I've purchased recently the Black Square's Pack Bonanza + Baron and the Bonanza has become my default plane at this time. It's a long time I have not been satisfied like this: price, product, support, documentation (manual of 206 pages).

To be honest I have not been aware of Black Square before though I vaguely knew their name. It's only because I had no interest in the planes they made before. I made a search to discover that they have no website and Just Flight is their editor. They've been operating for approx. 5 years and released like 5-7 aircrafts. Wow! I just can't believe it, that's more than a plane per year. Especially that Nick, the dev, seems to be alone as far as I could see. But maybe he is subcontracting some tasks, but even so.

Kudos to Black Square. They are competing/replacing slowly A2A and remind me of RealAir in the days of FSX/P3D.

I doubt very much that their competing/replacing A2A, And i fly both in the sim.

Edited May 23May 23 by Simselli

I doubt very much that their competing/replacing A2A, And i fly both in the sim.

Black Square typically creates aircraft that are more complex (more exciting imo) than your basic single or twin normally aspirated pistons. So in a sense the black square stuff is more advanced. I'd say it's very close to being on par with a2a. A2A has that extra bit of flight model leg up because they go outside of the (semi broken) Asobo flight model.

That being said the upcoming Lancair Legacy is way more interesting than their commanche and even the NA Aerostar. I'm hoping A2A decides to make the fiki and turbocharged version of the Aerostar.

And then Black Square will have a turbine twin commander and an announced King Air - I wonder when A2A will make a turbine?

I've purchased recently the Black Square's Pack Bonanza + Baron and the Bonanza has become my default plane at this time. It's a long time I have not been satisfied like this: price, product, support, documentation (manual of 206 pages).

To be honest I have not been aware of Black Square before though I vaguely knew their name. It's only because I had no interest in the planes they made before. I made a search to discover that they have no website and Just Flight is their editor. They've been operating for approx. 5 years and released like 5-7 aircrafts. Wow! I just can't believe it, that's more than a plane per year. Especially that Nick, the dev, seems to be alone as far as I could see. But maybe he is subcontracting some tasks, but even so.

Kudos to Black Square. They are competing/replacing slowly A2A and remind me of RealAir in the days of FSX/P3D.

Black Square / Nick is amazing.

He provides the highest level of quality and fidelity available in the sim for GA aircraft, in my opinion.

Most simmers who enjoy GA have been familiar with BS for 5 years or so (since their 'analog' improvement products). 5 years later and BS are now in a different league.

I don't understand the viewpoint of seeing Black Square replacing A2A in any way. They make different aircraft and each have their individual areas that they excel in. In my opinion, texture quality is a little higher with Black Square (especially where the A2A Aerostar is concerned, where I think texturing is a little lacklustre). A2A are the king of flight dynamics and accurate engine modelling. Why would one replace the other? In reality, we're fortunate to have two developers that produce the highest level of quality and fidelity for GA aircraft in the sim. I'd add Flight Sim Ware to a similar level of high quality; at least for their last 3 releases (Sierra C24R, Lear and now Legacy). COWS also produce planes of this quality level in terms of visuals, sounds, systems and flight modelling. IMHO, they fall behind a little because their products offer no EFB and lack custom interactable options, like walkaround features. Still amazing though.

There's never been a better time to fly GA aircraft of this quality in MSF2024 - in my opinion the best iteration of the MS sim we've ever had (even adjusting for time and the relative states of the art over the years).

Edited May 23May 23 by JYW

That being said the upcoming Lancair Legacy is way more interesting than their commanche and even the NA Aerostar. I'm hoping A2A decides to make the fiki and turbocharged version of the Aerostar.

And then Black Square will have a turbine twin commander and an announced King Air - I wonder when A2A will make a turbine?

I have to agree with Ryan on this one. A2A makes fine planes with exceptional modelling, but I'm simply more interested in the aircraft Black Square are producing these days, Until my recent foray into the jet world with the new Phenom, the BS Bonanzas, Barons, Dukes and TBM have been the only planes I fly in the sim, and despite my temporary infatuation with the Phenom, they'll remain my most flown by far over the long haul. They're simply wonderful planes with solid flight models and deep systems.

