Your Current TOP 10 Aircraft

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3382

Current Top 10 List:

  1. //42 - Freedom Fox / Kit Fox.
  2. Flying Iron - Spitfire Mk IXc
  3. Flying Iron - P-38L Lightning
  4. Flying Iron - F6F-4 Hellcat
  5. MilViz / Blackbird Simulations - FG-1D Corsair
  6. MilViz / Blackbird Simulations - PC-6 Porter
  7. FFX - Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet G2
  8. MilViz / Blackbird Simulations - DHC-2 Beaver
  9. Got Friends - Discus 2c
  10. Got Friends - PZL-104 Wilga
3 Likes
3383

Thanks for the almightily rare update! :smiley:

You know, looking back I think I may have added only 3 aircraft for you from the beginning but canā€™t really remember so I have counted this post as a totally new vote. So your beloved Fox may have got a double-vote-bonus from you!

2 Likes
3384

The DCS Mosquito is, in my humble opinion, the single most underrated product available today. It is simply fantastic, a dream to fly and a chance to step into history when flying it. To fly it on the Channel map is an emotional experience. It is a bit daunting at first, but once you get it dialed in the way you want, it is just unbelievable. I cannot think of any other module that delivers so much but yet receives so little fanfare in the greater flight sim community. I donā€™t even bother with flying combat in it, it is just the experience that is enough for me.

4 Likes
3385

Cold start tutorials for the DCS Mosquito should be classified ā– ā– ā– ā– ā– ā– ā– ā– ā– ā– ā– .

3386

Well you need to be an octopus, but itā€™s easier than the Spit ( given the ground crew get involved ). A good PR Mossie is very near the top of my MSFS wishlist - glass nose, never been done before, long range, fast, twin prop.

3 Likes
3387

I agree with what you write. It is such a well crafted module. A challenge as you say but so satisfying.

Now back to our regular transmissionā€¦:wink:

2 Likes
3388

Reloading the cache maybe fixes this

3389

Here are the first five of my top 10 current favorite aircraft:

