AP is a tool, learning to use it effectively can also be an interesting challenge. Sometimes I fly short A320 flights without use of the autopilot at all (the Fenix flies so nicely on its fly by wire system) but usually I have it on in the flight levels because there’s no interesting challenge to hand flying in cruise. In small GA planes I usually trim them for hands off flight rather than use autopilot, but again sometimes the AP is just nicer.
The H145 autopilot is great because I can stick it on hover and enjoy checking out nicely made POI without having it shaking all over the screen!
I did a Fokker f28 flight last night and found out My pc does not have the updated gaming bar that measures fps because I never really used that setting
I’m finally at that point where choosing the top 10 is getting seriously difficult. I understand the notion of ‘recency bias’ playing a part in choices for me, but I think I can mitigate that to some extent in my own mind. For example, I’ve relegated the Vision Jet this month, not because I think it doesn’t hold up any longer, I think it’s superb, but my flying preferences have changed and I just don’t ever jump in it any more.
Bought the FI P-38 last week and have been having an absolute blast in it. I had a model of it when I was a kid but I can’t say I’ve ever cared for the airframe as such in terms of aesthetics, but the interior is lovely. It flies like a dream and I had great fun on my second flight dogfighting with a spit over Duxford. The quality of FlyingIron’s work has been mentioned many times here in this forum and I cannot fault them as devs, absolute top class. Really looking forward to their Hunter and B-17 too, but I need quite a long development cycle for these so I can to grips with purchase number two, which is…
…the Vulcan. Oh my life, what a change and a challenge for me this is. It shouldn’t fit my profile at all, but from the moment I found out about it, I knew I would buy it. I will caveat that by saying the fact that Just Flight developed it meant it would be an instant purchase, if it had been by some other devs it wouldn’t have been on my radar. Without the depth that JF brought to this, it just wouldn’t have appealed.
The graphics are outstanding, the aural quality is phenomenal and the learning curve is steeper (for me) than the recent rises in inflation. I really like that it flies like nothing else I’ve tried and there is such a lot to learn that it will take me months to be comfortable with it. But, you can also get it setup using the tablet for a quick flight and it’s quite easy to fly (in a staid manner of course, don’t want to spill my cup of tea balancing on the centre console). Yes, there are some initial ‘quirks’, such as the camera settings for accessing the different stations (likely to be changed by the sound of it), but this is part and parcel of a brand new add-on. The whole package, which includes the manual and of course the price, is outstanding in my opinion and I hope JF sell a ton of them.
New list in no order:
Just Flight - Vulcan
Flying Iron - P-38
Just Flight - Turbo Arrow
SWS - Kodiak
Flying Iron - Spitfire Mk IXc
FS Reborn - Sting S4
Just Flight - Hawk T1
Carenado - V35
Flyboy Simulations - Rans S6S
Got Friends - Wilga
Yea the Vulcan is epic innit. Only done one flight so far but it was memorable.
Thing is I realised yesterday that I fly so many planes that aren’t in my Top 10. The Vulcan won’t make it in either but goes to show how many great choices we have in our virtual hangars now!
In fact in the last month I probably only flew 2 of my Top 10 (Wilga and Commy). Still having tons of fun!
I actually (sadly) keep a note app on my phone/desktop (exclusive to MSFS) to remind me of things to fly that I haven’t for a while. That’s what I’ve been working through recently
Yeah, my personal notes checklist app is handy for my brain that can’t keep up. It also has things that come up which I need to do/fix/test before I forget those too.
Yup, completely understand. I usually try to restrict myself with new aircraft until I’ve really delved into the last purchase, but the timing of the sale and the release of the Vulcan coincided.
I usually have them ready and waiting for a sale for the ones I know I’m going to fly, but then you get on kicks, really wish I had a management system in the hangar. I hadn’t flown the 182T in a LONG time, flew it once after the patch a few months back and was ‘wow-definitely better’, now I find myself in it a LOT. I think it might have been the first one I bought.
Only stinker I’ve bought in a while is the MU, what a bummer that thing is.
