Best FSX-internal aircraft

[Cybercat 0]

Hi, I am just getting started with FSX and would like to know which of the simpler aircraft are the best simulations. I've tried out several aircraft and some handle pretty well and some are almost impossible to control. Are there any good starter aircraft with relatively simple controls (like the Cessna)?Thanks.

[CoolP 283]

Welcome, Cybercat. :smile:You could start with the inbuilt FSX learning center. Every chapter there explains some basics (e. g. 'straight and level flight') and has a 'fly this lesson now' button at its end, allowing you to practice the stuff which was explained in an appropriate plane. So you get into all things with some background and also get to know the different types of planes.The Cessna may be one of the easier ones, as you've mentioned. She's easy to fly and to handle on the ground, having a normal gear. The Piper J3 will be the easiest plane to fly (no systems, no flaps), but may handle more difficult on the ground because of the taildragger gear setup.If those things get boring after a while, use the Extra 300 and have some fun.

[Benjamin J 751]

The Trike Ultralight is defininetely the easiest aircraft to fly (doesn't even seem to have a parking brake), but its extremely slow. If you want to go a bit faster, take the Cessna 172. That plane is easy to control yet offers all basic aircraft functionality, including more in-depth systems than the Trike. When you mastered the Cessna, you might want to look at the Boeing 737. That plane is also still relatively easy to fly.As CoolP said, though, just doing the included lessons in the Missions tab is the best way to start.

[Chock 17,769]

First up, welcome to the Avsim forums. If you are talking about default aircraft only which are included with the sim when you buy it, then the ultralight is probably the best one to get your control inputs sorted on, because it has very few instruments on the panel and it is slow so you get plenty of time to react. The reason that is a good idea is because one of the things flight simmers are often guilty of, is being too fixated on the instruments, which is sort of understandable because a flight sim doesn't give you the same feedback (both visually and through the seat of your pants) that a real aeroplane does, so you end up fixating on the airspeed indicator and the artificial horizon on the dashboard rather than looking where you are going! At this stage don't worry about watching those dials, making nice landings and such, just fly the ultralight about a bit using the horizon for reference and get your joystick inputs comfortable so they become second nature.Ironically fixating on the instruments is actually a rather advanced technique that is used when flying in poor weather or at night, when you can't see the horizon, but when you are just getting used to trying to keep the thing in the air and reasonably straight, it doesn't help to be trying to keep all the instrument needles perfectly placed. Most pilots learn to fly by using the earth's horizon as their main reference, i.e. keeping a part of the aeroplane's nose on it to judge when they are straight and level, perhaps aiming for a recognisable tree, or town or building off in the distance to ensure they are flying straight, and in the ultralight, you will find you do that too because you don't have a big row of instruments to distract you. You can worry about the compass later and simply use where you are in relation to the runway as the only thing that matters. This means you will tend to make control inputs based on the effects it has on where your aircraft is pointing, rather than chasing the needles on the gauges, so that will promote a good 'feel' for the movements you make on your joystick.Some of how easy or hard that will be depends on what controls you have (i.e. your joystick). You can get by with a relatively inexpensive joystick and still do okay, although I would suggest that you get one that at least has a twist axis function for the rudder and a throttle control, as these will give you control over all the basics that the pilot of a real aircraft has. But, don't be afraid to use the 'auto rudder coordination' option in the FS realism settings at first. This is not cheating when you are new to flying, because in fact many pilots in the real world are taught to fly by having their instructor work the rudder pedals for them at first, and they are later introduced to these when they have got more familiar with controlling the ailerons and elevator using the stick alone. When you learn to fly a helicopter, this is taken to an even more 'one at a time' level, with the instructor working everything and gradually letting the student pilot try each control on its own until they eventually let them loose on all three of the main controls of a helicopter at the same time. In short, for either fixed wing aircraft or helicopters, learn at a pace which suits you and don't feel you are cheating if you alter the realism settings when first getting into it.Once you have a good feel for something simple such as the ultralite, you might then try the Cessna on for size, although the Piper Cub would probably be an easier interim step and was the aircraft many people first learned to fly on in the 1940s and 1950s. All the controls are the same as the Ultrlight for these two craft (three axis), but the Cessna is something on which you can start to refine your technique a little and would probably be a little easier to land since it has a tricycle landing gear with a nosewheel so you can see where you are going a bit better than in the Cub. To get these beast under control, I'd recommend flying lots of circuits. The gist of that is this if you use the Cessna:Start on the runway, open the throttle up and take off, fly straight ahead until you reach 400 feel above ground level (agl) and then turn left ninety degrees, when you get to about 800 feet, turn left ninety degrees again. this will put you perhaps half a mile off to the side of the runway flying back down the opposite way to which you took off. when you get to about 1,000 feet agl, ease off on the throttle and try to set the power so that you stay at more or less that height. When the end of the runway where you took off is approximately 45 degrees off over your left shoulder, it is time to cut the throttle back and turn left ninety degrees again, once level, watch the speedo needle and when it is in the green arc, you can start lowering the flaps in increments (F7 is I think the default key for flaps in FS). Let the thing settle for each flaps stage you lower and use the stick pulled back slightly to lower the speed if you need to, or pushed forward slightly if you need to pick up speed, you can use the throttle to control your rate of descent and you will be fine so long as you keep the speedo needle in the green. When you at somewhere around 400-600 feet, you will need to make one last ninety degree left turn to line up on the runway for an approach and by that time you should have your flaps down and the speed reasonably stable. when you are lined up, ease the thing down to the runway using the throttle to control the descent rate. when you touch down, pull the flaps up, open up the throttle and go around again repeating the process. Do that a few times and you will be flying like a pro in no time.Traditionally, the next step up from a Cessna would be something along the lines of a faster prop plane with a low wing and possibly retractable gear, i.e. something like the Mooney Bravo, because it is faster, better equipped and has a few more complex controls (think of it as a flashy sports car). After that you would want to try the twin engined craft, such as the Beech Baron 58, which introduces you to a larger aircraft with twin engines and somewhat restricted visibility in comparison to single engined aircraft. Then you might try the LearJet, and after that perhaps give one of the helicopters or airliners a whirl. When you then know what you like best, you could look at buying a fancier payware aeroplane to get you into more fancy and complex avionics and such.If you want to get really fancy you could get some rudder pedals to use along with your joystick, but you can happily fly any FS aeroplane under full control with just a stick if you don't want to go to the expense of buying a set of rudder pedals. Al