Don't much care about "who's better" kinds of discussions as they're both excellent and no one is replacing anybody here, but Black Square makes the planes I want to fly most in the sim right now. YMMV of course.

Scott

I've been having a blast lately flying BS planes. Turbine bonanza, piston bonanza, baron, piston duke, caravan. Love them all. I also really can't speak highly enough of the Euro/US taxi sign replacement options he has made. Every now and then one has to exclude his version has it conflicts with the scenery. But it's rare. I held off forever getting these titles, and now find myself wondering what took me so long.

I agree with all the comments here, I have been really enjoying the Black Square fleet. Even the Phenom has not pulled me away from the Caravan that is currently at 9,000 feet to CYYZ from a northern Ontario feeder hop. I really like A2A too, their flight models are still the best I have encountered in the sim and I appreciate the depth of their wear simulation that helped me learn a a lot. But, in the end, as others have said the Black Square fleet is a little more complex, more engaging, and so I fly them a lot more. Also A2A all lack ice protection which means they are basically hangered the better part of 7 months of the year for me. Yes, I could fly them somewhere warm but it is not what I do. Most of the time, I like to fly GS around where I actually live.

The legacy is an interesting choice for their next aircraft. Certainly more complex and engaging but they have a pretty narrow use case and I am tiring of analogue gauges only. Many of these aircraft now have glass and the Phenom has tweaked my interest in learning how these more advanced systems and displays work and how to use them. The reason I have not been flying the Phenom so much is I am taking time to learn the G1000 but in a few more days and a few more practice flights it will become my primary aircraft for some time. I somewhat wish these developers would also offer more modern avionics in the planes.

the best iteration of the MS sim we've ever had (even adjusting for time and the relative states of the art over the years).

Yep, fully agree.

Maybe it’s just me but I find the one area where BS is slightly lagging is in the flight model. I mean it’s good , it’s just the systems and instruments are 9.5/10 good whereas the flight models are I don’t know, I wouldn’t want to put a figure on it but not quite at the same level.

It may well be argued that performance is within a close % of the flight manual, but has someone once said , possibly A2A, there’s more to a flight model than just hitting the numbers, it needs that special sparkle.

I can’t really put into words what is missing from the flight model other than special sparkle. If they could find that then BS would be a straight 10/10.

Heck I buy everything they put out as it’s built proof stuff and feels like they have to been flown like a real pilot would as there’s genuine consequences. I love their instrumentation.

BS is my favourite or possibly joint favourite developer , I’m just hankering after absolute perfection, not moaning.

I mean the flight modelling would be outstanding in any other developers sim aircraft, it’s just when you compare it to the rest of a BS aircraft I find it’s the weakest link, that’s all.

Same here: BS is really good, but A2A still has a little bit of an edge. There is their own physics generator for the flight model, but I also love the A2A walk-around (has a few more features) and in particular the state preservation, which is much more comprehensive than for BS airplanes.

Having said that, I tend to fly BS airplanes more, simply because they are more to my taste compared to the models that A2A picks.

Peter

Black Square is definitely at the top with a few other GA developers. Starship, Dukes, Bonanza etc. Top tier.

A2A is there as well but they're a smidge different with their focus

I'd love to see black square do a King Air 90/200/300. Not the modern generation however. For some reason I like planes that feel older but can also have something like a 750 in them.

I'd love to see black square do a King Air 90/200/300. Not the modern generation however. For some reason I like planes that feel older but can also have something like a 750 in them.

IIRC, their very next aircraft is a King Air (350?), and knowing BS, it’ll absolutely be steam gauge.

I'd love to see black square do a King Air 90/200/300.

Same here! Something along the lines of the freeware C90B EVO for X-Plane (EFIS version) would be right up my alley (if people are familiar with that). And given that Black Square have done a lot of Beech airplanes, it's not implausible that they might do the King Air too - - fingers crossed.

Edited May 23May 23 by weaklink

IIRC, their very next aircraft is a King Air (350?), and knowing BS, it’ll absolutely be steam gauge.

Didn't see your message before I posted - that sounds awesome!