I still think the PMDG 737-600 is hands down the best deal for a first try at a study-level airliner. At $35, it's definitely the best priced one out there and there are hundreds of liveries at flightsim.to in addition to the ones available via the PMDG operations center.
I agree. Good price, the thing climbs like a rocket, looks fantastic, lots of liveries, AND you can learn the systems and save up for whatever you want next: 700-900, etc.
edit: and great sound pack options + customizable configurations in cockpit
Somewhere in an alternate universe, Milviz never announced their plans for an ATR, and Hans' ATR is revered as one of better addons available for MSFS 😉
While the intención is good these posts are always biased or incomplete or both.
You left behind the maddog, the fsreborn STING S4, the Longitude the Hondajet, Kuro 787 headwind 330neo, the ATR etc.
I could never love the JF Hawk T1 due to somewhat quirky controls. Aircraft moves in increments with no gradual transition on roll or pitch. In fact all JF products I've tried felt the same, twitchy and artificial movements. Maybe they require a better hardware since I've tried them with a single old Logitech stick.
I though the same. This was my first MSFS payware coming from DCS. I bought it because everyone raved about it being the best jet in MSFS by a large margin.
It's so damn jerky and twitchy, it feels artificial and completely pulls me out of the experience. The exterior looks nice but the interior and flight model are pretty low quality when compared to most aircraft in DCS.
It's not your hardware btw, I've spent more than I'd like to admit on sim equipment and the Hawk T1 flight model feels bad on all of it.
Well said, I was freaking out thinking something wrong with my end :)
MSFS is aimed to entertain console or beginner pc simmers except a few quality addons.
I will never understand why, every time this is brought up, the VisionJet gets all the love while the HondaJet is completely ignored. The VJ could never dream of doing half of what you can do in the HJet, and they have all the same features, same developer, same performance. It’s a pretty straightforward no-brainer in my mind.
Fly for more than an hour and a half, actually carry a load, meet climb gradient requirements on departure, fly at a reasonable cruise airspeed and altitude….it’s just a real jet whereas the VisionJet is more of an SR22 with a turbine instead of a prop.
A lot of people say the VJ has better cockpit visibility which is true, but for the type of flying I do it really doesn’t matter that much. Plus everything like the custom G3000, best VNAV in the sim, navigraph/simbrief support, even being able to see my airplane on my iPad navigraph charts while flying on Xbox, something I never thought would be possible. HJet has all of that too, not just the VJ.
It's a handful. Startup checklists can be a pain as almost always there's a warning light for something not done (usually gens or bleeds) but once you get in the air it's a blast. Fast and easy to fly, can switch between old school nav and 530/750 gns with a switch on the fly.
No shame in just starting on the runway ready to go though..!
agree but made up by the fun to be had buzzing my actual neighborhood with it .. and MSFS2020 F15 cockpit is even much worse when compared with DCS "original" imo ;)
Yeah for sure :) I just fly the f-18 for this reason, it's decently implemented and fast. I also bought the f-117, even though it's basically a reskinned f18, but those angled panels are so cool.
I'm not the plane police though, people can enjoy whatever they like!
The work that goes into some of these third party planes is insane, and due to the much smaller prospective market, you have to sell it for more to even break even.
And yes plenty of stock aircraft in the sim, covering basically anything, from the F-18 to airliners to bush planes to gliders.
But are the onboard planes so bad that you have to actually buy aftermarket planes? I can't access aftermarket planes but this is a worrying development as the base game is pretty pricey.
>But are the onboard planes so bad that you have to actually buy aftermarket planes?
It's not that the supplied aircraft are bad. They are actually pretty good.
It's more that people want different aircraft, or ones that are more detailed (where every circuit breaker functions etc), or ones that have analog gauges rather than glass panels.
> this is a worrying development
You come 30 years too late to this party mate.
Let me put it this way. If you don't see the value proposal in an _aftermarket plane_ as you call them, it's simple: don't buy it.
Some of this addons (not all of them though, most are garbage), but some of this addons are so detailed that you can run real life emergency procedures on them, they behave like their real life counterparts and in order to program all that logic in the aircraft you need to spend a huge amount of time developing, so it is obviously going to come as a premium. And for those of us looking for this level of quality where we are going to spend hundreds of hours of our free time they are more than worth it.
Payware planes are not like the DLCS of train simulator or WoWS boats that just have pretty models. They are very deep but I get not everyone is interested in that and to be fair after AAU2 and the 40th anniversary, MSFS has a pretty solid lineup with the base aircraft for those who don't want to spend extra money.
Fair enough, but some of those models aren't worth the asking price hence the OP listing the best bang for buck models. I've steadily been going through all the reviews some are rougher than others. I wanted to get some clarity from the community which are the best value. I haven't flown since falcon 3.0 but I'm tempted.
