Hello everyone!

 

I currently have the following aircraft in my fleet:

• A2A Comanche
• BBS Cessna 310R
• Flysimware Cessna 414AW
• Just Flight PA-28
• SWS Kodiak100

I'd like to treat myself to a New Year's gift and am trying to decide between:

• Black Square's Duke Bundle
• Black Square's Baron/Bonanza Bundle
• Black Square's The Starship
• A2A's Aerostar 600

My budget is limited, so I can only purchase one.

Which would you recommend?

For me, it would be the Black Square Baron/Bonanza bundle

I have all three of your chosen Black Square options.  The first I bought was the Duke - which I loved and still love.  But when I got the Baron / Bonanza bundle, I found I loved their Baron even better...and to get the Bonanza too, it's a gift!

You can’t go wrong with any of these. 

Baron/Bonanza bundle gives you both singles and twins. Starship if you want something different. 

i haven’t got the Aerostar yet, but it is definitely on my list. 

Aerostar. It's the one which seems the more "alive" and has a lot "character". She's a dream to me. 

Excellent existing fleet, and all excellent choices for expanding it. It really depends on your circumstances. I will assume that you are using MSFS 2024. I think the Duke is still an MSFS 2020 model, which means that walk-around is not fully modelled. I would therefore wait with acquiring the Duke. The other three I would describe as follows:

1) Starship, one of a kind. It has much deeper systems then the other two options (custom FMS, pressurization) and a unique cockpit and flight model. It has a learning curve but is very rewarding once you know what to do. It helps if you are familiar with the Beechcraft 300 series. The plane revived my interest in MSFS 2024 because it was the first high-quality addon available for it. 

2) Aerostar 600. A2A is still a bit ahead of Blacksquare in some aspects. The AS has a more complete walk-around than the Bonanza/Baron bundle, and it has more complete state preservation. It is currently my favourite GA since it matters what you do even between flights (did I forget pitot or engine covers?). Some instruments are a bit quirky. For instance, the heading ring of the HSI is not automatically synched. It happened more than once to me that I first flew in a totally wrong direction 🙂

3) When it comes to systems, the Bonanza/Baron bundle offers more variation compared to the previous options, simply because there are about 5-6 different airplanes included in it. Some planes are pressurized, some not. You have piston engines, turbocharged variation, and turboprops. You have different interiors from which you can pick, spanning over four decades of production. But state preservation is only limited to a few items, and I have the impression that, except for the engines, failures triggered through mistakes are not accumulating over several flights.

One way to look at this is in terms of mission. You've already got:

A high-performance piston single (Comanche, similar mission to the Bonanza)

A non-pressurized piston twin (Cessna 310, similar mission to the Baron and Aerostar)

A pressurized piston twin (Cessna 414, similar mission to the Baron 58P and piston Duke)

You don't have a pressurized turboprop yet. The Turbine Duke is a pressurized turboprop, and it's fast, but it has relatively limited range.

The Starship is the standout here: It's the fastest of the bunch and will cruise up to FL 410. So if you're looking to expand the mission capability of your fleet, the Starship would give you the most additional capability.

Baron/Bonanza

4 hours ago, MayuyuYukirin said:

Black Square's Baron/Bonanza Bundle

10,000%  !!

Oh gosh another tough topic haha

They're all a little different.  As far as best flight model I'd say the Aerostar wins by just a little.  But the Dukes are nicer (imo) because they allow flight into higher altitudes (piston is turbocharged and the turbine is, well, a turbine hehe).  AND the Dukes can fly into icing.  It must be avoided in the Aerostar.

The Starship is really niche but also is a great addon. It can go to FL410 with the right conditions.  Cruise speed of around 320.ktas.  it's got a basic fms type of system and a really old Omega system as well.

The Baron and Bo are the newest Black Square planes - you can't go wrong there either.  I love the Bonanza - and these all support about 4 or 5 avionics config.  (PMS/TDS/WT GNS plus KLN90B or old school only radios).