  1. Wilga PZL-104: Hands-down my favorite. IMO one of the most gorgeous planes you can get in this sim. I love the 80P variant the most. Wilga is appealing on so many levels. Itā€™s super fun to fly, the modeling is superb, it has fun systems to operate that over time just become a habit, you feel more in sync with it. The startup sequence is awesome, who doesnā€™t love a starter motor thatā€™s powered by compressed air? You can take the doors off for an even more magnificent view. You can land it just about anyplace, and when Iā€™m flying her I often find myself thinking ā€œIā€™ll bet I can land thereā€. The 80H variant has a lever to toggle skis so tons of fun in snowy areas. Sexy fluorescent instrument lighting. Fun add-ons, like a hammock, lantern, ice chest, camp stove with a pan, fishing rod, and a playable guitar. Basically, if you enjoy bush flying scenarios and planes with character, Wilga is for you.
  2. Cirrus Vision G2: For longer hops, this small single-engine jet is fast and fun to fly. Itā€™s easy to operate all of the systems, and many functions have been automated. The cockpit view is excellent, so itā€™s fun for touring. Itā€™ll land anyplace a GA plane can land, but cruise wherevers at 200 knots. I set it up so it loads my Navigraph maps, so I can quickly prepare entire flights right there in the cockpit. I find that especially fun to do in VR for some reason. Itā€™s a next step after the cold and dark start, performing preflight checks, and then punch in your destination to get all the infos, and even select the approach to highlight on the map. Really a wonder of technology IRL, represented beautifully in the wonder of technology that is Microsoft Flight Simulator.
  3. Diamond DA40 TDI: An excellent GA aircraft, great cockpit view, classic six-pack instrument panel, super fun and easy to fly. I especially love the glider-like wings, and the extreme glide rate that they do provide. I am totally enamored with the idea of a diesel engine in a GA plane, and really enjoy that itā€™s paired with a governed constant-speed prop. I love the look of this plane, too. This oneā€™s fun to pick a nice picturesque location with a good airport, and do touch-and-goā€™s, or transit between local metro airports in high photogrammetry areas. I could get lost over Los Angeles, or maybe meander over the Mississippi.
  4. Aermacchi M-339: Italian light jet trainer, superbly modeled and a joy to fly. After lots of low and slow flights and short-strip landings, itā€™s fun to hop into this nimble jet and find yourself cracking 25,000, and you will be smiling as you see the stuff on the ground getting smaller and smaller. Big loops and rolls and 400 knot inverted passes just 100 feet off the runway, or any other thrilling and dangerous behavior you can dream up. Or, just depart from KEDW and fly still and quiet, roaring over the California desert.
  5. Leonardo M-346 Master: A hopped up ā€œthis yearā€™s modelā€ in relation to the M-339, this light twin jet trainer is extremely fun to fly. All of the fancy fly-by-wire systems are modeled, you can watch the forward flaps adjusting themselves in flight, based on whatever youā€™re doing. You can break the speed of sound in a dive. It is ferociously fast, and really makes you feel like you own the sky.
  6. Darkstar: For when youā€™ve been practicing those energy maneuvers in trainer jets, and youā€™re ready to crack Mach 9, and see the curvature of Earth as you smash into Flight Simulatorā€™s 275,000 foot altitude ceiling (unless you have properly leveled at 120,000). As you watch the ionization dance across the windows, you might have time to wonder what Microsoft SPACE Simulator might look like, and ponder how this plane might be outfitted to operate in orbit. Could it? Pop into drone mode to see that this thing goes so fast it starts to glow red hot. My favorite Darkstar moment: San Jose to KNKX (Miramar) in San Diego, then back to San Jose. I managed to perfectly guess the correct moment to power off and descend on each leg, and didnā€™t end up somewhere over Baja California wondering where the heck I am.
  7. Cessna 140B: Another excellent easy to fly GA plane, with short field capability and a cool retro instrument panel. I spent most of my time in this one flying circuits between bush strips in Papua, New Guinea, focusing on the famous Bugalaga airstrip, which this plane handily gets in and out of. Paint schemes include some with gorgeous bare metal, which looks great in PBR.
  8. Discus 2c Premium: The ultimate sailplane, with all the bells and whistles. Super fun to fly, and challenge yourself to ride those updrafts, ridge lifts, and thermals, to top whichever mountain top you dare. I particularly enjoy launching from Hemet, CA, and heading over to Mount San Gorgonio for some thoughtful and relaxing soaring. My other favorite is Ulrichen Airport (LSMC), I got the airport scenery that even comes with a little train. This plane lets you carve gorgeous curves in the air, and the variant with the FES option provides extra capability and confidence to explore areas you might not with a non-motored glider.
  9. Mooney M20R: Fast, fun, and a bit more speed and technical details than a typical GA aircraft. I like to think of it as the next step to flying jets. It does have speed brakes. Dialing in the correct ratios of manifold pressure to propeller RPM, and seeing how your adjustments come out every single time when you consult the performance chart (which is conveniently printed on the underside of the window visor). Like with Wilga, you need to keep your eye on the cylinder head temps, and youā€™ll get kind of addicted to tweaking to achieve the perfect level cruise. Perfect steam gauge instruments, and has all of the navigation capabilities you need.
  10. Bell 47: A helicopter, before MSFS had official support! And, a superb custom flight model, although I understand the developer will port this model to use the official model at some point. Nevertheless, this chopper lets you take a closer look at some of that sweet photogrammetry scenery, and try your hand at landing atop skyscraper heliports. I once again recommend Los Angeles if you want to try building hopping. Try working your way from the US Bank building, down to the Bonaventure hotel. You can have several stops along the way. Or head over to Santa Barbara, and try landing on one of the offshore oil derricks. I really enjoyed finally getting into a helicopter model and finally understanding how to fly a helicopter. Setting it down is really fun, and the whole time youā€™ll find yourself saying ā€œIā€™ll bet I can land thereā€.
  11. DeHavilland Chipmunk: Another fun prop plane to tool around in, I enjoy the RCAF variant because theyā€™ve got a really cool bubble canopy that looks like a smaller version of the ones on F-86 Saberjet. Theyā€™re aerobatic, and really fun to go low and slow too. They have the same compass as the Spitfire (which I have not bought yet but might once Iā€™ve given the Tiger Moth a serious runthrough). I love the Chipmunk because itā€™s just such a cool looking plane, and I love the way it flies. It satisfies me in the same way that the DA40 does, a simple plane that is kickass fun to fly, and is just cool in general. And itā€™s got that big ol compass on the floor.

