Honestly, there isn't anyone who does airliners in the same league as PMDG. The Aerosoft Airbus may be the closest but even they admit that it's not system intensive. The Level-D 767 is close system wise but is in need of a major upgrade.

As someone who occasionally stops by and peeks at XP through the window, this post has been very, very helpful.  Going to dip into it further one of these days!  Thank you to everyone posting links!

As someone who occasionally stops by and peeks at XP through the window, this post has been very, very helpful.  Going to dip into it further one of these days!  Thank you to everyone posting links!

+1

I love x-plane as much as the next guy but the plane quality is actually sub par compare to FSX/P3D. I purchased the 777 worldliner and its no way near the PMDG counterpart. I am uncertain if the 757 resolved the shortcoming of the 777 but I am not sure I am willing to spend the money on it based on my experience with the 777.

I agree, PMDG is great but the platform is highly flawed. When I fly the 777 I can never be sure I will reach my destination, and spend my flight on OOM-watch. Go anywhere near Heathrow and it's curtains. I'd rather invest my time and money in a platform with a future, that is already technically ahead, even if the planes aren't quite PMDG quality. The quality will come! (E.g. IXEG and PMDG themselves)

Good thread. 

 

1)Figure out a route and minimum safe altitude in the free Plan-G flight planner.

 

 

I use either Plan-G

Thanks for the tips. 

 

 

 

LOL, think my post came out wrong there

Not at all Tony, was just been my usual silly self.  Like it or lump it though you are a Siming Celebrity  B)

 

 

I use an Android app call Airnav Pro which can be loaded will real charts or use OpenStreetMap. 

Will certainly have a peep, thank you. 

Since most of the best add ons are already listed, i will list the upcoming best add ons:

1- IXEG B737

2- PMDG DC-6

3- Sound Maxx (by X aviation)

4- Plugin for Radar Contact ATC which will connect it to Xplane (By Multi Crew Experience)

As for aircraft, if your into GA, I recommend the Carenado Cessna 337 - I love it, it's just about the only aircraft I fly these days!

Any opinions on the v3 Carenado C210 or Saratoga in 10.35?

Both of those are great from Carenado - both updated to v3 for 10.35.  In general, anything from Carenado or Alabeo is excellent.

 

I also have some great aircraft from Shade Tree Micro, Jason Chandler, Alcala and MyVirtualHanger.  The good commercial designers usually try to stay away from duplication, so you need to shop around if you have a specific model in mind.

As others have acknowledged, I've found this discussion very valuable. After 'peeking' for a long while, I recently made the move and don't regret it. I invested in payware aircraft (C172 and B1900) along with a few plugins and enjoying the experience. It's different than FSX and as previously mentioned, the learning curve is steep and will continué to be for a while I suspect. Focussing on the positive, I'm enjoying such things as life-like snow (don't laugh), airport bounderies which blend with adjacent scenery (to the point of being difficult to spot - for smaller airports), the aboundance of high-quality freeware, and a very positive-thinking community. I've added this thread to my 'Favourites' to facilitate checking the discussion.

 

Regards,

 

JJ

I like to fly through scenic areas in Canada and North West USA.  What would be some of the best payer/freeware sceneries for XP10 for those areas?

 

Jean-Jacques

airport bounderies which blend with adjacent scenery (to the point of being difficult to spot - for smaller airports)

Glad somebody mentions this. Don't laugh, this was one of the main 'wow' effects for me when using X-Plane. I got so used to finding airports in FSX due to the way the runway display is handled and how the different landclass types stand out which in turn rendered me rather helpless (without instruments) when those artificial clues were missing. :blush:

 

Tells a story about how one can get used to wrong things and develop bad habits. Now, flying in X-Plane with lets say some nice World2XPlane data and a decent mesh, the airport seems much more like a part of the world as opposed to some 'land here!' island.

 

This leads to the tip regarding

 

I like to fly through scenic areas in Canada and North West USA

to try the World2XPlane freeware since it usually gives a good representation with slight shortcomings on the texture (colour) side of things.

 

I'd head over to simheaven.com to get some Canadian data for free (or a small donation). :smile:

Glad somebody mentions this. Don't laugh, this was one of the main 'wow' effects for me when using X-Plane. I got so used to finding airports in FSX due to the way the runway display is handled and how the different landclass types stand out which in turn rendered me rather helpless (without instruments) when those artificial clues were missing.

 

Tells a story about how one can get used to wrong things and develop bad habits. Now, flying in X-Plane with lets say some nice World2XPlane data and a decent mesh, the airport seems much more like a part of the world as opposed to some 'land here!' island.

 

This leads to the tip regarding

 

I don't know about you..............................but I'd often look for some rows of hangars off in the distance, when trying to spot an airport from the air.....

 

They really do stand out, as an indication that the runway is near by.

 

However, ( in real life) even when the GPS says the airport is right down there, they're sometimes hard to immediately spot.

Yes, grass and sometimes dirt runways are tough to spot.  In the real world, most pilots have flown into these areas and know where to look and what VFR references to use.  In XP it can be a matter of flying over to find it and then coming back to land.  Many small airstrips, unless you have specific custom scenery loaded, give you no clue as to where they are - just a slightly different color of grass.  I use the HD Runway textures which helps a bit.

PMDG and P3D has the eye candy.. I fly that as much as I fly X-Plane... The flight modelling is far superior in XP and that is the undeniable fact.

 

Simply put -

 

Realism (FLYING THROUGH THE AIR) #1 = X-Plane 10

 

Nicest graphics (watching flying machines)  #1 = Prepar3d 2.5