What do you think is the best aircraft addon, from the last 5 years?

 

As it draws to the end of the year, I always think about the 'highs' and 'lows' of aircraft addon releases during the year.   But then I got to thinking about the last 5 years; back to 2009.

 

......that brings in things such as the Flight 1 Citation Mustang, the Eaglesoft Citation X 2.0, the original RealAir Duke, and the A2A Cub, all of which hailed from the far end of this '5 year view'; right up to the latest Aerosoft Airbus releases and A2A marvels in 2014, via things like the NGX in 2011, the Majestic Q400 in early 2013, etc.

 

So what do you reckon?

 

If you were to give the accolade of "Best Aircraft Add-on from the last 5 years", what would you give it to?

 

I'm going to give some others that were "under consideration" (but not the winner) first, and then, of course, give my winner.

 

The finalists, under consideration (excluding the winner) :-

• PMDG NGX - How could this seminal, classic, modern airliner fail to make the list.... just superb in all areas.
• Majestic Q400 - Really broke some boundaries and challenged the assumption that 'complex' means low frames.
• Eaglesoft Citation X - We don't get many Bizjets in the hobby, and this one came with almost full functionality. Superb.
• A2A Cherokee - this built on their first 'trainer' release (172) and has more character than you could shake a stick at!
• RealAir Duke 2.0 - Stunning quality and the usual RealAir beautiful flight characteristics; in an awesome twin.
• Flight 1 Cessna Mustang - See (3) Eaglesoft Citation X
• Airbus A318/A319/A320/A321 - We don't get many Airbuses, and this range offers so much for the money.

............[Drum Roll]......... and my winner of "Best Aircraft Addon from the last 5 years" is ......

 

[WINNER]:    Milviz C310R          

 

The Milviz C310R doesn't come with engine or maintenance simulations, it doesn't come with a raft of utilities, fuel planners, etc, it hasn't got the absolutely best visuals in the world, and it's not even the world's most popular GA aircraft or twin ........ but let's talk about what it has got;  ...... that absolutely magical x-factor quality........  Flick the battery and avionics switches and listen to the sounds; they are unbeaten to this day in a GA aircraft addon.   Listen to the engine start.     Look at your flying viewpoint - look how much you can see, look at how realistic your view of the engines look to your left and right. Throttle up and feel how realistic the power delivery feels; how the amount of power required to taxi is exactly as you'd expect it to be.  Go full power for take-off and listen to those sounds again! ... and then fly ........ feel the flight characteristics that are challenging, but not 'forcibly' challenging like the A2A C172 ....... this plane is just SO realistic in every area.      Look at the fact that Milviz give you a hugely useful feature that almost no other developers give;  a 'free radio' panel version, where you can freely and easily place your own gauges in to the VC.    Look at the fact that they were one of the first to offer additional models that support the Flight 1 GTN750 integration.

 

Released in 2010, for me the Milviz C310R wins it hands down.   If I want to feel like I am really flying (not just having fun but really flying), this is what I choose.

 

CONGRATULATIONS! ....... to all involved in the creation of the Milviz C310R.

 

It would be great to hear other people's "Finalists" and then "Winner" !   :smile:

 

 

Released in 2010, for me the Milviz C310R wins it hands down.   If I want to feel like I am really flying (not just having fun but really flying), this is what I choose.

 

I really like the Milviz 310.  It was my first payware add-on aircraft for P3D and for less than 30 bucks, it was a steal.  The sounds are great and I think what really impresses me is how Milviz took time to put the code in to realistically simulate engine-out procedures on a light twin, something that the default FSX Baron and other payware releases have failed at miserably.  

 

They don't have the size and scope of a PMDG, but my vote goes for the Majestic Q400.  They're a small developer that put out an aircraft that has an incredible amount of details and system complexity on par with the PMDG.   Rather than accepting the mediocre physics that FSX uses to simulate turboprop operations, Majestic decided to just engineer their own physics and systems characteristics from scratch and model them outside the framework of the sim which leads to an incredible airplane that is easy on frames and really makes you gain an appreciation for the difficulty involved in piloting a multi-engine turboprop. 

The Majestic Q400 is the winner for me.  It's so different to fly - you really feel the airplane, it is a new, incredible, very rewarding experience, and I can't get enough of it.

Fantastic thread Bennton, really well written.

I'm not that long around to offer an interesting Opinion. In saying that, the A2A C182 absolutely blew me away, it's great I love it.

Fantastic thread Bennton, really well written.

I'm not that long around to offer an interesting Opinion. In saying that, the A2A C182 absolutely blew me away, it's great I love it.

 

Regardless how long you've been around FS, that's a great choice!   :smile:

 

 

Darn, I meant to take a snapshot of a custom VC panel I'm creating for the Milviz C310R that uses all my favourite types of gauges (eg... I like modern GNS systems but I like old, retro autopilots).     But I missed the deadline to 'edit' my original post!

 

So here it is.   There's nothing particularly special about this panel (it's just my preferences) but it highlights the potential to create ones own panels with this fantastic Milviz C310R;

 

The Majestic Q400, the only aircraft to surpass (in my own humble opinion, not trying to start a flame war) PMDG quality...other than the weather radar and operation outside the envelope.

Now I am not a real world pilot, but I would have to vote for the RealAir Duke B60 V2.

I'm going to call it my favourites, not 'the best' because it's so subjective:

 

Finalists:

Milviz Baron

Qualitywings BAe 146/RJ

Coolsky DC9

PMDG NGX

A2A Cub (which I think just squeezes in the last five years)

 

And the winner is: Coolsky's DC9. It got off to a rocky start, hasn't had anywhere near the number of liveries it should have, but what a plane...

 

There are another five that could easily have been short listed.

 

Mike

L39 is more than 5 years old and still my favorite.

 

The best, IMO, PMDG 737ngx.

The 737 NGX hands down

It's all obviously very subjective as others pointed out, people like different styles of flying (GA vs. tubes and so on).

 

For me, although I fly the NGX more often, I'd say the PMDG 777, just because on top of the usual bells and whistles you'd expect from them (failures, maintenance, etc), the addition of the weather radar adds an essential component.. Before we had ASN and accurate weather radars in FSX, you could literally fly right into a massive CB in FSX and nothing major would happen. Not exactly the case now. Weather plays a larger role now, as it should.

 

As more developers start to integrate this feature into their aircraft, I'm sure there are other aircraft I would prefer to fly. I'm not much of a long haul guy. 

Mixing GA and heavy metal etc is a hard call: I'd break it up a bit because several of those products are so amazing...

 

My list:

 

PMDG 737 NGX - Best airliner, their 777 is a close second

Magestic Q400 - Best passenger turboprop - Their is nothing to even compare to this it stands alone

Realair B60 V2 - Best GA twin engine

Aerosoft Twin Otter Extended - I can't put it into any category but I have a helluva lot of fun with it

Flight Replicas Super Cub Ultra - Best bush plane, you can take this thing and land it just about anywhere

 ?  - Helicopter, Probably one of the 2 newer Milviz but I don't own them yet...

I would select only one favorite if forced but, would rather reserve that single spot for another day. I do agree the Milviz 310R is near the top of my list also. Single digit for sure.

 

Regards,

 

Ray

I agree C310 is very good, but 737NGX makes my heart race.
Perhaps an election by category? (without electronic ballot box, please!)

 

João Alfredo

Best technical achievement: PMDG 777

 

Best flight dynamics: Majestic Dash 8

 

Best overall quality: PMDG 737 NGX

 

Most character: Real Air Lancair Legacy

 

imho