What are the highest fidelity planes currently in the sim?

[tull]

PMDG 777... love it...flying nothing else at the moment!

[BennetHill]

In case it needed saying again... Comanche.

I am also very partial to the Black Square products. They seem to hold my attention much longer than the others since they are all more complex than a single engine piper. The piston Duke is my favorite but you can't go wrong with any of them.

[UrgentSiesta]

So many great recommendations in here that I agree with 🙂

I'm no longer flying the JustFlight GA aircraft even though the Arrows are near and dear to my heart because that's where my IRL pilot training started. But ever since A2A brought the Comanche to the sim, all other piston GA aircraft are dead to me. It's just that good.

(somewhat ironically, I guess, is that I still love flying the JF Turbo Arrow with REP in X-Plane, even tho the graphics are quite dated by today's standards. Talk about Hi Fidelity, that's one of the tops)

OTOH, I love the JF 146, the Avro Vulcan and the BAe Hawk. I know you said you don't like military aircraft, but the Vulcan & Hawk are  outstanding addons that simply ooze quality and fidelity. The Vulcan, in particular, is like a steam gauge spaceship from the old 1960's sci fi movies -  it provides a compelling experience that is nearly unique in the sim.

Similarly, the India Foxt Echo / HeatBlur F-14 is among the highest fidelity addons in the sim, across all categories of simulation and categories of aircraft as well. It's the last of the "manual" fighters and is simultaneously deeply complex and still a joyful experience. And when you can actually score a 3-wire carrier landing after a Case I approach, you'll feel tremendous (and earned) satisfaction. (oh, and the carrier is also beautifully modeled and included free with the addon 🙂 ).

Pretty much anything by MilViz/Blackbird Sims qualifies for the "highest fidelity" group. Their recently released T-6A Texan II turboprop trainer is extremely high fidelity in all regards. Where the A2A Comanche is a Pilot's Plane, the Texan II is a plane that makes Pilots. MTBF failures  and all that jazz, even bird strikes are built in 😉. High performance, great view, outstanding flight model, hits the numbers and all that. Worth every single penny of the cost.

I'm not big on airliners, but I appreciate High Fidelity. PMDG 737 BBJ is my preference there. And for other types of "airline-ish" flying, I find myself gravitating to the CJ4 and Longitude now that the AAU updates have brought them into the realm of Hi Fi.

Oh, and again, I know you don't like military, but dang is the Flying Iron Sims Bf 109 a simply outstanding addon that's a heckuva lotta fun to fly (and challenging, too!). The soundset alone is worth the purchase.

[Cpt_Piett]

14 minutes ago, UrgentSiesta said:

Their recently released T-6A Texan II turboprop trainer is extremely high fidelity in all regards. Where the A2A Comanche is a Pilot's Plane, the Texan II is a plane that makes Pilots. MTBF failures  and all that jazz, even bird strikes are built in 😉. High performance, great view, outstanding flight model, hits the numbers and all that. Worth every single penny of the cost.

Highly agree. The flight model is not like anything else and hand-flying the aircraft (it’s not equipped with an autopilot) is a very unique experience. Handling the aircraft takes some practice (not to mention landings), but that’s part of the fun/challenge. 

[Stearmandriver]

6 hours ago, Gulf76 said:

CAS J-3 Cub is the most authentic strictly stick and rudder plane there is. No avionics, just a few gauges. It is my favorite plane for flying bush strips. The low power really requires you to fly it carefully in mountains areas. The downdrafts and updrafts are palpable. It is incredibly inexpensive, has unique features, three variants and is a total blast to fly in VR. Anyone who doesn’t own it, is truly missing out on a sublime experience of the basic forces of flight.  The developer has also been actively working on it since initial release. It is not a plane you purchase for deep systems, avionics or manipulating switches and buttons. That is for the airliners, A2A and Blacksquare.

Highly agreed, but I'll go even a little further: I think it IS a plane you can purchase for deep systems, or manipulating switches and buttons.  It's just that a J-3 doesn't have a lot of this, but EVERYTHING it does have is simulated in a really satisfying way.  The way you interact with the plane goes well beyond mere click spots; you're still using a mouse but you click and hold an item, and then push / pull it to where it belongs.  It's odd, how much more satisfying this makes simple things like opening the door and window for flight. 

Highly, HIGHLY recommended, especially now with the float model.  It really does approach the level of the A2A Cub.  There's also a 100hp mod available on TO now. 

And I'm a guy who likes Cubs.  😁

[Sky_Pilot071]

12 hours ago, CFIJose said:

No one mentioned the H-Jet so I will! 😀

No one respects the HJET's fidelity because it is so accurate.  Still my number #1 plane.

sp

[ryanbatc]

1 hour ago, Stearmandriver said:

Highly agreed, but I'll go even a little further: I think it IS a plane you can purchase for deep systems, or manipulating switches and buttons.  It's just that a J-3 doesn't have a lot of this, but EVERYTHING it does have is simulated in a really satisfying way.  The way you interact with the plane goes well beyond mere click spots; you're still using a mouse but you click and hold an item, and then push / pull it to where it belongs.  It's odd, how much more satisfying this makes simple things like opening the door and window for flight. 

