Hi all. It's been a few years (2009, I think) since I last flew in FSX and am just getting it all set up again.

 

First of all, I am not a hardcore simmer.

No flight I fly will last more than an hour, I will use basic autopilot settings (heading, altitude and vertical speed - very rarely full landing and autothrottle), any addon flight computers will not be used.

I spend a lot of time outside of the plane, looking around so high quality exterior models and textures are a necessity. A wide variety of textures (preferably included or with an autoinstaller, I hate downloading and installing one by one via config file).

Basically a "default aircraft" level of difficulty is fine with me.

 

I previously used the Overland Boeing and Airbus packs and enjoyed them, though this time when I installed them the Boeing 747 was missing its main flight display and the 777 was missing the autopilot displays. Various bits and pieces were missing on a few of the Boeing Aircraft, so I uninstalled both Airbus and Boeing Aircraft in the hopes of finding something better (though I kept the MD-11).

 

These are the Aircraft I'm looking for:

 

Airbus:

A300/A310 - Overland had good models but I am trying to change to a new brand.

A318/19/20/21 - Overland were good for this and I haven't found anything comparable. Wilco's look really good but horrible for a casual gamer (so many warnings!)

A330/A340 - Again, Overland were fine, Wilco not so good. Also got the CLS which have a load of liveries, but I prefer the Overland overall

 

Boeing:

717 - I have one, but it seems pretty dodgy. Not sure if there are any others though.

727 - Have the Captain Sim (which I'm very happy with). Since the instruements are antiquated I just use this as autopilot.

737 - Contemplating Captain Sim (not sure if learning curve is as high on its more modern aircraft as the 727, but if I can just use basic autopilot it'll be fine)

747 - Contemplating PMDG (not sure on learning curve, but it looks really good. The McPhat studios repaints look amazing, but I don't really want to pay extra just for repaints, or for the LCF and 747-8 variants.

757/777 - Contemplating Captain Sim.

767/737 - Complete unknown.

 

Misc:

BN2 Islander (and Trislander)

Rear-engined jetliners (MD-8x, 717, CRJs etc)

Big Freighters (C-5, An-124, C-130 etc)

Bae 146

 

 

 

Thank you all very much for your help and I look forward to hearing your advice.

Welcome to Avsim, Josh.

 

It's probably going to be hard to match all your expectations of addon aircraft. I have been looking for some nicely modeled aircraft that don't require so much effort in order to really fly them, but there are very few. Most high qulity aircraft models actually have some well depicted systems as well, so you'll probably have to read some manuals in order to properly operate the birds.

As for the types of aircraft you're looking for, here's my advice:

Airbus:

Wait until Aerosoft release their Airbus X Extended, it has a really nice model. Note that it simulates the systems quite well, too, according to Aerosoft's previews. Nevertheless, I think it's the best Airbus you can get with your expectations. BUT: It's only A320/A321!

Another one that might be quite good from what I've seen, is the Blackbox A320, but I don't have it, so I don't want to judge it.

As for the larger Airbuses, I'd do a search for Thomas Ruth in the Avsim library, he did a great job in modelling nearly every airbus from the A300-B4 to the A340-600, completely with VC, and their systems are comparable to those of the default aircraft.

Boeing:

Depending on what 737 exactly you want:

731/732: Currently only CaptainSim, but Milviz are developing one, too (I think only 737-200ADV, though) which I am waiting for.

733/734/735: I'm only aware of Wilco here, and I don't like it.

737NG: Here's either the PMDG, coming two packages, or the iFly, which comes in all variants (736/737/738/739/BBJ1/BBJ2/BBJ3), and is abit less detailed, system-wise. The modelling is great, however.

747: PMDG is developing a Version2 of their 747, so I'd recommend waiting for it. Keep in mind, that all PMDG aircraft are superbly modelled, but they all are very realistic system simulations, too. So there will in fact be qutie a learning curve. On the other hand, CLS is also redoing their 747 series (which is 742/743 pax and freighter versions). Their aircraft are well done and dont' require a lot of knowledge of the aircraft systems.

757: I'd go for the QualityWings 757. They did a great job on it, and you'll get much more than with the CS one.

777: If you really want one now, you'll have to go for the CS one, otherwise wait for PMDG's.