I went through a stage of buying seaplanes and flying boats and seaplane ports and addon airports near water and was hanging out for an Empire series or a Catalina.
Actually I likely would still buy an Empire Series or Catalina but have moved on from sea planes.
These days I fly mainly fly ether bi-planes like the Jungman (massively better after recent patches) or Tiger Moth but otherwise some other GA, mainly Comanche and TBM 850 and am hanging out for the Golden Age Stearrman collection.
The 145 AP is good & a pretty unique experience - transitioning in & out of manual flight in that bird is quite rough, so its the one I don’t fly by hand. The 160 is oddly more refined, but it’s better to fly completely raw (ap/sas all out - try it ) than the 145 so it’s not overly surprising. Saw someone flying the Lama, compared to the XP12 one I have, not touching that with a bargepole.
And talking of seeng people flying things… after some time watching the Vulcan, not touching that with a bargepole either which makes me extremely sad. F-28, revised Hawk ( fortunately I still have the public beta to put back ), revised PA28s and now this, what the hell. I just hope no-one decides to try “upgrading” the 146 fm - there are a couple of minor issues but leave it alone so it doesn’t pick up major issues. Super shaky on the RJ now. Much sadness.
Still after a comanche level of good feelings in a stol bird.
Yes please! Any idea if A2A ever made anything like that in previous sims? I think they go with larger aircraft, don’t they? Any idea what they are planning to send us next?
Flown by Roly Falk, what were they exoecting with a name like that! he got a slapped wrist for “performing maneuvers unbecomng of a bomber” or something. It’s another F28 for me, looks excellent, sounds amazing, tremendous systems work, first time I bank it the immersion break is enough to make me alt-f4. I have enough hangar queens.
The Lama seens a lot of what I dislike in msfs helicopters, and compared to the one I already have it just doesn’t seem to have it.
My a2a contact doesn’t trust me enough, but to be fair he doesn’t trust people he knows far better either so I don’t feel bad
Found it… It was a conflict in GPS mods. It came with the TDS and PMS both installed, and I have the full PMS… Figured it out when I jumped in another plane.
I sadly wasn’t able to spend a lot of time in the sim over the last few months and missed to update my list last month. There are so many awesome aircraft in the sim, that I’m having a harder time picking my top 10 each time. So, here is my newest attempt:
Flying Irons Spitfire Mk.IX: It’s extremely close to perfect. It’s so much fun to fly, the sounds are fantastic and it’s great to have warbirds with systems depth to them.
Blackbirds FG-1D Corsair: Still my favorite aircraft once in the air. However, I feel like it lost some of its character/realism with the last update. I don’t like that the temperatures rise into the green immediately after startup and that you don’t need trim at takeoff anymore.
Inibuilds Saab B-17: I think this is Inibuilds best aircraft so far. The visual model is fantastic and it’s enjoyable to fly. It’s an aircraft I never expected to see in the sim and it’s another one I can’t stop flying.
Flight Replicas Spitfire Mk I: I’m glad that we’ve now got a number of Spitfire variants in the sim. I think visually this is so far the most complete/complex model. When it comes to systems depth it doesn’t come close to Flying Irons Mk.IX, but it’s still a lot of fun and I’ve flown it quite a bit so far.
Taog’s Hangar SA315B Lama: This is the best helicopter I’ve tried so far. I really enjoyed the Alouette, but the Lama is just one step above it when it comes to the level of detail. I’ve already got more time in it than any other helicopter and after a lot of practice and great advice from @belatu42 I’m finally able to start and finish my landing in the same zip-code.
Got Friends FM-2 Wildcat: I haven’t flown it a lot this month, but it’s always fun to recreate Greg Sheltons steep climb out after takeoff and his vertical 8 maneuver. The Wildcat is extremely well done and one of the best value for money warbirds out there.
Honorable Mentions:
Hellcat: This is the first time it hasn’t made the list, but just because I only flew it once this month. It’s still one of my favorites.
Vulcan: This has to be one of the best planes available in the sim. I can’t wait to learn its systems.
Husky: Over the last few months, I really enjoyed taking it up for short 10-15 min trips.