Highly, HIGHLY recommended, especially now with the float model.  It really does approach the level of the A2A Cub.  There's also a 100hp mod available on TO now. 

And I'm a guy who likes Cubs.  😁

 

Yep the Cub is a superb addon.  I love that you can hand prop start it 🙂

[fppilot]

1 hour ago, Sky_Pilot071 said:

No one respects the HJET's fidelity because it is so accurate.  Still my number #1 plane.

sp

When I get blown away by the depth of the Hjet is when I watch actual flight videos of its namesake Hondajet. Like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uxXqgHmC8k
Everything is so closely modeled.  True-to-life accuracy!

Just wait, FlightFX has a Citation X well under development, and it proves to follow the same course of true-to-life!

Edited August 9 by fppilot

[V1ROTA7E]

8 hours ago, Mace said:

FSReborn M500 aka FSR500 or Sting S4

I do like this plane....I just find the passenger "hunger and thirst" option a bit silly.

Obviously this is AI generated, so it's naturally horrifying...but this is the gist of what I imagine lol

[Gulf76]

4 hours ago, Stearmandriver said:

Highly agreed, but I'll go even a little further: I think it IS a plane you can purchase for deep systems, or manipulating switches and buttons.  It's just that a J-3 doesn't have a lot of this, but EVERYTHING it does have is simulated in a really satisfying way.  The way you interact with the plane goes well beyond mere click spots; you're still using a mouse but you click and hold an item, and then push / pull it to where it belongs.  It's odd, how much more satisfying this makes simple things like opening the door and window for flight. 

Highly, HIGHLY recommended, especially now with the float model.  It really does approach the level of the A2A Cub.  There's also a 100hp mod available on TO now. 

And I'm a guy who likes Cubs.  😁

I totally agree! It is a very high fidelity version of the actual plane IRL. As you said, the plane is modeled after its real world counterpart. My point was that many simmers like all of the avionics, gauges and numerous buttons and switches to manipulate and this plane isn’t for that kind of experience. However, I own most of the planes people have mentioned in this thread, yet the Cub has received the most flight time of all them by far since it was released. I can’t wait to see what CAS releases next. 

[Aglos77]

On 8/8/2024 at 4:06, V1ROTA7E said:

Historia de fondo: Estoy empezando a sentirme un poco "sobrecargado de opciones" al decidir qué volar, y decidí que era hora de poner orden en el hangar (aviones predeterminados incluidos). Decidí sacar el Comanche a dar una vuelta, y no he podido soltarlo. El estrés que puede inducir, así como la atención a los detalles que debes tener, hacen que volar parezca menos... bueno, falso. Esto me hizo darme cuenta de que: en los últimos 4 años, he comprado demasiados aviones de mala calidad por esperanza, en lugar de mantenerme firme en mi postura sobre la fidelidad... Así que ahora, hay un montón de "basura" en el hangar que me gustaría limpiar y quedarme con aviones que realmente tengan capacidades realistas. No me malinterpretes, ¡algunos de estos aviones "malos" son muy divertidos! Pero también me han condicionado a no esperar mucho y a estar bien con eso. Comprendo que esto puede limitar los tipos de viajes disponibles, pero en este momento hay tantos aviones de alta calidad que ya no hay necesidad de "fingir".

TL;DR: El título

 

In all honesty A2A is in a much higher league for me. I mostly value flight model and handling and that's where a lot of options you read about here fail. 

[St Mawgan]

I agree with the comments on the T6-A and the CAS Cub. As great as the Comanche is, I honestly can't remember the last time I flew it, which probably says more about the actual aircraft than it's fidelity in the sim. The T6-A is challenging and unique I think. Probably comes closest to the actual sensation of flight for me in MSFS and the aircraft I have to stay alert for the most. The Cub is for winding down after flying the T6-A and is extremely well done.  

[Glenn Fitzpatrick]

For me:

1. A2A Comanche
2. Got Friends Wilga
3. FSReborn Sting S4
4. Ants Tigermoth
5. Black Square TBM850

ALSO have heard good things about the new Black Square Duke and Turbine Duke but do not have them yet.

 

This official forum thread is worth a read:

https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/your-current-top-10-aircraft/507204/7881

Edited August 9 by Glenn Fitzpatrick

[Mace]

12 hours ago, V1ROTA7E said:

I do like this plane....I just find the passenger "hunger and thirst" option a bit silly.

It's too fast.  I mean you can feed the pax during taxi and 30 minutes later those people are hungry & thirsty again.  Tengo Hambre!!

I get why he programmed it that way though, I guess to sort of compress things during a flight.  Good thing is I can ignore it, and, as one user put it, the pax can be "in a little box of torture" back there.

 

[bofhlusr]

On 8/8/2024 at 2:11 AM, sloppysmusic said:

It must be noted that my favorite sim planes of all time that I still love to fly regularly are NOT in this sim yet.

For me Xtreme Prototype's Learjet GLJ 25D Latest | Xtreme Prototypes