Dear fellow flight simmers

I am really starting to enjoy P3D moving more and more of my simming time away from FSX. P3D grows on you...the lighting, shadows, autogen, etc. For example, after spending some time in P3D, the autogen popping in FSX is becoming increasingly unbearable!

 

I get really great performance with most default P3D aircrafts. High fps, smooth and stutterfree flight. However many payware addons has a very significant reduction in performance. For example I bought A2A cesna 182 and performance is good in rural areas, however if I try flying over say Ontario international the immersion is getting killed by a lot of stutters and low fps. With default aircraft like the Baron I can enjoy high fps and stutterfree flight in the same area.

 

Hence over to my question. Can you guys recommend some great payware aircraft addons that are FPS friendly?

 

I have been thoroughly enjoying the FeelThere ERJ-135/145 and ERJ 170/190 aircraft.  It is my goto aircraft for regional jet flying.   Even with nearly maxed out settings in P3D with FTX Global, Payware Airports loaded and AI traffic rolling around my jet I get 30-40 FPS in the cockpit.  It pegs at 60 FPS once I am in the air and away from the hot spots.   The ERJ-145 is especially fun to fly.   It's not PMDG quality Systems Study but it's not basic default either.   I consider it a medium realistic aircraft.   It has enough features to make it 'feel' like a complex jet and enough features to make it not a default aircraft.

I find the aerosoft Airbus to be a reliable and consistent addon. Never had any issues with it and I get good performance with it myself.

 

Tom

Good thread to start Thomas! I've had very good performance with the Aerosoft OV10, Airbus, Twin Otter and the Iris PC-9.

 

Based on Brian's note above, I'm going to have to give the ERJ a spin too... 

It would help if you told us what type of aircraft you want?  GA, Business, commercial, military, vintage, etc?

Thanks for suggestions so far.

GA, business and commercial would be the preferred categories.

 

Here is a flight video I made with the ERJ 145.  I skipped it ahead to 31 minutes since that's the takeoff.  It should give you a good idea about the complexity and frame rates.

Realair Legacy is pretty easy on the fps

 

Baytower RV7

 

A2A offerings

 

Older Carenado like the C337

The aerosoft Airbus series right now is the best commercial aircraft in my opinion. Fairly sophisticated, very smooth, and a joy to fly. Plus so many airlines use these aircraft, you can fly realistic routes in any part of the world.

Brian makes a good case for the FT ERJ v2 I've logged many pireps in it too but it is a bit dated in the VC/graphics IMO.  I don't fly it much anymore for that reason, I've just been spoiled by the newer generation of payware that are out there.  The QW-146 series is also a really nice set of regional commercial airliners with good FPS performance and mid level complexity. Also the Coolsky DC9 is an absolute gem if your into retro steam gauged airliners but has a heavier toll on fps due to it's complexity; still quite acceptable though.

 

The Carenado Skymaster was IMO one of their best releases great frames, excellent visibility, full IFR capability, good cruise speed and range and one of their best FDE's  Still one of my absolute favorites but I am waiting on the new Real Air Duke turbine to be released for P3d to potentially replace it as my go to GA aircraft.

CoolSky Super MD80 Pro is, IMHO, the undiluted queen of frame rate friendly complexity--not saying it's super complex, but decent.  It's dated for sure, but really quite well done in many ways.  When you're in complex areas you'll note no difference in frame rate between VC view and open forward view--this is a somewhat useful test of the impact of a VC on frame rate.

 

 

GA, business and commercial would be the preferred categories.

Pilatus PC-12 fits all those categories, and Carenados recent version is pretty good on FPS on my system, probably because it's not the latest glass cockpit. 

A2A 172sp and Cherokee 180 have excellent fps. Locked 40 fps in nearly all scenarios.

 

The A2A 182 not so much. Nearly 50% less fps than those. There is a thread in their forums about it. Hopefully they can fix that.

 

Waiting for the real air turbine duke V2 to see how it is

 

C.

If you are in helos also, I can recommend the Dodosim 206. Its also a bit dated in terms of look and feel. But still looks good enough to me. P3ds CP-shadows help a lot here.  Its extremly framerate friendly because of its low polys when compared to newer payware. Its Systems and FDE are still unmatched IMHO. I can take her for a spin over NY with minimal impact on frames and very smooth controls. I used the Migration tool for installation and it worked flawlessly.

 

Marcel

 

Good topic BTW

CoolSky Super MD80 Pro is, IMHO, the undiluted queen of frame rate friendly complexity--not saying it's super complex, but decent.  It's dated for sure, but really quite well done in many ways.  When you're in complex areas you'll note no difference in frame rate between VC view and open forward view--this is a somewhat useful test of the impact of a VC on frame rate.

I highly highly second this. Cool Sky has great immersion, and perfect FPS. The near perfect FSX plane.

 

Along with Coolsky, after testing MANY planes on hard scenery, I recommend:

1) Majestic Q400

2) Iris Aviator DiamondStar

3) A2a Piper 180 (NOT the 172 or heaven forbid the horrible fps 182)

4) Carenado C114 Commander, Baron, or Jetprop

 

As far as scenery, I highly recommend MegasceneyX (old but great)

I do NOT recommend FTX anything (scenery or planes), they dont care about frame rates, they are wasteful. And even worse is France VFR.