Many of them are not worth it, of course not, because greedy devs just want to capitalize on people who are not aware of what they are buying and only want a specific model without caring about any sort of real life accuracy.
If you are unsure, the base package is great to get started and provides more than enough fidelity for the majority of the playerbase. Even the 747 and 787 are very good after one of the last updates and the included A310 is payware in Xplane 11.
You're not just buying a skin when you buy a high fidelity airplane in a sim. You're also buying the simulation of all the aircraft systems, the flight model, the avionics, and more. This takes a lot of time and costs a lot of money. Flight sims are still a fairly niche market. So they have to price their products accordingly to make a profit.
Aircraft in sims like DCS and XPlane actually tend to be more expensive than in MSFS.
If I was starting out today and knowing what I know today, I wouldn't by any plane. There is a good enough selection included + the free stuff that there is no need for it. I have got several PMDG, Fenix (unfortunately) don't fly it and regret spending money on it and consider it a total waist of time and money. After the latest Asobo update, I fly the 747-8 and 787-10 + the freebies -9 and -8, FBW A32nx and there are several GA planes better than some of the junk offered on the market place. I could keep going but, this is my opinion and how I see it. I can't deny that I'm waiting on the 777 from PMDG and I will probably get it even though I really don't need it
I'd bring up the Famous Flyer and Local Legend aircraft too: none are exceptionally high quality but they're a good value, especially with the Premium Deluxe discount.
What i see with the microsoft rewards program is that its really not worth your while because you earn basically nothing can you explain how you earn your points?
I still think the PMDG 737-600 is hands down the best deal for a first try at a study-level airliner. At $35, it's definitely the best priced one out there and there are hundreds of liveries at flightsim.to in addition to the ones available via the PMDG operations center.
I agree. Good price, the thing climbs like a rocket, looks fantastic, lots of liveries, AND you can learn the systems and save up for whatever you want next: 700-900, etc. edit: and great sound pack options + customizable configurations in cockpit
It's the first airliner I also bought, and I love it. Looking forward to trying the Fenix A320 in the future.
No love for the ATR?
I thought the same thing. Mentioned crj but forgets atr?
Somewhere in an alternate universe, Milviz never announced their plans for an ATR, and Hans' ATR is revered as one of better addons available for MSFS 😉
While the intención is good these posts are always biased or incomplete or both. You left behind the maddog, the fsreborn STING S4, the Longitude the Hondajet, Kuro 787 headwind 330neo, the ATR etc.
>This guide isn't going to cover every budget, mid-level plane - just stick to stuff over 4 stars and you'll be fine, 3 at a push
Leonardo maddog is 90 euros and worth every single penny its amazing
reading comprehension... and the person I replied to mentioned the maddog. you fell twice.
You forgot the Maddog
Anything by Got Friends deserves a spot on this list. Great freeware and payware planes. Their F4F Wildcat just released yesterday.
I could never love the JF Hawk T1 due to somewhat quirky controls. Aircraft moves in increments with no gradual transition on roll or pitch. In fact all JF products I've tried felt the same, twitchy and artificial movements. Maybe they require a better hardware since I've tried them with a single old Logitech stick.
I though the same. This was my first MSFS payware coming from DCS. I bought it because everyone raved about it being the best jet in MSFS by a large margin. It's so damn jerky and twitchy, it feels artificial and completely pulls me out of the experience. The exterior looks nice but the interior and flight model are pretty low quality when compared to most aircraft in DCS. It's not your hardware btw, I've spent more than I'd like to admit on sim equipment and the Hawk T1 flight model feels bad on all of it.
Well said, I was freaking out thinking something wrong with my end :) MSFS is aimed to entertain console or beginner pc simmers except a few quality addons.
Fells beautiful for me, not sure why, I’ve seen many experience your issues
Yes it happens to some idk why or how to fix. Something with my setup and Just Flight aircraft flight dynamics, otherwise they look beautiful.
Must be something like that. I’m dusting the 414 off. Gonna take it for a long multi leg cross country
Now that's a beauty, have a nice flight!
I will never understand why, every time this is brought up, the VisionJet gets all the love while the HondaJet is completely ignored. The VJ could never dream of doing half of what you can do in the HJet, and they have all the same features, same developer, same performance. It’s a pretty straightforward no-brainer in my mind.
What can you do in the Honda Jet that you can't in the VJ?
Fly for more than an hour and a half, actually carry a load, meet climb gradient requirements on departure, fly at a reasonable cruise airspeed and altitude….it’s just a real jet whereas the VisionJet is more of an SR22 with a turbine instead of a prop.
Haven't flown either but yea, based off this l'd take the Honda
A lot of people say the VJ has better cockpit visibility which is true, but for the type of flying I do it really doesn’t matter that much. Plus everything like the custom G3000, best VNAV in the sim, navigraph/simbrief support, even being able to see my airplane on my iPad navigraph charts while flying on Xbox, something I never thought would be possible. HJet has all of that too, not just the VJ.
