I am firmly an XP12 admirer after a week and a half.  I have a clean sim with just three plugins (X-Camera, Headshake & LiveTraffic) that is running smoothly with Lossless Scaling.  I have only been flying the default C172's because they fly so well.

Now I know I am sticking with XP12, I am going to buy a single payware GA aircraft to fly to death ☺️  The RealSimGear DA40 looks good, as does the TorqueSim SR20/22 - the Entegra display looks interesting.  I am deciding between these two, OR would the majority recommend something else?  Single or Twin GA is how I fly in the sim.  In MSFS I was buying lots of GA aircraft trying to find something that actually felt good to fly. I found that in the COWS DA40.  I don't think there is any real need to try lots of different aircraft in XP12 if the default fly so well!

So recommendations please for that single GA aircraft that is going to keep me happy for a while that has a nice flight model and 'study level' avionics and systems.

Edited June 5, 2025Jun 5 by MrBitstFlyer

I've had XP12 for years and have bought a fair few addons. (Whoops!)

I recently bought the TorqueSim SR22 Entegra on a whim as it was on sale and have to say it is (in my view) fantastic. The other one everyone is waiting for is the Hotstart TBM900. This is going to be out on XP12 soon. I have it on XP11 but am eagerly awaiting the XP12 release.

There are many others of course that others will recommend too for you!

J.Rollon/Simcoders SF.260D.

Or a Reality Expansion Pack for any default aircraft.

 

4 hours ago, MrBitstFlyer said:

'study level' avionics and systems.

Nothing to study for in GA aircraft. But if you get one with Reality Expansion Pack, you at least have to worry about things breaking.

Edited June 5, 2025Jun 5 by Bjoern

If you want a faster twin piston, don't forget to consider the Piper Seneca II from Jetstream FS, which is a reworked one from Carenado, with new features, reworked flight handling, textures, sound, able to integrate avionics add-ons. The result is very interesting.

6 minutes ago, Bjoern said:

Nothing to study for in GA aircraft.

Study level is well known for describing an advanced addon, where most switches, avionics and flight model are too a high and realistic standard.  

9 minutes ago, Bjoern said:

if you get one with Reality Expansion Pack, you at least have to worry about things breaking.

If you have to worry about things breaking, one has to study the addon to get familiar with its procedures, speeds and  temperatures etc.

1 minute ago, MrBitstFlyer said:

Study level is well known for describing an advanced addon, where most switches, avionics and flight model are too a high and realistic standard.  

If you have to worry about things breaking, one has to study the addon to get familiar with its procedures, speeds and  temperatures etc.

I know, I just utterly hate the term. Just call it "as close as possible" instead.

3 minutes ago, Bjoern said:

I know, I just utterly hate the term. Just call it "as close as possible" instead.

I hear you, but 'study level' has become the standard in the flight sim community.  😁

Unless there is term more liked here that I haven't seen yet 🤔

Thandra PC12. Should be fast enough for you.

If you don't buy Airfoillabs C172 (high study level), you failed. 🙂

1 hour ago, alexcolka said:

If you want a faster twin piston, don't forget to consider the Piper Seneca II from Jetstream FS, which is a reworked one from Carenado, with new features, reworked flight handling, textures, sound, able to integrate avionics add-ons. The result is very interesting.

Yes, that is interesting. Thanks for pointing this one out 🙂

57 minutes ago, Pe11e said:

If you don't buy Airfoillabs C172 (high study level), you failed. 🙂

I'll add that to my list to check out 👍

Reality Expansion Pack are pretty good 

IMHO the JRollen/Simcoders SF.260 is about as good as an straightforward single-engined GA aircraft gets in XP12 - if I had to put up something from XP to compare to the A2A Comanche on MSFS it would be this.

Other stuff that hasn't been mentioned that is perhaps worth a look - I like the vFlyteAir stuff a lot. They've had a problem that they lost their dev to retirement but looks like they may be back on track again with an update to their Comanche 140 released yesterday.

The Airfoil Labs King Air 350 is decent but not as good as it should be, BUT AFL may finally be looking to properly rework it which might properly redeem it - maybe not one to buy immediately but perhaps worth keeping an eye on ?

There are also some interesting Aerobask GA planes - I particularly like their DA20 SV for the excellent Skyview avionics combined with TDS GTN support plus what feels like great handling.

Additionally while it's probably not what you are looking for the Torquesim Citation Jet 525 is REALLY good. It may be a bizjet but it's a joy to hand fly and there's real depth to the systems without being overwhelming.

Edited June 6, 2025Jun 6 by Matchstick

There is a freeware king air done by real pilots mentioned elsewhere on these forums. Better than most payware.

I think you would find the model you want if you reframed the question. So in real life which aeroplane would I really want to fly about in - private class, aerobatic, STOL, multi-engine, seaplane?

A point was made earlier that all GA aircraft are basic in terms of systems - correct! One size fits all if it is a piston! The basic Piper Cub which Laminar provide is a perfect reproduction. get the small wheel modded one if your not into big wheels. In the twin department - they are all there and all excellent. Cessnas, Pipers, Beechcraft, Britten Norman, de Havilland and some odds and sods (like the Morava) And they are not all payware - lot of very good private developers who put out some amazing stuff - Like Flying Tak's Subaru a Cessna 170 and quite a few others.

Any duds? Not sure some are a bit basic in terms of texturing but flight fidelity is all good. Check out the AWX Tiger Moth as an example!

Have fun!