On Tuesday April 14th 2020 there will be a new version of P3D. We all know based on the videos that we have seen that P3D v5 will be DOA without 3rd party support. That got me thinking about all the great add-ons that made P3D v4 so enjoyable. I'll share a few, but I'm more interested in knowing what were your most treasured add-ons.

1) ASP4 is still the best and my favorite weather generator. When combined with REX SkyForce 3d the results were truly remarkable. I got so many WOW moments from these 2 add-ons that I will forever be grateful.

2) PTA, but more important are the presets by Gerard. What an amazing tool. Completely transformed my sim and added look and feel that I was looking for. Thank you Gerard!

3) Airports: Latin VFR's KFLL accomplished something we have not seen in P3D. AI traffic taxiing and departing with a sloped runway. I had blast just watching those beautiful AIG models along with the FSReborn lights added the much needed fix to our AI traffic. The other airport that blew me away was FlyTampa's KLAS. The city is an authentic representation of the real one. I wish MSFS2020 luck in trying to replicate that airport and city to FlyTampa standards.

There are others, but I'm interested in hearing your favorites. I'm also leaving airplanes for you to share your experience.

I would add a few.  First time I loaded up the FSLabs A319 in the snow.  Then watched the snow gradually accumulate on the airplane.  Then called GSX to deice.  Watched it melt away but leave behind deice fluid on the airframe.  Then got a printout of the holdover time on my thermal printer automatically.  That was a fantastic moment of "Oh Wow".  Then I had a flight where I didn't deice.  Performance was terrible.  At best.  At that moment I really had to give thanks to FSLabs for modeling something that most others hadn't done.  Also props to Fly The Maddog to in this department.  

One of the developers who is if not an unsung hero, then at least deserving of far more credit than he gets for making not only P3D but also FSX much more fun and usable than they would otherwise be, is Lorby (aka Oliver Binder).

Generous in creating many freeware add-ons and utilities which are not just useful and fun, but also invaluable in diagnosing issues one might have, as well as enthusiastic and innovative in creating fun payware products such as Firefighter and Crop Duster. The flight sim world would be far poorer without his contributions and I don't think we can thank him enough for his efforts. Anyone who has ever had an issue with an add-on screwing up their P3D installation will be well aware that his freebie organiser program is a godsend.

 

 

A few others I can think of.  Installing AI lights reborn with FLAi.  That was a wow moment.