Some more would be the RV-10 & RV-14, Commanche, Wilga, Porter, P-40N, P-40F, Alouette, …
DC Designs F-14 (looking forward to the Heatblur one)
Black Square Analog King Air
FlyingIron Sptifire
Changes: Added = Lama, F-35, Spitfire; Removed = Comanche, Osprey, DoubleEnder. I recently acquired the four FlyingIron aircraft in the Black Friday sale. Still getting used to them to see which I really like best, so I put the Spit in as a placeholder, as it was the one that I liked the most on my first flights.
You do love your warbirds! Thanks for the capsule reviews.
Of your list, the P-38 has been on my wishlist for quite a while. I’ll probably pick it up over the holidays.
The F4F-4 Wildcat is simply fantastic! I bought the Lexington at the same time and really enjoy how the plane enables catapult launches and arrested landings. It’s also pretty nimble, although it’s roll rate is not super high. I also love being able to trim on all three axis and how the two stage blower is simulated. Got Friends did a great job.
On the Wildcat - turned well rolled poorly, poor performance at altitude:
Admiral John Thach (developed the Thatch Weave)
In connection with the performance of the Zero fighter, any success we
had against the Zero is not due to performance of the plane we fly, but is
the result of the comparatively poor marksmanship on the part of the
Japanese stupid mistakes by a few of their pilots and superior
marksmanship and teamwork on the part of some of our pilots…
Roger Habermane (VM-121 flew with Joe Foss)
…we’d work like hell to get to to climb to 23,000-24,000 feet. At that altitude when you malke a turn you lose 1,000 ft, and its very easy to stall out. In theory the F4F had a higher service ceiling but not in practice. You’d look up and there sit the Japs at 30,000 ft looking right down at your gazoo. A real fun time. You couldn’t get that bird much higher than 24,000: not you, not Jesus, nobody. The bird Wouldn’t go any higher.
Admiral Nimitz to Admiral King sent on 20 June 1942:
ALL AIR COMBAT REPORTS BATTLE OF MIDWAY EMPHASIZE EXTREME
AND APPARENTLY INCREASED SUPERIORITY PERFORMANCE OF ZERO FIGHTERS ALTHOUGH THESE PLANES ARE MORE VULNERABLE THAN OURS THE PRIMARY SOURCE OF ANY COMBAT SUCCESSES TO DATE BY NAVY FIGHTING PLANES HAS BEEN OWN EXPERT TACTICS OPPOSED TO FAULTY ENEMY TACTICS OVERALL RESULTS HAVE BEEN BAD AND WILL BE SERIOUS AND POTENTIALLY DECISIVE WITH IMPROVEMENT THAT MUST BE EXPECTED IN ENEMY TACTICS
CONSIDER ACTION ALL OF FOLLOWING LINES TO BE OF HIGHEST IMPORTANCE PROVIDE P-40F PLANES OR COMPARABLE TYPE FOR ALL MARINE FIGHTING SQUADRONS ASSIGNED TO OUTLYING BASES IF P-40F OR COMPARABLE TYPE CAN BE MODIFIED FOR AIRCRAFT CARRIER OPERATIONS PROVIDE THESE PLANES FOR CARRIER FIGHTING SQUADRONS TAKE ANY POSSIBLE STEPS TO LIGHTEN F4F4 AND INCREASE AMMUNITION CAPACITY EVEN AT COST OF REDUCTION IN NUMBER OF GUNS X GIVE ABSOLUTE PRIORITY TO PRODUCTION AND DELIVERY NEW F4U FIGHTERS
If I had to pick between the Wildcat & the Hellcat it’d be the Hellcat every time. The Wildcat is a pretty nice model but it just feels rather generic to fly out of the box, and I’ve found it easy to put it in situations that completely break physics - to be clear it’s not the only a/c you can provoke like that but as it’s aerobatic the situations will arise more. Engjne management seems more detailed in the FI effort. The Hellcat is almost in my top aircraft list, so far I think it’s FI’s best work. The 109 might actually be the best technically, but I’m just not a fan of 109s.
