So many good plane and helicopter, so hard to choose. Here in no particular order:
Taog Lama - It is fun, it is nimble, it can spray, the bubble door is amazing
H145 - Missions (Built in and the ones with SayIntentions, just a great fit as an SAR helicopter), and a modern Avionics helicpter with all the autopilot you wish to have for the missions,
COWS DA40 - Definitively pushed the Comanche away as my favorite piston aircraft.
Flying Fries Gabriel - An amazing VFR sightseeing aircraft, and looks soooo sleek
COWS DA42 - Higher and Faster than the DA40.. with ice capabilities. My main IFR plane
Blackbird PC-6 - My all-time love as a big, versatile bush plane.
Cowansim R22 - have to keep the helicopter Skills sharp
Zlin Norden - Bushflying for the win
Reims Rocket FR172 - When I feel like analog cockpit - Freeware!
JxT Bell 505 - Not the greates model or Avionics, but I like it somehow, and also: Freeware!
Iām finally settled in on MSFS 2024 and retired from 2020. Slowly but surely porting over my 2020 payware planes to 2024 as built a new computer specifically for 2024. My first top 10 in quite a while, and one thing Iāve noticed is that now in my flight sim career Iām enjoying āhand flightā a lot more whereas in 2020 I was like, āglass and great avionics or I donāt fly itā. That has had a big impact on my top 10 as now Iām gravitating to planes with less sophisticated navs and more hand flying. I think it is in part due to the graphical improvements with 2024 where Iām sightseeing a lot more. Donāt have 10 aircraft as this is 2024 only list and havenāt flown 80% of the planes available to me (also have a number of 2020 planes that I need to port over):
1. Got Friends Wilga. Iāve finally managed to learn how to land this thing. Just great views from the cockpit, feels authentic and fun.
3. A2A Comanche. The Comanche historically hasnāt been high on my list, not because it isnāt a great plane, but because I didnāt like the lack of vertical nav. But now Iām really enjoying it and just hand flying and using trim to climb or descend. Just feels so authentic and works pretty well in 2024.
4. Flysimware Cessna 414. I actually didnāt fly this much in 2020 because I had some bug that caused the engine to act strangely, but flies great in 2024 so super happy about that. So easy to fly and land.
5. Default Asobo G2 roto. Unfortunately hasnāt been easy porting over a few of my payware 2020 helicopters to 2024. Thus Iām getting my helicopter fix with the G2. The exterior seems a little cartoony but I enjoy the simplicity and I can land and fly it pretty easily. Great for sightseeing and under 30 minute flights.
6. SWS Kodiak 100. A perennial top 10 plane for me. Only reason I donāt fly it a ton is because I have to change up my hardware to yoke and throttle quadrant, so usually a weekend plane for me when I have time and motivation.
**7. Default 2024 Vision Jet. ** I have the payware 2020 version but not sure if it is worth it to port over? Iāve been playing around a little bit with the default vision jet.
No changes from March for me in Aprilāsticking with my current list.
BlackSquare Duke - Absolutely amazing, especially the piston if you have a thing for sounds and details. The turbine is also excellent ā definitely buy it in the bundle.
Fenix A320 (incl. A319/A321) - What are you doing if you havenāt bought this yet?
A2A Comanche - Same as the Fenix, what are you doing?!
Inibuilds A350 - A bit controversial, but the A350 has a special place in my heart. The launch was rough, but itās fundamentally a good plane that I really enjoy.
COWS DA-40 XLS - My go-to for VFR. Iām currently working on my license IRL, and I always return to the DA-40 when I want to practice procedures.
Just Flight RJ Professional - Wow! Had me hooked for a long time, and I keep coming back. Just Flight is simply brilliant when it comes to detail work.
PMDG 777F - Iām an Airbus guy at heart, so I ignored PMDG for too long. The triple-seven (mostly cargo for me) was my go-to in 2020 for long-haul, and Iām waiting for the 2024 port.
BlackSquare TBM 850 - BlackSquare just doesnāt disappoint. Even though the Dukes are better, the TBM 850 is the best single-prop.
FSW C414 Chancellor - Great plane, but itās been replaced by the Dukes.
SWS Kodiak - A lot of fun, perfect for a nature getaway.
Iām currently on the lookout for something new to dive intoāconsidering the JF Hawk, though military stuff isnāt usually my thing. Got any hot tips? Let me know! I am really looking forward to the A2A Aerostar and the BlackSquare Starship.
The Just Flight T1/A Hawk is pretty decent again now. Not perfect, but enjoyable and quite solid. Great sounds, and a nice feel of inertia to it - also it is quite āhands-onā and organic compared to more computerised mil jets.
The Heatblur / IFE F-14 Tomcat is amazing through and through. A lot of nice features, seriously top quality 3D and texture modelling (eye-poppingly photorealistic - I think itās the best cockpit in the sim or at least equal best). And itās also nice and hands-on where you can feel the limits nicely (especially with force feedback stick should you have one of those).
The AzurPoly Fouga Magister CM.170 is lovely too. Much slower top speed (300-400 range), but very progressive and smooth to fly. Nice visibility and I love the way it looks externally. IMO this is the nicest aircraft to land in the whole sim. Not sure how they managed it but it is so beautifully controllable on touch-down. I think it needs some tweaks for 2024 still as it has a couple of glitches but nothing major (reflections in the glass canopy are way too strong, and I am sure it used to be able to travel faster) but itās still lovely and satisfying to fly.
The Just Flight Avro Vulcan is something rather special too, which you may enjoy for āsomething differentā. Itās an experience that is for sure!!
My āso called friendsā ( ) are pushing me to buy the following, which they say are REALLY good too so you may want to look into those!
