late to the P3D party aircraft recommendations

[Dazkent 113]

Hi Guys

Being a long time FSX GA flyer i am beginning to use P3D 4.5 more and more, I mainly fly GA and turboprops of the Carenado variety (B1900D in particular). 

I would love to get into commercial airliners but lately I really struggle learning new things and then get a bit disheartened so I am looking for some recommendations for aircraft that are pretty easy to learn yet have some system depth but not necessarily study level (PMDG way out of my comfort zone)

I am looking for something that i can fly for say to three hours short to medium haul

Possible candidates are the QW 146 ( used to fly the FSX version long time ago) and maybe the areosoft airbus (again had the FSX version and i gather i can get a discount on the P3D upgrade).

I would really appreciate any advice and if you can point in me in the way of any tutorials you will make this simmer very happy 

kind regards

Darran

 

 

 

[blaunarwal 432]

33 minutes ago, Dazkent said:

Possible candidates are the QW 146

The QW 146 may look tempting but it is more difficult to use than you think. I still need the manual next to me with that one. 

Captainsims Classic Boeings are easy to fly, also with a flight plan. They do not need lot of preparation.

I have most airliners except the Airbus from FSL. The more complex the planes are, the less I use them. But if you go for a complexer one, just stick with it and use it regularely and you will become used to it and get it faster into the air.

[Patco Lch 1,462]

The Manfred Jan C47 is freeware at Sim Outhouse. Extremely realistic with loads of liveries in the AVSIM library. I've had tons of fun with this. California Classics has a free ware Convair  440 that works in P3DV5.  

[dpergau 137]

Majestic Q400. One of the best! Definitely a bit to learn but not overwhelming. Plenty of guides to help you.

Dan

[Chock 17,769]

I'll add another vote for the Majestic Dash 8 Q400; in considering its bargain price and it massive list of features, it is without doubt the best add-on airliner for FSX/P3D, yet it is a comparatively easy aeroplane to learn how to operate if you watch a few tutorial vids on youtube. Of the various versions available, I would suggest getting either the 'pro' or the 'training' version, rather than the cheaper 'pilot' version which I think is a bit too cut down on features for all but the most casual of flight simmers. The considerably more expensive 'cockpit' version is intended only for those wanting to build a hardware cockpit, so of all four versions available, unless you absolutely must have the 'true glass' precipitation effect on your windscreen (support for which which comes with the training version), then I would say get the 'pro' version, which at approximately 60 quid, is an amazing amount of bang for your bucks, especially for a P3D add-on airliner with as much fidelity as this one has.

Or... if you want something a bit 'GA-ish' which is great for airliner training (it  is used for that quite often in real life), the FlySimWare Cessna C441 Conquest II is an outstanding simulation of an outstanding aeroplane. With a 300 mph cruise speed, yet able to land at well under 100, it has a 2,500 mile range and can make it up to 35,000 feet, so it is basically akin to being a small and fast 8-10 seater regional airliner. There are graphically fancier aeroplanes out there for P3D than those from FlySimWare, but FlySimWare stuff has it where it really counts - in the actual systems simulation of the real things - and their Cessna 441 is among the best of all their excellent products, so be sure to watch their tutorial videos covering things like the engine test systems and how the propeller controls work in order to understand how these operate and so avoid frustration.

[micstatic 4,313]

Another vote for the q400. Always keeps you in your toes. 

[pete_auau 1,152]

yep another  vote  for the q400

[lzamm 143]

As much as I love the Q400, I wouldn't recommend it as a starter aircraft for someone wanting to " get into commercial airliners".  Quite apart from fighting the rudder trim all the way and requiring a particular technique to land successfully, it has a rather unusual FMS with a very rudimentary VNAV, which is hardly the "airliner" experience.  I would go with a 737/A320 as the "classic" airliner with all the mod cons.

There's no reason to be "afraid" of the PMDG, if you start with engines running you can leave out most of the fiddly stuff and concentrate on navigation and flying.   The iFly 737 is a bit cheaper and almost as detailed.  And although the Aerosoft buses get a lot of stick from the aficionados, they're fine for what they set out to do - give a simplified introduction to Airbus flying, which seems to be much what you want. 

Certainly off topic, but probably the cheapest way to see if you like airliner flying is X-plane and the freeware Zibo mod (you can even use the free demo in 30-minute chunks).

 

Edited June 3, 2022 by lzamm
typo

[Benbo 53]

I would say any of the PMDG Aircraft or the Aerosoft Airbus along side FS2 Crew,it really helps with the set up of the aircraft and lets you concentrate on flying.

