up animations
  • Custom lighting throughout, dims if voltage is low
  • Gauge needles subject to engine vibrations
  • ADF needle subject to noise
  • ADF needle instrument upgraded to the KI 227-01, which slaves the ADF card to the directional gyro
  • Working cabin heat/defrost
  • Fully functional M803 clock, including settable FT alarm and ET countdown mode
  • Operational MD-41 GPS annunciator
  • PMS GNS 530/430 included
  • Custom-coded KAP140 autopilot corrects and adds a lot of missing features including accurate hold altitude, functional ALT arming, 20ft altitude adjustments and aural alerting
  • Enhanced KT76 transponder, with dynamic radar pings and correct dimming function
  • KR87 ADF with proper testing feature and audible ET countdown alarm
  • All Bendix units feature an accurate font, and the KAP140 and KR87 have auto-dimming displays

Engine wear and tear

  • Spark plug fouling
  • General engine wear
  • Fuctional engine priming
  • Starter overheating
  • Oil usage

Damage

Everything simulated may have consequences if not maintained. From gradual power loss as the hours accumulate, fouled plugs and engine failure from lack of oil, to the struts getting ripped from the fuselage from too many hard landings.

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Ah okayā€¦thanks, glad I got the WB-Sim one also

30% off Carenado Aircraft in the Marketplaceā€¦ I am trying to be goodā€¦ Honest :rofl: :rofl:

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Cessna 337 push me-pull me is nice one!

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Slight modification to my Top 10 posted a few days ago (Iā€™m sure youā€™ll allow it :wink:):

  • SWS Kodiak
  • Fenix A320
  • FSW Cessna 414
  • FlightFX HJ420
  • HPG H145
  • Got Friends Wilga
  • DC Designs F-14
  • IndiaFoxtEcho F-35 Lightning II
  • iniBuilds P-40F WarHawk
  • Darkstar
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Just for you :wink: Just this once :slight_smile:

EDIT: Oh, swap Zenith for Wilga - of course, anyone, any time can do that!!! hahaha :smiley:

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Might be time for me to pick up the V Tail Bonanza.

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That one isnā€™t on sale I think. Thatā€™s the one I was considering too :wink:

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Do you know if the 195 is on sale? Probably not because itā€™s a LL/FF. But thatā€™s one I want to pick up. (Not in sim at the moment)

Just these 8 I believe


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Better than an Asobo plane. Pretty complete systems. Beautiful model. You can do worse for the price. But it isnā€™t one of the greatest planes in sim by any measure.

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Skymaster and M20R are buys at those prices.

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