After years of seeking "DA PLANE" I find that in my FS9, the General aircraft are not so bad at all!.Slowly I find myself tooling around with the planes I got in FS. Thats not to say that my hanger is sparse,but rather its overflowing.Kinnda like a pantry shelf full of candy.(Which when overindulged in can make you sick) Costing some many bucks in the process.The only other three planes that appeal to me, I am, a PVT.PILOT SEL since 1974,are the great, FLT.1 "ARCHER", The honest, FLT.1 C-152, and the incomparable Eckert, "STEERMAN" These I have flown.. For me ,these additional three ,along with the default FS planes,have provided me with hours of great flights, on the Sim,and in the real world. The heavy Iron? Well,I'll defer those to others. "HAVING FUN" VIN

I too have zillions of addon a/c -- many of which are really good . But I have to admit that I often return to the default C172 -- I have modified it quite a bit though -- it has a new 2d panel, mods to the VC, sound, airfile, etc -- but it is nice to fly. I guess if I had to choose one a/c to take with me to a deserted island , it would probably be the default C172.

I confess, I'm stuck on the RealAir Marchetti SF260, as the "one" I always go back too. And of course there are reasons. It behaves extremely well, with some of the best flight dynamics ever created "anywhere" which is reason #1; and it's a side by side seating, stick & sliding canopy airplane, which is like the Van's RV6A that I built. I also have a few hours in the real SF260 for comparison.L.Adamson

MAAM B-25J. I like the VCKirk Olsson's F-16Mike Stone's C-130

MAAM DC-3 is cool (with many variants and all the $$ goes to a good cause).I also love the Carenado 182 and the Dreamfleet A36.XP Home SP2Asus P4P800-SE Intel 3.0GHZDDR 400 D/C 4x512MBLeadtek 6800GT 256MB (77.72)SB AudigyCH Products Yoke/Pedals USBSee you in the fence...CYYZ

I am a Pilot also and my favorites are the Carenado C182 RG, the Aeroworx B200 King Air and the Flight 1 ATR-72. I use the ATR on most of my Vatsim flights.

I find enjoyment in the Aerosoft Beaver and Milenko's Maule M-7-260 for bush flying, the Aussim Piper Warrior II/III package and the default Cessna for practicing maneuvers and proceedures for my real-world flight training (done in Warrior IIIs), and then I like to fly some of the other default aircraft for some of the historical flights.----------------------------------------------------------------John MorganReal World: KGEG, UND Aerospace Spokane Satillite, Private ASEL 141.2 hrs, 314 landings, 46 inst. apprs.Virtual: MSFS 2004"There is a feeling about an airport that no other piece of ground can have. No matter what the name of the country on whose land it lies, an airport is a place you can see and touch that leads to a reality that can only be thought and felt." - The Bridge Across Forever: A Love Story by Richard Bach

Donny AKA ShalomarFly 2 ROCKS!!!I too have a short list of planes for FS9 I enjoy most. I do tend to get to know a plane for a while when I do fly it.Default Cessna? Usually for me it's the RAS_172.zip from the library. Flight model improvements, snazzy paint job and better sounds. I think there's a way to use the new flight model and sounds on the default, but haven't bothered.For the sound of twin radials and flying a plane based at the airport nearest my house, the Volpar. I like vintage planes with more modern panels, not necessarily EFIS, but at least full ILS capability and GPS at least as a handheld/popup. The Volpar fits the bill.Cuz my dad flew one, the Veneviveones Turbocommander 690B. You can touch down, enter beta on the condition levers which are mapped to prop RPM, advance throttle to slow, reduce throttle to idle then come out of beta to ground idle. Beats the F2 key anyday...Cuz I'd love to own one in real life, the AFG Pilatus PCXII. Cheez whiz, haven't got a chance to fly it yet and it's on my list!!! But the panel I have in it seems acurate and well documented.Cuz it's the type of plane I am most likely to actually own in real life, the Kolbe Firefly!!!Cuz my brother refuses to fly anything less and I can keep him up till 3:30 AM on a Wednesday trying to duplicate my landings at Slatington 69N, the Boeing Super Hornet!!!Best Regards, Donny:-wave

