I've finally taken the plunge and purchased X-Plane 10 the other day. I decided to get it off Ebay from somewhere local in Australia as I didn't want to wait 3 weeks for it to arrive from the US. I installed the entire global scenery last night which took about an hour then fired up the default Baron 58 and took it for a spin around KLAX at night time. I have to say that the night scenery looks very impressive particularly the city lights below.

 

I'll soon be looking at getting the following payware aircraft.

 

-Boeing 777

-CRJ-200

-Boeing 787 - Does anyone have any thoughts on this one? From what I've seen it looks pretty good for the price but not sure how in-depth the systems are.

 

Also, are there any good light GA aircraft anyone could recommend that would be better than what's on offer with the default aircraft? I'm considering flying GA aircraft around my local area for a bit to get a feel for the simulator and make any adjustments before diving into the heavies.

the 777 and crj from jrollon are unbelievable, your gonna love them. are you using HDR lighting? the HDR is awesome and puts all other sims to shame. Last night i was taxing around Toronto CYYZ with HDR and i really felt like i was there, very beautiful stuff. Don't forget to add this: http://www.opensceneryx.com/ it adds hundreds or thousands of objects to the airports and world and it's free.

 

 

also this makes xp10 even more awesome for only $8. http://store01.prostores.com/servlet/x-planestore/Detail?no=356

the 777 and crj from jrollon are unbelievable, your gonna love them.

 

The main attraction of this sim for me are those aircraft. I've also been watching the IXEG 737CL closely which looks amazing. Can't wait to get them!

 

are you using HDR lighting? the HDR is awesome and puts all other sims to shame.

 

No haven't really played around too much with the graphical settings yet but did notice that option was there.

 

Don't forget to add this: http://www.opensceneryx.com/ it adds hundreds or thousands of objects to the airports and world and it's free.

 

Did a quick takeoff from KSEA in the default 747 during dusk just after installation, was able to fly a bit further now on the full version and the environment just blew me away! Can't imagine how much MORE awesome the scenery would look with some add-ons like that.

 

I've been using only FSX for over a year now and already find how much simpler everything was to setup and get running on X-Plane.

For GA aircraft, here is a link for a Piper Archer III, the flight model is very good, only has a 2D panel but again very good.

 

http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=8870

 

For payware, any thing by Carenado, is good but particularly good is the C152 or the Bonanza F33A is exceptional IMO.

 

Anything from Leading Edge Simulations, are very good also. Their DC3 is probably the best all around file presently. Find it at X-Aviation site.

Donald, thank you for the PA28.