The Dukes are faster than the Baron fwiw.  The Aerostar is probably the same speed as the duke, maybe a little faster than the basic duke (not the grand duke).  The starship is the fastest.

4 hours ago, martinboehme said:

A high-performance piston single (Comanche, similar mission to the Bonanza)

A non-pressurized piston twin (Cessna 310, similar mission to the Baron and Aerostar)

 

The Starship is, indeed the standout here and in a class of its own.  Did want to point out a couple of things, though...

Yes, the Comanche is similar to the Bonanza in real world terms.  The distinction, however, is that with the Bonanza you actually get a normally aspirated version (this is the Comanche perform-alike) as well as a turbo-normalized version and a turbine conversion variant.  The turbo-normalized Bonanza makes for a more capable plane than the Comanche for roles such as mountain flying.  The turbine version is, of course, a bit of a novelty but it's there if you want the fun of such a beast.  [In all honesty, I must confess that, though I bought the Bonanza/Baron Pro bundle on day 1, I've yet to actually try out the Turbine conversion.  I'll get there, I promise and I'm sure it'll be fun.]

Similarly with the Baron vis-a-vis the 310 - also a normally aspirated plane with de-ice capabilities.  With the Baron you get that, plus turbo-charged and turbo-charged with pressurization variants.  I've long been a fan of Milviz' 310, having flown their various versions from FSX, through P3D and into MSFS but I do have nits.  The Black Square Barons are terrific.  For me, since picking up the Baron(s) I've pretty much retired the 310.

Not really disagreeing with @martinboehme - just offering some additional thoughts.

 

Scott  

Good luck on making a decision. I have the Comanche, Dukes, Starship and Baron. I felt there was no reason to get the Bonanza as I already have the Comanche. I love my piston Duke and never have flown the Starship as it came out in the summer and I'm just now getting back into simming. My simpit kinda limits my choices as I need Air Manager gauges in order to really enjoy a plane. If the Comanche came with de-ice boots, that would be my one and only plane.

The Aerostar has a complete Air Manager panel/instruments package available but it is such a loaded unique plane that I dont think I could get that to work in my simpit. Lack of support screen space for all the unique gauges. If I could, that would be my first choice. Reason why is its A2A and secondly, better state saving and weathering as mentioned prior.

While I have the Duke, the Baron offers more Air Manager gauges to complete my sim so I dont think I will ever fly the Duke again. Not sure if I will ever try to add the Starship into the mix either. Just happy to support Nick at Black Square with that purchase. 

5 hours ago, St Mawgan said:

Baron/Bonanza

Agree! 👍 

From your list it would be nice to know if you are trying to upgrade or try something new.

Also which one is your favorite.

If you want a upgrade on the 310 and 414 (Great planes by the way)

The answer is easy = Baron/Bonanza bundle.

If your looking for the same idea but faster

The Aerostar 600 is your ticket, but not great in cold weather. (Something to keep in mind)

If you really want to fly high and fast and stay with the GA crowd.

The Dukes are pretty wild

If your looking for something completely different then 

The Starship. ( I cant comment on the Starship. Dont own it,)

Edited January 4Jan 4 by Ron Lefebvre

I have all the aircraft that you listed as potentials on your list. The Starship is the newest one for me, and I am just learning it. But what an awesome labor of love from Black Square...it's amazing! So many unique, cool details. 

All the other aircraft are great too though. The Baron/Bonanza combo is super well done, and the turbine Baron is fun as hell to fly and sounds amazing. I have been a long time user of A2A planes, so I love the Comanche and have the Aerostar as well. As others have stated above, those two aircraft don't do well in icing conditions. The Aerostar is probably my least favorite, but only because I just am not a fan of the plane itself. It is really done well by A2A though, so you may like it more. 

Tough decision.

I have all in your list to buy.  All the Black Square aircraft flight models seem a bit generic to me, the Aerostar 600 has character.