Misc:

I won't comment on the Islander, as I dont own it, but I think Viratvia's is good.

MD-8x: There's either the Coolsky/Flight1 bird, but the VC looks a bit goofy for some knobs are not modelled in 3D, or the CLS one, which - judging from the screenshots - looks nice. I don'T have it,however.

I got some of the big freighters, too. I'm not sure, if it's the C-5 or the C-17, by Virtavia, whihc is OK, the C-130 by CaptainSim, OK too, and the An124/225 by Thomas Ruth, which are available for free in the Avsim library. But it really doesn't feel like flying such a heavy plane, the flight dynamics are just ridiculous.

As for the BAe 146, I recommend the QualityWings bird.

 

And if I may recommend another plane, which is one of the best GA planes yet: RealAir's Lancair Legacy, it's just an incredibly beautifully modelled plane, and it's FDE are excellent!

 

Happy flying,

Flo

I think OE-LAT pretty much covered everything you need. For the 767 I would look into the Level-D unless you want to go the CaptainSim route.

Ahh there are so many, yet so few options. Thanks for the list. It is alright for the plane to have a lot of systems, so long as I have the choice of not using them.

 

Seems to be a lack of Airbus options, so I'll probably stick with the Overland until that Aerosoft deal comes out (it looks like my kind of thing).

 

As for the Boeings, I think I shall be getting the Captain Sim 707, since from their 727 they seem to do the older jets quite well, but for the 737 I shall go for something else.

Now the iFly 737s look good (I hadn't come across them before), PMDG's does look good - I might grab the 747 first as a trial run.

 

I am leaning towards the PMDG 747-400 because....well its really the only one. Plus I have the option to extend to the 747-8 and the Dreamlifter, which look rad. The learning curve could be a bit of an issue though, but so long as I am able to take off, turn, program the autopilot and land I should be fine. (though I couldn't do these things with the Wilco Airbuses). A free trial would be helpful here.

 

767 I will take what I can get, the Level-D seems to be a good option and I can wait for the 777 since I don't particularly like the plane.

 

Your Misc options seem to be pretty good, and I think my first stop will be QualityWings to get the BAe and 757, closely followed by the Islander from Flight1. I'm not a huge GA fan (I got my PPL on a Cessna 150, and that feels slow in real life, let alone on a computer) but that Lancair looks real nice. Pretty sure I'm going to get A2A's 377 as well, despite the fact I know I'll never get the patience to fly it.

 

Thank you very much

I am leaning towards the PMDG 747-400 because....well its really the only one. Plus I have the option to extend to the 747-8 and the Dreamlifter, which look rad. The learning curve could be a bit of an issue though, but so long as I am able to take off, turn, program the autopilot and land I should be fine. (though I couldn't do these things with the Wilco Airbuses). A free trial would be helpful here.

As stated above, better wait for the v2 to be released, it's going have some improvements over the original one, I guess. And it'll probably take a flight or two with the manual at hand, to learn how to feed the FMC with the relevant data, but as soon as you know that, you'll be off in no time (well, at least quite fast). And I have to agree, a trial would be of help, also to find out about hiw much impact this aircraft has on your PC.

 

As for the Legacy, I didn't like to fly GA for the same reasons you don't like to, but believe me: That thing is really fast (I think I got her to 260kts in level fligth, if I remember correctly), and it's a great plane. Probably I've logged most of my flying hours in that one since I've bought her.

 

Cheers,

Flo

My own list would go like this, most being of course same with others:

 

Boeing:

 

Boeing 707: Captain Sim, been very happy with it after I got TSS soundpack for it, definitely one of the better products from Captain Sim.

 

Boeing 727: Captain Sim has the best one too, although some bugs and bad flight dynamics by default, however there are third party modifications that fix a lot of this.

 

Boeing 737: 737 Original series from Captain Sim until Milviz finishes their own, 737 classic from Wilco and 737NG from PMDG or Ifly, PMDG one is definitely one of the best birds ever made for FSX, but Ifly is really good too, depends how much you want to pay.

 

Boeing 747: 747 Classic from CLS, they are indeed soon releasing new version of it which will add some amount of systems and other new features, and 747-400 & 8i from PMDG, their current version is good and probably this coming one will be even better.

