I‘m quite sure as for flight dynamics it‘s the Maddog, and the PMDG as a close second. At least I‘ve never heard anything negative about the Maddog in that regard. However the number of real life MD80-experienced pilots will probably be very small here on Avsim so it could also be that no one can really compare with reality.

2 hours ago, Bobsk8 said:

Pretty Mediocre review. https://flyingpauls.blogspot.com/2022/11/airbus-a310-in-msfs-review.html

We’re talking flight model here. 
his difficulties were with systems, and even then he said it could have been his  unfamiliarity. 

38 minutes ago, UrgentSiesta said:

We’re talking flight model here. 
his difficulties were with systems, and even then he said it could have been his  unfamiliarity. 

The entire review is written like someone expecting an aircraft from the 70s to perform as great as a more modern airliner. It’s so poorly thought out why even bother reviewing it.

3 hours ago, Bobsk8 said:

Pretty Mediocre review. https://flyingpauls.blogspot.com/2022/11/airbus-a310-in-msfs-review.html

Pretty mediocre blog too.

59 minutes ago, Lucky38i said:

The entire review is written like someone expecting an aircraft from the 70s to perform as great as a more modern airliner. It’s so poorly thought out why even bother reviewing it.

I didn’t cite the review, so you’ll have to take it up with bobsk8.

in any case, when it comes to enjoyable flying, I’ll gladly take the 1970s F-14 Tomcat over the 1990s F/A-18.

IoW, newer ain’t always better. 

From a pilot perspective, previously qualified in types regarding flight dynamics, I find the MD80 very close to reality, followed by the A310 and the last PMDG737. System-wise, first is the MD80, followed by the 737, unfortunately, the PMDG still shows many issues with the AP, LNAV, and VNAV right in front of your eyes.  Regarding the A310, systems and functionality need lots of work. I can't comment on the small Airbus. Unfortunately, almost all ASOBO airplanes suffer from unpolished dynamics.

Not to toot our own horn, but we've had rave reviews of the 747-8i FM from our type rated test pilots. One liked it so much: he said he could use actual muscle memory and trim inputs straight from the real thing, and the reactions were exactly as he expected. He felt it was one of the most satisfying FMs of a type he had considerable time on he had felt on any sim to date. You can even nail the unreliable airspeed charts, it's very on the numbers, something that is hard to achieve even with very good FMs.

We're very proud of what we were able to do on that one.

4 hours ago, Virtual-Chris said:

I just want to know I’m not investing money and time in an airliner with a flawed flight model. If the differences are really subtle shades of grey, then I guess flight model is not really a factor in the decision.  

 

You keep saying "investing"....You might wanna leave the hobby while you still can...ROFL.  This is NOT an investment, it's a money spender.

Edited August 27, 20232 yr by Jeff Nielsen

u keep n saying investing, well get the PMDG 737 series and u will be satisfied.  Its clearly #1., end of story!!

I've been using Flight Simulator for some 30 years and have countless hours flying both airliners and general aircraft in the sim. I can tell you without any doubt that I have no clue about which airliner has the most realistic flight model because I've never flown one. Most people using FS haven't either. So, you first need to find someone qualified (people who fly airliners for a living) to even give a reasonable guess. Then the issue with that is they may have a lot knowledge about a certain aircraft or aircraft family, but they too would just be speculating on others. An even worse issue is that there are endless real world conditions and phases of flight that aircraft have their own specific characteristics. An FS aircraft may do well at some at some of those and not others and that may very well not be because of the developer, but issues with the FS environment itself.

So, you are asking a question that really can't be answered. If you are interested how they operate, like power up, start up, flight computer programming etc., you have very nice options to choose from as the Fenix, PMDG and others are nicely detailed as documented by many videos of pilots of the those aircraft demonstrating.

Flight Model wise?

Flythemaddog MD-80 series.

IniBuilds A310.

PMDG 737 family.

 

Systems wise?

FenixSim A320 CEO.

Flythemaddog MD-80 series.

PMDG 737 family.

 

Visually?

FenixSim A320 CEO.

Just Flight BAe 146.

PMDG DC-6.

 

Consistent runner ups:

Just Flight Fokker F28.

Flybywire A320 Neo.

 

50 minutes ago, MattNischan said:

Not to toot our own horn, but we've had rave reviews of the 747-8i FM from our type rated test pilots. One liked it so much: he said he could use actual muscle memory and trim inputs straight from the real thing, and the reactions were exactly as he expected. He felt it was one of the most satisfying FMs of a type he had considerable time on he had felt on any sim to date. You can even nail the unreliable airspeed charts, it's very on the numbers, something that is hard to achieve even with very good FMs.

We're very proud of what we were able to do on that one.

That is REALLY great to hear! Thank you for all the hard work - and never a bad thing to speak up for your work when you've got the goods to back it up. 🙂

The real answer is, none.  Operating consumer or prosumer grade controls attached to a desktop computer is simply never going to feel like actually flying an airplane.  That's just reality.

If you've never flown the type of aircraft being simulated, you'll never know any better and so it's irrelevant.  For instance, I enjoy the Hornet flight model in DCS very much.  It feels something like a 40,000lb jet to me, but while I've flown a few of those in the bizjet world, I've never flown a Hornet.  So while former hornet pilots are critical of the FM, it makes me happy.

I do fly 737s.  How does the PMDG FM compare?  I guess about as well as it can on a desktop computer.  Does it feel like flying a 737?  Of course not.  Is it good enough to sometimes remind me of how the real airplane would feel?  Yes.  That, coupled with the immersion of highly accurate systems and autoflight behavior, in a spectacularly modeled 3d world, maybe with Vatsim, achieves a suspension of disbelief that is pretty enjoyable.

But c'mon... "flying" a computer in your desk chair is never, ever going to feel like flying the real airplane.  I'd say all you can ever hope for in the sim world is "close enough to be enjoyable", and I'm guessing all the big name devs deliver a product in that realm.

So my advice is to focus a little less on hyperrealism which simply isn't achievable, and instead pick the airplane that interests you most.  That way you'll at least be learning something that interests you.

If you want to learn how to actually fly a plane, invest the money in a discovery flight and start taking lessons.  It's the only real option.

58 minutes ago, Stearmandriver said:

The real answer is, none.

They asked for the most realistic, they didn't if any were completely realistic.

So no, the answer isn't 'none'.

Edited August 27, 20232 yr by Tuskin38

1 hour ago, Stearmandriver said:

I do fly 737s.  How does the PMDG FM compare?  I guess about as well as it can on a desktop computer.  Does it feel like flying a 737?  Of course not.  Is it good enough to sometimes remind me of how the real airplane would feel?  Yes.  That, coupled with the immersion of highly accurate systems and autoflight behavior, in a spectacularly modeled 3d world, maybe with Vatsim, achieves a suspension of disbelief that is pretty enjoyable.

This is actually a good endorsement of what MSFS achieves from an IRL 737 pilot,

& lots more active development coming to MSFS over the next few years,

Pretty good $value for the base MSFS simulator! 🙂

(& VR mode is also very impressive with Quest Pro et al)…