I will add my next five in a bit, I need to think about this due to my addictive nature with airplanes. EDIT: Finished, and yes I did go to 11! I have left so many off the list, you all probably know what Iā€™m talking about. I like the variety of experiences and mission profiles you get by trying lots of different planes. I love the Kodiak, I have really enjoyed the Bucher-Jungmann biplane too (really super cool compass on that one), all the new choppers and gliders, and om my gosh I spend a bit of time doing this, donā€™t I? Cessna 337! There, Iā€™m done.

8 Likes
3390

Iā€™m with you on that one! Iā€™ll get an invite sent to you for the next AAA and HCDA group meet-ups and we can talk it over! :rofl:

Also, Iā€™ll wait for your next 5 before ā€œheartingā€ your post :wink:

Cheers!

1 Like
3391

Update complete! Man itā€™s hard to whittle down to just 10, so most of that is literally based on chronology and frequency mostly. That, and Wilga speaks to me and tells me what to do.

1 Like
3392

My apologies Baracus. I thought Iā€™d seen a few posts where you encouraged changes to lists even if they were within the same month. Yes, thatā€™s my final list for January and I will from now on only submit a maximum of one per month.

1 Like
3393

Here is my Top Ten for this month, and also the first update to my favourites in a while (though not much has changed).

First of all, below you can see what the Hobbs/Hours tool says, keeping in mind though that I got a new PC about a year ago and all the hours logged prior to that are not included in these stats due to the reinstall (Iā€™m about to hit the 400-hours mark in the in-sim/cloud logbook). The FBW A320, WT CJ4 and the Mooney would all have quite a few more hours still, although nowhere near the Islanderā€™s real total.

001 0073:08 = BN2 Islander [BlackBox Simulation]
002 0037:03 = Airbus A320 Neo (A32NX) [Asobo / FlyByWire]
003 0033:24 = BAe 146 [Just Flight]
004 0028:54 = Airbus A320-200 [Fenix Simulations]
005 0009:04 = Cessna Citation CJ4 [Asobo]
006 0006:17 = Piper PA-28R Arrow III/IV (NA and Turbo) [Just Flight]
007 0005:41 = P-38 Lightning [Flying Iron Simulations]
008 0005:25 = Cessna 152 [JPLogistics]
009 0004:57 = Boeing 247D [Wing42]
010 0004:17 = Mooney M20R Ovation [Carenado]
011 0003:08 = Cessna L19 Bird Dog [BlackBox Simulation]
012 0002:01 = EA-7 Edgley Optica [Got Friends]
013 0001:44 = Quest (Daher) Kodiak 100 [SimWorks Studios]
014 0001:12 = BN3 Trislander [BlackBox Simulation]
(Only listing those aircraft here that I have at least an hour in.)

And now for the actual list of 10, ordered pretty much by what my favourites are.

  1. BN2 Islander [BlackBox Simulation]

Always has been, always will be the number one for me, and close to my heart for sentimental reasons. Counting myself super lucky that this was among the first planes to become available in MSFS and that it received such a great update last year to V2. Currently flying it halfway around the world from Perth in Scotland to Perth in WA, and will launch a blog soon that chronicles the 80 legs and projected 160-plus hours of flying time. Will I be sick of it at the end? Highly doubtful (although it is nice to take a break and fly a jet every seventh or eighth leg at the moment for variety). There are many planes in the sim that look better, but very few if any that are more enjoyable to me.