 

Boeing 757: Qualitywings one is the best in my opinion, good flight dynamics, amazing soundpack and good amount of systems simulated, in coming update it will be improved even more in area of systems I heard. Also Captain Sim has one but it's outdated and still kind of buggy, they too are working on new version and that might be worth buying.

 

Boeing 767: If you want good graphics go with Captain Sim 767, if systems are more important to you get Level D 767. This said CS does have good amount of systems simulated too, but still it doesn't quite reach the realism of Level D 767 in this area.

 

Boeing 777: Well when PMDG comes out you should definitely get it, however also Captain Sim 777 might be worth considering if they get it finished soon, currently it's in public beta and really buggy.

 

Boeing 787: Qualitywings is working on one, get that when it comes out. Until that however if you really want 787 Aerosim has one, it's not really very much system simulation but looks and flies well.

 

Airbus

 

A300/A310: By far the best one is Simcheck A300, it's basically the older version of A300 with old style gauges, cockpit and flight engineer seat, good complete system simulation, one of the best classic plane addons made for FSX. Then for modern A300/A310 I recommend going for either CLS ones which aren't really much more complex than default FSX aircraft, or search for some freeware ones.

 

A320: Aerosoft is soon going to release theirs, or if you are ready to wait a bit then wait until FSLabs finishes theirs, it's going to be in extremely high quality, comparable to PMDG stuff.

 

A330/A340 Currently only Feelthere/Wilco have proper ones with good amount of systems simulated, however still a bit buggy and outside model kind of ugly, but still the best Airbus probably until some day FSlabs makes A330/A340.

 

 

A380: In terms of systems I think Wilco Airbus is the best, however again kind of ugly outside model. Project Airbus has released theirs too, I think it's the best looking one but lacks systems by default.

 

 

 

Douglas / MD

 

DC-10: Probably the best one now is Thomas Ruth freeware DC-10 V2, CLS has payware one but it's not much better than freeware.

 

MD-11: PMDG has by far the best one, go for that.

 

DC-9: Coolsky recently released their payware DC-9-30, still kind of buggy and some FPS problems but I think it will eventually be really good bird, other than some graphical problems it's flyable already and been enjoying it.

 

DC-8: No proper simulation for FSX unfotrunately, HJG (Historic Jetlines Group) has a good freeware model that works with FSX but no VC.

 

Other Birds:

 

Fokker 50: Best one probably a payware by PAOB for now, haven't seen any other than that and Virtualcol which I own. However at least unofficially Coolsky has announced that they are going to develop F50 next.

 

Fokker 100: Best one payware by Digital Aviation, lacks VC but has really good flight dynamics and systems simulated well.

 

Concorde: FSlabs has really good payware one, go for that.

 

Dash 8: Majestic software has their Q300, it's graphically outdated but in terms of systems and FD so realistic that it's used by real pilots to prepare for checks. They are soon going to release their Dash 8-Q400 which will be graphically just amazing and also will likely have most realistic flight dynamics ever as it calculates them outside FSX, something never seen before.

 

Tupolev TU-154: Project Tupolev has really good freeware one, it's one of the best birds made for FSX system and flight dynamics wise, also graphically good. It's extremely complicated bird though, takes a lot of time to learn using it systems, something that I haven't had time to learn yet.

 

Bae 146 / Avro: Qualitywings has the best one, also Just Flight sells one made by CLS but it's not even nearly as good system and FD wise, has a nice virtual cabin though.

My own list would go like this, most being of course same with others:

 

Boeing:

 

Boeing 707: Captain Sim, been very happy with it after I got TSS soundpack for it, definitely one of the better products from Captain Sim.

 

Boeing 727: Captain Sim has the best one too, although some bugs and bad flight dynamics by default, however there are third party modifications that fix a lot of this.

 

Boeing 737: 737 Original series from Captain Sim until Milviz finishes their own, 737 classic from Wilco and 737NG from PMDG or Ifly, PMDG one is definitely one of the best birds ever made for FSX, but Ifly is really good too, depends how much you want to pay.