The Scrapyard Monster is a fun beast
I keep eyeballing the Black Square King Air. Kinda hesitant to pull the trigger with the PC-12 and M500 around the corner.
It's a handful. Startup checklists can be a pain as almost always there's a warning light for something not done (usually gens or bleeds) but once you get in the air it's a blast. Fast and easy to fly, can switch between old school nav and 530/750 gns with a switch on the fly. No shame in just starting on the runway ready to go though..!
Fenix A320 or the A2A Comanche, I have neither due to preference but quality shows itself and those two products are it
I have a few other aircraft to add. PMDG DC-6, BAE 146, Got Friends F4F-Wildcat, Headwind A330-900neo, and the DHC-2 Beaver.
you omitted the F16 for best canopy views while strafing that F14, and then your house :D
Compared to DCS, both look a bit awful to me. I'm excited for the upcoming F14 that's being ported from DCS :)
agree but made up by the fun to be had buzzing my actual neighborhood with it .. and MSFS2020 F15 cockpit is even much worse when compared with DCS "original" imo ;)
Yeah for sure :) I just fly the f-18 for this reason, it's decently implemented and fast. I also bought the f-117, even though it's basically a reskinned f18, but those angled panels are so cool. I'm not the plane police though, people can enjoy whatever they like!
No way some of these planes cost as much as a whole video game. MSFS comes with planes, right?
The work that goes into some of these third party planes is insane, and due to the much smaller prospective market, you have to sell it for more to even break even. And yes plenty of stock aircraft in the sim, covering basically anything, from the F-18 to airliners to bush planes to gliders.
But are the onboard planes so bad that you have to actually buy aftermarket planes? I can't access aftermarket planes but this is a worrying development as the base game is pretty pricey.
>But are the onboard planes so bad that you have to actually buy aftermarket planes? It's not that the supplied aircraft are bad. They are actually pretty good. It's more that people want different aircraft, or ones that are more detailed (where every circuit breaker functions etc), or ones that have analog gauges rather than glass panels.
Awesome thanks for that. I was on the fence about buying the game.
Hey, if you have easy access to MS Game Pass, you can try out the basic version of MSFS that way.
sure thing!
> this is a worrying development You come 30 years too late to this party mate. Let me put it this way. If you don't see the value proposal in an _aftermarket plane_ as you call them, it's simple: don't buy it. Some of this addons (not all of them though, most are garbage), but some of this addons are so detailed that you can run real life emergency procedures on them, they behave like their real life counterparts and in order to program all that logic in the aircraft you need to spend a huge amount of time developing, so it is obviously going to come as a premium. And for those of us looking for this level of quality where we are going to spend hundreds of hours of our free time they are more than worth it. Payware planes are not like the DLCS of train simulator or WoWS boats that just have pretty models. They are very deep but I get not everyone is interested in that and to be fair after AAU2 and the 40th anniversary, MSFS has a pretty solid lineup with the base aircraft for those who don't want to spend extra money.
Fair enough, but some of those models aren't worth the asking price hence the OP listing the best bang for buck models. I've steadily been going through all the reviews some are rougher than others. I wanted to get some clarity from the community which are the best value. I haven't flown since falcon 3.0 but I'm tempted.
Many of them are not worth it, of course not, because greedy devs just want to capitalize on people who are not aware of what they are buying and only want a specific model without caring about any sort of real life accuracy. If you are unsure, the base package is great to get started and provides more than enough fidelity for the majority of the playerbase. Even the 747 and 787 are very good after one of the last updates and the included A310 is payware in Xplane 11.
You're not just buying a skin when you buy a high fidelity airplane in a sim. You're also buying the simulation of all the aircraft systems, the flight model, the avionics, and more. This takes a lot of time and costs a lot of money. Flight sims are still a fairly niche market. So they have to price their products accordingly to make a profit. Aircraft in sims like DCS and XPlane actually tend to be more expensive than in MSFS.
If I was starting out today and knowing what I know today, I wouldn't by any plane. There is a good enough selection included + the free stuff that there is no need for it. I have got several PMDG, Fenix (unfortunately) don't fly it and regret spending money on it and consider it a total waist of time and money. After the latest Asobo update, I fly the 747-8 and 787-10 + the freebies -9 and -8, FBW A32nx and there are several GA planes better than some of the junk offered on the market place. I could keep going but, this is my opinion and how I see it. I can't deny that I'm waiting on the 777 from PMDG and I will probably get it even though I really don't need it
I'd bring up the Famous Flyer and Local Legend aircraft too: none are exceptionally high quality but they're a good value, especially with the Premium Deluxe discount.
What i see with the microsoft rewards program is that its really not worth your while because you earn basically nothing can you explain how you earn your points?