It’s nice to see that the Twin Otter gets some love here. It’s easy to get the impression that it’s a bad aircraft because of some loud and obnoxious forum members that does nothing but complain all day.
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Liking it, but it gets some leeway because it’s a Twin Otter, and people love that aircraft no matter what.
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Good point about updating our choices. If that happens or anyone wants to do that I will unwind the original choices and put new ones into the list, so the old choices drop down the overall order.
I’ll make a note at the top to remind people to tell me if it’s not their first post 
Any airliner (once payware out); until that-
1000+ hrs in the sim and 900+ with the a32nx. GA maybe (maybe!) reaches 5 hours.
There are a lot of us, however key things are not really implemented or missing compared to the competitors’. That’s a big backdraw, trust me. But that’s a different story, let’s just cheer we’re all here
Finally flew everything I have except the airliners, hard to pick 5 though.
#1: Kodiak 100, EVERYTHING is great about this aircraft, even like taxiing. Could talk about it for hours, but ‘Everything’ should almost cover it.
#2: C172 Steam split 50/50 Floats and Standard. Just so well done, always wanting a little more speed, always left wanting a little more climb. Just like a real 172. It is like your favorite pair of shoes for kickin around the yard and house that your wife can’t stand.
#3 TBM 930. Kind of shrugged it off at first, but really just a wonderful aircraft, the more time you spend in it the better it gets. With pretty standard TP throttle quadrant settings(same I use for Kodiak-only added shut-down as a specific ‘button’ on the condition detent) and that H-gate works perfectly. If the CJ4 was sorted properly, I probably would of never fell in love with it, now I don’t want anything to do with jets, except maybe an old school 35-would kind of want it to feel like I bought a used jet that I shouldn’t have… My current fast mover, and fast enough in this new photogrammetry world.
#4 Ziln Shock Ultra, I don’t fly it all that much, but for when I’m not trying to go anywhere but stupidland, this never disappoints. And an included aircraft with those pulleys behind you, pretty fantastic! Can’t believe it’s my top 5 considering the time in other airframes but it’s all smiles when I’m in the mood for bouncing off of a river in a canyon, ‘I don’t NEED a license to fly this, do I?’.
#5 G36, always solid, good flight model, totally honest GA hero. Kind of when I sit down and decide that this round is just going to be a ‘proper serious’ GA flight.
So many other stars, my other ‘excellent’ aircraft(some hurt to not include)
-G58
-All XCUB variants(because Kodiak)
-Icon A5(for when I have desire for an ultralight flying Tesla)
-SR22, as boring and proper predictable as the real one
-Staggerwing(for when you want to endanger any and all ground personnel)
-WACO, just maniacal on the ground, but sure is nice up there with a buttkicker.
-And that CAP isn’t too shabby for being silly, even with the stupid ‘euro’ panel. This sim can’t really keep up with the modern aerobatics aircraft unless you’re over the middle of the ocean, but sometimes you want to come out of an outside loop as part of your final approach.
-152, of course one of the best modeled aircraft in the sim, but frankly I feel like I’m playing through Half-Life for the 5th time and have to start with just the crowbar again.
And my HATE LIST
C208 Caravan-how do you make such a beloved stalwart aircraft so lame now, no soul, half a panel of ‘INOPERATIVE’ and no floats! Ugh.
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Another Chart Update:
DC-6 and Spitfire dropped a bit, with P-38 taking a big step ahead of the Spit in the Flying Iron warbirds battle!
Goose jumped the CRJ. Kodi stretching more of a lead.
Full PDF here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/av67xq44vdf2pqp/MSFS%20Aircraft%20Ranking%203.pdf?dl=0
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SInce this list started some time ago my favorates have changed a bit…
1 - FlySimWare Cessna 414aw (beta) - Amazing little twin prop by an unknown dev, but wow, if they keep going with what they have made already, they will be the new gold standard in 3rd-party aircraft. Twin GNS750’s amazing…
2 - Just Flight Piper Warrior - Excellent trainer. This was go to for re-learning all about flying, including proper procedures for takeoffs, landing, slow flight, stall recovery… A well modeled and behaved aircraft.
3 - DC Designs F14 - Yup, I do feel the need for speed…
4 (TIE) Flying Iron Spitfire & MilVis Corsair. Yup, its a tie I cannot decide which one I like better they are both amazing in their own ways… Leaving this one as a tie.
5 - IndiaFoxtEcho F35 - This was actually tie with the T45c, but the -35 is versatile and fun to fly, especially the -B and -C variants.
NO Fly list - Asobo Stock aircraft. With all the amazing 3rd party aircraft both paid and free, I don’t even look at the stock aircraft anymore…
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Thanks for the update. I’ll update your choices next time. Not sure how to deal with ties. Split the points between two (makes each one weaker) or use same points for both (seems a bit too strong). Any suggestions?
You could always give tied aircraft the same ranking and then drop off any that fall below the “top 5” level. So in my list above, the spitfire and corsair would both get equal points, and the F35 would fall off and be given nothing.
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My current top 5 favorites:
- FBW A320NX. It is an amazing development effort and I believe that the team won’t stop until they make it as high-fidelity as possible from all perspectives.
