Aerostar 600

F28

A300-600

1. Fenix A320

2. Mad Dog MD82

3. A2A Comanche

1. Aerostar 600

2. SWS PC12-47

3. Blackbird Dirty Thirty C-130

4. PMDG 777F

5. Jaguar (Azurpoly) 

Really hard to objectively rank all of the great addons available to us, and anyway, it depends on what kind of flying I want to do, so I won't even try. Instead, I'll tell you which addons I've recently been flying the most, and why.

BlackBox Shorts 330/360

Best turboprop airliner for MSFS in my book. No pressurization, but flying in the weather is more exciting than flying above it anyway. I've been using it to do short hops in Norway. I believe it never operated there, but in my alternate reality, Widerøe bought a bunch of them instead of Dash 8s.

Aerosoft CRJ

Most underrated airliner for MSFS. It was mediocre at release but has matured a lot with the 2.0 and 2.1 updates. Boris sound pack is a must. Not an Airbus or a Boeing, making it refreshingly different. No autothrottle, so pay attention on level-offs.

Black Square Turbine Bonanza

Well, I had to include a Black Square addon, didn't I? I'm going with the Turbine Bonanza because it's just so bonkers. Takeoff performance is giggle-inducing. Quality and immersion is beyond reproach, as usual. Range is its weak spot, but who wants to spend hours on autopilot wishing you hadn't drunk three cups of coffee before departure? Exactly.

1, Fenix A320 family

2. Inibuilds A350

3. PMDG 777

 

1) Black Square Bonanza Pro (I haven't gotten a chance to hit the Baron yet even through I bought both)

2) A2A Aerostar

3) Taog's Hanger 500C

Edited November 15, 2025Nov 15 by kerosene31

- IniBuilds new A340. Wow.

- Fenix Family, namely the A319 which is my preferred.

- IniBuilds A350.

All the planes in my signature description I love and fly all the time. Lately, its been the Ffx Piaggio, Starship, Fenix and the BigRadials Goose. Still, there's the V2 BS Bonanza and Baron, Aerostar...the Dukes....

This is such a terrible question. 😅

Even though I don't sim much these days but when I do its.

Leonardo Maddog X

Fenix A319

PMDG 736

Yep, this is hard because I want to add so many qualifiers to fully explain.  That said, as of right now...

1a - Black Square Baron TC professional

1b - Black Square Bonanza TC professional
 
Hey, what can I say.  I'm a GA piston guy IRL and in the sim.  I'm cheating, I know, but each has strengths.  I love the Baron in part because of the added complexity of being a twin, but I love the Bo because in most cases it's almost as fast, the visibility is better and, well, it's a Bonanza!  If only it was FIKI certified...

2 - Black Square Grand Duke (piston)

The ONLY reason this one doesn't end up 1 is because of the limited visibility inherent in the real airplane.  (And maybe, just maybe, because the Baron and Bo are the shiny new toys?  Naw!)  Smaller windows for the pressurized cabin, coupled with large engine nacelles do not make for a sightseers dream - but honestly as far as just flying and managing the plane is concerned, this is my favorite plane to aviate in.  And like the Baron and Bonanza, the sounds are just...!

3 - Black Square Turbine Duke

I HAD to sneak one turbo-prop in, and this is THE one.  Again, a joy to fly.  Again, the sounds.  And a nice change from the pistons I generally prefer.

 

So... does anyone sense a pattern here?  In fairness, the A2A Aerostar is on my "to buy" list, "real soon now" and I've not yet fired up the Turbine Bo, so minds may change in the next month or so.

And on that note... Since my return to simming I've become WAY pickier about what I buy.  The hangar is much smaller than it was back in my P3D days, and honestly I'm much happier for it.  I really treasure and regularly fly every plane I've purchased so far, save one.

 

Scott
 

Edited November 15, 2025Nov 15 by tttocs

Fenix A319/20/21

ini 350

JF RJ

 

I'm spending most of time with these three:

1) Fenix Airbuses

2) iFly 737-8

3) Inibuilds A340

Honourable mention to the other airliners that I also cycle through regularly, the PMDG 777, FSLabs A321N, and Just Flight F.28 & RJ.

Edited November 16, 2025Nov 16 by regis9

I'm into vintage war planes right now.

Milviz Corsair

FI Spitfire

C-47 "That's All Brother"

 

5 hours ago, martinboehme said:

Aerosoft CRJ

Would have been my fourth choice. That EFB is still clunky but the reason I am not flying it as much as the other candidates is exactly that missing autothrottle. Since I am primarily flying during homeoffice times and must literally rely on autopilot functions when doing back-to-back calls 🤭

Gosh I feel I paint far more than I fly these days (if I even have time for that!)

I don't think I can make a top 3 list so I'll just list some I've enjoyed this year:

Black Square everything (I mean obviously I had access to to many of these before the rest of the world had them) - I think my favorite is STILL the TBM 850...it's fast, it's fiki certified, and it's got what I'd call the perfect panel.  A little glass a little analog, the AP panel is in an easy to reach position, and it supports the TDS GTNxi.  (If only it had DUAL 750s lol)

Honestly, the Carenado F33 and Dakota are pretty decent birds.  I occasionally use them and feel they are the only recent 2024 releases from Carenado worth their salt.  I wanted to love the C210 (and C172/182Q) and B55 but both are so buggy.  I will give Carenado an honorable mention for making an Aspen in their Baron 55.  Except it doesn't work properly with the GTN or GNS 😂...  I also dabble with their default PC12 NGX...I like the quirky Honeywell and su4 brings some decent changes - I've also got a mod to change the sounds for the better.

A2A Aerostar - from beta on day 1 to where it is now is a huge change - it's got an excellent flight model - I like it a lot.  But I wish it were the 701p and had flight into known icing capabilities.

Default C700 Longitude - still a superb default aircraft - likely the best default to grace ANY sim

Flysimware Beech Sierra - it's less popular and kinda an underdog addon - but it has glorious textures sounds, tons of avionics options and a nice flight model.  AND it's similar to the Musketer Super III I fly irl.

One more plane I must mention - I'm not sure if it's well known but everyone should fly/own the Grumman Albatross.  Free/default in 24 and I think inexpensive payware for 2020.  This is made with TLC by Mike Johnson of Lotussim L39 fame.  It's got a period cockpit and a more modern one.  There's also a cool mod which adds the TDS GTNxi (yeah I'm a TDS fan in case it wasn't obvious - it's THE best addon to-date for any sim ever).

I'm pretty sure Mike has a secret project coming up some day 😉