  1. BAe 146 [Just Flight]

Without question the contender for top spot after the Islander. Quality product from an outstanding developer, and so much fun to get right. I hardly ever overspeed anymore now :slight_smile: , after coming to grips with the lack of autothrottle and other modern aids and learning to trust the speed brake. The great manual and its VOR navigation tutorial are also very good, although when the new FMS comes out soon, that will probably be used more. Depending on any discount for 146 owners, Iā€™m likely to get the Avro RJ as well when JF release that. Meanwhile this version now works very nicely with GSX Pro (walk-in passengers boarding through built-in stairs, pallets loading into the cargo variants, Simbrief flight plan loading), after I made some tweaks - you can search for my video of that on YouTube.

  1. Airbus A320-200 [Fenix Simulations]

Seems to have become more stable on my PC lately and gets me adequate FPS even at the large airports and with the GSX Pro functions youā€™d want for an airliner. Unlike with the BAe146, the main fun here is in the planning and programming and then watching it do what you expect. Iā€™ve recently realised that it is actually the most fun to fly this on only very short sectors of not much more than half an hour in the air, and spend more time at the gates triggering and observing all the animations etc. But the realistic behaviour when it does then get in the air and fly is still awesome. [A shoutout to the FBW A320 is in order here, because I really got all my knowledge for flying the Fenix from this excellent, well-documented and above else free addon, way before the Fenix was even on the horizon.]

  1. P-38 Lightning [Flying Iron Simulations]

Has been my preferred casual (i.e. without flight plan) aircraft for a while, and was also improved yet again in a recent update. Satisfying startup procedure to get right, good handling on the ground (as no tail dragger), yoke rather than stick to match my HC Alpha, and fast! Has become even more fun since I started using Axis&Ohs, although I still need to map a few functions (and might wait with that until I can afford the Behringer Xtouch Mini that Iā€™ve been considering for a while).

  1. Cessna L19 Bird Dog [BlackBox Simulation]

Only recently picked this up when it was about half price in the Marketplace sale at the end of the year (and yeah, I know Iā€™ve been arguing against MP purchases on this forum - but I figured this was not due any further updates from BBS). It is quickly becoming the challenger to the P-38 as the aircraft I just get into at a random location and without a fixed destination, my comments above re tail draggers and flight sticks notwithstanding. The other difference being that in this I can take off from just about anywhere. It flies so nicely and has such good visibility, so I can see why people on here have been touting it as a great option for low-and-slow sightseeing. And if you look out the window the whole time, you wonā€™t even notice the blocky and outdated modelling of the knobs and handles to the side of your head in the cockpitā€¦

  1. Piper PA-28R Arrow III/IV (NA and Turbo) [Just Flight] ā€“ (Arrow III / Non-turbo for me)

As I said before, the first product that really made me notice how good MSFS can be in terms of realism. It pretty much matched its IRL role as a trainer GA aircraft during my own first steps in MSFS. Iā€™m waiting for the promised fix to the flight model (and the swappable GPS integration after Working Titleā€™s GNS530 update) from JF, and then will fly it a whole lot more again.

  1. Mooney M20R Ovation [Carenado]

Was my first purchase in the sim, and flew it a lot before moving on to other planes. Has just been updated (finally!) by Carenado though and is once more hugely enjoyable. Took it for a couple of spins this weekend, and I still love the speed brakes in the wings, how fast it can travel, and the in-dash GTN750. Happy that the developer listened and made the fuel pump less noisy, the pilot avatar more varied and the rego number individualised.

  1. Quest (Daher) Kodiak 100 [SimWorks Studios]

Bought the floats version at the much lower price when that came out, and have not really had time to get to grips with the whole turboprop thing. The few times I did get it started OK (after adopting the throttle quadrant settings recommended by Mark from SimHanger on YouTube), it was quite fun to fly. Definitely has potential for more attention from me once the long Islander trip is all wrapped up - and then I may also try out the overhauled Daher TBM.

