I do like the slow n’ low analog and the Stage 1. Stage 2 is okay but the GG Savage Carbon is better at that point. I culled my wall of Fox down to 4: to the Comp, the Slow Analog, Stage1 and Fox2(one of the THREE duplicated Stage 2’s-5 including analogs). Dumped the extra analogs and S2 and the FFox. The Base wasn’t that bad of a deal. Had to goof around to get analog in stand-alone L&S/Comp.
If it can sustain 145kt, cutting power should feel like a McLaren braking.
out of curiousity – What bugs did you report on the JF Tomahawk?
Well it certainly has been a long time.
Last week I reinstalled the sim again, after unplayable framerates and related frustrations a couple of months ago.
I installed just a couple of world and city updates and framerates were back to normal.
To my big surprise, i saw this week that the 777 would be released and decided to buy it upon release. I never flew it before and also never intended to, but as a first study level longhauler in the hangaer, I think its a great start.
So, what is the first thing to do after a succesfull inauguration flight:
Update the top 10 list…
So here we go:
NEW LIST
OLD LIST
You can find my detailed discription of this back in this topic.
Two new additions for me this month:
The //42 Kitfox received the new WT G3X and a number of other improvements. I always wanted to love the Freedom Fox, but it never really worked for me. Now with the updated avionics and flight model. I totally love it! Yes, it is hard to control on takeoff, but a lot easier to land close to stall speed.
And then there is the absolutely fabulous new Huey from Taog’s Hangar. Low level flying in a helicopter never felt so right 
I am really tempted by the new Blackbird T6A, but don’t have much time to fly anyway. Also interested in the two new FlyInside helicopters, which should literally release any minute now. They are small single seaters, not really my cup of tea, but I am sure FlyInside have done a great job simulating them.
Absolutely. Getting both if they are out by the weekend!
Just to correct you though. They are “single crew”, not single seaters. They have passenger. One is side by side, the other is tandem. Or maybe both side by side actually!
Wonder if they’re going to Blue Thunder that thing
Sometimes an update can make an old plane new again and many of my favorites this month made the list because of a great update. The 414, the S4 Sting, the Kit Fox all made it out of the hangar because of an update and then, they just kept being flown.
Anyway, it has been a while since I wrote a too long top 10 in here, because it takes all month to test all the planes again and review them. Here are my top 10 and the others that were close enough to the top ten to get a write up before my final decision.
Top 10 Planes
A2A Comanche: The used, old bird I had been flying for months finally had an engine failure in air. Thankfully I was above a lake bed and was able to make a hard but survivable landing. Wheels up. Had to replace 3 cylinders, the crank, the prop, and perhaps a few other things. Was a spectacular failure in air. She now runs almost like new and I miss that old chug from 3 aging cylinders.
Just one more excellent story to add to the myriad reasons this plane is so brilliant.
SWS Kodiak/Floatiak: Best all around plane in sim. Can go anywhere. Land anywhere. Take off from anywhere. And it does it in style. This is my literal fly around the world tourer. An older addon at this point but it holds up, looks beautiful and has seen some brilliant updates. Has more flight hours than any other plane I own. It still logs a ton of hours. And the Kodiak has spent the most time on top of my list.
Cessna 310: Freaking brilliant. This is one of the few addon planes that just feels alive. A LOT of character in this bird. Gets better with each update. For a long while was my favorite plane in sim. Still one of my desert island picks. Study level yet fun. I mean it gets dirty as you fly it! I have a LOT of hours in this plane. I do wish PMS50 would be implemented for Xbox.
FSR TL Ultralight Sting S4: After the last update this bird makes it back on my list and lands pretty high up. So much of what I love about the Comanche but in a modern package. You feel very small in the air. Yet capable and technologically sound. A parachute in case things go bad. Also, I am on XBOX now and this last update brings the PMS50 GTN 750 to this plane! I truly hope other devs will follow FSW and FSR’s lead and bring this option over. It is just a wonderful glass cockpit and can update so many old planes. Also this update brings the new, WT G3X. Amazing feeling of air around the plane. Almost as good as A2A at this but within the Asobo flight engine. I am quite surprised and I am so happy I picked this one back up after many months. It is now one I fly frequently.
FSW Cessna 414: A wonderful plane. Feels strong and capable in the air. Feels good to hand fly. Updated to include the PMS50 on Xbox where you cannot buy or otherwise get the freeware version of the PMS50 addon. It must be included with the plane but it works, at least as of SU15 it seems! For now, only a couple planes have it so it makes the PMS50 414 pretty unique in my hangar. Glass I otherwise wouldn’t get to use. Really works well with the rest of the steam cockpit. Places the 414 squarely on my list for the first time in ages. Always a solid plane but overshadowed in my hangar by the 310 that just feels so much more alive. But now with this updated glass it starts to occupy a new role in my hangar and fly more miles. While I still wait for a fast turboprop on Xbox as deep and stable as this, it will get hours. Wish it had failures.
