Question for P3D Ver 5.4....Please suggest a good trainer aircraft, prefer; Tricycle gear, easy to use autopilot, good visibility, not a speed demon, free or payware doesn't matter. My grandson is interested in getting into flight simulation and I don't want him (or me!) to be overwhelmed! Thanks a lot!

uh, C172?

Justflight has a number of decent entry-level trainers for P3D...the Robin DR400, Piper PA-28 Archer etc.  Those two have a basic GNS530 GPS and a fairly simple STEC autopilot.  The P3D versions are currently on sale and deeply discounted.

The A2A add-ons are very good, but they pack a lot of esoteric complexity into their add-ons, which tends to make them frustrating for a new simmer.

A2A Cessna 172; or 182 for a constant speed prop. Their Cherokee 180 is excellent. Their Comanche and Bonanza will make you smile. Well worth looking into.

https://a2asimulations.com/

Like most their new products are for the newer platforms but they still sell and support all their legacy products.

https://a2asimulations.com/product-category/p3d/

Edited January 5Jan 5 by Patco Lch

I second the A2A series.

The A2A C182 was the first third party aircraft I purchased (back in the FSX days) and it's even better in P3D.

Their Comanche is also pretty good.

 

And I like the Ant's Aeroplane collection as they have wear and tear and many features that are amazing for the price.

https://www.antsairplanes.com/

I especially like the Sierra, the Trojan and the Tigermoth.

 

Also don't go past the various freebee collections like Blackbird and Realair.

And the Vertx Diamond DA62 is very nice and even has wing flex.

 

That's all from me, cheers 🙂

On 1/4/2026 at 8:31 AM, LTCSZ said:

Question for P3D Ver 5.4....Please suggest a good trainer aircraft, prefer; Tricycle gear, easy to use autopilot, good visibility, not a speed demon, free or payware doesn't matter. My grandson is interested in getting into flight simulation and I don't want him (or me!) to be overwhelmed! Thanks a lot!

Kinda depends on how old he is and what level of knowledge he might already have...?

I ask because my young son became interested in flight sim because we traveled frequently by airliner (benefits of biz travel miles! 🙂 ). He wanted to go straight to the big jets and didn't want to take the traditional path. Long story short, I sat him down in the PMDG 737 hot started on the runway, with an copy of Chuck's Guide (chucksguides.com/aircraft/fsx/pmdg-737-800-ng/) printed out for him and let him go to town. I offered to answer any questions he had or help when needed. But, nope - he figured it all out by himself - FMC, transcons, the whole 9 yards.

IIRC, he was only 11-ish years old at the time!

If you're not sure or your grandson isn't sure if they like flight sim or if they want to go deep on simulation, you might just consider starting out with some of the Default aircraft. They were all payware at some point in the past, so all have a decent level of interactivity/fidelity for a beginner: Vehicle Library – Prepar3D. Check out the Commander or Mooney for GA aircraft. You might also sit him in one of the F-16's - theyre extraordinarily easy to fly and the view absolutely cannot be beaten!

I'll second most of the other guys and say to go for one of the A2A Sims addons. While they have great systems depth, they, too, can just be sat on the runway, running and ready to go. The only minus is the $50 cost. As to which one, I personally have the Bonanza and think it's fantastic. If you really want to go for a "basic trainer", then yeah, the 172 is literally that (or the 182, which as an addon is newer and more nicely modeled). Also good if you yourself are looking for a good quality GA aircraft 🙂 

Bob's recommendation of the Just Flight Arrow / Cherokee might be a good mid-way point as they're less than half the cost of the A2A's (right now when on sale!).

Edited January 5Jan 5 by UrgentSiesta

On 1/4/2026 at 7:31 PM, LTCSZ said:

Question for P3D Ver 5.4....Please suggest a good trainer aircraft, prefer; Tricycle gear, easy to use autopilot, good visibility, not a speed demon, free or payware doesn't matter. My grandson is interested in getting into flight simulation and I don't want him (or me!) to be overwhelmed! Thanks a lot!

As no one mentioned it, Justflight has a Cessna 152. A former colleage at work took flying lessons in Switzerland, Lachen LSPV with this type a few years ago. So if one wants to get the PPL this is certainly a good choice. I have the plane too and it's a great addon.

Dan

The V4 King Air no longer included but saved and installed in future versions.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/154944674@N05/55026895189/in/dateposted-public

Used as a fast scenery test aircraft.

Included in V6 CUASE a civilian training aircraft.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/154944674@N05/55025747477/in/dateposted-public

https://www.flickr.com/photos/154944674@N05/55026895674/in/dateposted-public

https://www.flickr.com/photos/154944674@N05/55025747527/in/dateposted-public

At Barton airstrip.

For P3D - Pick up any of the A2A's bird, C172, PA28, C182 or PA24 - Highly recommended, during my initial PPL training few years back I used to practice flying circuits on A2A C172 which certainly helped, especially for my first solo flight IRL, won't forget that moment. 

I agree with CAP1234

I have the C182 which feels more realistic than any other sim aircraft I have used. I do not have a PPL, but I do have 20 hours + in the Cessna 152, their basic trainer. The 182 is of course a more powerful Cessna, but the handling capabilities remind me of my experience with the 152 as a student pilot.

Sherm

 

If I can hit another plug for a2a they have a P40 Tomahawk free. Not a trainer but a pretty cool just for kicks and giggles WWII fighter. Lots of fun.

But, difficult to fly without extensice training. IMO, not for a beginner..

 

Sherm

On 1/7/2026 at 7:46 PM, Patco Lch said:

If I can hit another plug for a2a they have a P40 Tomahawk free. Not a trainer but a pretty cool just for kicks and giggles WWII fighter. Lots of fun.

That's what got me into A2A aircraft, back during the COVID lockdowns. I got it for FSX and then P3D when I changed sims. Now I got the 182 for P3D, and the Comanche for everything between FSX and MSFS2024.

I will have to be the dissenter here and I write that as a massive - I mean HUGE - A2A fan (I fly the Connie at least once a fortnight and the V-Tail Bonanza at least several times per week). I just cannot imagine they are a good choice for a young person just getting into flight simming. I think it will just become an exercise in massive frustration, despite the fact that you can disable some of the complexity in the aircraft control panel.

The Connie for example is so complex that for me that I always hand off the engineer's functions to the AI - I simply wouldn't be handle the workload without it. The only workload I take back from the engineer are the superchargers! And with the V-Tail, if you are not obsessive with all the mixture setting requirements and prop RPM, you will be in for a premature overhaul or rebuild in no time. They really do emulate much of the real world complexity and do it very well. Plus they are much more challenging (but therefore fun) to land than any other aircraft I have bought). They behave so closely to the real thing that it constantly amazes me, but in my opinion that actually makes them harder to fly than the real thing because in a simulator we are lacking much of the sensory feedback we get in the real thing.

So my recommendation would instead be one of the single prop piston Carenado / Alabeo aircraft. Their 152 does not have an autopilot so it will have to be a bigger one but even their Piper Aztec P23  is a great choice for a beginner despite being a twin as it is extremely docile yet responsive, smooth and best of all, it flatters the pilot who wants to do a perfect greaser landing but might be short on the required skills (mainly because it is very stable (in relative terms) in the flare even in a gusting crosswind. It is actually my number one choice for longer cross country GA flights where I think the V-Tail might be a bit mentally taxing!

 

As I began reading JonPO1 post, that got me thinking about Carenado, as I read further I saw that he was thinking the same thing. I have the Cessna 185 which is  a very managable and user friendly beginner's plane. It’s a plane to fly for fun, nothing like a study aircraft 

sherm