  1. Cessna Citation CJ4 [Asobo]

Guess we no longer need to mention ā€œwith WT modā€ now, but that is exactly what I used for a ton of flights early in my MSFS career. It was really the first jet I managed to fly with confidence, thanks in no small part to the great manual WT provided. Looking forward to the ā€œrefreshā€ that will come later this month, although just like with the overhauled GNS530 (when compared to the PMS50 version), it seems that some features may be traded off by WT for improvements in terms of both realism and cosmetics.

  1. Cessna 152 [JPLogistics]

Just to round out the 10, another low-and-slow plane with great realism that Iā€™ve liked a lot. Will probably be edged out for me by the Bird Dog now that Iā€™ve discovered that, but Iā€™m still glad that this project will apparently live on after the great work done by the mod developer has come to a halt. Also loving the very muddy Reims Green livery.

And there you have it. A quick word though on ā€œwhy no Wilga?ā€. It was just bad timing that after all the ā€œMarketplace exclusiveā€ talk, the product was then released on the web after all just when I had allocated my budget to some must-have upcoming airports instead (Canberra by Impulse, Solent by Burning Blue, East Midlands by Pyreegue and Hamilton Island by Auscenes - the first two of which I now already have and am liking a lot). When the Bird Dog then also came along with 50% off at $AUS20, I could no longer justify another 50 bucks for a second bush plane. Never say never thoughā€¦ I am liking what I see and hear of the Wilga very much.

9 Likes
3394

  1. pmgd 737 600

  2. bae 146

  3. milvix 310

  4. kodiak

  5. c414

  6. fbw a320

  7. ini a310

  8. jf arrows

  9. bn2 islander

  10. milviz pc6

2 Likes
3396

@dubnewt2648
Thanks for the added ones. Buuut, you canā€™t have 11! So shall I leave off the Chipmunk?

@MEMcM
No problem man. I did write (in post 1) that I encourage voting (or re-voting) every month but not in same month. I only let you off as you wanted to swap in the Wilga! Thatā€™s allowed :rofl:

@cdsolo
Nice write-ups, thanks!
So do you use the Yoke with the Bird Dog also? I would highly recommend getting some kind of stick for the planes that use a stick. Then the Willy would make sense too! Canā€™t imagine flying that or most planes designed to be controlled with a stick with a slow yoke.

Tempted to get that BBD Solent airport too - but I already have FPS issues in that area (Southampton PG + airport + channel vessels + England generally I think), so think I will hold off for now. Their Goodwood is nearby and that was a nightmare on my frames! Really nicely done though.

Everyone - reminder!

Next SUNDAY is the nearest to the end of the month, so I will be publishing the first results ā€œofficiallyā€ next Sunday! Get your votes in if you havenā€™t already done so please :slight_smile:

2 Likes
3397

As an aside, if anyone flies the Cessna 172 (Classic, G1000 Asobo ones, OR the WB Sim Enhancement) you might be interested that a new Payware sound pack has been released.

Thanks to @FutureFlyer828 for posting about it (link below). I got it and it is totally worth it - finally the plane sounds like itā€™s alive and not a washing machine on spin!

Available on Orbx:

Available on SimMarket:

Available on Threshold Store:

1 Like
3398

I finally picked up the PMDG 737 700 yesterday

3399

Hey :wink: You already voted for January (please see my previous comments about this, lol).

I see you have changed these:

  • OUT = Beaver > IN = 737 600
  • OUT = TBM930 > IN = Islander

I will do this for this time, but PLEASE GUYS, ONLY 1 VOTE PER MONTH :smiley:
It takes me so much longer to cross-reference and check everything otherwise. Thanks!

3400

Nice! And, your first impressions?

3401

Iā€™m A bit rusty on the fmc operations but itā€™s awesome, Iā€™m going to have get a new touch screen monitor so I can read what Iā€™m doing on the fmc without doing camera work by flying with two monitors in the future itā€™s so nice having aircraft I can fly with my Logitech flight yoke again

1 Like
3402

How could you suggest leaving off the Chipmunk!!! Grrr :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

1 Like