Vision Jet: I freaking love this plane. Fairly simple to learn the G3000 and also a true delight to hand fly. It always feels like an accomplishment automating the plane to basically do everything for you. But again, she hand flys so brilliantly well, you almost don’t want to automate things.
Ant’s Tiger Moth: Just a delight to hand fly. Still my favorite biplane in sim. Slow and brilliant. I love barnstorming cities and airports in this. You just quickly get a sense of what you can and cannot do in this plane and start flying by feel. Truly brilliant. And an AP in the tablet for those times when you must take your hands off the controls. So many features for a simple plane. Few get this kind of detailed love.
Carenado Mooney M20R Ovation: The only Carenado plane I love and it is back on my list after a long absence. It is just a ridiculously component and unique GA plane with a couple wonderful advanced features, a really good flight model, plane feels weighty and slick so the air brakes get some real use. Built in the spirit of American WWII fighters and American muscle cars. Delightful old school analog cockpit with an old Garmin and a fun AP. Not as fully featured as some addons but this was one of the first planes sold for MSFS and wow does it hold up and work well with any number of hardware configurations today. Pretty darn fast plane for a single prop piston. And here’s the thing. If you own and love the A2A Comanche, you have at one time or another wished for a faster, stronger, more technologically sound… just a better Comanche. The Mooney fills that void. A much sportier, more advanced, nicer Comanche style plane. Sportier and more advanced than the Turbo Arrow. It takes the training wheels off. It goes so fast for a single engine NA piston. Just a really good airplane from a maker that should be remembered and respected. This Carenado plane works where their others can feel bland. I wish I could put my finger on why it outshines their others. I bet they do too!
//42 Kit Fox/Freedom Fox Package: Just a brilliant update this last month with an analog version of all models now. The Low and Slow analog is quickly becoming my favorite. Even though the more powerful options are fun they can be a bit OP. And it has the new G3X! So much harder to go nose over after this last update. Ground modeling is more realistic. Once the tail is up, rotate! A true fair weather friend. Not a winter bird. Comes with a tent. Hard to find faults at this point.
Got Friends Edgley Optica: Weird, slow, low power, views for days, a cat and/or a dog as your copilot. I love this odd plane especially over the UK or other places near sea level. It likes the thicker air. Full autopilot. Quite rare for a Got Friends plane and part of the reason I love it. So many of the quirkiest planes lack this feature. This plane has views for days and feels more like a helicopter because of how the cockpit sits. Everything about this plane is weird but it is as fully featured as one would ever need and easy enough to figure out. Can fly SO slow. Also feels underpowered in a somewhat scary way. Like, you feel what this plane wants to be with another 50-100 HP. It makes it extra fun to fly. You just take in the scenery differently in this plane. Truly unique.
And the rest…
Got Friends Wilma: OMG I haven’t flown this in months and it is so much better than I remember. Excellent to hand fly. Really wonderful air feel, it always feels like it is flying through atmosphere. Brilliant bush plane. My favorite bush piston. 2nd overall bush plane to the Kodiak. (Written before the Kit Fox update.)
Heatblur/IFT F-14 Tomcat: A perfect balance of fun and study level. Such a cool plane. Approachable enough to figure out. Advanced enough to go deep. And a flat spin in it is surreal, as is Jester ejecting because your flying wasn’t to their liking. Favorite war jet in sim right now. I don’t own a ton of them.
MilViz/Blackbird Pilatus Porter: Slow, rugged turboprop that has aged like a fine wine. One of the most underrated planes available on MSFS. If you have it, take it up again. If you don’t, take a look at it.
Militech V-22 Osprey: Flawed but fun and weird. Far from perfect but it looks great and does things other planes can not. I enjoy this bird far more than I am annoyed by it. But it seems the SDK limits a LOT. For now at least. So, kinda a toy plane. But a fun one.
FSR500: Everything I want in a plane. Just not quite polished to my liking. But this last update gets it so close. This could climb my list in the coming months. Fast turboprop. Modern cockpit. Failures. Wear and tear. It is so close to clicking for me. But I still have some issues on Xbox.
SWS PC-12: A no frills, fast turboprop that just works. Wish it had damage and failures but she is just a really good bird. Big but not huge. Like a van. A fast van. I fly this quite a lot even though I wish it was deeper. Like the FSR500, this is close but just doesn’t quite feel there yet. If they combined what each does best, you would have a near perfect plane.
Flying Iron Hellcat: My favorite WWII era warbird so far. The Spitfire is the more popular choice and by far the prettier plane. But I prefer the flight envelope of the Hellcat. All Flying Iron’s planes are pretty much of equal quality. Then we all pick a favorite.