[Torsen 492]

Yeah the Q400 can be demanding but it is still the most immersive package in p3d available without a question. A very good guide (and other guides) btw still can be found here:

https://www.mudspike.com/chucks-guides-p3d-majestic-q400/

Chucks guides are awesome and always a good read. But as others stated it can be a bit steep on the learning curve.

An easy start really still would be the AS bus packages. With their automated checklists they are quite easy just for hopping in. And they are not that bad if you want to stay on the easy side.

But don't be afraid of the 737 or other so called "study level" addons. You can just simply use them as all other "normal" addons if you just disable failures and stuff. By default they are off anyway. The 737 is quite an easy bird. But for sure I would not go the PMDG route and prefer the IFly Version. Much more bang for the buck.

The QW 146 package is quite dated but still a valid option. Especially the Avro versions have enough automation to keep things easy.

Cheers

T.

[Rogen 1,087]

Fav planes for P3D... there's so many of them.

I too enjoy the not too complex ones but don't mind the odd reasonably complex.

• The QW 146 and 757 should be on anyone's buy list as they are so cheap and nice to fly as well, plus there's a PBR mod package for the 757.
• A2A are the greatest of GA models.
• Carenado and Ababeo make some nice looking aircraft, check the support forum here first as there is in general a mod/s is available to improve the particular aircraft.
• Milviz have reduced their prices by 50% and theirs are some pretty nice planes.
• Ant's Aeroplanes have some quite complex yet very easy and fun to fly at very cheap prices, all based on planes he has personal access to.
• You can hop on over to Orbx and download all of Aeroplane Heaven's P3D fleet, there are a few nice ones in there and they are free.
• India Fox Echo has also made their fleet free, jet fighters and jet trainers.
• There's the OZx - GooseHD
• And the Manfred Jan C47 which it really good, the copilot sings a song of lament and there is a bit of flirtatious banter between the pilots and stewardess.

There's many more though.

Cheers

 

[Torsen 492]

3 minutes ago, Rogen said:

The QW 146 and 757 should be on anyone's buy list as they are so cheap and nice to fly as well, plus there's a PBR mod package for the 757.

 

Oh yes. Very valid point. The QW 757 package for a start is really nice too 👍

[Rogen 1,087]

7 minutes ago, Torsen said:

The QW 757 package for a start is really nice too

with PBR

[Rogen 1,087]

48 minutes ago, Benbo said:

Aerosoft Airbus along side FS2 Crew,it really helps with the set up of the aircraft and lets you concentrate on flying.

I was considering the Aerosoft Airbus A318/319 and A320/A321 bundle, considerably cheaper than if bought separately and FS2 Crew have a 50 Euro bundle that includes the below.

P3D (V1 to V5) VERSIONS: 

• FS2CREW: PMDG 737 NGX-U EDITION
• FS2CREW: PMDG 777 EDITION
• FS2CREW: PMDG 747 QOTS II EDITION
• FS2CREW: FSLABS AIRBUS EDITION
• FS2CREW: MAJESTIC DASH 8 Q400 EDITION
• FS2CREW: AEROSOFT CRJ EDITION
• FS2CREW: QUALITY WINGS 787 EDITION
• FS2CREW: MADDOG X REBOOT
• FS2CREW: AEROSOFT AIRBUS PROFESSIONAL
• FS2CREW: IFLY 737NG EDITION
• ULTIMATE GROUND CREW X
• RAAS PROFESSIONAL

I have 2 other Aerosoft aircraft being the twotter & PBY Catalina (unfortunately the Catalina was a relatively poor x86 to x64 conversion and took myself wading through xxxxx lines of code to resolve the issues in the majority).

The twotter is fine, all I needed was an updated ASC.dll which posted by Aerosoft on their forum and no doubt is in the installer as this was some years back.

I'm not after the Flight Sim Labs level of "study", would the Aerosoft airbuses suit ? i.e. not too problematicly high level and good fun flying ?

Plus @blaunarwal has discovered a NEO PBR mod package with new engines.

Anyone have any thoughts ?

Edited June 3, 2022 by Rogen

[Torsen 492]

23 minutes ago, Rogen said:

I'm not after the Flight Sim Labs level of "study", would the Aerosoft airbuses suit ? i.e. not too problematicly high level and good fun flying ?

Plus @blaunarwal has discovered a NEO PBR mod package with new engines.

Anyone have any thoughts ?

I've flown both the smaller busses and the 330 of AS a lot back in p3d. And they are for sure ok and fun to fly. The checklist can sometimes be a pita if they get stuck but otherwise for sure ok for the given price. I never went the FSL road cause for a typical daily ops without failures the AS were sufficient for me for sure. They even got me into the bus and nowadays flying a lot FBW and Fenix in the other sim.

Cheers

T.