 

Boeing 747: 747 Classic from CLS, they are indeed soon releasing new version of it which will add some amount of systems and other new features, and 747-400 & 8i from PMDG, their current version is good and probably this coming one will be even better.

 

Boeing 757: Qualitywings one is the best in my opinion, good flight dynamics, amazing soundpack and good amount of systems simulated, in coming update it will be improved even more in area of systems I heard. Also Captain Sim has one but it's outdated and still kind of buggy, they too are working on new version and that might be worth buying.

 

Boeing 767: If you want good graphics go with Captain Sim 767, if systems are more important to you get Level D 767. This said CS does have good amount of systems simulated too, but still it doesn't quite reach the realism of Level D 767 in this area.

 

Boeing 777: Well when PMDG comes out you should definitely get it, however also Captain Sim 777 might be worth considering if they get it finished soon, currently it's in public beta and really buggy.

 

Boeing 787: Qualitywings is working on one, get that when it comes out. Until that however if you really want 787 Aerosim has one, it's not really very much system simulation but looks and flies well.

 

Airbus

 

A300/A310: By far the best one is Simcheck A300, it's basically the older version of A300 with old style gauges, cockpit and flight engineer seat, good complete system simulation, one of the best classic plane addons made for FSX. Then for modern A300/A310 I recommend going for either CLS ones which aren't really much more complex than default FSX aircraft, or search for some freeware ones.

 

A320: Aerosoft is soon going to release theirs, or if you are ready to wait a bit then wait until FSLabs finishes theirs, it's going to be in extremely high quality, comparable to PMDG stuff.

 

A330/A340 Currently only Feelthere/Wilco have proper ones with good amount of systems simulated, however still a bit buggy and outside model kind of ugly, but still the best Airbus probably until some day FSlabs makes A330/A340.

 

 

A380: In terms of systems I think Wilco Airbus is the best, however again kind of ugly outside model. Project Airbus has released theirs too, I think it's the best looking one but lacks systems by default.

 

 

 

Douglas / MD

 

DC-10: Probably the best one now is Thomas Ruth freeware DC-10 V2, CLS has payware one but it's not much better than freeware.

 

MD-11: PMDG has by far the best one, go for that.

 

DC-9: Coolsky recently released their payware DC-9-30, still kind of buggy and some FPS problems but I think it will eventually be really good bird, other than some graphical problems it's flyable already and been enjoying it.

 

DC-8: No proper simulation for FSX unfotrunately, HJG (Historic Jetlines Group) has a good freeware model that works with FSX but no VC.

 

Other Birds:

 

Fokker 50: Best one probably a payware by PAOB for now, haven't seen any other than that and Virtualcol which I own. However at least unofficially Coolsky has announced that they are going to develop F50 next.

 

Fokker 100: Best one payware by Digital Aviation, lacks VC but has really good flight dynamics and systems simulated well.

 

Concorde: FSlabs has really good payware one, go for that.

 

Dash 8: Majestic software has their Q300, it's graphically outdated but in terms of systems and FD so realistic that it's used by real pilots to prepare for checks. They are soon going to release their Dash 8-Q400 which will be graphically just amazing and also will likely have most realistic flight dynamics ever as it calculates them outside FSX, something never seen before.

 

Tupolev TU-154: Project Tupolev has really good freeware one, it's one of the best birds made for FSX system and flight dynamics wise, also graphically good. It's extremely complicated bird though, takes a lot of time to learn using it systems, something that I haven't had time to learn yet.

 

Bae 146 / Avro: Qualitywings has the best one, also Just Flight sells one made by CLS but it's not even nearly as good system and FD wise, has a nice virtual cabin though.

 

oooh the DA Fokker 100. This was one of my favorite planes back in the day, I would definitely recommend it.

Just got off a very uncomfortable flight on a Fokker 100, so so long as I don't have to sit in the back seat I might download that one. All of the options look good and I'll have to check them out, though I'm sure I shall be broke long before I get to some of the misc. ones.

I got the Islander over the weekend. Cool little plane. Slow and rattley, but good for doing short hops. Can definitely recommend the QW RJ. Have you considered the PMDG JS4100? That's good for ~1hr hops, and goes a bit faster than the Islander! It's got an FMC, but it also has the point and fly AP. Just mind the engines...

 

Mike