I haven't had troubles with the default Cessna that everyone else talks about. My friend with a bit of time in 172s didn't have trouble either. The "touchiness" described isn't there in mine. It may be my joystick sensitivity settings I dulled down because all the aircraft felt touchy so I figured if all the aircraft are touchy then it must be a joystick problem.----------------------------------------------------------------John MorganReal World: KGEG, UND Aerospace Spokane Satillite, Private ASEL 141.2 hrs, 314 landings, 46 inst. apprs.Virtual: MSFS 2004"There is a feeling about an airport that no other piece of ground can have. No matter what the name of the country on whose land it lies, an airport is a place you can see and touch that leads to a reality that can only be thought and felt." - The Bridge Across Forever: A Love Story by Richard Bach

>because all the aircraft felt touchy so I figured if all the>aircraft are touchy then it must be a joystick problem.There is vast difference between say default C172 and how it flies and responds to user input and something like Flight1's 172, not to mention an ocean of difference how they look. I have plenty of time in a real 172 and I also have no "trouble" with the default C172 except I don't think it is nowhere near real aircraft. On the other hand something like Flight1's 172 flies, handles and looks magnificently no matter how I have my joystick tuned. So no, not 'all' aircraft feel touchy.Michael J.WinXP-Home SP2,AMD64 3500+,Abit AV8,Radeon X800Pro,36GB Raptor,1GB PC3200,Audigy 2http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/747400.jpghttp://www.hifisim.com/images/asv_beta_member.jpg

With me it changes from time to time. Dredging back into the past, and moving forward, I would list some of my favs as (I have enjoyed greatly all of these listed and the order does not necessarily reflect any preference - except for #1 :( ):1) DreamFleet 737 (payware and probably my favorite plane of all time. Sadly not really compatible with FSCOF)2) Ford Trimotor (FS)3) Twin Otter (Premier Aircraft Design - freeware)4) Aero Commander series (Milton Shupe and his team - freeware) More recently:1) PMDG B1900C (Really wish they would make a more advanced version but still very good value -payware)2) LDS 767 (payware)Adam

1. FSD Piaggio Avanti - I just love the way it looks and the FSD version is GREAT!!!2. Default Vickers Vimy - actually a neat VFR aircraft - just fly it with 10-15% fuel for only a hour or two.3. Flight1 PC-12 - another aircraft I love the look and really like the way this one works / handles in FS20044. Mike Stone Super Constellation - because I flew on real ones (EC-121) back in the early 70s.5. Milton Shupe Twin Commander seriesI'm running out of room and afraid to post more - my wife might figure out how much money I've spent !!!Edit - I do fly some vacuum cleaners sometimes, but I love windmills !!

I like the POSKY 757. I use that on long hauls. For short hauls, I use a 737-700 (don't know who makes that one :)). For local flights, I like the Dash-7.

I haven't had actual flight experience in any of the default aircraft, but on my machine, they were all uncontrollable to start with as some have complained so I adjusted my joystick paramaters and got them controllable. My friend has some time in 172s and felt the performance figures he was getting were correct. I can't say personally on the performance so I've had to take his word on it. I'm limited to Cessna 150s, 152s, and Piper Warrior IIIs and Cadets (Warriors minus the baggage door and rear most windows).If can ever afford the $180 to get checked out in a Cessna 172, the $1000 renters insurance, and the then the $86 an hour rental fee, I'll have to check it out for myself. Though I guess there's a 172 IFR for $67 over at Couer d'Alene I could look into. It sucks to have a PPL-ASEL and have never used it's priviledges because the rentals are so flippin' pricy. :-lol----------------------------------------------------------------John MorganReal World: KGEG, UND Aerospace Spokane Satillite, Private ASEL 141.2 hrs, 314 landings, 46 inst. apprs.Virtual: MSFS 2004"There is a feeling about an airport that no other piece of ground can have. No matter what the name of the country on whose land it lies, an airport is a place you can see and touch that leads to a reality that can only be thought and felt." - The Bridge Across Forever: A Love Story by Richard Bach

>performance figures he was getting were>correct. They are correct. But the "feel" of the aircrfat doesn't come from performance figures but how the airplane reacts when displaced from its equilibrium - so things like pitch, roll, yaw oscillations. So the default 172 may meet all the performance numbers by the book (climb rates, speeds, fuel burn rates, etc.) but still "feel" totally alien to a pilot.Michael J.WinXP-Home SP2,AMD64 3500+,Abit AV8,Radeon X800Pro,36GB Raptor,1GB PC3200,Audigy 2http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/747400.jpghttp://www.hifisim.com/images/asv_beta_member.jpg