IFT F-35: A great take on a modern warbird, and fun to hover. Not a lot to say here. I just like it. Lets me get my GTA on.
Other planes: I have too many planes and just don’t get to fly everything to re-evaluate them to my liking every month. Some newer planes are occupying my time. Some old gems reemerged. So no DC 6. No beloved Goose. No H-Jet. No Spitfire.
I like your whole list, which has me thinking once again about the Cessna 310. The thing about it is, this particular add on is never on sale and I’m one of those spikes on last weekend’s marketplace PowerPoint that only buys during sales. I was so sure it was going to go on sale during the top rated aircraft sale that I began studying the manual before the sale even started.
I already can guess the answer to this, but at this late stage in the development of this add on and of 2020, is this thing still worth the full price? ($52 Canadian)
To me, it is my second favorite plane for feeling alive.
The Canadian exchange is rough. But if you are looking for something complex and GA between A2A releases, that is my favorite plane (BlackBox is not yet out on Xbox to compare).
It has as many bells and whistles as A2A, they are just different. Comanche just has that AccuSim flight model that we all love so much.
You could wait several months for the A2A Aerostar but this is such a good, tricky, surprisingly low powered twin.
Love that bird.
I’m going to get the Aerostar the minute it hits the marketplace because Accu-sim. But is that plane in the same class as the 310? I don’t know much about planes but I get the feeling that they’re in two different size classes? Like the Aerostar may be something you take charter passengers in while the 310 is more of a personal twin like a DA62? Is that accurate? (Trying desperately to justify having both)
Yes, that is accurate. The 310 is surprisingly low powered and doesn’t have the same flight envelope.
I pulled this from Co-pilot:
Let’s compare the Piper Aerostar 600 and the Cessna 310 in terms of their specifications and capabilities. Below is a concise table summarizing key details:
Table
| Aspect | Piper Aerostar 600 | Cessna 310 |
|---|---|---|
| Role | Light transport aircraft | Twin-engine cabin monoplane |
| Manufacturer | Piper Aircraft Corporation | Cessna |
| First Flight | 1967 | January 3, 1953 |
| Engines | 2x 290 hp Lycoming IO-540-K | 2x 285 hp Continental IO-520-MB |
| Seats | Up to 5 passengers | 4-6 passengers |
| Length | 34 ft 10 in | 32 ft |
| Wingspan | 34 ft 2 in | 36 ft 9 in |
| Height | 12 ft 1 in | 10 ft 7 in |
| Empty Weight | 3,737 lbs | 3,358 lbs |
| MTOW | 5,500 lbs | 5,500 lbs |
| Max Speed | 261 knots (483 km/h) | 178 knots (330 km/h) |
| Range | Up to 1,200 nautical miles | 870 nautical miles |
| Service Ceiling | 21,200 ft | 20,000 ft |
| Rate of Climb | 1,800 ft/min | 1,700 ft/min |
Both aircraft have their unique strengths, and the choice between them depends on specific mission requirements. The Aerostar 600 offers higher speed and a longer range, while the Cessna 310 provides a comfortable cabin and reliable performance. Remember that these are just highlights, and further details can be explored based on specific needs.
The big difference that would jump out at me between the two would be the location of the engines. The visibility down and to the side will be much better in the Aerostar due to the engines being aft of the cockpit.
I am not sure how much difference there is because I have not sat in the cockpit of an Aerostar but just looking at pictures, that stands out to me.
How can the Aerostar be 47 % faster with virtually the same engine power?
Shorter, thinner wings. Swept-back empennage. Slimmer fuselage.
That all adds up to less drag. And at high speeds drag is proportional to the square of velocity. A lot more power is required to push a box through the air at 200 kts than a pencil.
Well, it’s been a minute! December actually 
Old:
New
)These have been the only birds I’ve flown since my December update!
I’m flying with the TTM Firefly VA and it’s been great for groups, messing about, and VATSIM. But I find the slower C414 a hindrance when VATSIM group flying, so have re-acquainted myself with the PMDG for that reason.
14 years of technology making it more aerodynamic.
Wow, that makes a huge difference!
Wow that will fill a big gap in my available envelopes
I think I mentioned it in the other thread - the big real life attraction of the Aerostar was turboprop performance out of a piston twin.
While turbo props require maintenance less often and have less failures, when they eventually do require overhaul it can be bank-breaking expensive if anything is wrong. Also you can pick up a pair of Lycoming for the Aerostar for a few hundred thousand whereas replacing two PT6A will not leave much change from $US2 million.
TLDR - Aerostar needs more ongoing maintenance however when things do go seriously wrong the Lycomings are much cheaper to overhaul, or replace, than the PT6A you get in equivalent turboprops.