- Kodiak 100. I love single engine turboprops and this rendition is spot on. When the G1000NXI matures and adds more functionality to reflect the real world unit (+ fixes the current bugs) - the Kodiak will turn into a sublime flying truck.
- Piper Turbo Arrow IV. Its just fun to hand fly with a Honeycomb combo (yoke + throttle quadrant). Engine management implementation is great.
- I am absolutely in love with this recently released beta version of the FlySimWare Cessna 414A Chancellor with RAM engine conversion. Its a great touring machine, engine management is almost as good as in the Turbo Arrow, and I really hope that the developer will increase the depth of systems programming. Its currently relying on default Asobo autopilot, which is meh (to put it mildly). This bird reminds me of the venerable Beechcraft Duke by RealAir, which some of us used to own in FSX and P3D.
- JPLogistics C152. The only ridiculous thing it has is the autopilot (come on, guys ). Otherwise - a great training machine.
Even though the topic says “current aircraft”, I would definitely like to share my wishlist of aircraft I would love to see in the sim 
- A study level rendition of King Air B200. Doesn’t have to be with modern avionics (Collins or otherwise). I used to fly these IRL a lot (not as a pilot, but rather, as a military communications systems operator) - and they are just what every small twin turboprop should be. They do not have the complexity of DASH-8s or ATRs, but they do have their charm and require proper turboprop engine management to fly efficiently.
- MD-11. This is an awesome plane. I remember the days spent mastering the PMDG version in FSX. Would really love to see a high fidelity rendition of this beast in MSFS.
- Embraer Phenom (preferably 300, for an increased range).
- I would like to see further improvement on the TBM, specifically, from the engine management point of view. As I said, I love single engine turboprops, and I am prepared to spend lots of hours in the TBM, as long as it flies as realistically as possible (i.e., such as the Hot Start model does, in the competing sim platform).
- Boeing 777-300ER. Well, this is just a matter of time and patience, obviously PMDG will bring their rendition to this platform, as they have mentioned before.
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As a dad that finds myself with 10-30 minutes per play session, my top 5 are:
- Kodiak 100 - this plane has a great flight model and is very versatile. 150kts is quite fast for a GA, yet it can be used for bush trips, and G1000NXI with working title mod is great.
- TBM 930 - if I want to complete a trip faster i will fly the TBM. For this reason, i can’t wait for PC-12 from SWS.
- WT CJ4 - when i want fly a jet i go with this one due to the improved avionics software. I should try the 320 neo with the new vnav functionality. I hear mixed reports about the CRJ, and otherwise waiting for PMDG 737.
- JPLogistics C152 - great for quick circuits on new airports
- Just Flight Turbo Arrow III - I really want to like this plane - glass cockpit, very stable on a cruise, but given that GTN750 cannot be installed with G1000, and that the plane jerks up / down on approaches (see other reports about this on the thread) means it stays in the hangar.
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I know the feeling of limited time! So did you want the Arrow as 5th or do you have another that you do sometimes fly?
I’ll keep the Arrow 5th since I fly it every now and then. There is a workaround to the jerkiness issue that i want to try. Otherwise, i don’t fly any other aircraft regularly.
I am flat-out stunned that the DC-6 is so low on the chart! I don’t own it yet myself but from everything I have read about it, I thought it was head and shoulders above all else. This thread just keeps getting more interesting!
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I am too frankly, however, it is a commitment to properly learn the systems and fly it well. It is easy to get rusty. I flew it for weeks and weeks when it was first released; took it up the other day and struggled a bit. The Six is quite a lot of airplane!
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I suspect from this thread, a lot of people want to load MSFS and fly, not load MSFS and work.
Also it is complex AND old, which requires folks to reconfigure their home cockpits quite a bit just to use the DC6, because the systems and toggles just don’t all match the configurations for newer planes.
So, really, it can be quite a hassle and that isn’t for everyone. For some, it is exactly what they’re looking for.
It is simultaneously the most impressive plane I own, whilst not making my top five list! 
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People are likely limiting their choices to aircraft they actually own.
The DC6 is one of the more expensive addons around. For many people the DC6 is on their wish list rather than in the hangar. It is a lot easier at any given time, to justify buying a Kodiak or Warrior or Twotter and the DC6 sits in the “maybe one day” column. It is therefore not in their top 5 as they do not own it yet.
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It’s expensive, and due to the not-fixed-yet WASM issues on the Xbox, nobody on that platform (myself included) can experience it.
I should point out that if it were in full working order on the Series X, I would get it instantly, as I know it’s a wonderful aircraft.
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Changed mine to include the C414AW - nailed on for top 5.
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This is a interresting topic. I am updating my list. I find it difficult to compare planes that i enjoy the most with planes that are the best or top.
I enjøy the stearman, waco and the grob tutor (lovely cockpit on the grob), but i cant say they are the best. I find the dc6 and constellation fantastic addons that are really good, but dont fly them that often because i am more a GA flyer and dont always care for the complexity and/or size of the planes.
my updated list that tries to combine best (whatever this means) with enjoyable would now probably be
- C414a from flightsimware.
- P28 arrow 3 from just flight
- P44 seminole
- C152 with the jpl-mod
- Dhc-6 twin otter