GA plane

[robert41]

Hello, Iam looking for suggestions on a good GA aircraft. Single or twin piston engine. Something bigger than a LSA. Good range and speed. Realistic performance. Something like the default C172, but a little faster.
Any help would be great.

[Tako_Kichi]

Piglet's Myers 200D is one of my all time favourite freeware GA aircraft. I have lots of hours in that aircraft and enjoyed every one of them. It's available right here at the SOH library. I did a repaint for it and made a wood effect interior option too.

[BrittMac]

I like anything Piglet sends our way. The 200 is nice, I agree, and have put several hours in it flying around the southern U.S.

If you are looking for just freeware, then check out what he has out there. Even if you stray out of the realm of pistons, like his SS-4 Scrofa (one of my all time favorites for cruising around).
If you are willing to drop a couple of bucks for payware, then you have a lot of options. But, Carenado makes some good looking airplanes, they are a good place to start looking.

You can get the recently released Dornier DO-28 (freeware) that isn't bad at all. Or if you want some slightly heavier metal, and faster, something like the Howard 500. It was made for FS9, but a few people have put some hours into making her a decent and freakishly fast FSX cruiser. But, for a multi-engine, the DO-28 is probably more of what you are describing.

There are lots to choose from really. Peruse the file library here and at other sites and you can find something that catches your eye for sure.

[pilottj]

Yep for freeware, Timmy's 200 and all his releases are very nice. If you are going to drop a few pennies, there are many many great GA choices from vintage classics such as Classics Hangar BF-108 all they way to ultra modern like Lionheart's Avelina, and everything in between. As mentioned, Carenado is a good place to go to find the type of common GA planes you would find at a typical airport. RealAir also has some fine planes. If you want somthing fast, Orbx has a very nice Lancair IVP.

[Daube]

Piglet's Myers 200D is one of my all time favourite freeware GA aircraft. I have lots of hours in that aircraft and enjoyed every one of them. It's available right here at the SOH library. I did a repaint for it and made a wood effect interior option too.

I agree with that. Piglet's 200D just rocks. It's only problem is the total lack of repaints :/
That's why I would also consider Piglet's Grumann AA-5B, which has a nice pair of repaints available on flightsim.com, if I remember correctly.
You might also want to give a try to that PA-28 (or something like that) freeware from a payware developper (you have to buy it, for 0$, from their website)... I don't remember the details, though...

[Bjoern]

B. Leaming's and R. Schwertfeger's North American Navion.

[pilottj]

58411
I took this screenshot a while ago but basically if you go with any of the creations from the developers of the planes in the picture you can't go wrong. There are some other really good developers too that others have and will mention that I couldn't fit on the picture :)

Cheers
TJ

[robert41]

Thanks for the suggestions. Will check out these aircraft.

[Stefano Zibell]

Piglet's PC-6 is one of my favorites turboprops. Top quality all around.

[IanHenry]

Have you thought about the Aerosoft Katana? It's like a small GA plane with Accusim plus a bit more!

Regards,
Ian.

[PilatusTurbo]

Pilottj has some good suggestions there; I own the three in the middle of his shot. Carenado V35, SIAI Marchetti by RealAir, and the ORBX Lancair IV-P.

Carenado V35B Bonanza is an excellent rendition of a nice single engine, normally aspirated GA ship. Scoots along nicely at around 150-165 KIAS in normal cruise conditions, and can carry 3 passengers in relative comfort. Price on that one is the best bang for your buck, payware-wise.

RealAir's SIAI Marchetti is an awesome little two seater, capable of some fun aerobatics, or just cruising around at a comfy 175-190 KIAS in good conditions. Little more expensive, but RealAir did a magnificent job on getting this one right.

ORBX's Lancair IV-P: Now this thing is the fastest of the three, and is capable of hauling some a$$ with high speed cruise. One of few single engine turbocharged GA aircraft that is actually pressurized, you can fly at some serious altitudes of up to 25,000 feet and make some really insane speeds. 200+ KIAS without breaking a sweat at those altitudes, and can carry passengers, and just looks plane good while doing it (no pun intended ;-). Also, a bit pricey, but well worth it. Only issue with this model, is frame rates take a minor hit, but hardly noticeable once you really start getting to fly this ship around.

Of the three, I would still personally take the V35B Bonanza. Price is best for what you get, which believe me, it's right up there with the latter two ships. I'm also biased, as I love and always have loved the V35 Bonanza; saw them growing up at airports and thought it was one of the coolest lookin' planes around. Only plane I thought was cooler was my Dad's Bellanca Cruisemaster 14-19-2. :-D

Let us know what ya end up gettin'. :ernae:

[pilottj]

Actually I think the older RealAir packages (Scout, SF-260, Spitfire) have been reduced in price. The SF-260 is going for about 19Euro, not sure exactly what that is in $ these days.

Cheers
TJ

[PilatusTurbo]

A trick I learned for converting just about any currency to any currency is googling 19 euro to US dollar. I'm not being sarcastic or smart, this really does work. :ernae:

[kilo delta]

A trick I learned for converting just about any currency to any currency is googling 19 euro to US dollar. I'm not being sarcastic or smart, this really does work. :ernae:

or just use www.xe.com :)

[pilottj]

lol yeah so the SF-260 is about 25USD now which seems to be about the average, considering it is a few years old now. Carenados seem to range from about $20-35...the more recent releases 30+ They will probably start pushing 40 with the more complex stuff.

Cheers
TJ

[jetstreamsky]

The Baytower Vans RV-7 is a wonderful GA plane, quick and agile yet not a 'performance' type aircraft, good for those small airstrips, great visibility superb modelling and accurate performance.

[robert41]

Been enjoying Tim Conrad's Meyers 200D the last couple of days. Thanks everyone for pointing it out. Have a few more to check into.

[jankees]

no mention yet of the Saab Safir by Sibwings, still one of my favorites...

http://i722.photobucket.com/albums/ww230/jcblom60/best/FX12639.jpg