AzurPoly Sepecat Jaguar, Top Mach T7A Red Hawk, Shrike F-86 Sabre, Miltech M2K (Mirage 2000), Bristol 188 (aka Flaming Pencil - very fast!).
I am really looking forward to the upcoming F-4 Phantom by Heatblur, the F-16 by Heatblur (in collaboration with IndiaFoxtEcho) and the Rafale by AzurPoly.
Or maybe an older Warbird is more your thing? You canāt go wrong with ANY of the Flying Iron aircraft!
It is very skewed. People that complete that survey use Navigraph so of course Airliners are 92.2%! I donāt believe that overall in the slightest.
Marketplace usage dropped - well, there wasnāt a (2024) marketplace for the best part of half a year and even now itās not in great shape. It worries me that MS donāt prioritise this as an income stream to support the ongoing costs TBH.
I find it really weird that 98% of people only fly in their own country continent! There is a whole world out there to discover and see things you donāt normally see. Strange!
I can second the recommendation of the Hawk (really enjoyable after update), F-14, Vulcan and Magister. I woul just like to add the Indiafoxtecho Tornado to the group. Very well modelled and fun to fly over the treetops.
Also the Mirage 2000 is great, but a bit new in avionics for my taste.
Looking forward to the FlyingIron Hunter (and the F-4) later this year.
I was really thinking about Flying Iron, as I love addons with awesome sounds. But with the sound, the Vulcan is also a good option i saw in a youtube vid. Besides military, any recommendations in GA which are not the obvious ones (like BKSQ, Chancellor, A2A,..)?
As a german, i need to take a look on the Tornado! Is it good to learn and fly? What are you guys usually do with these military planes? Flying from A to B isnāt the daily business right? Do you simulate some missions? And if so, is there a good source for these āmissionsā?
As to the percentage of airliners, I agree that it is very skewed. I also wonder how they worded the question, as I missed taking the survey. Was it an either/or option or did they leave enough nuance in the question(s) to allow some variation. For example, I probably fly GA and airliners 50/50, but depending on how they worded things or constructed the survey, that might skew my answers.
As for the continent question, with my World Tour project, I get a fair amount of flying in other places but I do enjoy exploring North America as well for a couple reasons: it remains familiar and comfortable while also giving me the opportunity to see places I may never get the chance to explore in person (or to return to places that I have loved exploring in the past in order to compare IRL memories and the sim).
Not so obvious GA? CAS Cub is like the low & slow version of the Comanche, feels so realistic.
FS Reborn also make exceptional ultra light aircraft in the Sting & TL3000.
Iāve never known too much what to do with military aircraft but picked up the Hawk after watching a lot of cgaviators videos and have already got my moneys worth attempting low level navigation procedures.
For the German twist the Heinkel from Captain Sim(!) is absolutely gorgeous.
I have tried to provide some suggestions which will give you a completely different experience to what you already have.
The Tornado is great, also for learning. I often take out a Marineflieger out of Jagel/Schleswig and cruise along the German and Danish coast keeping the altitude below 250 ft at mach 1,2. Taking it round the Mach Loop in Wales is also fun as well as taking some tours around Luftwaffeās historical training grounds in Labrador, Canada.
Also in the Royal Saudi Airforce camo take a high speed tour along the Red Sea mountain ranges. Go fast and stay low!
I think all you need to do is download the PDF charts from the āSolutionā link in post 1 and look at like 25-75 positions for all the good GAās that arenāt the obvious candidates
This would be a great scenario for myself, as I am living at the german northsea and know this airspace pretty well.. Maybe this could really be something new for me.
My Top 10 for this month are all for MSFS2024. Iāve purchased a few new Aircraft and a Helicopter thanks to this thread and recommendations from some friends.
Flying Fries - Blackshape BK160-TR Gabriel - My first Glass Cockpit purchase. Love this plane. A joy to fly! The Dev is fantastic at keeping it updated.
Taogās Hanger - UH-U1 Huey - This by far is the best helicopter I have ever bought. The sounds are so so good. Will be purchasing more from this developer very soon! (Hopefully in the Holiday Sales)
Pilot Experience Sim -Maule Air M7-235 - This is an awesome bush plane that has the speed you need for doing those longer trips.
FlyingIron - Spitfire Mk IXc - What an aircraft! Takes some skill to take off and land, but its a joy to fly. Sounds are amazing too!
A2A Simulations - Piper PA-24-250 - Finally works properly in FS24 now. Happy to be back flying it.
Asobo - Cessna 152 - Still the best Cessna in the whole wide world IMO
PMDG - Douglas DC-6A - Still getting my monies worth out this classic bird.
Microsoft/Carenado - Cessna 404 Titan - My go to twin for those longer flights.
CAS - Piper J3C-65 Cub - Still the best plane for checking out PG scenery.
Asobo - North American Aviation T-6 Texan - Great plane, nice cockpit and nice sounds, brilliant flying this in canyons.
Thanks once again @Baracus250 for all your hard work and helping me to spend my money on Aircraft I havenāt yet regretted purchasing
The Got Friends Wilga is definitively great, but what do we think about the sounds? I donāt think it sounds anything like the real thing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl3xmKSZwm0 This is the one thing Iāve always felt is a bit off. A radial should stutter and cough, but in the sim itās way too smooth and muted.
Would it be possible to make one change on my Top 10 submission this month please?
I would like to swap No. 8 the Cessna 404 Titan to my latest and probably my best purchase yet. The AzurPoly SEPECAT Jaguar. It can go in the 8th position, but Iām pretty sure itās soon going to be in my āTop 5 of all time aircraftā
Only had it for a couple of hours, but this is one plane thatās going to get a huge amount of flight time.
) are pushing me to buy the following, which they say are REALLY good too so you may want to look into those!
